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The next time you find yourself astonished that a quarterback signed a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars, soaking up an enormous amount of his team’s salary cap in the process, try to remember Jaren Hall’s performance from Sunday night.
The rookie starter had a rough outing as Minnesota lost to the Green Bay Packers, 33-10, watching its already slim playoff hopes dissipate almost entirely in the process.
Hall lasted just one half, finishing 5-of-10 for 67 yards, no touchdowns, an interception, a lost fumble and three sacks taken. He was in over his head, and the Vikings went into the half trailing 23-3.
Green Bay Packers @packers
OUR BALL.#GBvsMIN | #GoPackGo
📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/Qx2qBsqhcb
Green Bay Packers @packers
Corey Ballentine with the INT! #GBvsMIN | #GoPackGo
📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/p9efpfpMSd
Green Bay Packers @packers
QUAY. WALKER.
SACK! 😤 #GBvsMIN | #GoPackGo
📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/hHAyhBFGBC
His replacement, Nick Mullens, was better, completing 13-of-22 passes for 113 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions and a sack taken, though the game was all but over by the time he entered. And he didn’t exactly remind anyone of Randall Cunningham on Sunday night himself—one of his touchdown passes came after the team got the ball in the red zone due to a fumbled punt.
NFL @NFL
Mullens to Mundt for the @Vikings TD
📺: #GBvsMIN on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/cOt1Gy93Av pic.twitter.com/IDYNdi9Tdo
But he was better than Hall and, yes, NFL fans and pundits alike didn’t hold back while discussing the rookie quarterback:
Matthew Betz @TheFantasyPT
Jaren Hall drops back to pass and!…oh pic.twitter.com/jJ2HrEf8r4
The Purple Persuasion @TPPSkol
Jaren Hall is who he is. A 5th round flyer.
He’s not it. Nick Mullens is BACK! pic.twitter.com/4ZBZmjEkJP
Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell
Don’t think you can come back playing for your season in the second half with Jaren Hall.
Andrew Brandt @AndrewBrandt
Jaren Hall looks like the cure for what ails the Packers defense..
Rob Demovsky @RobDemovsky
The Packers blitzed Jaren Hall on 50% of his dropbacks in the first half. He was 2-of-4 with an interception and 2 sacks against the blitz, per @ESPNStatsInfo. And now he’s out.
Benjamin Solak @BenjaminSolak
I just said “thank God for Nick Mullens,” which is the first time such a thing has been uttered in recorded history
Davis Mattek @DavisMattek
Jaren Hall might throw the worst ball I’ve ever seen lmao
Raheem Palmer @iamrahstradamus
Jaren Hall is bad. What did they see in practice to make them bench Mullens and Dobbs for this guy? Are the Vikings quiet quitting?
Hall’s rough performance was the latest round in Minnesota’s ill-fated game of musical chairs at quarterback since Kirk Cousins was lost for the season in late October with a torn Achilles.
Josh Dobbs led the team to a pair of wins in the immediate aftermath of that injury, only to lose the next two and get benched during a 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the ugliest game of the 2023 NFL season.
Mullens replaced Dobbs in the fourth quarter of that game, ultimately leading the team to the game-winning field goal. That earned him the starting job going forward, though not for long, as he threw six interceptions in a pair of losses to follow.
So the Vikings (7-9), devoid of quality options, decided to see if Hall could provide them with a spark. He did, though it wasn’t the sort of spark that started the team’s engine; it was more like a spark that inadvertently caused to a forest fire, all but burning the team’s season to the ground in the process.
So the Packers (8-8) remain very much in the hunt for a playoff berth. The Vikings aren’t completely eliminated from postseason contention, though it’s hard to imagine them beating a Detroit Lions team jockeying for playoff positioning given the current state of their quarterback room.
It appears to be Mullens or bust at this point for the Vikings. Hall had his shot, and he didn’t take it.
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