Vikings @ Bears Game Day Discussion Thread -- Week 8

[PurpleMustReign]

Just for the record, Bridgewater already has 2 more game winning drives than Ponder had his entire career. Coincidentally, Bridgewater and Brady both had 5 game winning drives at the same point in their careers. Except that Teddy is 2 years younger.

His 5 minute and 2 minute drives show me more about his future than a windy overthrow and bad decision INT do.

I was wondering about that stat between Teddy and Ponder. That alone gives me hope. Let's see what Teddy can do when his line is able to protect him mroe consistently.

[808vikingsfan]

Dude you guys act like I hate Teddy. It seems like you're only reading what you want to read. I like his pocket presence, work ethic, demeanor, heart, etc. When have I ever once said I didnt like those things about him??

What I don't like and what I am sick of is his average to below average play vs POOR defenses. And I don't want to hear the "tough windy environment" excuse. What was his excuse vs KC at HOME vs a BAD pass defense?? Wait until we have to play GB, Arizona and Seattle. Legitimate defenses that get after the QB and have good secondaries. Whats going to be our excuse then if he plays bad?? "Well they are good teams so we're going to cut him some slack"?? No.

He's had "those attributes" all year and he's had more bad play than good play against POOR defenses. So those attributes don't do a whole lot when you face a legit team. Bottom line is, he NEEDS to play better soon or else we are going to lose to a bad team or get blown out by a good team. He literally almost cost us that game single handedly today. Just like KC. If it wasnt for this defense, we would not be 5-2 right now.

It will be very interesting how he plays against a legitimate defense next week with St Louis. Luckily we are home. But he better learn to get the ball out much quicker than he did today or Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald are going to be eating him for lunch because there is no way our offensive line is holding up against those guys.

He HAS to play better in order for us to be contenders. No matter what you say. Quit making excuses for him like the "wind" because that isn't why he played poorly. I truly do like the guy and I cheer for him like no other but I'm done with the average to below average play. He needs to start taking steps forward and not backwards because thats what he keeps doing.

Eh, I think we're on the same page. I think our expectations are different. He (and the entire team) definitely has to play better for the Vikings to contend. I just don't expect him to be where you expect him to be at this point in his career. I like what I see in him.

No need to keep bringing up the P word.

[J. Kapp 11]

Go ahead and be happy with a below avg QB forever. And Vikings fans wonder why we never win a super bowl. Too many fans with casual football knowledge that are happy just winning a few games here and there and never demand or expect excellence.

Casual football knowledge?

Why don't you spend more than a week here before you crown yourself the board's greatest football genius?

Lotta smart fans here, chief. Take your insults somewhere else.

[DK Sweets]

A lot of the attitudes around here make me realize that there's probably a reason why people are posting in the gameday thread instead of being invited to gameday parties with friends.

[Bigwehrm]

Been here a couple years boss.

[J. Kapp 11]

Been here a couple years boss.

Well, you obviously haven't participated much.

And what kind of "knowledge" does it take to declare a 22-year-old quarterback with a winning record in the NFL and 5 game-winning drives in 19 starts a bust? That's not knowledge, man. That's your opinion, and not a very well supported one, at that.

But what the hell do I know? I'm just a no-account hump with casual football knowledge.

[James]

I still think the entire offense as a unit needs to play better in order to get better production from them. Teddy is still learning, he's 22 and still learning. The running game has to continue to get better. Along with the pass blocking. It's going to be difficult to move the ball when your best offensive weapon is getting jammed behind the line of scrimmage. Don't like when we are backed up constantly almost after every 1st down play. When we are in passing situations, Teddy has all types of pressure in his face. And yes, there are times where he has a clean pocket and still misses a WR, but it happens with every QB. The O-Line just has to continue giving him time to throw and open more lanes for our RB.

That being said, I still believe in Teddy. He is the guy. When it came down to the stretch, he has found ways to get the ball down the field. Who cares if the ball wasn't perfectly placed? Zimmer preaches every week that good teams finds ways to win. And that's what the Vikings have been doing. 3 wins since the bye and we are 3-0 in the division. Be patient. Teddy will get better. The offense will get better. Every week will be different. You can't expect them to beat every other team like the beat the Chargers in week 3. Today wasn't our best performance but atleast we still got the W. Now they can look at the tape and try to fix the mistakes all while having a good record.

[Lars]

Well first, it isn't a bigger liability each week, he threw for 2 TD last week and over 300 yards, his peak of the season. And was basically the architect of that win. So, the facts don't back you up.

Second, your whole post implied that Teddy did nothing today, I assumed you must not have missed the final 5 minutes so I then assumed you didn't give him any credit for it, thus the luck statement. If you aren't giving him credit for that then, fine... you're entitled to that opinion. I just happen to thing its totally wrong.

Third, I never said he or our passing attack was a juggernaut. I think he has a lot he needs to work on. I just happen to think that he can improve because of the grit he shows in games like the final five minutes today, you should really watch it

Fourth, no rage at all here. I didn't use caps, I didn't throw an insult, I didn't accuse you of anything, all I did was gently poke at what I think is a narrow focused knee jerk reaction to the game.


Either way, we won and no matter what asterisk you want to add to the yards and the TD or how many footnotes you want to add to it Teddy pulled us out of the hole he mostly dug. I sincerely hope he stops digging holes but the fact remains the passing attack HE mounted at the end won us this game. Period.

Bridgewater is a 22 year old in his second season. He hasn't played a full season yet. He obviously has a lot to learn. He's playing behind a suspect O-line which isn't helping. In spite of the sophomore curse, the Vikings have a 5-2 record one game out from the Packers. He wins. I think the kid deserves a break.

[Lars]

I still think the entire offense as a unit needs to play better in order to get better production from them. Teddy is still learning, he's 22 and still learning. The running game has to continue to get better. Along with the pass blocking. It's going to be difficult to move the ball when your best offensive weapon is getting jammed behind the line of scrimmage. Don't like when we are backed up constantly almost after every 1st down play. When we are in passing situations, Teddy has all types of pressure in his face. And yes, there are times where he has a clean pocket and still misses a WR, but it happens with every QB. The O-Line just has to continue giving him time to throw and open more lanes for our RB.

That being said, I still believe in Teddy. He is the guy. When it came down to the stretch, he has found ways to get the ball down the field. Who cares if the ball wasn't perfectly placed? Zimmer preaches every week that good teams finds ways to win. And that's what the Vikings have been doing. 3 wins since the bye and we are 3-0 in the division. Be patient. Teddy will get better. The offense will get better. Every week will be different. You can't expect them to beat every other team like the beat the Chargers in week 3. Today wasn't our best performance but atleast we still got the W. Now they can look at the tape and try to fix the mistakes all while having a good record.

Better Bridgewater than Ponder.

[James]

Better Bridgewater than Ponder.

Exactly. Even with pressure in his face Bridgewater can go through his progression if given enough time, whereas Ponder sticks to one read and forces it regardless if the guy's open or not. He's also very inaccurate. Ponder wouldn't be able to win a game like this from behind. He definitely wouldn't be able to succeed without Peterson making explosive plays every game. Peterson has been held in check majority of the time this season and there's no way Ponder could've put the team on his back. He could've even make it as a back-up in Oakland of all places so that shows you the type of value he has in this league.

Despite his slow starts, Bridgewater has stepped up when it mattered most. Teams gameplan differently every week. This week they tried to slow down Diggs and pretty much succeeded until late 4th quarter. But they were in position to take this win from us. If not for Bridgewater staying cool and collect and trusting his WRs, we probably lose this game. People shouldn't be so hard on Teddy. It's only his second year and people will throw him all kinds of looks on defense. He's 22 not 32. We're playing against a divisional opponent who knows this team because we have to play each other twice every year.

People can say all they want that we played a "crappy" Bears team but this is the NFL. Just because a team is 2-5, 1-6, or 0-7 doesn't mean they're not capable of upsetting a better team. They're last 3 games have been very close wins and losses anyway. That's why I love Zimmers idea of not paying attention to the stats and the hype. If you start losing and keep stressing over the fact that you're losing to a team that you assumed you were going to get an easy victory over, that leads to frustration, which also often leads to a loss. I think the 49ers game was a great example because everyone took them lightly because they loss their HC and several players during the offseason.

[808vikingsfan]

Gotta love Zimmer. This team is coming together.




POSTGAME LOCKER ROOM AFTER BEATING THE BEARS

[DK Sweets]

Aaron Rodgers had 189 yards against the Bears in Chicago.

Aaron Rodgers had a much worse game against the Broncos in Denver.

Is he a QB the Packers should give up on?

I'm not here saying that Teddy will ever sniff Rodgers' greatness, but if one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game is allowed to struggle, surely our young guy can be allowed some wiggle room as long as he pulls it together when it matters most.

I guess the biggest thing for me is that I don't feel the same way about our offense now as I did in 2012. When Ponder was the QB, I felt like Adrian needed 120+ yards for us to have a chance. I feel like we always have a chance now. Teddy isn't Pro Bowl material yet, but I have faith that he can be better than he is now.

[Funkytown]

PUTN RETURNS>>> IM CELERBRATEING !!@#!@#

Here you go:

65-yard punt return TD for Marcus Sherels. He now owns the team record for most career PR TDs with 3.

All 3 of Sherels' PR TDs have come on the road - at Detroit (9/30/12), at NYG (10/21/13) and at Chicago (11/1/15).

[Mothman]

I bet Jim is pleased as punch. I am glad for him, he has endured a lot in enemy territory.

I was pleased as punch, although I'll confess, I wasn't feeling confident at all with about 5 minutes left in the game and the Vikes trailing. The game had the feel of another close loss at Soldier Field for the Vikes. Then, all of a sudden, they started making plays! That TD pass to Diggs stunned the crowd and sent us Vikes fans in attendance soaring out of our seats. When Diggs made his move and headed for the corner I was just screaming "Run! RUN!" at the top of my lungs. He made a great effort to finish the play and get into the endzone. I'm lovin' that kid.

Johnson's catch to help set up the win was a great effort too.

I thought the o-line did a much better job of run blocking and Peterson was hitting the holes well. He made some cuts that were just amazing to watch and on more than one play, he was close to taking it the distance only to be tackled by the last defender in his way. On a couple of those plays, there were gasps from the crowd. It was cool to sense that everyone around me understood how dangerous he is with the ball in his hands.

I understand the criticisms of Bridgewater's performance. He was underwhelming for most of the game but to his credit, he made the plays he had to at the end. One thing that jumps out to me when I watch him in person is how little zip he puts on the ball most of the time. However, there are times, when he needs to put more on a throw, that he seems capable of doing so. It's perplexing.

The defense played well (some of the tackling, in particular, was very sharp) but you could see them having a hard time with Jeffery and when Cutler smelled a blitz, that's where he was going with the ball.

One more observation: Kendricks is FAST. That guy covers ground in a hurry. He's fun to watch. So is Barr. The Vikes have serious speed at LB now.

Speaking of Barr: there was a play in the second half where it looked like he wanted to blitz. His eyes must have been focused on the backfield because he took a step or two forward and ran right into the back of his one of his teammates. It was pretty funny and I don't think the play amounted to much so there was no harm done.

Overall, it certainly wasn't the Vikings finest performance but they got the win in a tough place for them to win so I left the stadium very happy. I had some nice conversations with Bears fans at the game and on the way out. As usual, when I go these games, they were a class act. The Vikes were well-represented in the crowd too. I saw a lot of purple.

Thanks to Steve, Landon and everybody else who thought of me yesterday. It's too bad we weren't all at the game together!

[Mothman]

Teddy Bridgewater returns to winning form just in time for Vikings

For 3½ quarters Sunday, Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was playing his poorest game since the dreadful season opener, with his accuracy and, in one instance, his better judgment fading on third down.

The interception he threw just before halftime led to a touchdown for the Chicago Bears. He left six points on the field in the third quarter when he overthrew Mike Wallace as the speedy wideout was streaking down the right sideline. Another drive stalled when he winged a pass wide of open slot receiver Jarius Wright.

When Bridgewater walked out to the huddle with the Vikings trailing by seven with 4 minutes, 49 seconds remaining, he reminded himself to forget all about that.

“I told myself, ‘Hit the reset button.’ Whatever happened earlier in the game, it’s in the past,” Bridgewater said. “You have another turn to go down and get some points.”