The Teddy Bridgewater Thread

[HardcoreVikesFan]

How many years have media-types #### on Andy Dalton and Cam Newton? Look how they are playing this year.

If anyone wants to judge Bridgewater and count him out already - fine. You are entitled to your opinion.

I refuse to count him out until this offense has better players and until the play calling actually makes sense.

[mondry]

How many years have media-types #### on Andy Dalton and Cam Newton? Look how they are playing this year.

If anyone wants to judge Bridgewater and count him out already - fine. You are entitled to your opinion.

I refuse to count him out until this offense has better players and until the play calling actually makes sense.

You mean that 1st and 10 run with Diggs when there's 9 guys in the box ready to stop AD anyway since we run 72% of the time on first down wasn't a good idea? Can't believe that went for a -6 yard loss.

You make a good point, everyone considered Andy Dalton trash until this year, it's taken 5 seasons before it finally seems to have clicked for him and he's had a top 5 guy in AJ green this entire time not to mention an above average offensive line and above average pass blocking / receiving back in Gio Bernard. We are well behind them in pretty much all categories, including QB experience which no one seems to think matters. Teddy needs more weapons, a better O-line, and more time to learn, probably even a new coordinator.

Newton's just a freak, you can't find a guy like that without the #1 pick but you're right, sometimes guys just struggle and have to learn the game for a bit before it clicks.

We knew this team had massive holes on both sides of the ball and what did they do? They spend 2 straight drafts fixing the defense which has paid dividends over there but no one should be shocked to see the offense struggling now. The offense will get some new toys next time around.

[John_Viveiros]

I am still waiting on Teddy - not going to make a final decision. Nice article on the Daily Norseman today about how useless Peterson is as far as helping Teddy be a better QB, by the way. This topic seems to generate a lot of heat, and few of us seem to want to just see how things play out over the next year and a half. We gave Ponder three years.

Anyway, what is prompting this post is that everyone's golden boy, Derek Carr, #### the bed on Sunday. The description from MMBQ:

The Raiders led the hated Chiefs in the Black Hole 20-14 with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter Sunday, and Carr was driving Oakland to a bigger lead. Over the next nine minutes, however, Carr handed the Chiefs a resounding win in what could be the last Raiders-Chiefs game in Oakland. His first interception, by Josh Mauga, led to a two-yard touchdown drive. He second interception, by Marcus Peters, led to a 13-yard yard Chiefs touchdown drive. And Carr's third was returned for a touchdown by former Raider Tyvon Branch.

Seriously. It that was our QB, I can't imagine the stink we'd be making.

Both QB's have shown good and bad streaks. I'm a big fan of wins, and as much as you all want to say it's a team game, a good QB is demonstrably good for 4-8 wins a season, all other players being more or less the same. I've posted the comparisons before (with Rodgers/Elway/Romo/Manning/Palmer/etc. vs. without), many times. Carr has 8 wins and 20 losses, Bridgewater has 14 wins and 10 losses.

The biggest tease QB ever, Matthew Stafford, at most times had the most dominant WR in the league and a decent #2, plus a good TE, and at times a dominant defense, and yet his record over the last five years is 36-40. Someone on the now-defunct ( ) Grantland site called him Stat Padford (always makes me chuckle). Seven years in to his career... don't ask him to win a game for you, because he can't.

[John_Viveiros]

We knew this team had massive holes on both sides of the ball and what did they do? They spend 2 straight drafts fixing the defense which has paid dividends over there but no one should be shocked to see the offense struggling now. The offense will get some new toys next time around.

Post of the week, for me.

I think our new toys have been pretty good on D. That's either good scouting or luck. If we get unlucky looking for offensive pieces of the puzzle, this offensive malaise could drag on a while. It's not like there really are 6 can't miss prospects out there to draft in our slots when the time comes next year. They could all bust. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble.

[The Breeze]

One of my main problems with bridgewater is that he has bad throwing mechanics. The announcers kept bringing it up yesterday about his poor throwing motion. He had that issue coming out of college and still has what would be considered bad mechanics. I hoped they would have improved after 2 years.

I may have missed it, but has he tried to seriously change them? There are guys like Tom House who focus specifically on throwing mechanics. There are quite a few NFL qb's that he has worked with. I don't understand why a NFL guy wouldn't try to fix it when it's been brought up repeatedly about how bad his throwing motion is.

His throwing motion is awful and I hate it. He does not drive the ball with any consistency period. When I view him on those terms alone I do not see him as an NFL caliber QB. He does have a lot of other tools though and one would think that he could fix the mechanics.
My thought is that since the team has had significant success that he hasn't felt a real need to work on it as hard as ohter aspects of his game. But maybe, the more tape he sees of how this issue holds him back the harder he'll work to correct.
Either way, I'm firmly in the camp that it's high time to have serious competition in camp next year.

[The Breeze]

Post of the week, for me.

I think our new toys have been pretty good on D. That's either good scouting or luck. If we get unlucky looking for offensive pieces of the puzzle, this offensive malaise could drag on a while. It's not like there really are 6 can't miss prospects out there to draft in our slots when the time comes next year. They could all bust. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble.

I'm not convinced they have the same level of talent evaluation on the offensive side of the ball. The defense is not better merely because they invested the picks...it's better because Zimmer had a huge hand in evaluating and developing those picks.

CP84 is a serious toy. They could be getting a helluva of a lot more out of a phenomenal athlete like McKinnon as well, IMO.

[John_Viveiros]

I'm not convinced they have the same level of talent evaluation on the offensive side of the ball. The defense is not better merely because they invested the picks...it's better because Zimmer had a huge hand in evaluating and developing those picks.

I'm thinking the same thing, but we really don't have enough information to evaluate it. We have McKinnon, Diggs, and Clemmings on offense from the last two drafts, off the top of my head. Nice prospects, but I'm not ready to say we have any all-Pro players there.

[Mothman]

I'm thinking the same thing, but we really don't have enough information to evaluate it. We have McKinnon, Diggs, and Clemmings on offense from the last two drafts, off the top of my head. Nice prospects, but I'm not ready to say we have any all-Pro players there.

You forgot to include the subject of this thread, John!

[The Breeze]

I'm thinking the same thing, but we really don't have enough information to evaluate it. We have McKinnon, Diggs, and Clemmings on offense from the last two drafts, off the top of my head. Nice prospects, but I'm not ready to say we have any all-Pro players there.

Don't forget Bridgewater!
yeah it remains to be seen what they do in the draft.

[Mothman]

How many years have media-types #### on Andy Dalton and Cam Newton? Look how they are playing this year.

If anyone wants to judge Bridgewater and count him out already - fine. You are entitled to your opinion.

I refuse to count him out until this offense has better players and until the play calling actually makes sense.

I didn't count him out. I just think his ceiling looks low... too low. I don't see anything special in his game and worst of all, I don't see any progress. I'm with Breeze regarding TB's throwing motion and as he said, Bridgewater doesn't drive the ball with any consistency. I also think TB plays timidly, avoiding tight windows, hanging onto the ball too long and eagerly settling for the check down. His deep ball is inaccurate to the point of being detrimental and opposing teams show little to no respect for it. To this point, he's shown very little as far as an effective downfield game and that's a big problem in the NFL because if you can't stretch the field, it's hard to win.

He might be able to adjust, correct and improve on all of the above but what are the odds that's going to happen? If it does, if I've misjudged him, I'll be happy to see him playing QB well for the Vikings.

[Mothman]

Murphy: Vikings' Teddy Bridgewater girds against increasing criticism

Demanding that Bridgewater outduel Arizona gunslinger Carson Palmer in the desert Thursday night is a fool's errand. He does not have the arsenal or acumen to chase the Cardinals (10-2), who boast one of the NFL's most dynamic offenses, not with the Vikings (8-4) simply striving for competency and keeping Adrian Peterson relevant.

But it is not too much to ask Bridgewater to complete a pass that requires observers to at least turn their necks.

Bridgewater only attempted four throws of 20-plus yards against the Seahawks. Three were incomplete. The other was intercepted, a badly overthrown ball toward Stefon Diggs at midfield.

"The ball just got away from me. It happens to everyone," Bridgewater said, unwilling to discuss mechanics or other factors. "It was definitely a big enough window. It was an anticipated throw also. The ball was thrown on time. It was early. It just got away from me."

In the red zone the previous week at Atlanta, he underthrew Kyle Rudolph and was picked off near the goal line. He also missed a wide-open Mike Wallace for a sure touchdown in Chicago.

"We like to take shots down the field, but that's something I'll continue to work on," Bridgewater said. "We haven't had many opportunities throughout the course of the season. But throughout the work week we're out here completing those passes. We're just a few plays from hitting the big one."

Sounds like a warning-track slugger touting his batting-practice bombs.

It's convenient to stroke Bridgewater's poise and confidence, but at some point he has to get dirty and deliver a victory, especially with the Vikings' defense hobbled and Peterson susceptible to being shackled.

Coach Mike Zimmer and offensive coordinator Norv Turner had a sit-down met with Bridgewater on Monday although nobody was willing to read from the minutes.

Zimmer acknowledged his young quarterback hears the freight train coming down the tracks.

"(He) and I talk a good amount about a lot of it," Zimmer said. "I would say he's human. I'm sure he hears things. No one likes to hear how bad you are. I don't know that it affects him. I know we're all human."

[Cliff]

At this point, I just don't think he was that good in the first place. I may be proven wrong but I'm inclined to think it was mostly hype and hope. I'm no longer even buying the idea that he has or had a vastly different ceiling than Ponder. I started doubting that after I saw him play in person for the first time last year. He takes better care of the ball and overall, he's more poised. That's about it. Basically, I think he's just as described by some of the scouts and NFL personnel directors that were quoted in Mike Sando's QB tiers column last summer for ESPN:

I think if Ponder had those things he might have made a decent QB.

[Mothman]

I think if Ponder had those things he might have made a decent QB.

They certainly would have helped him!

[chicagopurple]

ever since ponder was here and slowly Devolved I have questioned our lack of QB coaches. Now we have a nepotism case, where Norv gave his little boy the job as QB coach with really no impressive resume other then sharing genes with NOrv....and we see NO progession. Surprise!......

[TSonn]

I read on another board that we lead the league in 7 step drops. Is there a way to find that info? Seems like a pretty terrible strategy considering our OLine issues.