Teddy Bridgewater

[StumpHunter]

I find it interesting that we have a 5 page thread about a player that is not on the team anymore

Probably the same reason we have a very long thread on the signing of Tajae Sharpe at pretty much league minimum.

We're really, really bored.

This is the correct answer.

[RandyMoss84]

I find it interesting that we have a 5 page thread about a player that is not on the team anymore

Probably the same reason we have a very long thread on the signing of Tajae Sharpe at pretty much league minimum.

We're really, really bored.

Yeah, at least we will have the draft to look forward to next month

[Pondering Her Percy]

Nobody is saying cousins is better “just because of numbers”. The initial comparison was comparing 2015 teddy to 2019 cousins. That’s what we were comparing. I mean in general, if anyone thinks teddy is a superior passer than I don’t know what to tell you. But there is more to it than that. Either way, I compared the two seasons quite close. I don’t know how anyone can possibly say teddy performed at a higher level in 2015. He hardly performed IMO. But clearly this argument is now pointing in another direction. But again, the initial comparison was 2015 and 2019

I'm not making a statement of anything, PHP, except that there's something about Teddy Bridgewater that works. He's one of those guys who somehow gets the job done. Now it certainly hasn't hurt that he's had two playoff caliber teams in front of him. No doubt. But I honestly don't understand why you want to trash the guy. He did a good job for us. Even if we won "in spite of Teddy," as you claim, he did win 11 games and would have won a playoff game if not for Blair Walsh. He also did a fantastic job for New Orleans in 2019. He'll definitely be tested in Carolina with a roster that doesn't compare to what he had in the Big Easy, but I find it impossible not to root for the guy.

And for the record, I think it's unfair to compare the work of a 2nd-year quarterback to the work of an 8th year quarterback. The sample size is small, but the more fair comparison is 2019 Teddy vs. 2019 Cousins. But even that is folly, in my opinion. Why compare? They're different quarterbacks. 2018 Tom Brady wasn't near the QB that 2007 Tom Brady was, yet 2018 Brady won the Super Bowl while 2007 Brady lost. My point being, even the same guy can be different from year to year, and so can his circumstances.

The question doesn't seem to be whether Teddy Bridgewater is better than Kirk Cousins. It's whether Teddy Bridgewater is any good at all. You apparently don't think so. I disagree. I say he's 16-5 in his last 21. Maybe he's not an all-pro. Maybe he's not HOF material. Heck, maybe he's not even as good as Kirk Cousins. But winning 76% of your games means something. He belongs in the league.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t dislike bridgewater and think he’s some trash QB. But I think he’s also getting way more credit for what he did in Minnesota than he should. When you do next to nothing in the pass game and get carried by a HOF RB it’s hard for me to say, yeah he’s good or better than Kirk cousins for that matter. Like yeah we had a great RB this year but Kirk also carried a lot of weight himself.

Like I can look at a game like Philly or Denver and say “Yeah, Kirk cousins won us that game”. I don’t think I can do that with any game in 2015 with teddy. I guess the Chicago game. A team that was brutal and checked out by that point of the season. Outside of that, he threw for more than 1 td in one game (Detroit). Not that TDs are the end all be all but he just didn’t do anything in the pass game. Hence why we were 31st in passing offense. He was averaging less than 1 TD a game.

Josh Allen went 10-6 this year in buffalo and threw 6 more TDs than teddy did in 2015. But I don’t think anyone is saying josh Allen is a good passer. And he probably had a better season than teddy did and had less offensive weapons. One of my best friends is a die hard bills fan and might be the most level headed bills fan I know. He’s struggling to get behind Allen. He said every time he drops back he holds his breath. Just doesn’t trust him at all. Even getting diggs he said I can see diggs blowing his top with him at QB.

So I guess my thing with teddy is, I just don’t get all the praise. If he actually contributed to the pass game in 2015 and showed a lot of potential in that area then sure let’s believe. But he didn’t. He really didn’t even make a second year jump. The team made the jump because they had AP where they didn’t in 2014. Teddy stayed stagnant. It’s hard to get behind that.

[J. Kapp 11]

I'm not making a statement of anything, PHP, except that there's something about Teddy Bridgewater that works. He's one of those guys who somehow gets the job done. Now it certainly hasn't hurt that he's had two playoff caliber teams in front of him. No doubt. But I honestly don't understand why you want to trash the guy. He did a good job for us. Even if we won "in spite of Teddy," as you claim, he did win 11 games and would have won a playoff game if not for Blair Walsh. He also did a fantastic job for New Orleans in 2019. He'll definitely be tested in Carolina with a roster that doesn't compare to what he had in the Big Easy, but I find it impossible not to root for the guy.

And for the record, I think it's unfair to compare the work of a 2nd-year quarterback to the work of an 8th year quarterback. The sample size is small, but the more fair comparison is 2019 Teddy vs. 2019 Cousins. But even that is folly, in my opinion. Why compare? They're different quarterbacks. 2018 Tom Brady wasn't near the QB that 2007 Tom Brady was, yet 2018 Brady won the Super Bowl while 2007 Brady lost. My point being, even the same guy can be different from year to year, and so can his circumstances.

The question doesn't seem to be whether Teddy Bridgewater is better than Kirk Cousins. It's whether Teddy Bridgewater is any good at all. You apparently don't think so. I disagree. I say he's 16-5 in his last 21. Maybe he's not an all-pro. Maybe he's not HOF material. Heck, maybe he's not even as good as Kirk Cousins. But winning 76% of your games means something. He belongs in the league.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t dislike bridgewater and think he’s some trash QB. But I think he’s also getting way more credit for what he did in Minnesota than he should. When you do next to nothing in the pass game and get carried by a HOF RB it’s hard for me to say, yeah he’s good or better than Kirk cousins for that matter. Like yeah we had a great RB this year but Kirk also carried a lot of weight himself.

Like I can look at a game like Philly or Denver and say “Yeah, Kirk cousins won us that game”. I don’t think I can do that with any game in 2015 with teddy. I guess the Chicago game. A team that was brutal and checked out by that point of the season. Outside of that, he threw for more than 1 td in one game (Detroit). Not that TDs are the end all be all but he just didn’t do anything in the pass game. Hence why we were 31st in passing offense. He was averaging less than 1 TD a game.

Josh Allen went 10-6 this year in buffalo and threw 6 more TDs than teddy did in 2015. But I don’t think anyone is saying josh Allen is a good passer. And he probably had a better season than teddy did and had less offensive weapons. One of my best friends is a die hard bills fan and might be the most level headed bills fan I know. He’s struggling to get behind Allen. He said every time he drops back he holds his breath. Just doesn’t trust him at all. Even getting diggs he said I can see diggs blowing his top with him at QB.

So I guess my thing with teddy is, I just don’t get all the praise. If he actually contributed to the pass game in 2015 and showed a lot of potential in that area then sure let’s believe. But he didn’t. He really didn’t even make a second year jump. The team made the jump because they had AP where they didn’t in 2014. Teddy stayed stagnant. It’s hard to get behind that.

Well, that's a matter of opinion, which is, of course, your right. A lot of us saw improvement with our eyes in 2015 and believed he was poised to take a step forward in 2016 before the injury. And I personally believe this past year, when he filled in for Brees, Bridgewater played some really good football. I've watched a lot of his highlights, and he delivered passes that he couldn't have made in 2014 or 2015. His velocity was at least a couple ticks higher, and he hit plenty of deep balls with both touch and arm strength. Obviously he was on a very good team, but beating Seattle on the road is no small feat, nor is beating Chicago on the road (we couldn't do it).

I guess my point is that Teddy's career didn't stop in 2015. Even if one were to concede that he wasn't ready to take a step forward in '16, it's virtually inarguable that he did in '19. I think you'll see him have a good year in Carolina. They got him a weapon in Robby Anderson, and Christian McCaffrey helps any quarterback. We'll see. I'm just happy for the man. He's been through a lot, and if nothing else, he was a great teammate in Minnesota.

[VikingsVictorious]

I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t dislike bridgewater and think he’s some trash QB. But I think he’s also getting way more credit for what he did in Minnesota than he should. When you do next to nothing in the pass game and get carried by a HOF RB it’s hard for me to say, yeah he’s good or better than Kirk cousins for that matter. Like yeah we had a great RB this year but Kirk also carried a lot of weight himself.

Like I can look at a game like Philly or Denver and say “Yeah, Kirk cousins won us that game”. I don’t think I can do that with any game in 2015 with teddy. I guess the Chicago game. A team that was brutal and checked out by that point of the season. Outside of that, he threw for more than 1 td in one game (Detroit). Not that TDs are the end all be all but he just didn’t do anything in the pass game. Hence why we were 31st in passing offense. He was averaging less than 1 TD a game.

Josh Allen went 10-6 this year in buffalo and threw 6 more TDs than teddy did in 2015. But I don’t think anyone is saying josh Allen is a good passer. And he probably had a better season than teddy did and had less offensive weapons. One of my best friends is a die hard bills fan and might be the most level headed bills fan I know. He’s struggling to get behind Allen. He said every time he drops back he holds his breath. Just doesn’t trust him at all. Even getting diggs he said I can see diggs blowing his top with him at QB.

So I guess my thing with teddy is, I just don’t get all the praise. If he actually contributed to the pass game in 2015 and showed a lot of potential in that area then sure let’s believe. But he didn’t. He really didn’t even make a second year jump. The team made the jump because they had AP where they didn’t in 2014. Teddy stayed stagnant. It’s hard to get behind that.

Well, that's a matter of opinion, which is, of course, your right. A lot of us saw improvement with our eyes in 2015 and believed he was poised to take a step forward in 2016 before the injury. And I personally believe this past year, when he filled in for Brees, Bridgewater played some really good football. I've watched a lot of his highlights, and he delivered passes that he couldn't have made in 2014 or 2015. His velocity was at least a couple ticks higher, and he hit plenty of deep balls with both touch and arm strength. Obviously he was on a very good team, but beating Seattle on the road is no small feat, nor is beating Chicago on the road (we couldn't do it).

I guess my point is that Teddy's career didn't stop in 2015. Even if one were to concede that he wasn't ready to take a step forward in '16, it's virtually inarguable that he did in '19. I think you'll see him have a good year in Carolina. They got him a weapon in Robby Anderson, and Christian McCaffrey helps any quarterback. We'll see. I'm just happy for the man. He's been through a lot, and if nothing else, he was a great teammate in Minnesota.

I think Teddy was ready to take a big step forward in 16. That injury hurt us so bad. Had to start trading for QBs and Bradford wasn't a bad move. It just didn't work out in the end due to injuries to the line and then to himself. Then we had to pay a big money contract for Cousins which under the circumstances was the right thing to do. I think if Teddy didn't get injured it was certainly possible we could have won a Super Bowl with him. All that said Cousins is better IMO than Teddy was ever going to be.

[StumpHunter]

Like I can look at a game like Philly or Denver and say “Yeah, Kirk cousins won us that game”. I don’t think I can do that with any game in 2015 with teddy. I guess the Chicago game. A team that was brutal and checked out by that point of the season. Outside of that, he threw for more than 1 td in one game (Detroit).

Denver was a 7-9 team QB'd by a third string QB. Philly was 9-7 team that played in the worst division in football. Not exactly the pinnacle of teams there.

Two division games where Teddy just went off are just as big if not bigger.

Neither really proves either QB is a difference maker, and in fact if you are looking at which QB does better in higher scoring games, Cousins is actually 2-8-1 in games where the defense gave up 24 points or more for the Vikings, while Teddy was 5-4, with most of those coming when he didn't have AP in 2014.

[J. Kapp 11]

Well, that's a matter of opinion, which is, of course, your right. A lot of us saw improvement with our eyes in 2015 and believed he was poised to take a step forward in 2016 before the injury. And I personally believe this past year, when he filled in for Brees, Bridgewater played some really good football. I've watched a lot of his highlights, and he delivered passes that he couldn't have made in 2014 or 2015. His velocity was at least a couple ticks higher, and he hit plenty of deep balls with both touch and arm strength. Obviously he was on a very good team, but beating Seattle on the road is no small feat, nor is beating Chicago on the road (we couldn't do it).

I guess my point is that Teddy's career didn't stop in 2015. Even if one were to concede that he wasn't ready to take a step forward in '16, it's virtually inarguable that he did in '19. I think you'll see him have a good year in Carolina. They got him a weapon in Robby Anderson, and Christian McCaffrey helps any quarterback. We'll see. I'm just happy for the man. He's been through a lot, and if nothing else, he was a great teammate in Minnesota.

I think Teddy was ready to take a big step forward in 16. That injury hurt us so bad. Had to start trading for QBs and Bradford wasn't a bad move. It just didn't work out in the end due to injuries to the line and then to himself. Then we had to pay a big money contract for Cousins which under the circumstances was the right thing to do. I think if Teddy didn't get injured it was certainly possible we could have won a Super Bowl with him. All that said Cousins is better IMO than Teddy was ever going to be.

Totally agree about 2016. We started so well. Our defense was beginning to become truly terrifying. Hunter broke out with 12.5 sacks. Rhodes was a true shutdown corner. Harry was the best safety in football. Griffen was in his prime. Linval owned the middle. Things just fell apart offensively, starting with Teddy and continuing with the offensive line and then the Norv debacle. Zimmer's eye. It was a mess by the end. Hard to watch.

I don't even want to compare the two quarterbacks. They're so different. And it really doesn't matter. Teddy isn't our QB, and Cousins is.

[Vikecycle]

Well, that's a matter of opinion, which is, of course, your right. A lot of us saw improvement with our eyes in 2015 and believed he was poised to take a step forward in 2016 before the injury. And I personally believe this past year, when he filled in for Brees, Bridgewater played some really good football. I've watched a lot of his highlights, and he delivered passes that he couldn't have made in 2014 or 2015. His velocity was at least a couple ticks higher, and he hit plenty of deep balls with both touch and arm strength. Obviously he was on a very good team, but beating Seattle on the road is no small feat, nor is beating Chicago on the road (we couldn't do it).

I guess my point is that Teddy's career didn't stop in 2015. Even if one were to concede that he wasn't ready to take a step forward in '16, it's virtually inarguable that he did in '19. I think you'll see him have a good year in Carolina. They got him a weapon in Robby Anderson, and Christian McCaffrey helps any quarterback. We'll see. I'm just happy for the man. He's been through a lot, and if nothing else, he was a great teammate in Minnesota.

I think Teddy was ready to take a big step forward in 16. That injury hurt us so bad. Had to start trading for QBs and Bradford wasn't a bad move. It just didn't work out in the end due to injuries to the line and then to himself. Then we had to pay a big money contract for Cousins which under the circumstances was the right thing to do. I think if Teddy didn't get injured it was certainly possible we could have won a Super Bowl with him. All that said Cousins is better IMO than Teddy was ever going to be.

Bradford's 2016 was well beyond anything Bridgwater has ever done in his career, so how could Bridgewater have improved our chances that year?

[Pondering Her Percy]

Like I can look at a game like Philly or Denver and say “Yeah, Kirk cousins won us that game”. I don’t think I can do that with any game in 2015 with teddy. I guess the Chicago game. A team that was brutal and checked out by that point of the season. Outside of that, he threw for more than 1 td in one game (Detroit).

Denver was a 7-9 team QB'd by a third string QB. Philly was 9-7 team that played in the worst division in football. Not exactly the pinnacle of teams there.

Two division games where Teddy just went off are just as big if not bigger.

Neither really proves either QB is a difference maker, and in fact if you are looking at which QB does better in higher scoring games, Cousins is actually 2-8-1 in games where the defense gave up 24 points or more for the Vikings, while Teddy was 5-4, with most of those coming when he didn't have AP in 2014.

How’d I know you’d come in claiming how those teams weren’t any good? Similar to what you did with the saints. They were a better team (a much better team) until cousins beat them. Then it turns into they weren’t as good. If cousins beat the chiefs, it would be because they didn’t have Mahomes. If he beat the bears, it would be because they didn’t end up being good by years end. If he beat the packers, it would be because they were the biggest poser in the nfc. If he beat the Seahawks, it would be because they were only a wild card team and barely beat Philly with McCown. He beats the 13-3 saints on the road in the playoffs and it’s, well they weren’t as good as we were and so on. How does the guy win? He has no hope because there is always some excuse as to why this win or that win wasn’t credible. Nobody is asking you to praise the guy, but give credit where credit is due.

As for the teams I mentioned, Philly was a playoff team, I don’t care what division they played in. No less Philly probably had a legit shot to beat Seattle in the playoffs if Josh McCown didn’t have to come in for wentz.

And yeah sure, denver wasn’t great by any means but they had a top 5-10 defense at the time and we were down 20-0 at half. I don’t care if it was the bengals beating us 20-0 at halftime. If you come back from that deficit, you did a damn good job no matter who the team is you’re playing. QBs were 0-99 when being down 20+ points at halftime. That should say enough right there. No less to come back from that much against a good defense and a coach that found ways to get cousins off his game in the past.

And are you talking about divisional games he “went off in” this year with New Orleans? Because he only played one divisional opponent. And if so you’re talking about Philly and denver not being “pinnacle teams” but talking about him going off against the buccaneers? A team that, at the time of that game, had the dead last ranked pass defense in the entire nfl and ended up with the 30th overall ranked pass defense by years end. That’s like bragging about cousins going off against the lions in week 7 when their pass defense was just as pathetic.

I don’t really know what you’re trying to get at but you seem like you’re really trying to dig for a game or two where teddy actually played well (as a passer). These a few and far between. Like did teddy play better this year, yeah he did. But it was also 5 games. When he plays a full season this year then we can really assess him and what type of passer he really is. Until then, we’re getting nowhere. It’s unfair to compare his 5 games to cousins 15 this year. It’s supposedly unfair to compare 2015 teddy to 2019 cousins. So really, we’re talking in circles each saying the other persons argument is unfair. We will be able to assess this after the 2020 season (knock on wood neither get hurt).

But going along with what kapp said, he’s not our QB anymore so why even get into this? I don’t know. It seems to come up here and there. The same happened with keenum. I think it comes up because members that aren’t fans of cousins feel like they need to prove that keenum or teddy were better options than cousins. So far, neither keenum or teddy have proved they were better options. Keenum is completely off the table at this point and is again on the bench. Something I called out in just about every keenum argument. That he will go somewhere as a stop gap (denver), maybe get another chance to start elsewhere and continue below average play (Washington) and then end up back on the bench (Cleveland). Those were my exact words in those arguments and it’s exactly what happened. I remember specifically when I was arguing how keenum sucked in Denver, the anti-cousins fans, you included, made every excuse in the book to say how Denver had nobody, they weren’t a good team, he lost his WRs, he was still a better option than cousins, etc. No. He’s now a backup, again. 3 teams in 3 years since his miraculous luck driven year in Minnesota. I wouldn’t be surprised one bit to see those same excuses again if teddy doesn’t do well in Carolina.

Not saying this will happen with teddy but he still has a ton to prove as a passer and is nowhere near cousins talent in that regard. I currently think teddy is a better QB than keenum simply because teddy is conservative and is a game manager where keenum is usually the opposite and makes too many bone headed plays. Teams will take a game manager over an inconsistent QB. Teddy has consistency but it’s the consistency of a lesser Alex Smith. A touchdown pass a game (or none), throw for 170 yards most games, sometimes maybe a 2 td game, will have a random 4 td game against a bad team and then come back to earth. Never does teddy play really bad and throw 3 ints in a game. He just very rarely carries his team through the air.

But overall, the comparison is getting us nowhere and nobody is changing anyone’s mind. Minds are made up and until we have further proof as to what kind of QB teddy really is, it will remain a mystery

[halfgiz]

The difference with Keenum vs Cousins is...Keenum had the offense playing as a team giving 110%. I have only seen us playing as a team a handful of games the last 2 years with Cousins.
Most of the games conflict on the sidelines.
Hopefully this is Cousins year...

A win is a win no matter what the QB talent is...Stats don't always win games.

[StumpHunter]

The difference with Keenum vs Cousins is...Keenum had the offense playing as a team giving 110%. I have only seen us playing as a team a handful of games the last 2 years with Cousins.
Most of the games conflict on the sidelines.
Hopefully this is Cousins year...

A win is a win no matter what the QB talent is...Stats don't always win games.

Leadership is so huge. One thing about Case, you watched him in 2017 and it was clear he was giving it his all nearly every game. I have never seen a QB who played at his peak so consistently, and I think that affected the players around him to see him do that. It is just too bad his peak was Aaron Rodgers on a very bad day or we probably win the SB that year.

[808vikingsfan]

The difference with Keenum vs Cousins is...Keenum had the offense playing as a team giving 110%. I have only seen us playing as a team a handful of games the last 2 years with Cousins.
Most of the games conflict on the sidelines.
Hopefully this is Cousins year...

A win is a win no matter what the QB talent is...Stats don't always win games.

Hope breeds effort. It's hard to put 110% when you don't believe.

[Pondering Her Percy]

The difference with Keenum vs Cousins is...Keenum had the offense playing as a team giving 110%. I have only seen us playing as a team a handful of games the last 2 years with Cousins.
Most of the games conflict on the sidelines.
Hopefully this is Cousins year...

A win is a win no matter what the QB talent is...Stats don't always win games.

Hope breeds effort. It's hard to put 110% when you don't believe.

Which is all speculation. Not sure who doesn’t believe in who and where you’re even getting that from

[Pondering Her Percy]

The difference with Keenum vs Cousins is...Keenum had the offense playing as a team giving 110%. I have only seen us playing as a team a handful of games the last 2 years with Cousins.
Most of the games conflict on the sidelines.
Hopefully this is Cousins year...

A win is a win no matter what the QB talent is...Stats don't always win games.

Leadership is so huge. One thing about Case, you watched him in 2017 and it was clear he was giving it his all nearly every game. I have never seen a QB who played at his peak so consistently, and I think that affected the players around him to see him do that. It is just too bad his peak was Aaron Rodgers on a very bad day or we probably win the SB that year.

Have you seen a Vikings QB that hasn’t given it there all? Like any proof of any QB not giving it there all? Any obvious signs they weren’t giving it their all? These guys are paid millions and if for some reason they aren’t “giving it their all”, they’d be benched or it would be clear as day. Even guys that weren’t good like Christian ponder. I don’t think there was ever once where ponder didn’t give it his all. Christian ponder just wasn’t good. The whole effort thing and giving it their all is just a weak argument IMO. It’s something you 1.) can never prove and 2.) have no real idea about. Effort and giving it their all more or less just isn’t the correct wording. These guys don’t go out there every week and not try. Watching pre game speeches and stuff, I know someone like cousins gets his team pumped up. So did keenum. I don’t think teddy was as vocal but was more liked as a person. But I don’t think any of our QBs as of late lacked leadership in any way.

[StumpHunter]

Leadership is so huge. One thing about Case, you watched him in 2017 and it was clear he was giving it his all nearly every game. I have never seen a QB who played at his peak so consistently, and I think that affected the players around him to see him do that. It is just too bad his peak was Aaron Rodgers on a very bad day or we probably win the SB that year.

Have you seen a Vikings QB that hasn’t given it there all? Like any proof of any QB not giving it there all? Any obvious signs they weren’t giving it their all? These guys are paid millions and if for some reason they aren’t “giving it their all”, they’d be benched or it would be clear as day. Even guys that weren’t good like Christian ponder. I don’t think there was ever once where ponder didn’t give it his all. Christian ponder just wasn’t good. The whole effort thing and giving it their all is just a weak argument IMO. It’s something you 1.) can never prove and 2.) have no real idea about. Effort and giving it their all more or less just isn’t the correct wording. These guys don’t go out there every week and not try. Watching pre game speeches and stuff, I know someone like cousins gets his team pumped up. So did keenum. I don’t think teddy was as vocal but was more liked as a person. But I don’t think any of our QBs as of late lacked leadership in any way.

I think I could have been more clear. Case was playing at peak performance nearly every game. I think most QBs try to do that every game, but only accomplish it a couple of times a season. Rodgers isn't throwing for 5 TDs 400 yards every Sunday, but every once in a while he is just on and unstoppable. Case was on almost all the time. It is just his "on" was that of a top 10 QB's average day.

That is a pretty big knock on his potential as a starting QB, but it also probably was very inspiring for his teammates.