Do we overrate Teddy Bridgewaters Offensive Weapons?

[VikeMike]

"Norm!"

That's funny! Obviously, I know his name ... but I wonder where that slip came from?

[mansquatch]

I think Wallace's production is as much an issue with the OL as it is TB. Wallace is most dangerous on deep routes and if you can't protect TB long enough to let that develop you cannot use the route. Not excusing TB here, just pointing out that in the deep game, Wallace has more working against him than just the QB.

The question I have watching the game yesterday is during all those drop backs where Teddy would drop, then scrample, and then throw the ball away. Was that because TB missed / didn't see the throw, no one was open, or the OL sucked. I'm sure it was some mix of all three, but not being able to see the WR running the routes, it is easy to blame OL/TB.

KR is looking very over rated IMO, I had that thought also.

I will say for TB, that given the game AP had and the way the D played his most important stat was ZERO INT. He may not have made a big play, but he also didn't make negative play and that helps also when your defense is as good as ours is.

[Mothman]

"Norm!"

That's funny! Obviously, I know his name ... but I wonder where that slip came from?

I don't know but it was entertaining.

[autobon7]

I think Wallace's production is as much an issue with the OL as it is TB. Wallace is most dangerous on deep routes and if you can't protect TB long enough to let that develop you cannot use the route. Not excusing TB here, just pointing out that in the deep game, Wallace has more working against him than just the QB.

The question I have watching the game yesterday is during all those drop backs where Teddy would drop, then scrample, and then throw the ball away. Was that because TB missed / didn't see the throw, no one was open, or the OL sucked. I'm sure it was some mix of all three, but not being able to see the WR running the routes, it is easy to blame OL/TB.

KR is looking very over rated IMO, I had that thought also.

I will say for TB, that given the game AP had and the way the D played his most important stat was ZERO INT. He may not have made a big play, but he also didn't make negative play and that helps also when your defense is as good as ours is.

Great post. I'd like to add that TB is still young and growing as we all know but at this point I would say he is much closer to a game manager than he is a 4 quarters threat. The lack of consistency is what hampers him the most. I think he will grow and get better but it's hard as long time fans for us to sit back and be patient when we are winning now.

[PsyDanny]

I will say for TB, that given the game AP had and the way the D played his most important stat was ZERO INT. He may not have made a big play, but he also didn't make negative play and that helps also when your defense is as good as ours is.

Great post. I'd like to add that TB is still young and growing as we all know but at this point I would say he is much closer to a game manager than he is a 4 quarters threat. The lack of consistency is what hampers him the most. I think he will grow and get better but it's hard as long time fans for us to sit back and be patient when we are winning now.[/quote]

I will say, at least for myself, that I can be more patient when we are winning then when we are not.

[losperros]

I will say, at least for myself, that I can be more patient when we are winning then when we are not.

Exactly. I think most fans are that way.

[mansquatch]

I get that what we see is not exciting, but consider that Teddy had a total 22 attempts yesterday. For him to have a 300 yard game would have required averaging 13.5 yards per attempt, which would be insane. Also in his pedestrian 14 completions for 140 yards, he had 1 TD and really should have had 2 if not for Rudolph's ridiculous drop alone in the endzone.

By contrast Tom Brady had 42 attempts and averaged 7.95 yards per attempt. Now admittedly, Teddy averaged a paltry 6.36 per attempt and that is an issue.

For me the concern isn't yardage when he has half the attempts of the more prolific passers in the league. What is an issue is the quality of the limited throws and that is obviously not where we want it to be. However, we need to recognize that Teddy had 22 attempts in part because AP was a monster yesterday and our Defense allowed us to chew clock and stay in control.

Again, the biggest stat of the day was 0 INT. When the RB and Defense are doing what they are doing on the Vikings, then the passing game is necessarily going to take the back seat stat wise.

I wonder why Turner isn't adding more of the intermediate and short passing game given the offensive line woes. I get needing to take shots to keep the defense honest, but it seems like we've got the talent to make some of the short and mid-range stuff work well. That being said, I'm sure there is more than meets the eye here.

[Mothman]

I will say, at least for myself, that I can be more patient when we are winning then when we are not.

Oddly enough, I think it makes me less patient!

[mosscarter]

bridgewater is killing this team. imagine if we had an actual qb we would be real contenders. not one time in the entire second half did i think teddy was going to complete a long pass downfield. yesterday he looked like ponder, or maybe even worse. he didn't get rid of the ball even when he did have protection. his yardage was once again pathetic; you can't rely on peterson to run for 200 yds every week. bridgewater simply cannot throw the ball down the field consistently.

[fiestavike]

bridgewater is killing this team. imagine if we had an actual qb we would be real contenders. not one time in the entire second half did i think teddy was going to complete a long pass downfield. yesterday he looked like ponder, or maybe even worse. he didn't get rid of the ball even when he did have protection. his yardage was once again pathetic; you can't rely on peterson to run for 200 yds every week. bridgewater simply cannot throw the ball down the field consistently.

Just for fun, double Bridgewaters attempts and his numbers are better than Carr's. Carr had twice as many attempts as Teddy.

Its obvious Teddy has struggled but your post is a bit hyperbolic.

[IrishViking]

bridgewater is killing this team. imagine if we had an actual qb we would be real contenders. not one time in the entire second half did i think teddy was going to complete a long pass downfield. yesterday he looked like ponder, or maybe even worse. he didn't get rid of the ball even when he did have protection. his yardage was once again pathetic; you can't rely on peterson to run for 200 yds every week. bridgewater simply cannot throw the ball down the field consistently.

I don't think that Bridgewater is killing the team. He made some big plays yesterday. His flip to Asiata, his long run for the first and then some.

If you were to change that long run into a couple of decent passes, or one long bomb I don't think most people would be upset with his yardage. It doesn't matter if we would PREFER he get those yards by throwing because thats, normal. Bottom line, him running for 25 yards is outcome wise, no different then him going 2/2 for 25 or 1/1 for 25. HE gained 25 yards by taking advantage of the defense in all cases. That isn't even to mention the Rudolph drop. That would have been another 12 yards and a TD. I dont think anyone would be disappointed with a 185 yard 2 TD and no interception game based on how well AP ran and the game plan with that.

I was beginning to get frustrated by the lack of throwing until they started showing in replay exactly how smothered our receivers were in most cases. He missed a few throws, that happens. to every single QB ever. I think he needs to and will get better but he didn't do anything to cost us the game and he did make some key plays.

He looks literally nothing like Ponder beyond being human, standing on two feet, wearing a helmet, and occasionally shifting back and forth while playing football. He keeps his eyes downfield, he doesn't run out of well formed pockets, he doesn't run out of utter desperation, he runs when he sees nothing.

I guess I just don't see the point in forcing the ball into good coverage when you are winning just so your statline could read more like 325 yards 2TD 2int.

Hes a cautious player and honestly I love that a hell of a lot more than the "slinger" mentality where you throw for 400 yards but 200 of it is just to claw your way back from the two interceptions that lead to 14 points you gave up.

[chicagopurple]

I don't think anyone has been infaor of benching Teddy. The only way he gets better is by playing. Unless the OL gets him killed in the process. What is frustrating is that there seems to be no progression in his skill this year. In fact, he seems to have regressed a bit. I dont expect him to carry the team (that is APs job). But he should, at the very minimum, provide a credible threat to occasionally throw down field, thereby making AP more effective/dangerous. Right now opposing secondaries probably dont have to game plan for a vertical attack at all.

[IrishViking]

I don't think anyone has been infaor of benching Teddy. The only way he gets better is by playing. Unless the OL gets him killed in the process. What is frustrating is that there seems to be no progression in his skill this year. In fact, he seems to have regressed a bit. I dont expect him to carry the team (that is APs job). But he should, at the very minimum, provide a credible threat to occasionally throw down field, thereby making AP more effective/dangerous. Right now opposing secondaries probably dont have to game plan for a vertical attack at all.

I am wondering honestly why people don't think that 20-30 yards is just as effective as 45 yards throw wise? Defenses don't start 25 yards down the field ever. Barring end of the game, Hail Mary defense. He has show repeatedly that he can rope throw 20-30 yards and can heave it 50. You don't need more than that to open up running lanes for AP. If you watch the defensive coverage yesterday a small part was Teddy missing chances, a bigger part was our receivers not getting separation, the biggest part was that it seems to me based on early coverage in the game, that the Raiders sold out to stop the pass

[Mothman]

I am wondering honestly why people don't think that 20-30 yards is just as effective as 45 yards throw wise? Defenses don't start 25 yards down the field ever. Barring end of the game, Hail Mary defense. He has show repeatedly that he can rope throw 20-30 yards and can heave it 50. You don't need more than that to open up running lanes for AP.

Well, you do need to actually complete a reasonable number of those throws to get defenses to back off. Only 2 teams have fewer pass plays of 20+ yards this season than the Vikings. Only 4 have fewer 40+ yard passing plays (although there are 3 teams tied with the Vikes in that category). Not all of those passing plays were downfield throws either. The Vikes downfield passing game is about as close to non-existent as it gets in the NFL.

[IrishViking]

Well, you do need to actually complete a reasonable number of those throws to get defenses to back off. Only 2 teams have fewer pass plays of 20+ yards this season than the Vikings. Only 4 have fewer 40+ yard passing plays (although there are 3 teams tied with the Vikes in that category). Not all of those passing plays were downfield throws either. The Vikes downfield passing game is about as close to non-existent as it gets in the NFL.

But that has nothing to to with his inability to get the ball there. I am simply stating that Teddy, physically can. The problem doesn't lie with Teddy's arm.