I'll take a crack at this.
First, the lack of passing production is the thing that jumps out. The Vikings were very good running the ball, and they weren't bad at scoring, but they were very bad in terms of passing yardage and, because passing yardage makes up an outsized chunk of overall yardage, they were almost equally bad overall on offense.
So it's time to take a closer look at the 3 components of the passing game - the QB, the receivers, and the offensive line. I'll try to do it in that order (although not necessarily all in one post).
To break Teddy Bridgewater down overall, I'll rely on individual passer stats available at
http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/playe ... asontype/2
Teddy Bridgewater - 2015 Rankings
Completions - 292 (21st out of 40) - High was 437 (Phillip Rivers), Low was 78 (Ryan Mallet)
Attempts - 447 (21st out of 40) - High was 661 (Phillip Rivers), Low was 121 (Tony Romo)
Completion % - 65.3 (9th out of 34) - High was 69.8 (Kirk Cousins), Low was 55.3 (Andrew Luck)
Yards - 3,231 (21st out of 40) - High was 4,870 (Drew Brees), Low was 828 (Case Keenum)
Yards Per Attempt - 7.23 (17th out of 34) - High was 8.70 (Carson Palmer), Low was 6.09 (Nick Foles)
Long - Did Not Rank (out of 40) - High was 90 (Blake Bortles), Low was 57 (4-way tie between Matt Hasselbeck, Josh Freeman, Matt Stafford, and Zach Mettenberger)
TDs - 14 (Tied for 26th with Joe Flacco out of 40) - High was 36 (Tom Brady), Low was 4 (Tie between Mark Sanchez and Kellen Moore)
INTs - 9 (22nd out of 40) - High was 18 (Blake Bortles), Low was 4 (Tie between Matt Schaub and Josh McCown)
Sacks - 44 (Tied for 6th highest out of 40) - High was 51 (Blake Bortles), Low was 10 (Michael Vick)
Rating - 88.7 (22nd out of 34 listed) - High was 110.1 (Russell Wilson), Low was 67.9 (Peyton Manning)
Yards Per Game - 202 (32nd out of 34 listed) - High was 328 (Ben Rothslisberger), Low was 179 (Colin Kaepernick)
So what jumps out about these numbers?
- Over the course of the year, Bridgewater took a lot of sacks, which confirms he was either under a lot of pressure, held the ball too long consistently, or a combination of both
- The fact he didn't rank in the long pass category confirms the lack of explosiveness in the passing game. Since many of those longer plays are catch-and-runs, it might also indicate an overall lack of playmaking ability among his wide receivers
- Yards per game was near the bottom, but yards per attempt was right in the middle of that ranking. This confirms that when Bridgewater threw the ball, his targets were deep enough compared to his peers. His ranking in attempts also indicates he threw it about as often as average for his peers. I'd take this stat to indicate then again a lack of after-the-catch playmaking ability from the receivers, especially in light of the Did Not Rank for long passes.
- TDs were low, but not as bad as I feared compared to his peers.
- In the majority of these categories, Bridgewater is right in the middle of his peers. He excelled in completion percentage, while the sacks, lack of a long TD all year, and low overall passing yardage seem to point to what Spielman, Zimmer, Turner, and Bridgewater himself need to focus on during the offseason.
Passing Offense Improvement Plan - Part A
- Cut down on the sacks
To do that will require 2 things
1) Identify and fix the pass protection issues among the offensive linemen, tight ends and running backs. Look at the film. Who is breaking down most often and in what situations? Identify those weak players and seek to improve those positions during the offseason. I am not going to call out specific players here (yet, anyway), but this is what Spielman, Zimmer and Turner need to spend a substantial part of the offseason evaluating and developing a plan to address.
2) Work with Bridgewater to improve his read and recognition over the offseason. Sure, the sacks were a result of protection breakdowns and missed assignments, but Bridgewater also had a tendency to hold the ball too long. Turner needs to work with Bridgewater to develop a plan to improve his pre-snap reads, audibles that will put Bridgewater and his receivers into favorable postions post-snap, and Bridgewater's ability to rapidly process what is happening in front of him (read - LOTS of offseason tape study).
- Improve explosiveness
Before I started looking at the stats I fully expected the weight of this to fall squarely on Bridgewater's inaccuracy on deep passes, and while I still think that is an issue, it's clearly not the only issue. There is a real dearth of explosiveness from the WRs as well. Bridgewater's yards per attempt and total attempts, coupled with his completion percentage, paint a picture of a QB who is certainly putting the ball into play where his receivers should have chances to create explosive plays, but they're just not happening. And come to think of it, if your consensus best receiver after 16 games is a 5th round draft pick who wasn't even starting to begin the season, it makes sense that this is a major part of the problem. Wallace didn't pan out. Charles Johnson was AWOL. Cordarelle Patterson was consigned to kick return duties. The guys who were out there just didn't POP. This is a Spielman problem and, to a lesser degree, a Turner problem as well. Bridgewater, of course, needs to hit those deep opportunities when they present as well, so he doesn't get off the hook, but at least in this area, the problem is much more complex than simply that.
It's hard to come down too much on Bridgewater given his youth. He ranked solidly in the middle of all his peers in most of these categories. If I'm Turner and Spielman, I think it's reasonable to expect him to jump into the top 3rd in most of the categories where he ranked in the middle this year provided the other issues are fixed prior to the season.
Next up will be a closer look at those receivers, and then I'll try to cover what I can of the blockers and their overall success or lack thereof. Who was getting it done, who wasn't, and where should Spielman be looking to improve on those areas heading into the offseason.
I just feel there is no valid excuse that we did not see Johnson and Patterson. Sure could have used those athletic/tall specimens when we were in Seahawks red zone.....agree?