Due to mundane concerns (starting to organize the household for a move), I didn’t get to watch the first half of Sunday’s game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears, but I got enough worries from the text messages as the first half wound down … with running back Adrian Peterson leaving the game during the first half with a leg injury, among other scary updates). This meant that an offensive plan built around Peterson would have to be re-tooled on the fly to work to the strengths of second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. I’m on record as believing in Bridgewater as Minnesota’s quarterback of the future, but it wasn’t clear whether the current personnel grouping would allow Teddy to carry the team in the absence of Peterson. I probably shouldn’t have worried about it, as Teddy put in his first career five touchdown game (four passing, one rushing, with no interceptions).
1500ESPN‘s Judd Zulgad, not known as a Bridgewater fanatic, put it quite well:
Three weeks ago, there was growing concern among Vikings fans that Teddy Bridgewater might not be this team’s quarterback of the future. On Sunday, that same quarterback had to call a timeout in the fourth quarter because the crowd at TCF Bank Stadium was chanting his name so loudly and wouldn’t keep quiet.
This is why it’s never a good idea to attempt to write off a second-year quarterback based on a bad game, or even a series of subpar performances.
Bridgewater probably isn’t as good as the guy who completed 17 of 20 passes for 231 yards with a career-high four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Vikings’ 38-17 victory over Chicago, and he certainly isn’t as bad as the guy who hit on only 17 of 28 passes for 118 yards with no touchdowns and an interception in a 38-7 loss to Seattle two weeks ago in the same stadium.
In what he acknowledged was the best game of his pro career, Bridgewater accounted for five touchdowns, including a 12-yard dart into the end zone during which he got spun in the air, and had a 154.4 passer rating. That rating is the second-best all-time for a Vikings QB in a single game, second to the 157.2 rating Gus Frerotte posted in a 35-7 victory over San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2003. A perfect passer rating is 158.3.
“These past two weeks I’ve seen a different look in his eyes,” Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said of Bridgewater.
Peterson wouldn’t be the only one who has noticed his quarterback has responded impressively since a poor performance against the Seahawks in which no element of the offense performed up to expectations.
For a team missing their top three defenders (Linval Joseph at nose tackle, Anthony Barr at middle linebacker, and Harrison Smith at safety), the Vikings defence has shown resilience and depth beyond what anyone would have expected based on the 2014 record and the pre-season play. Among other factors, re-signing defensive tackle Tom Johnson and calling up safety Anthony Harris from the practice squad highlighted the depth the Vikings have assembled over the last year and a bit. No matter how good your starters might be, as the season gets closer to the playoffs, it’s your team depth that matters more than anything else. Under head coach Mike Zimmer, the depth has improved to the point that the Vikings can still win games on the spot performance of backup and even practice squad players called up to start unexpectedly. This speaks volumes about the influence of Mike Zimmer and his assistants in preparing the team for every week’s challenge.
