MINNEAPOLIS -- Teddy Bridgewater's afternoon in Buffalo on Sunday was a menagerie of all the things that make a rookie quarterback's development a messy process: missed targets, hesitation, impressive strikes down the field and important throws at key moments in the game. At the end of the day, the Minnesota Vikings lost 17-16, Bridgewater had an unimpressive box score (15-for-26, 157 yards, his first NFL touchdown pass and two interceptions) and coach Mike Zimmer had reason to hope his rookie quarterback was headed in the right direction.
"That's what we see every day out of him," Zimmer said of the third-down throws Bridgewater made to extend several drives. "He made a great throw to Jarius (Wright); two of them, I think. There are a lot of positives to take from this game. Even though it's going to show up as a loss, I do think there are a lot of positives of where we can go from here."
Here are some observations about Bridgewater's day, and the rest of the offense, after a film review of the Vikings' 17-16 loss to the Bills:
Bridgewater said he was overthinking things in the first half, and that might not have been more evident on any play than the first interception he threw, when he passed up deep throws to Wright and Greg Jennings on third-and-7, escaped the pocket and threw late to Chase Ford on a ball that was intercepted by Leodis McKelvin after it was deflected by Brandon Spikes. Both Wright and Jennings were waving their arms downfield, and Wright appeared to have his man beat at the moment Bridgewater broke the pocket, looking for Ford. If Bridgewater had stayed on Wright a split second longer, he might have had a touchdown. It's a throw that requires some brass, and it's a play we're used to seeing quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees make, but Bridgewater's mobility gives him the chance to extend plays the way those quarterbacks do. It'll be an even better weapon for him as he uses it to open things up downfield.
Bridgewater blamed himself for holding the ball too long on several sacks, and the Vikings protected him a little more effectively than they did against Detroit the week before, but the line still had trouble handling the Bills' stunts, and breakdowns on the left side of the line were to blame for a couple of the Bills' six sacks. Matt Kalil and Charlie Johnson appeared to think the other one was responsible for Marcell Dareus on Buffalo's first sack -- both blocked him initially before turning away to block other players, and Dareus surged through to drop Bridgewater. And in the fourth quarter, Bridgewater said he checked out of a run from the Bills' 14-yard line, adding he shouldn't have planned to throw there. But the Bills had seven men near the line of scrimmage and single coverage on the Vikings' three receivers before Jerry Hughes beat Kalil with an inside move.
Running back Jerick McKinnon got his 103 yards the hard way, gaining 57 of them after contact, according to ESPN Stats & Information, but the Vikings found some innovative ways to neutralize the league's top run defense. Fullback Jerome Felton's first carry in a Vikings uniform, which went for 21 yards, came on the backside of an unbalanced line that had two tight ends on the opposite side of the field. The Vikings also ran toss plays away from the Bills' two tackles (Dareus and Kyle Williams), with McKinnon gaining 19 yards on four plays outside the tackles.