Bridgewater blames panic for giving Vikings opportunity to win Sunday
Bridgewater blames panic for giving Vikings opportunity to win Sunday
If there’s one thing that those who still spend their free time bashing Kirk Cousins point to as evidence that Teddy Bridgewater is the superior quarterback, it’s the clutch play of the latter. Considering the 50-yard completion that Bridgewater threw with under a minute left Sunday in Minneapolis, it appeared as if those “fans” were on to something, despite Cousins’ clutch performance that gave the Vikings the lead in the first place.
However, according to Bridgewater, there was some late game panic from the Panthers offense that ended up giving Cousins and company more than enough time to score the go ahead touchdown. Cousins spoke to the local Carolina paper after Sunday’s loss, and described the incomplete pass that stopped the clock with just under two-minutes to go.
That incomplete pass also stopped the clock, and was derided by color commentator Jonathan Vilma. Bridgewater said of the sequence:
“I think we just got to be better from top to bottom from the sideline to executing on the field. It was one of those deals where I feel like we might have panicked a little bit, trying to figure out what play call to call in that situation,” Bridgewater said, via Alaina Getzenberg of the Charlotte Observer.
According to Bridgewater, the play itself could’ve helped seal the game for Carolina, had the call come through with enough time to run things the right way. Instead, Teddy didn’t get into the huddle until there was only 13-seconds left on the play clock and the offense didn’t get set at the LOS until there was six-seconds left.
“Honestly, we called a great play. We didn’t have enough time to execute, but it was a play where we wanted to shift Robby [Anderson], to get a good man/zone read to see what defense they’re in. Because we were against the clock, we just had to rush into it.”
That rush lead to a disastrous incomplete pass that also injured the intended receiver DJ Moore and left Bridgewater and company wondering what could’ve been. In that regard, Teddy did wax theoretical:
“I think if we would have gotten the play call in or we would have been able to make the decision sooner on what call to make,” Bridgewater said. “I think we see the look, we check to a run play and, hopefully, we score, make the clock go down.”
Instead, the Vikings got the ball back and it was Cousins, not Bridgewater, who marched his team down the field in clutch fashion. Although, it was very Teddy to leave Minneapolis after getting his team to within field goal range only to lose courtesy of a kick that sailed wide left.