Vikings Offense Finds Its Rhythm with Bridgewater, McKinnon: The Minnesota Vikings improved to 2-2 in a back-and-forth game that featured tremendous performances from rookies Teddy Bridgewater and Jerick McKinnon, beating the Atlanta Falcons 41-28. Minnesota’s offense carried the team to victory. Almost every stat tells that tale. The Vikings racked up 41 points with 558 total yards. Bridgewater topped the 300-yard barrier as a passer, completing 63.3 percent of his throws. Even the run game showed up, with Bridgewater, McKinnon and Matt Asiata scampering for a total of 240 yards on the ground. The Vikings’ 5.5 yards per rush factored hugely into their ability to march the football down the field at will. Nine of 11 offensive drives would have ended in scores if Blair Walsh had not missed from 49 out in the second quarter. The 25 first downs the offense picked up, excluding penalties, top its combined total from the previous two weeks of 23, per ESPN. The way the offense began the game set up the entire team for success. Both the first two drives ended in touchdowns, with offensive coordinator Norv Turner calling an especially effective game. Atlanta’s defense tried to play press coverage with its cornerbacks on the first drive while sending—or at least showing—blitz. Turner countered that by dialing up a number of screen passes, even calling them on back-to-back plays at one point. The second receiver screen in that sequence was a 52-yard gain by receiver Jarius Wright, who topped 100 yards in the first half alone. With the first drive in the books, the Falcons made adjustments. Instead of playing around the line of scrimmage and trying to be physical with Minnesota’s receivers, their defense dropped off. They kept both safeties in a shell over the top of plays and let their cornerbacks sink. Turner and the offense’s response came swiftly. In the passing game, they were perfectly content to throw it underneath and take small chunks. Two of the second-quarter scoring drives were nine-play marches down the field. Bridgewater’s willingness to take what the defense gave him became a boon for the passing game, even when what Atlanta was giving were underneath throws for the most part. The run game started to wear on Atlanta in the second quarter as well. McKinnon ripped off a 55-yard gain on a perfectly executed lead draw. He followed that with gains of six, three, six, 10, and seven yards in the second quarter. Minnesota’s offensive line opened big enough creases for the rookie back, and he showed the necessary patience and decision-making to pick up sufficient yardage. Even late in the game with embattled quarterback Christian Ponder at the helm, when Atlanta knew runs were coming, Minnesota was able to ice away the game. The offensive line and the backs were in sync throughout. Every part of the Minnesota offense deserves credit for the big day, but Bridgewater’s performance deserves endless plaudits. Few rookie quarterbacks have performed as well in their first start as Bridgewater did today, per Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News: Teddy Bridgewater became only the 4th QB since 1980 to pass for 300 yards & win his NFL debut start. Others? Cousins, Griffin III, Zeier. — Rick Gosselin (@RickGosselinDMN) September 29, 2014 Bridgewater completed timely passes underneath. He completed play-action passes, some of which were plays where he was given an option to hand off or throw. He hung in messy pockets and made throws to the intermediate portions of the field. He also made Atlanta pay with his feet a couple times. His composure under pressure and ability to limit mistakes while managing an offense that wasn’t scaled down was impressive. Minnesotas efficiency without getting many touches to dynamic receiver Cordarrelle Patterson also speaks to Bridgewaters capabilities as a quarterback. He can raise the play of the entire offense, not wholly relying on the talent around him to carry the load. At the end of the day, the Minnesota coaching staff has a lot more to hang its hat on than it did a week ago. The beleaguered offensive line protected Bridgewater well enough to not give up a sack. Asiata and McKinnon were efficient behind stellar run blocking, even adding explosive plays to the mix. The Vikings can confidently say they have their quarterback now too. Hopefully they can literally say it when they roll into Green Bay on Thursday. Bridgewater went off late in the game with an ankle injury, which may not be overly serious, as reported by Derek Wetmore of 1500 ESPN: Bridgewater said he thinks he could have re-entered the game if needed. Said hes not sure if hell play Thursday in Green Bay. — Derek Wetmore (@DerekWetmore) September 29, 2014 The short week works against the favor of the Vikings and Bridgewater, but the quarterback has played through an ankle injury in the past. The injury being a short-term problem is also a blessing worth counting. Bridgewater’s injury need not cloud what was a sunny day for the Minnesota offense. The offensive output was the best of the season and came at a crucial point where a quarterback change was made and replacements filled in for injured starters Kyle Rudolph and Brandon Fusco. Hopefully this performance signals similar efficiency in the weeks to come. All statistics via ESPN unless noted otherwise. Read more NFL news on BleacherReport #Football #NFL #NFCNorth #MinnesotaVikings
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 02:30:09 +0000
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