Vikings GM: Criticism of Bridgewater 'unfair'
The Minnesota Vikings believe they've found their franchise quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, but many outside the building remain unconvinced.
Bridgewater followed up an impressive rookie year with a fairly disappointing sophomore season, leading some to question his legitimacy as the starter.
General manager Rick Spielman, however, has no doubts about his quarterback, calling criticism aimed at Bridgewater "unfair" and arguing that "he is doing what our coaches are asking him to do."
"Teddy going into his second year last year, to go 11-5 and win the division, to go up there and beat Green Bay in Green Bay (for the NFC North title) and then play well in that playoff game against Seattle," Spielman said Friday on "PFT Live," according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "I think people undervalue what Teddy brings to this football team, and the most important thing is when you look at the end of the day is wins and losses and Teddy is definitely a winner."
With an up-and-coming defense and a strong ground game led by perennial All-Pro Adrian Peterson, Minnesota hasn't been forced to put too much weight on Bridgewater's young shoulders.
In comparison to his 2014 draft classmates, Blake Bortles and Derek Carr, Bridgewater didn't see a statistical leap from his first to second year. Last season, he threw for more yards (3,231 to 2,919) and cut down on his interceptions (12 to 9), but threw the exact same number of touchdowns (14).
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However, Bortles and Carr's stats were boosted by far more passing attempts. Bridgewater had just 447 attempts, while Bortles had 606 and Carr had 573.
Spielman has no doubt his quarterback would excel if given the same opportunities.
"There are games if you go through his first two years that he has shown he does have the ability in pressure situations to come through when we need him to make some plays," Spielman said. "I think he had the least amount of pass attempts last year in the NFL as well, so a lot of that has to do with the game planning and how we’re going to win football games.
"But I don't think anyone in our building has any doubt that if we have Teddy throw the ball 40 or 50 times, if that's the way we have to win or if he has to go out there and throw the ball at the end of the game for us to win, that he has that ability to do that."