Image courtesy of vikings.com
Russell Wilson threw for three touchdowns and ran for one score as the Seattle Seahawks dismantled the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium 38-7. Mike Zimmer’s team is not built to come from behind when Adrian Peterson is held in check and the Vikings fall behind early. Consequentially that is exactly the formula Pete Carroll and his squad implemented against the Vikings.
Peterson, the NFL’s leading rusher heading into the game was limited to 18 yards on eight carries and Teddy Bridgewater’s 17 of 28 for 118 yards under heavy pressure was no contest for a Seahawks’ team trying to send a message to the NFL that they are a team to be reckoned with.
The Vikings defense suffered injuries to Anthony Barr (groin) and Harrison Smith (hamstring) in the first quarter and they didn’t return to see any further action.
The Vikings (8-4) got a 101 yard touchdown kickoff return from Cordarrelle Patterson in the third quarter to keep from being shutout. It’s games like this one that makes me wonder why the Vikings can’t find a way to manufacture just a couple offensive touches for Patterson?
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38-7 and they made it look easy. being at least a year away doesn't mean we'll win anything in a year. we are far from elite
Enough being PC. Most panel criticize me or hit that dreaded "dislike button" but Teddy is bad. We need to draft another qb.
All season I've been watching him and thinking man has bad but hes young and going to improve. I've been making excuses about his throws, decision making, and holding the ball too long. I've blamed the right side of the OL, Turner and even the running game but can't anymore.
Teddy is as bad if not worse than Ponder, he's the exact same player. The past three times I've seen him throw deep were overthrown and interceptions. The only other one I remember vs the Packers was a deep TD pass to Rudolph that was also overthrown but luckily Rudolph made a great catch.
Decision making is adequate but too timid. He's afraid of throwing the ball (such after seeing him throw it deep he should be).
Now, I'm sure the first argument I'll get is "But the offensive line"... Guess what, our line has been pretty decent this year. No its not going to buy him 7-8 seconds but hes better protected than Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Ryan, or even Smith(plus a lot more). While some of them struggle is not near this extent. Most quarterbacks have had 2 game stretches with as many TD passes as Teddy had in 3/4 of a season!
As for the "he's young, he'll improve" argument, this is what I held longest but today I realized that's wrong. There is no pulse, sign of life, beacon of hope when I see him play anymore. Sure last season he ended the year great, know what else? Ponder finished the 2012 season great and was still a bust.
Alas I'll say I hope Teddy can turn it around but I think (know) he won't. Many regular readers know I'm pretty critical of our decisions; but I've been right (denounced Ponder, Chilly, Frazier, and TJax from day 1). Teddy needs a miracle right now and I haven't seen any in many many years.
Now bring on all the hate! (and maybe one of two who agree)
Well 2 sentences in I already see a typo (most will criticize me), so forgive my typos, the cell phone autocorrect is terrible at times.
I would tend to agree with you about Teddy, Skol12, but what I would say in response is let's follow the ancient Greek dictum of "all things in moderation" and finding a mean between two extremes--the extremes being holding onto Teddy at all costs and abandoning him altogether. The red flags are now out on Teddy, but there are enough variables (seemingly bad officiating, Norv's questionable play calls, porous OLine, injuries, etc.) that we should perhaps let him play out the year, and meanwhile start putting out feelers for a possible substitute next year (whether by draft, trade, or promotion from within).
In other words, let's stick with Teddy awhile longer, but at the same time let's not put all our eggs in his one basket.
You're right, I'm not saying bench him for Hill, or sign an aging QB like Manning this off-season (as is our M.O.). We need to ride with him this year and probably next, but I think we should be sending our scouts to look at quarterbacks. Check on Cook or Hackenberg or whoever else has potential...
I was so optimistic after last year that I could start evaluating positions other than quarterback...
I'm in complete agreement with you on this, Skol12. We gave Ponder a three-year window to work with and I think we gave the same to TJack, so I would assume it should be about the same with #5; meanwhile we start looking for other options. What about Josh Rosen of UCLA? We've already gotten two great picks from the Bruins in the last couple years (Barr and Kendricks)--maybe we should make it a trifecta?
It is a shame we have to still keep our eye on QBs in the draft other than looking for help in other much needed areas, but it is what it is. I think we are just simply a very bad team at drafting quarterbacks. That is our identity and we're probably going to have to live with it at least a while longer.
I am in agreement with you. Although Teddy can't be blamed for the loss as the defense just had no answer for stopping them, unless Teddy somehow was responsible for 5 out of the first 7 Seattle possessions resulting in a touchdown. But he is just not making throws. We have watched him bounce short passes in front of receivers, sail longer passes well over the head of an open receiver.. How much more practice does he need to gauge his throw relative to Wallace's speed? We have seen Wallace open deep many times this year only to have Teddy lead him way too much. How about the throw to an open Diggs that led to the int? Even a former safety, albeit all pro safety, John Lynch noticed the flaw in his throwing motion yesterday. I am also wondering.. Where the heck is Charles Johnson? Sometimes I wonder if the Vikes would be better off with C.J. and Diggs on the wings, and Jarius in the slot. Right now I am thinking that Cal is being way optimistic predicting a 10-6 finish. 8-8 is looking like a very real possibility now. Pretty tough to win if the offense cannot get past midfield more than once a game. Twice in the last three games Patterson has looked quite the fool.. down 35-0 and celebrating before getting to the end zone? Packers kicking them and he head butts the Packers' kicker after a decent return? Sorry, off track, the latter were things that have been bugging me. Point of the matter is that Teddy has been anywhere from god awful to marginally managing the game INRE not killing them with turnovers. People criticize Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer as being poor QB's on teams that won with great defenses, I would take someone with the skill set of either of them over Teddy. I have always been wait and see with him. I was glad that they did not take Manziel. At least Teddy tries to be a good team mate. I was hoping for Derek Carr but there was no way the Vikes could have managed to trade up for him, unless they would have offered another Herschell Walker trade scenario. If there are no QB's of value remaining when they draft in the bottom half of the first round next year, I will hope that their first two picks will be o line, unless there is a stud safety available in round one. If that is the case, o line in round 2 and 3. The lack of depth has been exposed with Phil and Sully gone.. wouldn't it be nice if they would have made a move on Iupatti?
i was right. teddy is overrated!
If he has a good game, will you come back here and say....
"I was wrong, Teddy is a stud!"
I'm guessing not. Funny, didn't hear from you after the win last week. Nothing to say?
He wasn't even good last week, we were winning despite him not because of him... Like Ponder
That sucked! Not many positives, if any. Pretty much any good play was followed by 2 or 3 bad ones.
Have to put it behind us. Remember what and how it went bad, but don't get down on yourselves. It can be a delicate balance. Remember what got them to 8 wins! On to Arizona!
I'm not one of the Teddy fanatics, but this was as complete a team meltdown as you're going to see and I don't understand why anyone would single Teddy out after this one. The whole offense is a mess and it starts up front. I would agree Teddy is overrated at this point but to say he's not any better than Ponder is laughable. I actually think the biggest issue is that Peterson and Teddy are each best suited for the complete opposite offensive systems. Anyway, this is likely a 10-6 wildcard team, they arent mature enough to step up in big moments yet but there is a good nucleus of talent to work with moving forward. Really disappointed that they were so uncompetitive again in a loss today.
haven't given up on TB, i still like him, he was good at the end of last year, but he has regressed and needs to improve a lot. his numbers are ponder-ish, though i think he's better than ponder, which isn't saying much. 125 total offensive yards is inexcusable, no matter who the other team is, and yes, norv is also to blame. SEA has given up a lot of yards and points. our offense isn't even average, and today, our injury-plagued defense looked terrible
10-6? can we beat nyg and the bears?
patterson has to be the most immature player on this team. he embarrassed himself when he was showboating today on that return TD. i'm sorry, but he's a moron
we are soo far from competing with elite nfl teams
Dan, I'm not blaming this loss solely on Teddy. My point is that this was the final straw. I've been watching young Theodore all season and evaluating most all his throws. He's NOT GOOD. I understand this is a Vikings website and most of the fans are Paul Allen level biased but try to look objectively.
If Teddy were in Cleveland or Jacksonville or Oakland Wed be calling him a bust and possibly the worst starting quarterback in the NFL. My Vikings bias has kept him under the potential and "end of last season" light for too long.
Many fans forget how they believed in Ponder for much much too long then seemingly turned on him overnight.
Plus not to be arrogant but my track record on judging talent is pretty good... Just saying.
If they put him in the shotgun and let him whip it around and get in a rhythm I think it would be a different story. They can't do that though because Adrian is terrible out of the shotgun. Teddy needs to play better from under center but that can take time and his regression to me is most likely a combination of not being as comfortable in the offense this year and a" hearing footsteps" issue since he's been hit so much. It's concerning for sure but not enough to cut bait on the guy.
I agree with Dan for the most part.I voiced concerns earlier in the year that Teddy takes sacks that he shouldn't,and his overthrows of receivers is becoming an issue that the coaching staff needs to address (if they aren't already)
However,to put this all on Teddy is just plain wrong.The OL is a mess,Fusco is just bad at LG,he needs to go back to RG.Clemmings has been up & down but you have to expect that from a rookie who needed development when we drafted him.Kalil has been better than the last 2 years,but still has issue in pass protection.This line was built primarily to run block,and until that changes our passing game will struggle.
For those who want to bring in another QB, I would suggest you start doing some study.This draft class could be one of the worst ever for QBs.As for free agency,go take a look at who will be available and then give me 3 possibilities.You'll be lucky to find one.
there's no way they'll look for another QB for next year, via draft or otherwise. TB would benefit greatly from a better O-line, so we won't know until next year about that, but he does need to step up his game and the coaches do, too