Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had a chance for a revenge game against the Vikings on Sunday. Instead, he had one of his worst performances of the 2020 season so far. The normally accurate QB completed just 52.8% of his passes, threw an ugly interception and missed two potential touchdowns, either of which could have won the game.
Bridgewater says he knows he can play better. Here’s what No. 5 had to say about his dud of a game against his former team.
“Now for me, I’m able to point the finger at myself and remind myself that there’s so much better football in me, and continue to be honest with myself. And then come up with a plan for how you want to finish the next four weeks of the season. Because four games is a lot of football, so we have an opportunity to do a lot of great things.”
Bridgewater is right that he’s capable of playing far better than he did on Sunday. He also could have gotten more help from offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who had one of more uninspired play-calling outings to date. That said, Bridgewater’s protection held up well and his receivers were in position to make plays that would have won the game if he’d just been more accurate.
The two end zone misses to wide receiver D.J. Moore hurt the most. The first was a rare overthrow by Bridgewater. The other came in the fourth quarter, when Bridgewater missed another potential touchdown for No. 12. This time, the throw was behind Moore. It was even worse than taking points off the board. Moore wound up injuring his ankle when he tried to twist and make the catch and came down awkwardly. While X-rays were negative on Moore’s ankle, it goes to show how costly one miss can be.
While we expect Bridgewater to bounce back, it’s difficult not to wonder about how Cam Newton would be doing with this offense and what Carolina’s record would be if they had let him finish out the last year of his contract.
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