Vikings Need Teddy Bridgewater to Be Their Savior to Have Chance at Playoffs

Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater made his first NFL start less than a week ago. He finished with 317 yards passing, a rushing touchdown and zero turnovers.

By doing so, he handed the Vikings a 41-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons, a 2-2 record and a whole lot of hope that 2014 could be the year the franchise gets back into the postseason.

The problem is that while Bridgewater finished with impressive numbers against the Falcons, he was physically unable to finish the game.

A fourth-quarter ankle injury put Bridgewater on the sideline for the remainder of last Sunday's game and prevented him from playing against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. Bridgewater was officially ruled out shortly before the start of the prime-time contest.

With Matt Cassel already on injured reserve, the Vikings were forced to turn to former first-round draft pick Christian Ponder. 

Ponder, the 12th overall pick in the 2011 draft, started 35 games for Minnesota over the past three seasons. He compiled a 14-20-1 record in that time, prompting the Vikings to tab Bridgewater as his replacement.

Against the Packers, Ponder completed just 22 of 44 passes for 222 yards and two interceptions. He was sacked six times.

Almost immediately, the hope that Bridgewater had created was collectively sucked from the Vikings faithful.

The Vikings didn't just lose to their divisional foe with Ponder under center. They were embarrassed, and Ponder played about as poorly as he had at any point in the past three years for Minnesota.

If there's one thing that the idea of putting Ponder back under center won't generate for Minnesota, it's hope.

If the Vikings can't find some way to get Bridgewater back to 100 percent—and keep him there for the remaining schedule—there is virtually no way this team is going to punch a postseason ticket this season.

With Bridgewater, however, there is plenty of reason to believe Minnesota can find a way in.

Before Thursday night's debacle, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer had his team playing an inspired brand of defensive football (ranked ninth, allowing 21 points per game through Week 4). Minnesota's ground game was averaging 134.8 yards per game (eighth in the NFL) thanks to the hard running of Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon.

Over the past few years, teams like the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens have shown that a solid defense and a strong running game can pave a road to the playoffs and to postseason success. The trick, of course, is finding a steady hand at quarterback to steer a team down that road.

Bridgewater (467 yards, 62 percent completion rate in two partial games) can provide that.

	Net Passing Yds	Net Total Yds	Turnovers	Points
Week 4 w/Bridgewater	317	558	0	41
Week 5 w/Ponder	188	299	3	10

Though the sample size is small, Bridgewater has been efficient as a pro and has made few serious mistakes (two sacks, zero turnovers). He has also played with veteran-like poise, calm and command.

"He's too calm, man," wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson said of his quarterback, according to the Star Tribune's Master Tesfatsion. "He's too calm under pressure."

These are traits every potential playoff team wants to have at quarterback. They are also characteristics that the Vikings simply aren't going to find in Ponder.

If Minnesota believed Ponder possessed them, it would have stuck by its last first-round signal-caller and would have never drafted Bridgewater to replace him.