Chemistry Continues to Be a Problem for Teddy Bridgewater, Vikings Receivers

With only five weeks left in the 2014 season, the Minnesota Vikings’ passing attack is running out of time to find its footing. The biggest problem came to a head on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Chemistry between Teddy Bridgewater and the receiving corps is not where it needs to be.

Bridgewater and his receivers had a mildly productive day against Green Bay, getting over the 200-yard mark through the air and capping two drives with touchdown passes.

Glaring problems popped up, though. The rookie passer threw with as little accuracy as he has all season. To make matters worse, his group of receivers did little to make any more out of the situation with numerous passes bouncing off the fingers of his intended targets.

Bridgewater completed only 21 of 37 pass attempts, his lowest percentage of the season. The routine often looked difficult, and the difficult often looked impossible. A clear disconnect between him and his receivers on a number of occasions was the primary culprit.

Pass-catchers didn’t do enough to pick up their quarterback on a down day either. Charles Johnson, who reeled in only three of his 11 targets, admitted as much after the game, as quoted by Andrew Krammer of 1500 ESPN:

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Charles Johnson with the succinct review of #Vikings' QB-WR play today: "If he's off, we have to be on."

— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) November 23, 2014"

This applies across the board too, from wide receivers to tight ends to running backs. Bridgewater is a struggling rookie at the moment and the pieces around him aren’t doing enough to help.

On a number of throws, the lack of chemistry played a big role. The entire offensive unit has been in flux over the course of the season due mostly to injuries. At wide receiver, Greg Jennings has been the only real mainstay.

Johnson has only recently been elevated into a starter’s role, with both Cordarrelle Patterson and Jarius Wright losing snaps. Then Kyle Rudolph returned to the lineup, breaking up any continuity Bridgewater seemed to have formed with Chase Ford.

Bridgewater’s own struggles and these chemistry issues caused major problems against the Packers.

Let’s take two different targets to Charles Johnson to pinpoint both of these problems, beginning with the lack of chemistry between QB and receiver.

On a few different throws, it became evident that Bridgewater and his receivers weren’t on the same page as far as the designed location of routes. This miss was especially costly because it occurred on 3rd-and-long in Green Bay territory:

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Charles Johnson is Bridgewater’s No. 1 option with the coverage presented. He is the receiver at the top of the screen.

His route hits 15 yards before it sticks inside and then back out. With off-man coverage, the cornerback is in a tough position and ends up playing poorly. As a result, Johnson spins him like a top.

The problem is the way he finishes the route.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

This screenshot is captured from the second Bridgewater releases, so clearly the ball is out before Johnson has gotten his head turned around and made a defined location for his QB to throw to.

Bridgewater puts the ball on about the 13-yard line, but Johnson has rounded off the route so much that it takes a last-ditch effort to even get his hands on it. Because he had the CB beaten so badly, he may have carried his route deeper by design with eyes for six points, but Bridgewater threw to a shorter location, where he expected Johnson to be.

The receiver still should have reeled this in. Instead, it slipped through his mitts, and the Vikings would settle for a field goal.

On top of miscommunications like the previous example were some outright misses from the rookie QB, none more glaring than when he missed an open Johnson in the first quarter.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

This is one of Norv Turner’s go-to route combinations. The pair of receivers flood one side of the field, overrunning the coverage with intermediate and deep corner routes, frequently opening up the slot receiver. Bridgewater completed one of these to Jennings from the slot against New Orleans. He would even end up throwing an interception in the Green Bay game looking for Jennings on a similar play.

Johnson plays from the slot here, disguising his route to the middle first and then circling his way back to the corner. The underneath CB is often late to react, and the deep safety can never get there.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Again, Bridgewater is getting the ball out in a timely fashion. Johnson is clearly not open when he releases, but he has the foresight to see the hole in the defense and throw with anticipation.

Unfortunately, he overthrows Johnson by a good measure. No amount of chemistry would have made this a completion, so the Vikings would fail on another 3rd-and-long.

The problems began piling up in a hurry on Sunday. Bridgewater was missing on a number of routine throws that an NFL quarterback must make and ones that he has been able to make in the recent past. He also had trouble connecting with receivers in terms of route location on a few throws, which led to inaccuracy.

Another issue crept into the chemistry picture as well. An often-overlooked aspect is the passer’s footwork in syncing up with the timing of routes. Turner’s offense tends to give Bridgewater deep to short reads with downfield route combinations, so the QB utilizes what are called “hitch steps” to allow receivers time to free themselves.

If anyone can properly explain hitch steps, it’s legendary NFL coach Bill Walsh. He does that succinctly in this instructional video from NFL Network (start at 3:16), which applies directly to our next example:

Hitch steps are often used in the Vikings offense not because Bridgewater is taking too long in the pocket, but because they allow his footwork to time up with his receivers down the field.

Minnesota’s leaky offensive line has thrown a wrench into Bridgewater’s timing with his receivers, however. A perfect example of that occurred against Green Bay.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Jennings is dragging his route behind the linebackers, both of whom are in zone coverage and have their eyes forward, seeing nothing behind them.

This shot is Bridgewater with his last step down after dropping. A throw with no hitch step comes out immediately, but Jennings has not cleared the linebacker yet. A hitch step and a quick release can make it happen.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

The timing worked. Bridgewater found the hole in the coverage and identified the receiver running into it. Unfortunately, Phil Loadholt has been pushed right into his lap when he would have otherwise been releasing the football, making a piercing throw into the middle of the Packers defense. With the pocket caving, he has no room to step forward and no room to even go into his throwing motion.

Bridgewater slides past the pressure and then finds his checkdown. A much bigger gain was left on the table due to failure in execution, a common theme from Sunday.

Even when the play goes to plan between the QB and the receivers, Minnesota’s offensive line frequently finds ways to derail it. Problems at all levels of the offense are leaving successful plays few and far between.

The offensive line may be the offense’s weakest unit, but a share of blame still falls on the shoulders of both Bridgewater and his group of receivers. They haven’t been connecting like they need to in order for the offense to stay afloat and give the Vikings a fighting chance.

They take one step forward and two steps back.

Statistics from ESPN.com unless noted otherwise.