Listen, Imma do a Mushroom Stamp of Approval tomorrow for the greatest player of the game versus the Falcons, but we all know it’s going to be Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings quarterback and “Bringer of Boners.” And obviously, since Bridgewater’s debut lived up to an unbelieveable amount of hype, there is going to be lots to talk about with him specifically. I’m going to try to save some of that for tomorrow, but I also am not going to just ignore the giant Purple Boner in the middle of the living room:
Teddy Bridgewater looked absolutely legit. He was god damn amazing, looked like a franchise quarterback, polished and calm, and beat a Falcons team that’s largely looked like world beaters so far. And when people say “he” beat the Falcons, that’s really not that far off. Sure, sure … Football is a team game, but come on here. The defense barely helped, and the game never would have been that intense if Blair Walsh would have made the early kick he was supposed to make. But whatever. Bridgewater did it with style and grace, now allow him to place, these football douches in your bushes. Mush more to come.
But what else? I’ll say this much. Looking at the schedule back in April (or whenever it came out), I fully expected this game to be a loss. I saw us sitting at 1-3 right now, likely, with the season playing out exactly as it has with the wins and the losses, but with a loss to the Saints right now. I always predict division games to be split down the middle over a season, so I guess technically I predict this Thursday night’s game against the Packers to be a loss, but then I figured we’d see Bridgewater sometime AFTER week five, not before, as the every week starter.
Now? I don’t know what to think. The entire season is now different because we won this game we weren’t supposed to win, and because Teddy Bridgewater looks so damn legit. And, of course, assuming he’s healthy. Like, let’s say his ankle is fine on Thursday and he plays. Is there any doubt that he goes in to Green Bay and can at least drop 30+ on the Packers? I wouldn’t even be worried about that. And the defense? They had their ups and downs against the Falcons, but in total through the first quarter of the season here, they’ve looked pretty damn good. Zimmer good! So good that I’d like to think that under the spot lights of a Thursday night game and against a hated divisional opponent, that Mike Zimmer could fire them up to hold the Packers to under 30 points. THAT WOULD MEAN WE WIN, HURRAY!
And that just might be doable. Harrison Smith showed up again BIG against the Falcons. He had six tackles, five solo, one pass deflection, and a real slick interception. Arguably, he’s one of the top five best NFL safeties right now, AND HE’S ALL OURS! Anthony Barr has looked alright too. He missed some tackles where he had contact and needed to wrap up better, but he also had an important sack, and was the defensive quarterback. He also was near the top in team leads for tackles. On top of this, defensive guys like Blanton, Rhodes, Hodges, and more, all players who have had opportunity to thrive under different coaches but haven’t, because those different coaches suck, are continuing to shine, grow, and prove that – hey – maybe coaching DOES make a bit of difference!
And Mike Zimmer, man. While his defense looked shakier than I – or I’m sure he – would normally like on Sunday, it’s not like you’re playing against a slouch quarterback in Matt Ryan. Doesn’t matter, though. You still have to make adjustments to the play calling and ballsy calls on fourth down, which Zimmer did. His fourth quarter, fourth and goal touchdown call showed some Tom Osborne-like testes, and it was EXCITING. Mostly because it worked, but also because it was a good call. Score touchdowns, put the pressure on the Falcons, wrap up a win.
All in all, that was probably one of the more enjoyable Vikings games any of us fans have seen in quite some time. Maybe since the final game of the 2012 season against the Packers? But even then, that one was kind of a pipe dream, and always a concern of playing to not lose as opposed to playing to win. This weekend we found out that Mike Zimmer – and Teddy Bridgewater, and Harrison Smith, and all the others – play to win. And when we do that, we can be pretty damn good.
More to come throughout the week. We are now officially on HATE HATE HATE week. Milk it for all it’s worth.
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