Teddy Bridgewater reflects on disappointing night vs. the Falcons

What did Teddy Bridgewater have to say following the Carolina Panthers’ latest loss?

There wasn’t much in the way of positives for the Carolina Panthers to take from their 25-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football. Their only primetime game of the season resulted in the team’s worst collective performance of the campaign and there is much work to be done once they get back down to practice this week.

Teddy Bridgewater wasn’t exempt from criticism. The Carolina Panthers were counting on their quarterback to put some substantial points on the board to compensate for their deficiencies on defense. But despite getting off to a positive start they once again failed to execute in the right way down the stretch.

The free-agent signing has more pressure on his than most after being hand-picked by the Panthers as the man to replace Cam Newton. There has been a mixture of good and bad regarding the signal-caller through the first half of the campaign and those who questioned the move during the offseason will no doubt have loved what they saw from Bridgewater in the second half.

Things won’t be easy for the Carolina Panthers.

This sort of attitude from some sections of Carolina’s fanbase is going to help matters. The optimism following their three-game winning run this season now seems like a distant memory. How this young group responds is going to be crucial in the coming weeks. But things won’t get any easier at the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Weeks 9-10.

A daunting prospect even for a team in good form.

Bridgewater holds himself to high standards. This is something that is reflected by the respect he’s commanded across the organization in such a short space of time and he deserves a lot of credit for coming back onto the field following cheap shots from Dante Fowler Jr. and Charles Harris in the second half.

That being said, the Panthers’ habit of failing to come through in the clutch remains an ongoing concern. Judging by Bridgewater’s comments after the game, it is something Carolina is acutely aware of.

"“We’ve just got to find ways to finish these games. That can’t be the common thing around here, coming up short. We get this weekend off, we’re at the mid-point of the season, I think it’s a good time for us to reflect – see some of the things we’ve done well the first half of the season and see what we need to improve on. A game like today, you know that you’re going to get a team’s best. They know us well, we knew them well. We just came up short. They played a good game today. Obviously, we like to finish with points but hats off to those guys.”"

There was a multitude of reasons for the Panthers failing once again. Bridgewater’s protection was less than stellar, the run game didn’t help to the sort of level expected, and the former first-round pick’s control at the line of scrimmage didn’t live up to what we’ve seen at other points of the campaign.

This was always going to be a work in progress. The Panthers underwent wholesale changes across the board this offseason in a bid to become postseason contenders once again. But the fact that there is so much disappointment regarding their recent form is proof positive that expectations might have risen a little too much.

Bridgewater needs to do better, he’ll know that more than anyone. Bridgewater completed 15 of 23 passes for 171 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He was sacked three times and came away with a quarterback rating of 44.5.

Things could get worse before they get better for the Panthers. As stated numerous times, keeping things in perspective still applies, but it doesn’t make the losing feeling any easier.