4 things Teddy Bridgewater must do better down the stretch
By Dean Jones
Taking risks
Another area of Teddy Bridgewater’s play that has come in for criticism this season is his lack of conviction in getting the football downfield prominently. This is something the quarterback hasn’t exactly been renowned for during his career, but more was expected with the Carolina Panthers thanks to the exceptional weapons at his disposal.
Bridgewater is averaging 7.7 yards-per-attempt, which rises to 11 yards-per-completion on successful passes. However, he has missed some big-play opportunities thanks to his lack of confidence for whatever reason when the chance arises.
It’s going to be interesting to see if this sort of mindset changes during the remaining four games. The Panthers are playing for much other than pride so taking more risks would at least show Bridgewater’s doubters that this is something he has in his locker.
There is evidence that Bridgewater can get the ball downfield. The flea-flicker touchdown to Curtis Samuel immediately springs to mind and there are times when both Robby Anderson and D.J. Moore have both benefitted from deep throws.
If Bridgewater can do this – and successfully – then it will leave plenty of reasons to be encouraged ahead of what will hopefully be a less disruptive offseason period in 2021.