Has Teddy Bridgewater become an outdated quarterback?
By Dean Jones
Has the game passed Teddy Bridgewater by?
Teddy Bridgewater was never going to blow the Carolina Panthers away with an elite arm or exceptional mobility in the pocket. Anyone who thought otherwise was kidding themselves.
He is an efficient game manager who is careful with the football to a fault.
Taking risks has never been Bridgewater’s method of getting the ball downfield. The Panthers should have been aware of this when they signed him, but not being able to come through in big moments of close games is probably more of a concern at this juncture.
For some unbeknown reason, Bridgewater isn’t getting the job done down the stretch.
Just one or two game-winning drives could have resulted in a more promising outlook. But the fact the former Louisville standout has gone 0-7 in this statistic during the 2020 season is a damning indictment of his production.
Yes, his offensive line hasn’t protected sufficiently in critical situations. And the signal-caller has been without his primary weapon in Christian McCaffrey for most of the season which is something else that shouldn’t be overlooked.
That being said, Bridgewater needs to find a way. Some of his decision-making at the line of scrimmage hasn’t been up to the required standard and the longer this goes on, the more complications it will bring.
His confidence was clearly lacking last time out against the Broncos and Bridgewater’s limitations are there for all to see. There is no room for sentiment in the NFL and the Panthers might already be looking at potential long-term alternatives despite stating the contrary.