Critics of the Vikings and their 4-6 record have to realize that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater made only his sixth career start in Sunday's 21-13 loss at Chicago.
Like most first-year quarterbacks, Bridgewater is showing again that if your name isn't Andrew Luck, you usually don't step in as a signal-caller and set the world on fire until either you are with a super team, or you get a chance to learn on the job by getting a lot of experience.
The No. 32 overall choice in this year's NFL draft out of Louisville fell to 3-3 as a starter Sunday. He has completed 137 of 225 passes for 1,479 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions for a 75.0 quarterback rating.
On Sunday, Bridgewater went 18-of-28 for only 158 yards, one TD and one interception. He managed the offense efficiently in the first quarter as the Vikings jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but in those two scoring drives he only threw for 19 yards on 5-for-6 passing.
But there was simply no passing game from Bridgewater the rest of the way. It wasn't until the fourth quarter that he threw for 102 yards on the Vikings' final two drives. On the final drive, he completed three of four passes for 42 yards and drove the team to the Bears 29-yard line before being intercepted by safety Ryan Mundy.
Bridgewater told reporters in Chicago after the game that the Bears defense did throw some new looks at the Vikings, which might have stymied the offense.
"They did some things different, but we know we can play better," he said. "We didn't do enough to win this game today, offensively especially."
The Bears had given up more than 50 points in back-to-back losses coming into Sunday, and the Vikings knew they were going to see a more aggressive defense.