Teddy Bridgewater couldn't have asked for a better start in the Vikings' 16-10 victory over Kansas City on Sunday. The second-year quarterback completed two of his first three passes for 68 yards and had his team in the red zone within the first three minutes of the game.
Then came his first interception, intended for a tight end Kyle Rudolph, but intercepted by Kansas City defensive back Ron Park.
Bridgewater responded with three completions for 65 yards to lead the Vikings back in the red zone on their next drive. They would settle for a field goal and led 3-0 after the first quarter, but looked poised to take advantage of the Chiefs' inconsistent secondary.
Bridgewater totaled 143 yards on six completions in the first quarter.
"All year long we've been talking about getting off to a fast start," Bridgewater said. "Coming into this game, we put together a game plan that allowed us to take advantage of some of the things that they were doing. We knew that they were physical up front and fast up front, so we did a great job today in executing what was asked of us."
After Bridgewater's 4-yard touchdown pass to Rudolph with 4:46 left in second quarter, the pass game mostly stalled out.
Bridgewater threw for just 73 more yards and an interception in the next 34-plus minutes. He finished 17-for-31 with 249 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
"The two interceptions were not good, but I thought he made some really good plays, too," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. "The third-and-15 was a big-time play in this ballgame. He made some really good throws earlier in the game and they had a couple late hits on him — I won't way, kind of low. … I don't think that affected him."
