Vikings Rewind: Two-minute Teddy

The situation: We revert back to Week 9 for this week's Vikings Rewind. Down 10-0 to Washington with 42 seconds left in the first half, the Vikings face a 3^rd and 6 and Washington's 20.

The reason: It was a drive that started at Washington's 46 following cornerback Captain Munnerlyn's interception with 1:04 left. Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had a good 22-yard gain to wide receiver Greg Jennings on the first drive, but the offense moved four yards in two plays to set up the third down situation.

The result: Bridgewater connected with tight end Chase Ford on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds left before halftime to cut the deficit down to a possession.

How it happened:

Washington showed blitz before the snap, stacking seven in the box, which prompted Bridgewater to change up the play. With four wide split in the shotgun formation, and Ford lined up in the slot to the left, Bridgewater communicated a last second change based on a possible blitz.

Washington ends up sending four in what appears to be a Cover 3 (see here for what a Cover 3 looks like) with two linebackers (circled in red) dropping back right at the first down marker.

Ford (circled in blue) ran about a 10-12 yard corner route that would've gotten a first down, but Bridgewater saw an open hole in the end zone. Washington cornerback David Amerson was out of position attempting to jump wide receiver Adam Thielen's post route (circled in black), and he collided with Thielen right as he made his break. With the safety playing underneath Ford, it created that wide gap (circled in yellow) in the corner of the end zone.

"I ran the route, Teddy made a good adjustment seeing the open hole in the endzone and threw it up there," Ford said. "It was really all Teddy. It was a good throw. I just adjusted to it."

What's even more impressive about the play was Bridgewater could see defensive end Jason Hatcher getting around left tackle Matt Kalil. His time was limited to get that throw off, but Bridgewater looked unfazed as if he was out in the playground designing routes on the fly.

"He's poised man," wide receiver Charles Johnson said of Bridgewater in two-minute situations. "He's super poised, very confident. He's a veteran in a rookie body. Just the way he handles himself and how he orchestrates an offense, he don't look frightened ever. He can mess up and still be the same ol' Teddy."

Ford said after the game he was even surprised by how easy his first career touchdown catch was, and that was due to a pass from Bridgewater that only Ford would've snagged on the play.

"Teddy's a good quarterback," Ford said. "He's 22 years old but you couldn't tell unless somebody told you. He's poised in the pocket, does a great job and gets better every week and that's what we need."

Bridgewater in the final two minutes of the half is 26 of 40 for 305 yards with one touchdown, one interception and an 85.9 quarterback rating. For a rookie, that's very impressive given the challenges created under two minutes, which might be the toughest situation a quarterback faces during a game.