Teddy Bridgewater and Charles Johnson hooked up for a big-time touchdown play in Friday night’s Vikings-Bengals preseason game.
The highlight of Friday night’s Vikings victory over the Bengals? Without question it was Teddy Bridgewater’s 49-yard TD pass to Charles Johnson to give the Vikes a 7-0 lead in the second quarter.
That particular play was encouraging on many levels. Keeping in mind that we’re talking about a preseason game of course.
The big thing obviously was the accuracy of Bridgewater’s pass. The young QB’s inability to maintain his accuracy on passes targeted more than 20 yards down the field has been a big subject of discussion.
Bridgewater’s arm-slot looked good as he stepped up in the pocket and delivered the pass perfectly into Johnson’s outstretched hands.
The second encouraging thing about the play was the way the offensive line executed. Teddy play-faked to Jerick McKinnon and had a nice lane to step up and deliver the pass with his momentum going forward.
The O-line looked like it was struggling a little bit before that play. Running lanes were hard to come by and there was a chop-block penalty against Matt Kalil.
Charles Johnson’s double-move to fake out the Bengals’ defenders was the third encouraging thing about the play.
Johnson has received positive reviews throughout camp but last night was the first time fans got to see him in action.
Friday night’s Bridgewater-to-Johnson connection brought back memories of 2014 when Johnson emerged to become a favored target of Teddy’s.
Next: Teddy's deep ball improvement
Laquon Treadwell will eventually become a starter but with Johnson playing so well the Vikings should be in no rush to get him out there.
Adam Thielen too made a nice grab, reaching up to pluck a high ball out of the air. It seems the Vikings want Thielen to take on a bigger role in the offense.
The Vikings actually look loaded at wide receiver right now. Did I just say that?