Minnesota Vikings Week 1: Top 5 takeaways vs. New Orleans

Slinging Sammy Bradford

Heading into the season opener, Sam Bradford had been called the check-down king by many (myself included) and others were seemingly counting down the days until Teddy Bridgewater was able to take the field again (also guilty). After his performance in prime time on Monday, those critics were forced to eat their words having watched Bradford play possibly the best game of his career.

Bradford was on fire all night long as he completed an astronomical 84 percent of his passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns. Let’s be clear, that completions percentage was anything but constant check-downs.

Finally given time to sit in the pocket and go through his progressions, Bradford dissected the Saints, pushing the ball down the field by making the right decisions, firing lasers in to double coverage, hitting receivers in stride, and putting the ball where only his receiver could make the catch. Having watched Bradford throughout his career, I haven’t often used those words to describe him.

We’ve shown you plenty of examples of all three attributes in previous slides, so let’s look at the lone completion Bradford had to Jarius Wright.

Despite facing an oncoming rusher, Bradford scans the field, notices the defender with his back to the ball, and delivers the football to Wright in stride where only he has the opportunity to catch it.

The analysts at Pro Football Focus rated Bradford’s performance highly and so did many others.

"“QB SAM BRADFORD, 87.4 OVERALL GRADE The offensive line gave Bradford time all night and he consistently delivered. He was nearly flawless throughout the game, in particular on intermediate and downfield passes, where he completed nine of 10 attempts for 234 yards and two scores.”"

For your viewing pleasure you can see the best of Bradford big game below.

As I feel obliged to say again, the Saints aren’t very good on defense. Bradford won’t face many secondaries as generous as the one he faced on Monday, but if he can play at 75 percent of the level he displayed against New Orleans, he is going to get PAID come the end of the year.

Next: Week 1 Rookie Report

Think I’m reading too much into the Vikings succeeding against a historically poor defense? Think I’m jumping on bandwagons too early?  Use the comments section below to let me know your thoughts on my takeaways or if you have any of your own. Alternatively hit me up on Twitter.