TVA Throwback: Teddy Bridgewater’s first career start for the Vikings

Back in 2014, the quarterback made his first career start for the Minnesota Vikings and led the team to a win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Just four weeks into his rookie season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, Teddy Bridgewater was already gearing up to make his very first start under center in the NFL. Bridgewater was named the Vikings starting quarterback for their Week 4 game against the Atlanta Falcons after Minnesota quarterback Matt Cassel was injured in the team’s previous matchup.

This was not the first in-game NFL action for the young signal caller. During Minnesota’s Week 3 game with New Orleans Saints, Bridgewater had to replace Cassel during the middle of the matchup after the veteran went down with a foot injury.

After the Vikings stopped the Falcons’ offense from scoring on the game’s opening drive, Bridgewater took the field at a sold-out TCF Bank Stadium for the first time as Minnesota’s starting quarterback.

All the young signal caller did was lead the Vikings downfield on an eight-play, 73-yard drive that eventually ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by Minnesota running back Matt Asiata.

Bridgewater went on to help the Vikings score 20 more points on their next five drives and Minnesota had a commanding 27-14 lead midway through the third quarter. Despite the Vikings having a pretty substantial lead, Atlanta was still able to make a comeback and actually went ahead 28-27 as the game headed into the fourth quarter.

Now was Bridgewater’s first opportunity to prove to Minnesota that he was worth the first-round selection they used on him in the 2014 draft.

Minnesota Vikings

The rookie and the rest of the Vikings’ offense cruised right downfield thanks to the quarterback completing three of his four of his passes on the drive for 66 yards. Asiata was able to punch it into the end zone once again and Minnesota then added two more points after Bridgewater tossed an easy pass to tight end Rhett Ellison.

With the lead now regained thanks to the rookie quarterback, the Vikings’ defense was able to stop the Falcons’ dangerous offense from scoring on their final three drives of the game and Minnesota ended up coming out of the day with a 41-28 win.

Overall, Bridgewater’s first career start for the Vikings saw him complete 19 of 30 passes for 317 yards. He did not throw any touchdowns, but he did scramble for a total of 27 yards and had did have a carry that resulted in him crossing the goal line for a score.

After the game, the young quarterback told reporters that his mindset during the day was “to play each down like it’s your last, because you never know when it’s going to be your last opportunity.”

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Safe to say Bridgewater still lives by something similar to what he said on that day back in 2014.