When Baker Mayfield went down with an injury against the Los Angeles Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were forced to turn to Teddy Bridgewater under center at a moment's notice. On paper, Bridgewater is one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL and once looked like a potential franchise quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings early in his career before a devastating knee injury changed everything.
Bridgewater has been around the block a few times since his time in Minnesota, and he was actually a passable starter in back to back seasons for the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos before completely disappearing off the starting radar when it was obvious he's more of a clipboard game manager than a franchise QB hopeful.
But because Bridgewater is smart, prepared, and accurate, he looked like the ideal backup candidate for the Bucs and Mayfield. And yet, last Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams, Bridgewater was woeful. He looked completely out of shape and like an amateur. It was as if he did no preparation to be ready for game day.
Teddy Bridgewater was laughably awful
While it's true that the Bucs were already a lost cause against the Rams and that the Rams defense was totally dominating Tampa Bay to that point, Bridgewater honestly made things even worse and couldn't get things going in garbage time.
Bridgewater finished the night with an 8 for 15 passing line for a measly 62 total yards, averaging barely over four yards per pass attempt. The Bucs may as well have run the ball up the middle every play and statistically would have been at least as successful as they were with Bridgewater throwing wounded ducks, including one hilariously bad throw in which he just tossed the ball in the air as if he were begging for the Rams to pick it off for six.
Mayfield is probably going to play against the Arizona Cardinals this week, and so the discussion about Bridgewater starting is going to be punted for another day. But the thing is, the Buccaneers should still be thinking about Bridgewater and their ability to win football games with him under center.
Because if Mayfield were to aggravate his shoulder further or suffer a new injury, can they really trust Bridgewater in his offense? Does he really have the arm talent to drive the ball or make important throws on third down against great, playoff caliber defenses? Bridgewater is now 33 years old, and he was never known for being a great athlete; he was always someone who beat defenses with his mind. But if he is going to come in that unprepared while showing a noodle arm, the Bucs might have second thoughts about Bridgewater being the first man up to replace Baker if needed. He hasn't played meaningful games in years, and it certainly showed.