How does Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater stack up against Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson?
Lions head coach Jim Caldwell waited just seven quarters last season to compare Bridgewater to Wilson, NFL.com recalls.
But based on the numbers, the comparison isn’t all that fair.
Wilson, while playing for some dominant Seahawks teams in 2012 and 2013, won 28 games and a Super Bowl while throwing for 58 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. That’s pretty mind-blowing – and rare – for a young quarterback.
Bridgewater, while playing behind a leaky offensive line, has totaled 22 touchdowns and 19 interceptions through 24 career games (23 starts).
Clearly, the gap between Bridgewater and Wilson is significant. ESPN’s Stats and Information has more:
Wilson completed 63.5 percent of his passes in his first 23 NFL starts, throwing for 4,607 yards, 37 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while being sacked 53 times and pressured on 34 percent of his dropbacks. Bridgewater, who made his 23rd career start on Sunday, has completed 64.9 percent of his passes in those games, throwing for 5,049 yards, 22 touchdowns and 19 interceptions while being sacked 67 times and pressured on 31.9 percent of his dropbacks.
Wilson has played with one of the league’s best running games every year of his career while Bridgewater is experiencing life with a dominant running back – Adrian Peterson – for the first time this season.
Russell Wilson on Teddy Bridgewater: "I have a lot of respect for the way he plays the game. He plays the game smart.''
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) December 2, 2015
Football Outsiders predicted that Bridgewater would see a jump in his passer rating from 85.2 as a rookie to 91.5 this season. Through 11 games, his rating stands at 85.3 and he has just 8 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. A new deep threat with Mike Wallace was supposed to help, too, but Wallace has just 2 catches for 26 yards over the last five games.
Wilson posted passer ratings of 100.1 and 101.2 in his first two seasons, and his rating this season – his fourth in the NFL – is a career-high 102.9 despite being sacked an NFL high 37 times. Bridgewater has been sacked 30 times this season, the fifth-most in the league.
For whatever the reason, Wilson got off to a much faster start than Bridgewater, and he remains one of the top signal callers in the NFL.
“The biggest thing that stands out about Russell is that he’s a winner,” Bridgewater said Wednesday, via ESPN. “That’s what everyone aims for in this position. You want to be a winner.”
Bridgewater will have a chance to show the world just how good he is when the Vikings meet Wilson and the Seahawks Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium.
