Many are blaming quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and head coach Mike Zimmer for the Minnesota Vikings’ strip-sack to end Thursday night’s 23-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
However, the majority of the blame should fall on the shoulders of offensive coordinator Norv Turner.
Play-callers often take the heat when players fail to execute. And on the final play—in which Cardinals linebacker Dwight Freeney beat left tackle Matt Kalil and sacked Bridgewater before he could get rid of the football—too many wearing purple and white did not execute. If Kalil makes his block and Bridgewater simply throws the ball out of bounds, the Vikings would have sent Blair Walsh out for a field goal to potentially tie the game.
But play-callers must also put their players in the best position to succeed. Turner failed to do so on the final play.
The Vikings made a conscious decision to use third down to gain some yards and get closer for Walsh. The final play was not designed for Bridgewater to throw into the end zone for the game-winning score. In fact, no receiver was in or near the end zone by the time Bridgewater finished his drop back.
Zimmer’s plan was defendable. Why kick the field goal on third down when there’s an opportunity to advance the football closer and improve Walsh’s chances of converting? From there, he put the game in Turner’s hands.
The play call was a disaster.
At best, the Vikings wanted to gain 5-10 yards, get out of bounds and kick the field goal on fourth down. A short drop with a quick throw outside would have done the trick. If it wasn’t there, Bridgewater could have quickly thrown the ball away.
Instead, Turner’s call asked for a seven-step drop and a slow-developing pair of crossers coming from the offense’s left back to the right.
“We had all the receivers coming from the left side of the field,” Bridgewater said. “I tried to do my best to wait for those guys to at least get on the right side of the hash so they don’t get tackled in bounds since we didn’t have a timeout. I was just getting ready to throw out of bounds so we can live to see another down.”
Bridgewater’s deep drop was necessary to allow the routes to get all the way back to the sideline. But it also allowed Freeney ample time to put a vicious spin move on Kalil and close in on Bridgewater. Freeney scraped across the quarterback’s right arm just as he was attempting to throw, causing a fumble that ended the game.
Bridgewater deserves some level of blame. He can’t take a sack in that situation. With 20/20 hindsight, it’s clear Bridgewater should have realized Mike Wallace was covered on his quick route and thrown the ball away immediately.
But Turner’s call handcuffed him. He waited for the play to develop, and by the time he knew it wasn’t there, Freeney was already leaving Kalil in a heap and lunging for the exposed football.
Zimmer trusted in his play-caller to put Bridgewater in the best position to gain a few yards and better set up the field goal. Turner let him down on the final play.