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Teddy Bridgewater has a cool and appropriate nickname in “Teddy Two Gloves,” but after his miraculous recovery from a concussion suffered on October 3, perhaps the Denver Broncos quarterback’s new moniker should be “Teddy Too Tough.”
Fresh out of the concussion protocol, Bridgewater is set to make his return to the starting lineup, as the Broncos visit the Pittsburgh Steelers in a pivotal AFC matchup, per Pro Football Talk’s Managing Editor, Michael David Smith.
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Can’t Keep him Down
Bridgewater is known for his composure, accuracy, and leadership, but it’s his mental and physical toughness that should also be attributed to his skill set.
The type of hit Bridgewater literally took on the chin from rookie linebacker Odafe Oweh on the final offensive play of the first half during the Broncos’ Week 4 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, on October 3, should’ve been enough to keep the veteran quarterback sidelined far longer than seven days.
But here he is ready for action, about to face yet another hard-nosed defense in the Steelers.
Faith in Teddy
Despite the concussion-inducing hit, and the rough first-half outing Bridgewater was having, pre-hit, the metrics still show faith that Bridgewater can get back to his elite level of play. The NFL’s Next Gen Stats site releases analytical data each week that measures player performance.
Their recent data shows that Bridgewater’s efficiency should continue. Bridgewater, according to the stats, still owns the fourth best CPOE (completion percentage over expectation) of the season at +6.8%. This is striking considering his Week 4 CPOE was 18.8% below expectation against the Ravens, when he completed just 7-of-16 for 65 yards and a touchdown in the first half, before exiting the contest.
The Ravens game sunk Bridgewater lower in rankings — only for Week 4, though — as he ranked 34th out of 35 quarterbacks in EPA+CPOE following Week 4’s performance. The EPA stands for ‘expected points added,’ where it aims to measure the value of individual plays in terms of points. This is done by calculating expected points for every down. Through the use of historical data, ‘expected points’ are calculated for any given play based on down, distance, and field position.
SportsNaut.com, a database site that projects rankings and predictions, has the Steelers (1-3) as a top-10 defensive matchup in their battle with the Broncos. The site predicts that the Steelers, despite its slow start offensively, has a rather solid defense. Even in defeat, Week 4 against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, the Steelers’ defense played well enough to keep the October 3 game close — noting it was the Pittsburgh offense that let down the team.
Rodgers only completed 55.6% of his passes and was sacked three times, so Bridgewater could see some pressure on obvious passing downs.
No Teddy Checkdown Here
The knock on Bridgewater throughout his career is that he’s too careful and is too willing to simply take the cautious route and throw checkdowns. But according to Next Gen Stats, he’s been more willing to test defenses downfield in 2021. The site noted that the Ravens game was more anomaly than the norm.
Next Gen Stats gave Bridgewater a pass, noting how shorthanded the Broncos were, sans wideouts Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler. Bridgewater, according to the metrics, is second in EPA+CPOE in 2021. The only quarterback he’s behind is Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes. The Broncos leading man is one of five quarterbacks with a CPOE over six — and the list is a who’s who of stellar franchise quarterbacks (the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray, the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, and the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow).
The checkdown moniker is also an aberration, according to the statistics, as Bridgewater is sixth in IAY (‘intended air yards’). The IAY are vertical yards on a pass attempt at the moment the ball is caught in relation to the line of scrimmage on all attempts.
Broncos Country has to be thrilled that Bridgewater is back in the saddle and ready to lead.
