Chemistry Continues to Be a Problem for Teddy Bridgewater, Vikings Receivers

With only five weeks left in the 2014 season, the Minnesota Vikings passing attack is running out of time to find its footing. The biggest problem came to a head on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Chemistry between Teddy Bridgewater and the receiving corps is not where it needs to be.

Bridgewater and his receivers had a mildly productive day against Green Bay, getting over the 200-yard mark through the air and capping two drives with touchdown passes.

Glaring problems popped up, though. The rookie passer threw with as little accuracy as he has all season. To make matters worse, his group of receivers did little to make any more out of the situation with numerous passes bouncing off the fingers of his intended targets.

Bridgewater completed only 21 of 37 pass attempts, his lowest percentage of the season. The routine often looked difficult, and the difficult often looked impossible. A clear disconnect between him and his receivers on a number of occasions was the primary culprit.

Pass-catchers didnt do enough to pick up their quarterback on a down day either. Charles Johnson, who reeled in only three of his 11 targets, admitted as much after the game, as quoted by Andrew Krammer of 1500 ESPN:

This applies across the board too, from wide receivers to tight ends to running backs. Bridgewater is a struggling rookie at the moment and the pieces around him arent doing enough to help.

On a number of throws, the lack of chemistry played a big role. The entire offensive unit has been in flux over the course of the season due mostly to injuries. At wide receiver, Greg Jennings has been the only real mainstay.

Johnson has only recently been elevated into a starters role, with both Cordarrelle Patterson and Jarius Wright losing snaps. Then Kyle Rudolph returned to the lineup, breaking up any continuity Bridgewater seemed to have formed with Chase Ford.

Bridgewaters own struggles and these chemistry issues caused major problems against the Packers.

Lets take two different targets to Charles Johnson to pinpoint both of these problems, beginning with the lack of chemistry between QB and receiver.

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Chemistry Continues to Be a Problem for Teddy Bridgewater, Vikings Receivers