Foles didn’t have to be so far behind
Bridgewater thriving because Panthers went all in on him early
A team weaning itself off a firstround pick at quarterback settled on a replacement who had worked with its play-caller before, only to have to play catch-up after NFL rules prohibited teams from meeting this offseason.
Sound familiar?
Since Teddy Bridgewater took over as the Panthers’ starter, he and the offense have faced the same challenges that Nick Foles and the Bears have faced. The Panthers, though, are weeks — maybe even months — ahead because of their immediate commitment to him.
Bridgewater took every starting snap in preseason practice and has taken every one so far this season. Foles, by contrast, didn’t start his first game for the Bears until Week 4. In fact, once Mitch Trubisky was named the starter toward the end of camp, Foles hardly played in practice.
The Bears continue, in coach Matt Nagy’s words, to “calibrate” their offense to fit Foles. The Panthers, meanwhile, have already lived through those growing pains.
Bridgewater has thrown the second-highest percentage of passes to receivers deemed open this season, according to Pro Football Focus, while Foles has thrown the secondfewest among starting QBs.
Even without star running back Christian McCaffrey, who’s on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain, the Panthers have Robby Anderson, the NFL’s fourth-leading receiver, and Mike Davis, who’s second in receiving yards among running backs.
Bridgewater’s 73.4% completion percentage leads the NFL, his 292 passing yards per game rank sixth and his 101.9 passer rating ranks 11th. Foles’ 63.7% completion percentage ranks 24th, his 226.7 yards rank 25th and his 83.9 passer rating ranks 28th.
Sunday’s game, then, will be a matchup of where the Bears’ offense is now versus where it wants to be.
“[Bridgewater is] a really good quarterback,” said Nagy, who noticed his intelligence and charm during NFL Scouting Combine interviews in 2014. “I think those guys in Carolina are doing a really good job scheming for him, putting him in great situations, and he’s making really good plays. I have a lot of respect for him. I think our defense knows what they have in store with him.”
In a different world, the two quarterbacks could be on the opposite teams. The Bears looked at signing Bridgewater — who torched them in a 36-25 win by the Saints in Week 7 last year — before he agreed to a three-year, $63 million deal with the Panthers in March. That allowed Bridgewater to rejoin offensive coordinator Joe Brady, with whom he worked in New Orleans.
The Bears zeroed in on Foles, who agreed to be traded from the Jaguars — and take a pay cut — because he wanted to reunite with three coaches he had worked with before: Nagy, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo,
Those connections eased the transitions for both quarterbacks. Both already knew the offensive terminology, which helped them study the playbook during a workfrom-home offseason. Their personalities — charismatic but calm — have helped their teams move on from Cam Newton, whom the Panthers cut in late March, and Trubisky, who was benched in Week 3. During summer camp, Bears passing-game coordinator Dave Ragone said Foles was “gravitating to players” and “pulling guys aside.” First-year Panthers coach Matt Rhule said this week that Bridgewater “gets guys to come along with him.”
Nagy has been clear that finetuning the offense to match Foles’ strengths is going to take time. The Panthers, though, have made it through to the other side.
Bridgewater had the kind of head start the Bears could have given Foles if they had picked the right starter earlier.
“Learning the players and learning the timing and building a chemistry on offense, that’s really hard,” Rhule said. “I think we’ve done it at a good level. It’s taken time. It’s taken some games, you know?”