Case Keenum Has the Vikings in the Driver’s Seat
Despite the return of former first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater, it seems that the Minnesota Vikings plan to roll with Case Keenum as their starting quarterback for at least the rest of this season.
Bridgewater has been out since sustaining a catastrophic non-contact knee injury during training camp prior to the 2016 season.
Yes, this is the same Case Keenum that completed just 60.9 percent of his passes in 2016 and totaled 11 interceptions through 10 games with the Los Angeles Rams. Fortunately for Minnesota and Keenum, he isn’t playing like his 2016 self. While his completion percentage is only up to 63.9 this year, he’s thrown for 1,914 yards this season with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Keenum has benefited tremendously from his offensive line this season, and his 2.1 sack percentage is among the best in the NFL this season. The play calling from offensive coordinator Pat Shumur has made life easier for Keenum, and his plethora of weapons on the offense — Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph — have made Keenum’s decision making much easier than ever before in his entire career.
With a great scheme in place, a healthy offensive line, and several talented skill players, the Vikings find themselves at 7–2 on the year and first place in the NFC North. The future looks bright with favorable matches through the end of the season.
With Sam Bradford’s career seemingly going up in smoke, Vikings fans have been calling for a quarterback change, but Keenum has kept everyone at bay with his solid play. Many would like to see the 25-year-old Louisville alum back under center, but as the old saying goes, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” And things certainly aren’t broken for the Vikings at 7–2.
The first thing than Vikings fans’ need to be reminded of is the last season that Bridgewater played. While he did complete 65.3 percent of his passes in 2015, he had just 14 touchdowns to go alongside nine interceptions and a QBR of 60.4. While they did make the playoffs in 2015 — and came one field goal away from a postseason win over the Seattle Seahawks — Bridgewater failed to make an impact in that game and had only 146 yards and zero touchdowns.
Additionally, there is a large cloud of doubt surrounding Bridgewater and his return from the horrific non-contact injury resulting in a dislocated knee and torn ACL in August of 2016. A potentially career threatening injury, recovery was built around a two-year recovery plan, yet Bridgewater was activated to the 53-man roster last week after just 15 months. While it can be certain that Vikings’ team brass would never put a player like Bridgewater in harm’s way following such a terrible injury, there is no certainty that he is 100 percent healthy and ready to assume the starting quarterback responsibilities.
While I do believe Bridgewater can be the future of this organization, messing with the momentum that this Vikings’ offense has could legitimately ruin their chances at a deep postseason run. With the Detroit Lions finding a groove late in the season the NFC North is no longer a lock for the Vikings. However with Case Keenum, at the helm for the rest of the year they should cruise into the playoffs with little doubt.
