Matt Cassel has been the favorite to start Week 1 at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings since the minute he re-signed with the team. On Monday morning, we finally got the news.
The Vikings named Matt Casseltheir starting QB over rookie Teddy Bridgewater, coach Mike Zimmer announced Monday.
While the Cleveland Browns had a worst case scenario in their quarterback competition this month, the Vikings essentially had the best of both worlds.
"Matt did not do anything to lose the job this preseason," Zimmer said, per Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "I think he's played great. The team has a lot of confidence in him."
Cassel picked up offensive coordinator Norv Turner's system quickly, and averaged 9.4 yards-per-attempt and completed 66.7 percent of his passes in three preseason games. Bridgewater, who impressed so often during practices, struggled in his first preseason outing. But the rookie bounced back with two nice effortsin a row, including a game-winning two minute drill in the second preseason week.
"I told Teddy this morning that it was not anything he did or didn't do," Zimmer added.
Cassel is underrated compared to other "bridge" quarterbacks like Chad Henne, Brian Hoyer and Matt Schaub. He's not afraid to push the ball down the field and has a nice group of weapons around him in Minnesota. Combined with Zimmer's defense, the Vikings have sleeper team potential this year in the NFC North.
Make no mistake, though: Cassel is just keeping the seat warm. The minute the Vikings fall a couple of games under .500, we will probably see Bridgewater take over.
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