Teddy Bridgewater lost his Carolina Panthers debut Sunday.
But you know what we learned from that loss? That the Panthers can win with Bridgewater.
Bridgewater, the new Panthers quarterback, is plenty good enough to win some more in the NFL in Charlotte. He needs some help on offense, but everyone does. He needs a stouter defense, too _ and therein lies the biggest problem.
Yet the Carolina debut of "Steady Teddy" was encouraging in the Panthers' 34-30 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, if you looked at the view from 30,000 feet and ignored all those empty stands.
Bridgewater didn't commit a turnover. He threw for 270 yards. He directed the Panthers to 15 fourth-quarter points on drives of 75 and 77 yards, pushing them back ahead after Carolina trailed by 12 entering the final period.
And it wasn't Bridgewater's fault that the Panthers decided to out-think themselves on the fourth-down call that short-circuited their last real chance to win the game with 1:23 left.
Carolina only reached the 30-point mark once in its final last eight games in 2019. Bridgewater got them to 30 in his first try. He didn't find much solace in that, though.
"There are no moral victories in this sport," Bridgewater said.
There is a difference between losing 42-10, though, and 34-30. It was a 42-10 loss the last time the Panthers played a game _ on Dec. 29, 2019 _ and they got crushed. Bridgewater was on the other team that day, backing up Drew Brees as the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints.
This time Bridgewater was playing for Carolina, replacing Cam Newton. Newton, meanwhile, was winning his own debut in New England, rushing for two touchdowns in a 21-11 win over Miami.
Now it is true that Bridgewater and the offense could improve on several things, including the fact that three Carolina drives ended in field goals rather than touchdowns and that the Panthers only had one offensive play that gained 20-plus yards.
Most of Bridgewater's throws were safe underneath routes _ he was generally accurate on those and had several of them dropped, too. But his one completed deep ball was a doozy _ a strike off a double move to Robby Anderson, who broke a tackle and went 75 yards to give Carolina a 30-27 lead.
"I wish we could have gotten the fourth-and-1 so he could have taken us down and won the game at the end," coach Matt Rhule said of Bridgewater.
Bridgewater was "fearless" running the ball, Rhule added.
Bridgewater isn't going to get you many fourth-and-1s himself as a runner, but he does make the first man miss a lot. Bridgewater ran for 26 yards and also scrambled effectively _ the way he bought time on the two-point conversion pass to Anderson was one of the best examples. And he was only sacked once.
Running back Christian McCaffrey said of Bridgewater after the game: "I thought he did a great job today. I thought he was poised, decisive. He's a heck of a player and a heck of a leader, and I'm excited to continue to play with him."
Bridgewater and offensive coordinator Joe Brady continue to gel. Of their communication in their first game, Bridgewater said: "It actually went better than what I expected. I thought we might have some some bumps and bruises throughout the game, but no _ it was smooth sailing."
Bridgewater was one of eight Panther players who knelt during the national anthem. Before that, during the playing of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," commonly referred to as the Black national anthem, Bridgewater became emotional. He said he "shed so many tears" that he had to "run off the field early" following the song's conclusion.
This was the first time since 2015 that Bridgewater had started for an NFL team during Week 1. Back then, he was with the Minnesota Vikings and had yet to suffer a career-threatening knee injury. The Panthers made a three-year, $63-million bet on Bridgewater in the most recent offseason, believing he could stop being Brees' backup and start bringing some of the New Orleans magic to Carolina's offense.
So far, it seems to be working. Get this man a defense. Get him to throw a few more deep balls. And before long, he's going to get you some wins.
