Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner had success earlier in his career coaching Troy Aikman and Philip Rivers, a pair of big pocket passers. Turner could dial up five- and seven-step drops with deep dig routes and his big-armed, tall quarterback would stand in the pocket and deliver downfield.

With Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, Turner had to change his approach.

Bridgewater isn’t like Aikman or Rivers. Bridgewater is a good quarterback but isn’t a big, prototypical pocket passer. He’s a 6-foot-2 quarterback who, because he has a low, practically sidearm delivery, throws more like he’s 5-11. While a quarterback like Rivers is virtually oblivious to pressure, Bridgewater is a young quarterback who breaks down in the pocket when he senses or perceives pressure. He’s very reactive to pressure; he’s not a late-in-the-down quarterback yet. He needs a clean pocket and more functional space than most quarterbacks.

We talk about coaching in a broad, nonspecific sense a lot of times, but after studying all of Bridgewater’s third-down passes and a high percentage of his first-down throws from last season, it’s clear how Turner has devised an offense to maximize and enhance Bridgewater’s skills. That’s what good coaching is.

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Turner called defined throws for Bridgewater on third downs. Bridgewater has “slow eyes.” He still doesn’t eliminate what’s not there quickly enough. So Turner adjusted by calling a lot of passes in which the design is to get a receiver open on a defined read right away in the middle of the field, in Bridgewater’s line of vision. There were numerous shallow crosses, drag routes, drive routes — a lot of short crossing routes with a natural rub element to them. That neutralizes pressure against Bridgewater and allows for quick reads.

An example of the type of play the Vikings often used on third down came in Week 11 against the Green Bay Packers. Jarius Wright ran a shallow cross out of a two-by-two set, and there was a natural rub element. This is a defined read and Bridgewater hit Wright over the middle for a 16-yard gain and a first down.

Here’s another third-down example, against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 14. It’s another shallow cross out of a two-by-two set. Two blitzers got through clean but because of the timing of the throw, Bridgewater got the ball out quick and beat the two free rushers. Mike Wallace gained 23 yards. As you can see, because of the design of the play, he’s wide open in Bridgewater’s line of vision across the middle, well before the pressure could arrive.

Those are the kinds of plays Turner called a lot because he knows Bridgewater’s strengths and weaknesses, and understands passing game concepts. He had success with Aikman and Rivers before with one style of offense, and he knows how to adjust his offense to a different type of quarterback.

Another concept the Vikings used a lot is a slot fade route when they anticipated man coverage. It’s another defined throw, and not a difficult one. Jarius Wright gained 52 yards on a slot fade against the Chiefs.

On first down Bridgewater was good because when you’re throwing on first down, you usually get max protection against more predictable coverages. The Vikings ended up with some good first down throws out of interesting formations and packages.

Here’s a great read and throw by Bridgewater against the Cardinals. It’s a three-level stretch concept, stressing the defense at the short, intermediate and deep levels, out of 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) with MyCole Pruitt as the intermediate target. It was a well-designed play, and Bridgewater delivered it on time to Pruitt for a 32-yard gain.

In Week 15, the Vikings used the same formation and personnel, and against a two-deep shell, with both safeties back, Wallace was open on a slot seam route for 34 yards. And again Bridgewater, with a clean pocket and a lot of functional space, made a nice pass.

Bridgewater can become a solid quarterback. I saw some excellent throws from him outside the numbers. He’s not Joe Flacco or Matthew Stafford, who can drive the ball on any throw, but when he can sling it with timing and space in front of him, he can make the toss. He also has a lot of good pocket skills, like timing, reading a defense and throwing with anticipation.

Bridgewater could get better against pressure with experience. He’s not comfortable now when he perceives pressure and his low delivery is also a factor against rushers (the way Bridgewater throws will never change; he’s presumably been throwing that way his whole life). That’s a reason the Vikings upgraded the interior of their line in the offseason, signing guard Alex Boone. They need to make sure Bridgewater has functional space to operate.

Turner understands what Bridgewater does well, and how to call plays to get the most out of his young quarterback. That’s a good mix for the Vikings.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.