Broncos QB Teddy Bridgewater goes from steady to heady, joins Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees in NFL record book

Teddy Bridgewater’s steady start has him in heady company, as the Broncos quarterback joined his old pal Drew Brees and the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers in the NFL record books.

After leading the Broncos to a 23-13 win at Jacksonville Sunday, Bridgewater became the first NFL quarterback since Brees three years ago to open a season with two games of two passing touchdowns, no picks, and a 75% completion rate (with a minimum of 12 attempts). Rodgers (2015) and Jeff George (1994) are the only other QBs to do so before that.

“Honestly, I just wake up every morning and I appreciate the opportunity to go to work every day with the group of men in that locker room,” Bridgewater said after completing 26 of 34 throws for 328 yards and two scores against the Jaguars (0-2). “And all I want to do is give them my best. And me at my best is being comfortable.”

For the second straight week, Bridgewater looked extremely comfortable in the Broncos’ pocket, even when that pocket seemed to be shrinking all around him. Despite taking three sacks, the veteran didn’t turn the ball over on Sunday. For the season he’s thrown four touchdowns and no picks.

“That’s a great quality to have at all positions, especially quarterback, especially cornerback,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said of Bridgewater’s poise under pressure. “And he has it. It’s just in his DNA. I’d like to tell you that we’d coached that into him, but we got it when we (traded for) him. That’s who he is.”

He’s also won three of his last four NFL starts dating back to last fall, improving his career mark during the regular season to 28-23 (.549) overall.

“Y’all watched the same game that I watched,” veteran linebacker Von Miller said of Bridgewater, who was Brees’ backup in New Orleans from 2018-19. “You see the poise. He really doesn’t get rattled. He’s always aware of what he needs to do and he does it.

“We’re following Teddy. He’s our leader, he’s leading the offense. We had (398) yards of offense. An incredible day. Teddy did an incredible job.”

Not too shabby for a guy who came to the Front Range with the reputation of being a “game-manager.” And when a reporter asked Fangio Sunday if it was time to shed that label when discussing Bridgewater’s efforts, the coach chuckled.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Fangio replied. “That’s up to you guys (in the media). But if he keeps game-managing with victories, we’ll all love it.”