Teddy Bridgewater's stat line the past two games has been incredible to say the least.
The second-year quarterback has completed 75 percent of his passes (42 of 56) for 566 yards, thrown five touchdowns and zero interceptions for a rating of 136.5.
He set a career high in passing yards at Arizona with 335 and became the first Vikings player to throw four touchdowns in one game since Brett Favre did so against the New York Giants (Jan. 3, 2010).
Veteran backup Shaun Hill has been in the NFL 14 seasons and knows playing the position goes beyond stellar stat lines or ones that lose fantasy football games.
Hill told Tim Yotter of Viking Update that **hidden elements** of Bridgewater's play throughout the season have the Vikings (9-5) in line to earn their first postseason berth since 2012 and still in contention to win the NFC North.
"Teddy has had a good year," Hill said. "I know that everybody wants to just look at stats on paper and things like that and try to compare guys, and compare guys in his age group and all those things. But the fact of the matter is he's doing what he's asked to do to get wins for this team and he's done a great job of that."
*Bridgewater's performance on Sunday made him the second quarterback in NFL history to complete at least 85 percent of his passes with four touchdowns passing, one rushing and no interceptions in a single game, joining Cleveland's Fran Ryan (Dec. 12, 1964). Bridgewater completed 17 of 20 passes for 231 yards in the Vikings' 38-17 win over the Bears. *
But Hill said Bridgewater has made the most progress with something that is largely undetectable by fans.
"I've seen a real growth in knowing protections, knowing how to move the line and being able to take care of that stuff at the line of scrimmage, knowing the looks the defense is giving us and being able to get us in a good protection, which is, I think, for a second-year guy, pretty impressive," Hill said.
One selection and multiple snubs?
NFL Network and Vikings.com announced Tuesday night that Adrian Peterson has been selected for his seventh Pro Bowl.
Peterson is the lone Vikings player who was selected, and has his mind on other postseason games.
ESPN.com's Ben Goessling wrote that Peterson seemed like an "obvious pick, after carrying the team's offense for much of the season."
Peterson leads the NFL with 286 carries and 1,314 yards.
Goessling listed **three players** that could be considered snubs: nose tackle Linval Joseph, safety Harrison Smith and return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson.
Joseph won NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after a dominating performance against the Rams, but has dealt with a foot injury that's sidelined him three straight games.
Goessling wrote that Smith could have gotten some residual votes from a 2014 season that deserved more recognition, but an untimely knee injury on Nov. 22 and hamstring injury Dec. 6 took away some opportunities to build on this year's stat line.
Patterson, Goessling noted, is leading the NFL with 31.1 yards on kickoff returns and two kickoff return touchdowns.
Appeal
The Associated Press reported that Giants receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. is going to have **his appeal** of his one-game suspension heard by former NFL receiver James Thrash.
*Thrash and Derrick Brooks are the hearing officers jointly appointed by the NFL and the players' association. *
*The league suspended Beckham on Monday for his conduct against Carolina, when he drew three personal foul penalties. The league cited "multiple violations of safety-related playing rules." *
The Giants (6-8) face a key game on Sunday night at Minnesota. If Beckham's appeal is turned down, the Giants will be without their best offensive option.
Beckham has more than one-third of the Giants receiving yards this season (1,396 out of 3,900).
