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.

[Join a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for free and make 2016 your season]

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.

View photos (NFL.com screen shot) More

View photos (NFL.com screen shot) More

View photos (NFL.com screen shot) More

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.

View photos (NFL.com screen shot) More

Story continues