Matt Cassel To Start On Saturday Against Arizona

The battle for the Minnesota Vikings' starting quarterback position may not be completely over yet, but it appears that it might be edging in that direction.

The team has named Matt Cassel as the starter for Saturday night's contest at TCF Bank Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals. Cassel started last week's game against the Oakland Raiders, playing just one drive. On that drive, he completed 5-of-6 passes for 62 yards and a near-touchdown to Kyle Rudolph. (Matt Asiata carried the ball over from the 1 to finish the drive.)

Cassel, for now, is holding off rookie Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 6-of-13 passes for 49 yards in his first NFL game, but was victimized by a couple of drops and untimely penalties. In the linked article from the Pioneer Press above, Zimmer seemed to leave the possibility open that Bridgewater could get the start in either the third or fourth pre-season game. It would be unusual for him to get the start in Game #3, though, if he hasn't completely passed Cassel. . .the third pre-season game is generally considered the most important and the one where the starters see the most time.

(Unless Zimmer decides that Cassel doesn't need to play in third pre-season game at all, which would be highly unusual, to say the least.)

So, the veteran is still ahead of the rookie in the fight to be the Vikings' starting quarterback against the St. Louis Rams in Week 1. Will it stay that way, or will the light come on a bit more for Bridgewater over the next couple of weeks?