October 26, 2015
Bob Leverone/AP
Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford was sacked five times in the Eagles loss to the Panthers.
Sam Bradford was not the reason for the Eagles' 27-16 loss to the Panthers Sunday night. He did, however, have a chance late in the fourth quarter to be the reason they won, but that quickly evaporated as his receivers continued to drop passes, resulting in a turnover on downs.
It's been strange to witness all that's surrounded Bradford this season. Once he found a home in Chip Kelly's offense, many suddenly expected big things out of him -- a la Nick Foles' 2013 campaign -- and completely forgot that he was coming off a pair of ACL surgeries and, even when healthy, had never lived up to the hype that comes with being a No. 1 overall pick.
Part of the reason behind those over-inflated expectations has to do with Kelly's QB-friendly system and how it seemed to benefit both Foles and Mark Sanchez. Another part is born of the fans' hope, the one that tricks them into ignoring obvious warning signs and buying in on "their" players, which is what Bradford became the minute he was acquired for Foles. And then there was that one preseason game quarter against the Packers in which Bradford and the Eagles offense looked flawless.
But Bradford isn't alone out there. Passing is (at least) a two-person activity, and another reason for all the excitement over the new-look offense was directly related to the guys to whom he would be throwing. Many expected a breakout season for second-year WR Jordan Matthews. Rookie Nelson Agholor, a first-round pick, was playing well in camp and in the preseason. Zach Ertz seemed poised to take a step forward, as did Josh Huff.
So far this season, they've been more of a liability than anything else. And in return, they've been making Bradford look worse than he's actually been.
On Monday, Chip Kelly addressed the issue and defended the play of his QB, not just in the most recent loss, but throughout the season.
"I think we had eight, you can argue two more, so it could have been 10 [drops]," Kelly said, a day after saying he thought Bradford did a good job putting the ball where it needed to be. "Obviously, we're not going to win if we do that. That's too many and we've got fix it. We've got too much skill to sustain that."
"In our opinion, [those are balls that should be caught]," he added.
We've already extensively covered the Eagles' issues holding on to the football Sunday night, but what about the Bradford? If the receivers can fix the problem, will Bradford suddenly turn into the quarterback many were expecting him to be?
Not likely.
That's because Bradford, more or less, has been the same QB this season as he was over his five years with the Rams.
| 2010-14 | 2015 | |
| ATT/CMP | 21.1/35.9 | 24.3/39.1 |
| CMP% | 58.6 | 62.0 |
| YDS | 225.8 | 252.3 |
| TD/INT | 1.2/0.8 | 1.3/1.4 |
| RTG | 79.3 | 76.4 |
As you can see, Bradford has been playing like Bradford. And sure, his interception numbers are up, but at least two of his 10 interceptions this season have hit off the hands of his receivers -- Matthews had one against the Panthers and another against the Falcons.
And, unfortunately, there's no reason to believe he'll suddenly become something he hasn't been since his sophomore season at Oklahoma (50 TD, 8 INT) when he won the Heisman. Coincidentally, Bradford twice injured his throwing shoulder early the following year and eventually elected to undergo season-ending surgery.
But even if Bradford was to undergo a dramatic improvement over the bye week, would we even know? With so many dropped passes, would it make a difference?
Following the loss, the Eagles QB used the word "inconsistency" to describe the play of the Eagles offense, and that may be the best way to phrase it. Let's look back at the first seven games and the biggest issue plaguing the offense in each:
It's hard to fix your problems when a different one presents itself each week, but that doesn't mean they won't try. And fixing those drops would be a great first step toward helping this offense -- one that finished each of the last two seasons ranked in the top 10 in the NFL -- regain some of its consistency. Those are types of the things they'll need to stay focused on as they prepare for a rematch with the Cowboys after the bye.
Because as far as Bradford's play is concerned, this might be as good as it gets. If his five years in St. Louis are any indication, consistency is not his strength.
| Passer Rating | No. of Games |
| 100+ | 11 |
| 90-99 | 4 |
| 80-89 | 13 |
| 70-79 | 9 |
| 60-69 | 10 |
| 50-59 | 5 |
| <50 | 4 |
This season, he's been equally as inconsistent, but Kelly seems to think it's good enough.
"No, not at all," Kelly said when asked if he's considered making a change at quarterback due to Bradford's inconsistent play. "Because I think our quarterback's been playing well."
"I think our quarterback's been playing well," he reiterated. "I have been pleased with Sam, very pleased with Sam."
