I think this is a fairly accurate depiction of Bradford’s struggles so far this year, with the exception that Bradford has been willing to take more shots down the field as the season has progressed. He was hoping, rather than playing, and that’s a formula for failure." His game is timing and rhythm, but his uncertainty as to when to deliver the ball is clear on last season’s tape. The inability of wideouts to get open on one-on-one isolation routes - a must in the NFL - had an extremely negative impact on Bradford. I strongly believe the injuries, the revolving door and the overall lack of quality at the wide receiver position s a more legitimate reason for Bradford’s struggles than the offensive line. He threw some balls too early, and some too late the passing game was clearly out of synch. He had very little sense of timing with his receivers. velocity ha decreased he s not driving the ball down the field….His precise ball location, a feature of his game as a rookie, had waned. He was anticipating the rush, and you cannot perform that way, no matter what kind of talent you have throwing the football. You must be able to function effectively in a muddied and noisy pocket to play quarterback well in the NFL, and Bradford began to perceive pressure that was not there. It is easy to place the blame on the…poor pass protection, but that circumvents the more essential point. What really stood out as the year Bradford’s reaction to pressure - the issue that first surfaced in his rookie season against Kansas City. An inconsistent profile had been established. When the pocket closes down and functional space is reduced to throw cleanly and comfortably, you must still stay on balance and deliver the ball in the eye of the storm…In addition, there were instances in which Bradford had opportunities to be more aggressive throwing down the field that he didn’t take advantage of…īradford tentative in the pocket, not mentally sharp, and at times he did not let it loose when he had a throw. That’s a different trait than looking down the gun barrel. There were times he was not comfortable in the pocket with bodies around him. " There re two particular areas where significant work was needed. Bradford’s ball placement has been inconsistent, which largely results from his failure to transfer his weight during his throws.īefore we dive a little bit deeper, consider this quote about Bradford from NFL.com’s Greg Cosell:.Bradford is not seeing the field properly which is leading to bad decisions and.Bradford struggles when he is under pressure or thinks he is under pressure.The tape shows that there are three issues that have haunted Bradford so far this season that are leading to a spike in interceptions: Bradford is one of only two quarterbacks to throw two-plus interceptions in four of the six games he’s played (the other being Kirk Cousins).īut the interceptions are not the reason for Bradford’s poor play, they are merely the symptoms of the actual flaws in Bradford’s game that are causing the interceptions. His nine interceptions rank second in the NFL, and his four redzone interceptions - three of which that have occurred in the last two weeks - is tops in the league. To put it mildly, Sam Bradford’s play has been inconsistent. Ask anyone the biggest problem with Bradford’s play to date, and they will likely point to the alarming rate at which he is throwing interceptions. And indeed, Bradford’s 3.9% interception rate dwarfs his career rate of 2.2%. Given what we have seen, it is fair to wonder whether this is the deepest and most balanced team that Chip Kelly has had as head coach of the Eagles. And yet, there is an overwhelming sense of anxiety surrounding this team. Heck, even their much maligned kicker, Calib Sturgis, has been perfect on field goal attempts over the last two weeks. And they have won their last two games by a combined 44 points while piling up 957 yards of total offense in the process. They have been led by a dominating defense and strong play from their offensive line and run game, three things which seemed inconceivable after the loss to theĪtlanta Falcons. The Eagles have gone from 1-3 with their season on the brink of collapse, to being in first place in the NFC East. The last two weeks of the Eagles season perfectly illustrates the importance of the quarterback position.
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