SAM Bradford is not to blame for the Eagles passing game woes. Or so we keep being told. In fact our Head Coach/GM went as far as to say at his Monday press conference, that he’s pleased with Bradford’s play. So Bradford is officially blameless for this mess. Instead what’s happening is the entire receiving corps is being thrown under the bus (by the media) because of the high number of drops this year. But the truth is, the drops aren’t the problem.
I’m not saying that the 18 drops should be swept under the rug; but don’t you find it odd that suddenly everyone on the team can’t catch? No fan came into 2015 worried about the hands of WR Jordan Matthews. He had a nice rookie year, so expectations were high for 2015. Some of us were concerned about WR Josh Huff, but that had way more to do with mental lapses than his ability to catch. Rookie WR Neslon Agholor had most fans salivating over the idea of what he’d do once the games counted.
All those guys and this Offense looked so good during the preseason, right? So what changed? Speculation is that Matthews might have a hand injury, but his injury can’t cause RB Darren Sproles to drop passes. The coach suggested that it’s likely a concentration issue. So wait….his answer is that suddenly everyone has poor concentration? Come on now, Kelly. That dog don’t even hunt.
Meanwhile as we focus on 18 drops in 274 attempts, what no one is discussing are the Real Problems. And yes I said problems not problem. The First Problem isn’t the drops, it’s the completions. That’s not a typo, and I’ll say it again. The first problem is the completions. More directly it’s where they happen.
Entering Week 8, our 3rd down conversion percentage (32%) is 4th lowest in the league. That has a lot to do with where the ball is thrown. Swing passes that meet our RB’s at or behind the line of scrimmage, and passes over the middle to WR’s crossing beneath LB depth, are the norm now, and it repeatedly leaves us in poor down and distance situations, often setting up 3rd and long. This is made worse by repeatedly throwing the ball short of the first down marker during those same 3rd and long situations.
The routes run during the plays are not Bradford’s fault, but it brings up the Second Problem. While Bradford didn’t design the Offense or draw up the plays, he does elect whom he throws to. That is 100% on him. However, instead of challenging a defense, he nearly always reverts to Checkdown Charlie, and takes only what a defense will allow him to have. And then we punt.
This is every game so far, regardless of what defense we face or which coverage is rolled out. Be it Cover One or Cover Four, Man or Zone, the behavior is the same. Our Quarterback doesn’t play to win, he plays to not lose. That’s fine if the opponent is willing to self-destruct for you, but if they play even remotely competent/competitive ball, we’re in trouble.
Under Michael Vick this Offense was productive. Under Nick Foles this Offense was productive. Under Mark Sanchez this Offense was productive. Under Sam Bradford it’s sputtering because he’s okay with “just getting by”.
The obvious (and temporary) solution is Sanchez, but as I told you before, it won’t happen because then the GM is admitting that he blew it trading for Bradford. This brings up the Third Problem where the GM sandbags the Head Coach with a player that EVERYONE KNOWS he’s not happy with. It’s Kelly throwing himself under the bus to keep himself from making himself look bad. And we all get to watch him drag himself through shit. Meanwhile Howie Roseman, still smells like a rose man. Just as I told you he would.
Sam Bradford is the problem. He’s nothing more than a game manager who can’t lead this team to a 4th quarter or game winning drive. There was a play where the Eagles threw a screen on third down only to try a missed 50 yard field goal. Chip Kelly doesn’t even trust captain check down to get the ball down field. Everyone wanted to rip Jordan Mathews for that drop in Atlanta (that actually was a more difficult catch than needed to be) while ignore how inept Sam Bradford was on the first three downs. He’s by far worse than Foles ever was in this offense, and he’s killing this team.
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And the church says AMEN!
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The play calling is like pee wee football. Its boring and lacks any innovation. Bradford is making the only decisions available. Although the blocking has gotten better if you ever notice when they pan the camera behind Bradford receivers llok like they are in a lovers embrace with defensive backs way down the field and half the time do not even have their heads turned to the QB. So I am not sure what Chip is doing or whether we just lack talent at WR but Bradford is actually the smallest part of the problem. This is typical Eagle fall guy management. You could blame Foles for sucking with Jackson and Maclin but Bradford has who? Mr. Nobody? The media is quick to point out the INTs but if you look closely at the vast majority they were balls that were in play and the WR or TE barely mad an honest attempt to catch. They got manhandled by the defenders. This is a team with no sense of urgency. Bradford is far superior to Foles both in his quicker dleivery and tight trajectory of passes. When Agholor gets back on the field I expect some things to open up if his speed can be a factor.
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I dunno. Sanchez did great with Sproles and Matthews last year….
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Add the run element and its possible that could make a difference. I like sanchez. Always have thought that they should have built things around his skills. But he just cannot make certain throws.
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