Breaking Brad: In-Depth Look At Bradford's Preseason Debut

JT Volpe

Another week of preseason and another huge win for the Chipadelphia Eagles, this time 40-17 over the Baltimore Ravens. And despite the best efforts of the ugliest smile in pro sports...

Our man Sam left the game in perfect health after leading a touchdown scoring drive in his first action since swapping out horns for wings. Let's go through and break down the 13 play drive step by step. Thanks to reddit user /u/delbv9 for making this video cut of Bradford's drive. The full video will be posted below, and each written breakdown will have a timestamp for easier navigation.

1st and 10 (0:14) - Simple zone read hand off here, good call to get Bradford into the game and get the clock rolling. Nice foot positioning and a clean transition on the give. Great to see Murray pick up 7 yards on his first carry. 

2nd and 3 (0:40) - An offensive holding penalty would have negated any yards anyway, but I still think this is a real good play to take a look at. You can see Bradford look at his first read, a TE Leak to his right, after pulling the handoff back. When its not there, he looks to the deep 1 on 1 that the play scheme provides down the far sideline. What's interesting to me is that Riley Cooper seems to take two steps driving back to midfield, before adjusting back and just missing the throw. It could be as simple as Cooper taking two bad steps trying to work past the cornerback, but it almost looks as if Cooper was about to run a deep post and Bradford threw for a streak. In any case, the positive here is that Bradford went through his first two reads, made a decision, and delivered the football, all in 3.5 seconds from the snap. I wouldn't worry too much about not hooking up on the play with Cooper, if this season goes how we want it to, he won't be throwing to Coop anyway.

2nd and 13 (1:30) - Another quick handoff. Good to see Bradford and Murray are working well together on the ball transition. Murray's first stride after ball capture was very direct and explosive on both of his first two carries. 

3rd and 6 (2:00) - Start a few seconds before the snap to see this wonderful play develop. 8 yards might not seem super impressive but every moving part of this play is a reason to be excited. Sproles motions from left to right and runs an underneath slant with Jordan Matthews running an overtop slant. Neither linebacker is able to get underneath of Matthews walling them off and Bradford quickly makes the read and delivers a strike to the numbers. Expect to see this from the Kelly offense all year. The 82 yard bombs to DeSean Jackson may be a thing of the past but Bradford will pile up the completions and first downs by making plays like this and then burn single coverage deep with Nelson Agholor once teams start pressing receivers. Even more impressive: From the start of Sproles' motion to the tackle, only 8 seconds come off the clock. This team is fast.

1st and 10 (2:32) - Almost the same route by Sproles here, minus the pre-snap motion. Again wide open but Bradford throws a slightly high, yet still catchable ball. One worry here is that when you miss low its incomplete, when you miss high interceptions follow. Hopefully more reps will flesh these things out. Getting timing and precision with a small target like Sproles probably takes time. 

2nd and 10 (3:00) - I hate Terrell Suggs.

1st and 10 (4:05) - My god, a full minute between snaps under Chip Kelly? 

2nd and 7 (4:25) - This is probably the only play Bradford made all night where I think the negatives outweigh the positives. Bradford goes through a good progression and delivers to an open Agholor in a tight window. But he double clutches the ball and instead of driving with his legs has to make the throw all arm. He overcompensates and it sails high again. Then he gets popped in the chest as he releases. I'm really hoping he didn't double clutch because of contact and rather because he lost grip on the ball or Agholor stumbled cutting. On the positive side, he got up after his first real hit in two seasons. Another holding flag on the Ravens gives the Eagles a first down anyway.

1st and 10 (5:10) - Gardner gets blown by on the line and Murray does his best to lose only 2. 

2nd and 12 (5:35) - Another flag on the Ravens, another first down. Looking at the throw however, it was low for sure but not too bad. It looks worse because Huff bobbles it a few times. Really hoping Huff's drop issues don't carry over to this season because his speed will be electrifying if it can be utilized.

1st and 10 (6:36) - I don't like the decision on this play. Jordan Matthews looks like he's about to get wide open when Bradford throws, again high, to Seyo Ajirotutu (please make the roster so I can type your name all year). 

2nd and 10 (7:01) - Nice little dive here by Sproles. Our running game has me salivating. 

3rd and 5 (7:27) - Another play that I absolutely love. The prime example of the Kelly offense at work. Sproles runs for 5 on second down to set up a short conversion situation. With so many receivers on the field, Bradford looks to find the 1 on 1, sees Matthews open beyond the sticks and pounds the numbers with a tight spiral. Matthews uses his big frame and quick feet to pick up some YAC. A+ all around on this play especially the offensive line for keeping Bradford comfortable in the pocket. 

1st and 10 (8:00) - Feast your eyes on this. Perfect blocking scheme opens the hole and Mathews makes a hard cut and runs downhill for the score. Even Trent Richardson would've picked up a yard or two on that play. 

Report Card:

Stats: 3/5 35 yards. 

Impressions: I'm so ready for Monday Night Football against Atlanta. We'll get a better look next week against Green Bay in the dress rehearsal, but its tough not to love what we saw Saturday night. Good crisp throws, great decision making and getting up after contact without missing a beat. There were some concerns, most particularly the high throws. But nothing appeared to be a huge mechanical problem. I think Bradford's touch is a little off, which you'd expect from a guy who's missed a season and a half and is working with an all new team. A big focus in the Green Bay game should be how Bradford works with Nelson Agholor. They couldn't connect on Agholor's only target on Saturday but those two starting to click will be huge. I hate Terrell Suggs.

Grade: B

Look out for the continuation of Breaking Brad, next week following the game against the Packers! 
To read the first edition of Breaking Brad, click here.

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