Eagles Analysis: The Passing Game Conundrum

The Philadelphia Eagles traveled to New Meadowlands for the first of two times this season, coming away with a much needed win. The offensive line did a much better job of executing assignments and winning at the line of scrimmage. The defense had its best outing to date, forcing 4 turnovers, one of which helped to seal the victory.

Darren Sproles once again made a splash play on special teams, taking a punt 89 yards to the house in absurd fashion. Even the running game got going as Ryan Mathews displayed vision, balance, and explosiveness en route to a season’s best 128 combined yards and a touchdown.

Still, for the second consecutive week the Eagles passing game was largely non-existent, failing to capitalize on a multitude of opportunities. Sam Bradford was erratic in his ability to effectively locate passes, while the pass catchers did little to compensate for the poor quarterback play. With a long and arduous season in sight one thing is clear; the Eagles passing game must improve if the team hopes to enjoy sustained success.

I have been a big proponent of Sam Bradford since watching him earlier this offseason, however, the former St. Louis quarterback has failed to meet expectations through the first 3 weeks. Bradford has compiled one of the poorest stat-lines in the NFL to this point, and, though there are other external factors aversely affecting these numbers, he simply hasn’t produced at an acceptable clip. What really sticks out is Bradford’s yards per attempt (YPA), which sits at 5.8 for the season. Numbers are often misleading in a complex game that demands context for clarity, however, that 5.8 YPA ranks 31 of 32 among quarterbacks, and illustrates Bradford’s inability to drive the football to the deep and intermediate levels.

Back in June, I studied Bradford’s mechanics using samples from his time in St. Louis and came away highly impressed; great balance, arm speed, and snappy footwork made Bradford a technically proficient passer. Some have expressed the sentiment that Bradford has been the same quarterback that he was in St. Louis, and therein lies the issue, however, in my opinion the inverse is true; Sam Bradford is not the same passer he was in St. Louis, and that’s the problem. If Bradford’s performance was consistent with what he has previously put on tape, the on-field results would be much prettier than what we’ve seen thus far.

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During the Eagles week 3 game against the Jets, Bradford displayed very few of the traits that allowed him to paint such a pretty mechanical picture in the past. His footwork is cosmically average and less sudden than before, however, his lack of balance and body awareness presents a larger issue. In the past Bradford consistently gave himself a good base to throw from and nearly always led with his arm when delivering the football.

On Sunday however, Bradford had issues with balance, leading to some errant throws. The play in which Bradford fired low to Nelson Agholor –who had a step inside– is a prime example of this. Bradford steps up into a beautiful pocket and, while gaining ground on his plant, allows his upper body to subtly leak over his plant foot and in front of his arm. A passer’s inability to lead with his arm will undermine his ability to establish his release point and effectively locate passes with any semblance of consistency.

The more balanced and controlled a thrower can be in delivering the ball, the easier it is to manipulate release point and avoid misfires. Because Bradford leans froward with his upper half he is forced to compensate and adjust his release; he doesn’t stand tall and dominate/manipulate the ball as he has in the past and the throw skips in to his target.

Bradford consistently struggled with the foundational components of his mechanics, however, when he did put things together the results were pretty. One such instance was the touchdown pass to Ryan Mathews. Bradford shuffled his feet, established a strong base, stood tall in the pocket, led with his hand, and reached out to his target delivering a great ball. There were no lapses in body awareness or balance, just a well delivered ball on a technically proficient rep. This is the process that Bradford will have to recreate if he hopes to find consistency on a regular basis.

Now, there is good and bad news in regard to Bradford’s mechanical inconsistencies. For one, it’s fixable, and is likely a product of his being away from football for such a long period of time, coupled with a lack of time to re-acclimate himself to the speed of the game. Yes, Bradford has the majority of minicamp, OTAs, training camp, etc. to get comfortable: I understand this, however, those reps are in a controlled environment where Bradford can be more cognizant of the mechanical aspects of his game as opposed to just playing. Now, with the bullets flying and everything on the line, Bradford can’t afford to think and go through the motions, instead he has to make reads, maneuver the pocket, and play fast. This is why Bradford’s practice reps have looked so much better than the product he has put on the field.

The further we get into the season the more comfortable Bradford will get and the mechanics –and subsequent play– will improve in both quality and consistency. Moreover, the greater issue being mechanical, at least Bradford isn’t consistently making horrible reads. Sure he’s locked on receivers at times and missed an opportunity or two, but he hasn’t displayed the inability to find open receivers to the degree of a Nick Foles or a Mark Sanchez, he just hasn’t been able to deliver accurate passes. When his mechanics catch up to his processing, the results will come.

The bad news is that this process could be costly. I have confidence in Bradford being able to recreate his past mechanical successes, however, no one can foresee how long that process might take. The Eagles will only be able to stay afloat for so long while Bradford reestablishes himself, and can’t afford to prop up poor quarterback play for long. Good opponents will have their way with the Eagles if Bradford can’t step up fairly quickly. The coaching staff will be patient as Bradford plays catch-up, however, the offense may continue to suffer in the process.

In the chaos that has enveloped the Eagles offense throughout the early stages of the season, it’s important to remember that the struggles have been multifaceted; along with Bradford improving from a fundamental standpoint, the Eagles pass catchers must be more consistent. When one position group is struggling, it’s paramount that others step-up in an attempt to compensate for the struggling unit’s deficiencies.

When the Eagles offense underperformed in week 3, the defense stepped-up and came away with a number of turnovers, while Darren Sproles and the return unit contributed a huge play of their own. Within the offense, the relationship between Bradford and his receivers should be symbiotic, however, neither group is contributing meaningfully. Instead, while Bradford struggles his receivers continue to commit drops. If the passing offense is to ever get back on track, the drops have to subside.

It’s still very early, and there’s no reason to believe the Eagles offense won’t improve. Patience, however, is key, as things might take longer to gel than originally anticipated. In hindsight, expecting Bradford and a young corp of receivers to produce at a high level from the jump might have been unreasonable. Hopefully the passing offense can take a step in the right direction Sunday against Washington, and then continue to build from there.

Authors Note: I’m looking into getting Game Rewind so that I can perform more comprehensive film reviews. Apologies for not including screen grabs to better illustrate what I’ve discussed, however, I hope to rectify this issue in the near future. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Next: Darren Sproles named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

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