Philadelphia Eagles Fans Need Patience With Sam Bradford

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The hype was real entering the 2015-2016 season. That hype was almost warranted, almost. The hype surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles and quarterback Sam Bradford started in the preseason. The defense was stopping teams dead in their tracks (they still are), and the offense looked like it was going to be in another stratosphere with Sam Bradford under center. Bradford looked sharp in limited snaps and expectations instantly sky rocketed for Sam and this team. Fast forward to real football and the team is sitting at 1-2, and Bradford has been shaky at best. Still, fans need to be patient with Bradford.

The preseason may have been the worst thing possible for this team. People were already telling them how good they were before even playing a real game. Bradford, who hadn’t played a regular season game in two years, was now somehow a MVP candidate after a few nice passes in preseason. All Philadelphia Eagles fans were swept up in the moment, including myself. Sam Bradford was now everyone’s lock screen on their phone or their header on Twitter. People were already looking for hotels in San Francisco for the Super Bowl that Bradford would for sure be the MVP in.

More from Eagles News

Unfortunately the realistic expectations for Bradford and this team were lost in the commotion. The fact is that Bradford hasn’t played four quarters of real football until a couple weeks ago and their was bound to be rust. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you don’t play any sport for two years and you come back, there are going to be growing pains. I mean the greatest basketball player of all time Michael Jordan looked rusty coming back from retirement back in the 90s. It takes time and fans need to be patient with Sam.

The Philadelphia Eagles have new pieces everywhere. The expectation for them to come out like gangbusters was unrealistic. A team with this much turnover needs time. The Bradford move still looks like the right one, but cohesion and chemistry takes time to build. We have all seen the lack of communication and execution these past three weeks. It’s a team effort and it is not just Sam who has not played up to par. The offensive line has been missing assignments, the running backs have missed holes, and receivers have been dropping a plethora of catchable balls. The team as a whole needs to step up.

In saying that, you cannot make excuses for Sam and the Philadelphia Eagles. There’s no way around it, Bradford has had some poor throws that he should make. The offense has been sputtering in part because of his lackadaisical play and unwillingness to go deep down the field. Fans have been calling him a bust and pleading for backup Mark Sanchez. While I agree Bradford’s play needs to improve, I think people are forgetting that Sanchez was just as bad or probably worse than Bradford last year.

Sam Bradford has immense talent, the Philadelphia Eagles know this, head coach Chip Kelly knows this, and I know this. It’s no time to panic. It’s going to be week 4, if this were week 11, then it would be time for a change. Bradford has all the tools to make this offense go and he has shown flashes of this during the first three weeks of the season. As much as fans want to live in that short tainted preseason reality when things were rosy and rainbows, it’s time to move on and acknowledge that Bradford needs to be given a fair chance.

Chip Kelly says he feels extremely comfortable and confident with Sam Bradford as the starting QB. Every time I’ve questioned Kelly, he ends up proving me wrong so I’m willing to trust his assessment of Sam over people on social media. Sam Bradford needs to show us something, but killing Sam over a handful of throws is wrong. Things looked better this past Sunday and the team will need to build off that and get Bradford going early. I have a gut feeling that Bradford will get it together, but it will take patience because there are bound to be bumps in the road with a player coming off two major injuries. Give it time Philadelphia Eagles fans, no need to panic. For now.

Next: Philadelphia Eagles Defense is Their Best Weapon

More from Inside the Iggles

Home/Eagles News