Sam Bradford: The Truth

[r8rh8rmike]

Interesting. More than his fair share? Which for the sake of argument; would that mean more than most other QB's? I don't know, you might be correct. I watch other games and it seems to me it's about even with the exceptions of brady and p. manning. I don't know. Sometimes his accuracy is way off, so in that respect I agree with the OP about him not being consistent.

Anyways, another losing season. Next year.....right?

I do think Bradford is put in difficulty more than other QB's, that's just the way I see it. I agree with you and NJ that he needs to be more consistent with his play. I'd like to see his intensity level stay high from start to finish as well. He seems to lose some focus in the middle of games, although today I think his focus was affected because he was punch drunk for several series after the big hit he took on his run.

I'm not giving up on a winning season yet, although the Seahawks are looking like world beaters again this week. I had to turn the game off because it was making me sick.

[mikhal5569]

Anytime a QB has a bad game, the first thing I look at is the offensive line and the supporting cast around him. Am I saying Sam Bradford should be given a free pass? No. He needs to make good accurate throws every time he gets a chance to regardless of the situation just like any other QB.

But, I am tired of threads that try to make it out like Bradford is the Rams problem. (Did anyone else see the stat that showed Sam being sacked in thirty consecutive games? Which is the longest active streak inthe NFL.

The defense gave up over two hundred yards on the ground. The offensive play calling in this game was horrible. Jared Allen was inthe backfield on almost every snap. And yes Bradford made too many bad throws.

What he didn't do was go into a shell. He got better as the game went on. Actually he threw 3 TD's and a 2 point conversion. He put the ball in the end zone 4 times and had 377 yards in the air. He's having his best year as a pro and I think he will only get better as the Rams load up on talent next year.

I'm holding out judgment on the guy until next year. Just my opinion.

[RebelRam]

I really think that hit on his scramble affected him pretty badly. I thought he looked pretty groggy going back into the huddle and had a feeling something bad was about to happen. On the pick it looked like he was staring right at griffin when he threw it. Wouldn't surprise me if he was still seeing stars at that point.

[sb2sb2sb]

I'm not going to apologize for Bradford for the rest of the season then. Lets see the f.o. get him a solid oline and couple weapons this off-season. Then ill write him off next year if he is still that inconsistent after getting help.

[Curly Horns]

I do think Bradford is put in difficulty more than other QB's, that's just the way I see it. I agree with you and NJ that he needs to be more consistent with his play. I'd like to see his intensity level stay high from start to finish as well. He seems to lose some focus in the middle of games, although today I think his focus was affected because he was punch drunk for several series after the big hit he took on his run.

I'm not giving up on a winning season yet, although the Seahawks are looking like world beaters again this week. I had to turn the game off because it was making me sick.

Another year gone by and once again, aside from Steven Jackson, do we have an elite player, at any position, on this team? And since you mention the seahawks.......they seemingly get more out of every phase known to building and coaching a winning team as compared to the Rams. We will be lucky to keep the score better than 60-0 when we face them in two weeks.

[gap]

I find it funny how a team puts up 36 points and everyone starts pointing at the opposing QB.

Well 10 of their points were given to them by the "opposing QB", so it makes sense.


gap

[r8rh8rmike]

We will be lucky to keep the score better than 60-0 when we face them in two weeks.

Anything is possible, including a Rams win. I know they're almost unbeatable at home, but if a few things go our way, who knows.

[gap]

but if a few things go our way, who knows.

I seriously doubt the officials will allow a "few things to go our way" unless the RAMS are safely out of post season contention, AND the Niners need a Hawks loss to stay on top of the NFCW.


gap

[mcpeepants232003]

C'mon guys, he was under a blistering pass rush.

To me, the Rams are a good but young and inconsistent team. No need to overly beat ourselves up.

thank you, I thought he played well considering the pass rush and the fact our defense dug us that huge hole(obviously Sam contributed to that).

People seem to be under this misconception that Brees, Eli, Peyton and on were immediately elite level QB's. when this is far from the truth. It took Eli 5 years to get his rating over 77, Brees was very mediocre his first 3 years, Peyton had a good rookie year(like Sam), played very well years 2 and 3 and then took a big step back in years 4 and 5.

As long as we improve our line and our offensive playmakers Sam should improve even more next year than he did this year. He's likely to end up with 22-24 TDS this year to 12-14 pics and then next year hopefully he'll step up to 25-28 TDS with 10-12 picks.

All we can ask of Bradford is that he improves and he's clearly made a lot of improvement this year. If he takes an even bigger step next year(like expected) then I fail to see how anyone could complain.

[Curly Horns]

Anything is possible, including a Rams win. I know they're almost unbeatable at home, but if a few things go our way, who knows.

You're right, anything is possible....well, almost anything.

[mcpeepants232003]

Btw the fact that some people are still extremely negative when we are likely to go from a 2 win season to a 7 win season and the Givens, Jenkins, Brockers, Richardson, Zuerlein and Johnson crop of rookies has been extremely impressive boggles my mind.

These same people probably predicted 3-5 wins, we then exceed those expectations and they still complain.

[gap]

Btw the fact that some people are still extremely negative when we are likely to go from a 2 win season to a 7 win season and the Givens, Jenkins, Brockers, Richardson, Zuerlein and Johnson crop of rookies has been extremely impressive boggles my mind.

These same people probably predicted 3-5 wins, we then exceed those expectations and they still complain.

It's the post loss blues, and our hopes that our #1 pick would actually start playing like a #1 pick.


gap

[mcpeepants232003]

It's the post loss blues, and our hopes that our #1 pick would actually start playing like a #1 pick.


gap

Tom Brady year 3 age 25 62% 6.3 P/A Rating 85
Eli Manning year 3 age 25 58% 6.2 P/A Rating 77
Drew Brees year 3 age 24 58% 5.9 P/A Rating 68
Michael Vick year 4 age 24 56% 7.2 P/A Rating 78
Sam Bradford year 3 age 25 60% 6.8 P/A Rating 83

The truth is Bradford has played better than most elite QB's have played early in their careers and I didn't even bother to reference top QB's who turned out to be busts.

The difference is I actually know this and unlike you and the other Bradford haters I don't like in a magical fairy tale land where every elite QB is a Super Bowl winner/All Pro at age 25. Go ahead and keep on hating it just shows your general lack of knowledge about the sport.

[Goldenfleece]

They arent a very good team and any mistakes by the QB are magnified.

I think anyone thinking or hoping Bradford is someday going to be on a par with Brady, Manning, Brees, Roethlisberger or Rodgers needs to recalibrate their expectations. If getting a guy like that were easy, EVERY team would have one. This is certainly not to say Sam Bradford cannot be a winner in this league or become a top 10 QB.

I would tend to agree with both of these statements. Sam has not been dealt the best hand. He has had to play in three different systems in four years. His offensive line has been inconsistent and generally below league average. I don't know if any quarterback in the league has had more good balls dropped by receivers over the same time period.

That said, I don't think Sam is playing quite like an elite quarterback at this time. He's not THE problem, but he's not going to be so good as to mask the rest of the team's weaknesses. Some of those elite guys like Manning and Brees change the way opponents play their teams, just as a runningback like Adrian Peterson can single-handedly change the game. I think Bradford is a good quarterback. I think we can win with him. I think that if he gets better protection, it'll help him cut down on the mistakes and make more of those bullet passes and less of those overthrows. But I also think that as long as we're just good at quarterback, we're going to need some other real star power on offense. If the Ravens can win with Flacco and the ***** can win with Alex Smith/Colin Kaepernick, we can probably win with Sam...but it won't be using a model built around the superiority of the quarterback like the Brees and Manning led teams. It'll be by trying to put Bradford in good position to succeed, rather than expecting him to bail us out of a situation no matter what.

[mcpeepants232003]

^ of course he's not playing like Brees or Manning right now he's 25 years old and surrounded by mediocre weapons. Eli, Brady and Brees didn't play anything like they do now at age 25. Why does everyone constantly gloss over this fact?

It's almost like people on this board have just started watching football and are completely oblivious to the fact that young players often struggle early and improve dramatically.