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Sam Bradford Tosses Two TDs, Eagles Top Colts

Adrian Fedkiw|

It was a lose-lose situation for the Philadelphia Eagles wide receivers on Saturday night.

If the Eagles receivers thrived against an Indianapolis Colts defense that missed six cornerbacks, including starters Vontae Davis and Antonio Cromartie, then what does it really prove? But if they continued to struggle against “scrubs,” well, you get the point.

Sam Bradford completed 17-of-20 passes for 167 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, including a four-yard score to the newly-acquired Dorial Green-Beckham, and the Eagles defeated the Colts 33-23 in preseason Week 3 action.

Despite all the the injuries on the Colts end, I liked what I saw from Bradford due to his pin-point accuracy. Not all of his 17 completions came via the dink-and-dunk variety, he mixed in a couple strikes as well and put the ball on the proper shoulder to maximize the yards after the catch.

We also saw glimpses of what Green-Beckham could provide in 2016. No, he’s not going to grasp the entire playbook this quickly, but you can limit his route tree and let him do what does best, leap up and snatch fades in the back corners of the end zone using his athleticism, body control and strong hands at the catch point. Philadelphia hasn’t had a legitimate red-zone threat since Terrell Owens, here’s his first touchdown as an Eagle.

Green-Beckham showcased how tough he is to bring down on his first reception. He ran a simple slant pattern and turned a five-yard gain into an 11-yard one due to his strength. It’s not easy to tackle a 240-pounder.

With more practice and repetitions, Bradford and Green-Beckham will get their red-zone timing down. Green-Beckham stopped running too soon on Bradford’s throw to the back left corner of the end zone and his toss could’ve had a bit more air under it.

Let’s get back to Bradford and discuss what I’m talking about with his accuracy. This was a beautiful toss to Chris Givens on a 3rd-and-17. It was Givens first reception of the preseason. The offensive line also helped a ton, providing Bradford time to get into a comfortable rhythm.

Bradford fires a strike to a crossing Huff, putting it on his proper shoulder to allow him to run after the catch and the Oregon product nearly turned the corner.

And speaking of Huff, it was a refreshing performance. Again, it’s against lesser competition, but no drops or fumbles. Huff is at his best after the catch on crossing routes and slants, as evidenced by this 42-yard completion.

When head coach Doug Pederson talks about playing up to his personnel’s strengths, he showed that with Huff and Green-Beckham. He found ways to get the ball in Huff’s hands and let him work in space, while Green-Beckham was allowed to use his frame. Take some notes Chip.

We had some vintage Andy Reid on 3rd-and-1. He loves his gadget plays on those short distances, normally the shovel pass or passes into the flats, but we saw a jet sweep for Huff on this occasion for the touchdown.

Remember in the beginning when I was talking about continuing to struggle against “scrubs.” Insert Nelson Agholor. He dropped 9.5 percent of his targets last year and continues to have butterfingers. He struggles to create separation and when he does get open, he can’t hang onto the football. It’s beyond frustrating.

Maybe I’m looking a bit too much into this, but it doesn’t seem like a good sign that Paul Turner didn’t get an opportunity to play with the starters. Neither did Rueben Randle, by the way. I really wanted to see if Turner could hang with the one’s. At 5’9, he’s small and doesn’t possess sprinter speed, but has been catching everything, including this 18-yard deep out.

Another thing that’s been overlooked on offense is Zach Ertz’s improvements in his run blocking. Check out this run here where he got off the double team and found a defensive back on the second level before engulfing him to create an alley for Kenjon Barner to run through.

We saw a little glimpse of fifth-round rookie Wendell Smallwood, who was in on a few plays before departing with a concussion. He showcased some of his pass-catching ability, lining out wide as a receiver and hauling in a five-yard quick out along the right boundary.

The defensive side of the ball did their thing as well. This brings me to Brandon Graham, who’s been a monster during the preseason so far. He’s been creating a lot of havoc in the backfield and setting edges in the run game beautifully. He got the hockey assist on this play, forcing Andrew Luck to his right with a nice bull rush before Connor Barwin got credited with the sack.

The Eagles conclude their preseason Thursday night against the New York Jets and maybe just maybe, we might catch another glimpse of Carson Wentz.

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