Trying to explain QB mistakes

EVERY EXCUSE is there:

A bad offensive line, no running game, young receivers, a new team and offense.

Every excuse, reasonable.

Sam Bradford will have none of them.

By most measures, Bradford has been the worst player on a bizarrely reconstructed Eagles team, which, after winning 20 games in two seasons, Chip Kelly demolished and rebuilt: Nine of the 24 most significant players either cut, traded or simply set adrift, each of them still good enough to command a job on Sunday.

Two losses into the season the rebuild has gone . . . terribly.

Excluding the garbage-time drive last night Bradford is 46-for-82 with four interceptions and one touchdown pass.

That's a 55.5 passer rating, currently 39 points worse than Nick Foles. Also, 44 points behind Johnny Manziel.

If Bradford remains this inefficient then the Eagles' season is lost. With the run game stymied and Darren Sproles neutralized, it all hinges on Bradford. Forget about Byron Maxwell's struggles in single coverage and DeMarco Murray's anemic rushing stats.

The 2015 Eagles hinge on the offense retaining the ball for more than 10 of the game's first 35 minutes; on the offense scoring fast and often.

Bradford is the centerpiece of this rebuild, the pedigreed upgrade over Foles, that scrappy winning machine. So far, the centerpiece is not too pretty to look at.

Asked if he felt rusty, or if, perhaps, he was pressing, or if he was just out of sync, he said:

"I might feel a little bit all three of those things after tonight."

Bradford threw two more interceptions yesterday in a 20-10 loss to the Cowboys in his first game in front of the home crowd. The home crowd was not appreciative. He was supposed to be better than this. They saw a glimpse of his potential on TV not a week before, when he connected on 21 of 25 second-half passes in a loss in Atlanta.

Granted, Bradford foundered early in Atlanta. But that was his first game in Chip Kelly's Machine Gun system; his first time on "Monday Night Football"; his first career game playing for a contract, because his expires at the end of the season.

Besides, he hadn't played an NFL game in nearly two calendar years, having torn up his knee during the 2013 season, then again in preseason last year. The defensive whiz who took Seattle to back-to-back Super Bowls, Dan Quinn, was hired by the Falcons to make Atlanta's moribund defense a force, and he has.

Still, Bradford connected on 21 of 25 passes in the second half and clearly looked like the guy who was the best rookie passer after the Rams took him first in 2010; the guy who threw 21 TD passes in 2012.

Then, this; against a Cowboys defense that lacked four projected starters; a defense so committed to stopping former teammate DeMarco Murray that it forfeited any semblance of aggressive coverage, dropping into Cover-2 with uncharacteristic frequency, Bradford said. Still: two more interceptions.

That makes four, from the guy for whom the Eagles traded Nick Foles and a second-round pick next year. Two are totally Bradford's fault. Each might have cost the Birds wins.

Asked if he considered replacing Bradford with deflating backup Mark Sanchez, Kelly replied, "No. We didn't have any discussions about that."

Not yet, anyway.

In Atlanta, Bradford threw into coverage, a pass that never should have been thrown. The resulting pick became a touchdown in the last minute before halftime and gave the Falcons a 17-point lead at intermission from which the Eagles could not recover. For $13 million and a second-round pick, you don't throw that pass.

Against the Cowboys, trailing, 13-0, in the third quarter right after Tony Romo was knocked from the game with a broken clavicle, Bradford pushed the Birds to the Cowboys' 3. There, on second down, he threw to Zach Ertz in the back of the end zone hoping that linebacker Sean Lee, the Cowboys' best defender, would not turn around in time to defend the pass. Lee did. He made a terrific play, an interception for the ages. Had the ball been thrown 2 feet higher, Lee would have had no chance to intercept it.

"It looked like Sean Lee had his back turned to (Ertz), so I gave (Ertz) a chance," Bradford said.

Huh? Ertz had no chance.

For $13 million and a second-round pick, you throw the ball 2 feet higher.

As for the excuses . . .

Yes, the receivers have dropped about a half-dozen passes; but then, Bradford has thrown to nobody about a half-dozen times.

This might be a symptom of Bradford playing just 32 (stellar) preseason snaps with a receiving corps not only new to him, but also largely new to the system. Nelson Agholor is a rookie; Miles Austin, a free agent; Ertz is a third-year player and slot receiver Jordan Matthews a second-year player, but Ertz missed most of training camp with an injury.

"It is probably easy to say that now," Bradford said.

Easy, yes, and accurate.

Despite the poor running attack, the offensive line has actually protected Bradford decently in its eight quarters. He was pressured plenty in the first halves of each game, but he has been sacked only once. At times he has been erratic, indecisive, overcommitted to a single receiver or simply gun-shy.

Both the Falcons and the Cowboys sought to limit deep passes, which should play right into Bradford's hands; his unnerving accuracy is the result of a quick release with superb mechanics, good strength and a commitment to shorter passes. He's just missing them.

Teams continue to key on X-factor Darren Sproles, limiting his effectiveness as they did late last season.

Clearly, teams are forcing Bradford and his receivers to beat them.

Obviously, they are not.

Blog: ph.ly/DNL