Bradford has deep problems, and always has

To the critics of Sam Bradford in St. Louis - a group that eventually included the Rams organization - there were two things about the quarterback that were continually frustrating, and neither had anything to do with his left knee.

Putting aside the fact that Bradford did, indeed, tear his left anterior cruciate ligament twice, what defined his reputation during 49 starts for St. Louis was that the Rams always seemed to fall behind at the start of games and that, despite possessing a very strong arm, the quarterback didn't really throw the ball down the field very much.

Some of those failings can be pinned to the backdrop of a bad team trying to find its way. An NFL team doesn't get the first pick in the draft without stinking up the joint, and the Rams certainly did that on the way to a 1-15 record in 2009 and the opportunity to select Bradford the following spring.

The Rams still haven't had a winning record since 2003, and Bradford's tenure in St. Louis might have been doomed regardless of his health, but the tendencies that have stretched across his career are inarguable: The first half of games and the deep ball have not been his specialties.

So, here we are, two games into Bradford's first season with the Eagles, and the team has scored a total of three points in the first half. Bradford has completed 59 passes in the two games, but only five went for 20 yards or more. (Even that is deceiving, since more than half the yardage gained on those five receptions came after the catches.) He has consistently checked down to safer outlets during his progressions and completed 23 of 27 passes to running backs DeMarco Murray, Darren Sproles, and Ryan Matthews. He's 36 of 62 to everyone else.

The explanation favored by the Eagles, and not without reason, is that everything wrong with the offense at the moment is linked to an inability to run the football. Whether the problem is a talent deficit on the offensive line, or a fundamental failure to execute, or that opposing defenses have decoded Chip Kelly's system, the end result is the same. If opponents don't worry about the run, they can pay more attention to the pass, and specifically to preventing deep passes.

"I don't think it has anything to do with taking a shot down the field. What we have to do is be able to run the ball vs. a six-man box," Kelly said Thursday. "[If you do], now you've got to get a safety down in the front. Now you have an opportunity to make him pay for getting an extra guy down there. But we haven't in either game we played, whether it be Dallas or Atlanta, seen an extra defender in the box because we didn't run the ball well enough to get that extra defender in the box. So there was no opportunity to throw the ball down the field."

That's fine and logical, but there have been passes completed in the history of the NFL against teams playing two high safeties. It's not like threading a needle wearing boxing gloves. Completing a pass in that circumstance might be more difficult, but the great quarterbacks in the league don't get paid because they can make the easy throws. The difficult ones are what separate them from the pack.

For whatever reason, Bradford has seemed to prefer rating risk above reward during his career. Among all active NFL quarterbacks - a list that includes 30 with enough lifetime attempts (1,500) to qualify - Bradford is ranked 30th for both yards per attempt (6.3) and yards per completion (10.7) over his entire career. Those numbers not only put him miles from guys at the top of the lists such as Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady but also behind lesser lights such as Rex Grossman, Chad Henne, and Matt Cassel.

Explaining that low ranking, particularly for a quarterback considered to have a superior arm, isn't easy. Maybe it is his nature to be conservative and make the "smart" play. Maybe a career that has included shoulder surgery, a high-ankle sprain, and the two knee injuries has made him less likely to wait out a deep pattern. Whatever the explanation, the numbers are the numbers, and while there are sound schematic reasons for why the Eagles haven't stretched the field, the fact that their quarterback has a history of not doing so is in there somewhere, too.

What we really don't know is how the offense will operate when the game isn't tilted against it. That could open some things up. The Eagles haven't had the lead and the ball yet this season. Bradford knows that feeling, which, whether his fault or not, was another criticism in St. Louis - that the Rams usually fell behind during a conservative first half.

In his 51 career starts, including the two this season, Bradford's team has led at halftime just 19 times. In the other 32 games, he fashioned a second-half comeback for a win just six times. Those aren't inspirational numbers, either, and are part of what led the Rams to move on.

Again, the Rams were certainly part of Bradford's problem, as are the Eagles right now. But the burden placed on quarterbacks who wish to be considered elite - like a former No. 1 overall pick, for instance - is they are expected to solve those problems when things are going badly and conjure magic when none is apparent.

The Eagles are waiting for Sam Bradford to do some of that. Of course, so is the entire NFL.

bford@phillynews.com

@bobfordsports