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Philadelphia Eagles: Sam Bradford will gain confidence in Week 1

By Nick Ziegler

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The long-awaited 2015 NFL season is nearly here, and for the Philadelphia Eagles it will feature a much different roster than 2014.

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One of the biggest moves of the offseason in the NFL was the rare trading of quarterback for a quarterback, as the St. Louis Rams sent the former first-overall pick, Sam Bradford to the Eagles for Nick Foles.

The Eagles’ new head coach Chip Kelly has been building his team in the image he wants to best suit his wild offensive system. With doing so, Kelly has made a lot of interesting moves this offseason and that will put pressure on his shoulders if the team doesn’t succeed.

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Acquiring Bradford was one of those questionable moves made by Kelly and the Eagles.

Bradford was the first overall pick by the Rams in the 2010 NFL Draft, but he has had his career derailed by injuries.

In five seasons in the NFL, Bradford has only been able to play a full 16 games in two of those seasons.

The last time we saw Bradford on the football field was in the 2013 season. In his fourth year, Bradford looked like he was really coming into his own after a solid third season in the NFL. In 2013, Bradford totaled 1,687 passing yards, 14 touchdown passes, and four interceptions in seven games. Bradford’s season however came to an early end in Week 7 against the Carolina Panthers as he tore his ACL.

In 2014 when trying to come back from the ACL injury, Bradford reinjured the same knee in Week 3 of the preseason and it cost him the entire 2014 season.

The decision by the Rams to move on from Bradford is a totally understandable one, as he just simply has had awful luck with injuries and can’t stay on the field. Bradford has a world of talent, but that is meaningless when you are constantly hurt.

The Eagles have put their faith in Bradford that he can stay healthy in 2015 for them, as he will be their starting quarterback. While Bradford has done well statistically in his time with the Rams, he could be poised for a monster season in Kelly’s offense if he can stay healthy.

In Week 1, Bradford will be playing against one of the best teams in the NFL to regain his confidence against, as the Eagles travel to play the Atlanta Falcons. In 2014, the Falcons were arguably the worst defensive team in the NFL, as they allowed the most total yards and also allowed the most passing yards. The Falcons have former Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as their new head coach, but there is still a lot of work to be done to turn the defense around.

The matchup against the Falcons is the perfect one for Bradford to get his feet wet in Kelly’s offense, and also to knock off the rust from not playing since Week 7 of 2013. The Eagles’ offense led by Bradford has the opportunity to score the most points in a game of any team this season on the fast track in Atlanta. For Bradford, a good game against the Falcons will help him regain his confidence after a tough start to his career.

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