Head over to The MMQB today and you’ll find a story about why NFL quarterbacks were so bad in Week 1, but you won’t find Sam Bradford’s name on the list with Tom Savage, Philip Rivers, Mike Glennon, Joe Flacco, Blake Bortles, Russell Wilson, Andy Dalton, Carson Palmer, Kirk Cousins, and Tom Brady.
The MMQB thinks those guys struggled because they:
- Are not very good
- Are too old
- Are too young
- Had bad offensive line play in front of them
But Bradford had great protection, and at 29 years old, he’s in the prime of his career. Basically, it all came together for Bradford’s best game of his career Monday night.
Look how dominant he was in different situations.
- On third down: 9-of-11, 103 yards, 2 TD (per Vikings)
- On throws 20+ yards: 5-of-5, 130 yards, 1 TD
- When under pressure: 4-of-5, 65 yards, 1 TD
- Against the blitz: 6-of-6, 104 yards, 1 TD (ESPN)
- On intermediate passes: 9-of-10, 234 yards, 2 TD (PFF)
Bradford became the first Vikings quarterback in 36 years to throw for more than 300 yards in Week 1. The last to do it was Steve Dills in 1981 with 361 yards, according to Vikings PR.
He was especially awesome on completions of 20+ yards. Per NFL.com’s stats, Bradford had EIGHT of them against New Orleans compared to 49 all of last season.
One of the passes he completed looked impossible, but he somehow snuck this ball in to Jarius Wright.
#BigTimeThrow under pressure by Sam Bradford pic.twitter.com/mmkAmZAOD6
— Steve Palazzolo (@StevePalazzolo_) September 12, 2017
Pro Football Talk described this throw best, saying Bradford “dropped a pig through the eye of a moving needle.”
For the game, Bradford had five incompletions (27-of-32), but if you take away the two drops, his adjusted completion percentage was 87.9 percent.
Sam Bradford was đź’° tonight pic.twitter.com/fhg6Pb8uzN
— PFF (@PFF) September 12, 2017
In his last five starts going back to last season, Bradford has thrown for an average of 312 yards per game.
