Does anything better depict Sam Bradford’s frustrating night against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday than the brilliant GIF seen above?
Bradford struggled against San Francisco, going 19-of-41 for 202 yards with one touchdown and an interception in an ugly 35-11 home loss. He also lost a fumble in the game.
Bradford was on the sidelines late in the second quarter and was seen reviewing a book handed to him by some assistants. It looked like a book that had still photos of the defensive formations the 49ers were running against his offense, intended to give him a better look at what the defense was doing. Whatever he was looking at didn’t seem to be pleasing, because he looked up from the book and seemed more confused than a kindergartner trying to do calculus.
A lot of people are starting to get on Bradford for being a disappointment thus far in his career. The Rams have gone 16-29-1 in his starts, and they are 1-3 this season. If I had to compare Bradford to anyone, it would be Carson Palmer. Palmer was also a No. 1 overall pick who went to a bad team. Neither player is terribly mobile, and both have pretty strong arms. Palmer was a Pro Bowler when he had great receivers (Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry) and a good line in front of him (Levi Jones, Bobbie Williams, and Willie Anderson). He’s a turnover machine without the receivers and line. I think Bradford would put up some good numbers if he had a strong supporting cast, which he hasn’t really had. Who have been his weapons? Their line hasn’t been very good, Danny Amendola got hurt a bunch, and Steven Jackson always had nagging injuries. Now he has Jared Cook and no running backs. His offensive complements are worse than Tom Brady’s.
Bradford isn’t good enough to turn a team around on his own. He’s the kind of quarterback who needs everything to be set up for him. Remember his offenses at Oklahoma? They were loaded with running backs, linemen, tight ends and receivers. Life’s great when you have DeMarco Murray, Jermaine Gresham, Ryan Broyles and Juaquin Iglesias on your side and coaches calling plays and audibles for you. The Rams better get more offensive talent in there if they want Bradford to shine, otherwise they’re not going anywhere.
GIF via Turf Show Times; H/T Will Brinson
