Next man up under center: https://t.co/ExEId9PVO6 pic.twitter.com/yPaAQALqjD
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 18, 2015
So is it time to panic? Actually, there isn’t that much difference between Sanchez and Bradford as far as production goes. Benching Bradford would likely have torpedoed his confidence, without giving the team much of a boost. Now that Bradford is on the shelf with an injury, the team will still likely limp along on offense. As Bill Barnwell wrote on ESPN.com, this switch is basically “shuffling the deck chairs on the Chiptanic.”
So will the Eagles now plummet? Probably not. Opposing defenses are not worried about Bradford stretching the field, so they are jamming eight and nine men into the box to shut down the running game. Sanchez has less accuracy and arm strength than Bradford, but he also has a better track record with what the league defines as “deep” throws (16 or more yards in the air). His rating last year on those throws as a backup was 96.1, seventh best in the league. Bradford has a rating of 69.2 on that type of pass this year, good for 25th in the NFL.
