Eagles' Bradford passes test even in defeat

ATLANTA - This was the fear and the promise of Sam Bradford, rolled into a rollicking and heartbreaking Monday night inside the Georgia Dome that showed everything, for good and bad, that he might yet be.

This was, for one half, all the concerns about a quarterback who hadn't played a football game that mattered in close to 700 days, who was bound to be rusty and erratic and feeling like an electric cable was crackling through him, who had been a mystery throughout his first five years in the NFL even when he was on the field. And this was, for the other half, all the optimism and hope that the Eagles had envisioned when they traded for Bradford in March, when they gambled that the only things that a former No. 1 draft pick with a star-crossed career needed to thrive were a change of scenery, a healed and strengthened left knee, and Chip Kelly.

This was a 26-24 Eagles loss to the Atlanta Falcons that will be bitter in the here and now but, in one important respect, ought to be heartening to the Eagles' prospects this season. After a dismal opening 30 minutes, after throwing pass after pass that was a millisecond too late or a centimeter too high, after what could have been a crushing interception not long before halftime, Bradford was brilliant. He finished 36-of-52 for 336 yards and a touchdown, and it was his bad luck to be failed by two teammates in the game's final three minutes: kicker Cody Parkey, who missed a 44-yard field goal that would have given the Eagles the lead, and wide receiver Jordan Matthews, who allowed Bradford's last pass to shoot through his hands and land in the arms of Falcons safety Ricardo Allen.

Yes, this loss, to an NFC opponent who could emerge as a contender, will hurt the Eagles, and it makes next week's home opener against the Dallas Cowboys all the more important, as if raising the stakes and hype for that game were even possible. Nevertheless, if you want to find a silver lining amid a lousy night for the Eagles' revamped secondary and a penalty-riddled performance overall, take into consideration that Bradford led the Eagles back from a 20-3 deficit to take the lead, that he put them in position to retake it before Parkey pushed that kick to the right, that it was easy to see the full flowering of Kelly's offense in Bradford's blink-quick decisions and precise passes.

All along, when it came to the Eagles' decision to gamble on Bradford's physical health, on a quarterback who'd torn his left ACL twice in 10 months and had been away from the sport for so long, Monday's first half was the fear. Understand, though: The fear was not that Bradford would suffer another serious injury, not really.

That possibility existed, of course, and it was slightly greater for Bradford because he'd already seen back-to-back seasons wiped out. But an injury - even one as severe as a torn ACL, even when an elite athlete rips that ligament, undergoes surgery, rehabilitates his knee, and then rips the same ligament again - doesn't mean that the athlete isn't worth another shot, isn't worth a calculated risk. Tom Brady missed a full season. Peyton Manning missed a full season. If you are an NFL team, you take a chance because you know what each will do, who each of them is, when he is healthy and right. There is no second-guessing. There is no wondering. You know, and you give him the benefit of the doubt.

No one knew about Bradford. Just how good was he? Were his pedestrian statistics, his 18-30-1 record as the St. Louis Rams' starter, more the product of him or his surroundings? He had all the tools: the quick release, the strong arm, the perfect throwing motion. Why hadn't it worked for him there? The Eagles hoped, but in truth, they didn't know, and the questions lingered throughout training camp, even through Bradford's terrific preseason. What if Bradford stays healthy for the entire season but just isn't that good? What if he didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt?

Man, that first half gave those questions legs. Bradford spent much of the time soft-shoeing in the pocket, seeming uncomfortable, as though he was in an unfamiliar environment. He threw that terrible interception to the Falcons' William Moore late in the first half, and the terrifying postscript to the play was the sight of 305-pound defensive tackle Grady Jarrett slamming into Bradford, then falling on top of him like a pro wrestler. It was a moment to hold your breath, to wonder whether Bradford was hurt again and, if not, whether he would emerge timid and gun-shy.

He did not. He gave the Eagles a chance to win a game that, by all rights, they shouldn't have.

There's a long way yet to go in this Eagles season, and for Sam Bradford, but for the first time, everyone can see how it might look.

On a night with a bad beginning and a bad ending, that glance was the single glimmer of hope.

@MikeSielski