New York Post

QB Bradford pummeled by ex-mates

- By BART HUBBUCH bhubbuch@nypost.com

PHILADELPH­IA — The Eagles rolled out the welcome mat for Sam Bradford Sunday afternoon, then laced it with spikes, nails and maybe even a stray Lego or two.

Reuniting with his former team just seven weeks after it traded him to the Vikings, Bradford was bruised, battered and pummeled in a 21-10 Philadelph­ia victory that halted the Birds’ twogame losing skid.

The feel-good story of Bradford’s first five games with Minnesota — all victories — was turned on its head at Lincoln Financial Field as he reverted to the mistake-riddled form that made him expendable to Philly on the eve of the regular season.

Not only did he throw his first intercepti­on of the season (in the end zone, no less), but Bradford also lost two fumbles in the course of being strip-sacked a mind-boggling four times.

“I don’t really have any bitter feelings toward Philly,” said Bradford, who angrily demanded a trade last spring when the Eagles traded up for Wentz at No. 2 overall. “It’s not like I was harboring any of that and coming here to prove them wrong. I was just trying to win a game. The way we played today was unacceptab­le.”

Two of those Bradford strip sacks were surrendere­d by newly signed tackle Jake Long, the former No. 1 overall draft pick who typified Sunday’s complete capitulati­on by Minnesota’s injury-ravaged offensive line.

With the Eagles blitzing much more than normal, the Vikings surrendere­d six sacks overall after allowing just eight sacks combined in their 5-0 start. Bradford was hit a total of 19 times.

“Once we smelled blood early, we were coming,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said of a fired-up Philly line led by Fletcher Cox. “We got after Sam early and never let up. It was exciting.”

The relentless effort from the Eagles’ defense allowed Philly to remain in the thick of the NFC East race at 4-3 and bailed out an offense led by rookie Carson Wentz that didn’t fare much better than the one led by Wentz’s predecesso­r Sunday.

If not for a 98-yard kickoff return for a TD by Josh Huff in the second quarter, the slumping Eagles would have been in a fight for their lives after Wentz committed three turnovers (two intercepti­ons and a fumble) in the first 11 minutes of the game.

Wentz calmed down after that and later threw a 5-yard TD pass to Dorial Green-Beckham in the third quarter that put the game out of reach, but the Eagles’ offense overall left much to be desired.

Philly’s anemic offense (just 239 total yards, including 138 passing yards from Wentz) was even more disconcert­ing because its beleaguere­d line — especially rookie right tackle Halapouliv­aati Vaitai — held up spectacula­rly well against the NFL’s No. 2-ranked defense.

The Vikings, who came in averaging an eye-popping four sacks per game, could not muster a single sack of Wentz on Sunday and registered just two hits on him.

“We were 5-0 and probably had a little bit of a big head, but things happen,” Minnesota wide receiver Cordarrell­e Patterson said. “I’m kind of glad this happened to us, just to get hit in the mouth early in the year for once. Sometimes you need that.”

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