With a running back like Steven Jackson and a QB like Sam Bradford is it any wonder that the St. Louis Rams are among the league leaders in their use of the play action pass?
Yesterday afternoon, ESPN's Mike Sando had this post on his NFC West blog, looking at passer ratings for NFL QBs on the play action passes. The post was focused on Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck and the addition of RB Marshawn Lynch, but the play action pass info for QBs once again shed some light on just how important Bradford and Jackson have been to the Rams offensive success through the first quarter of the season.
Only two teams and their QBs have attempted more play action passes than the Rams' Bradford who has 35, Denver's Kyle Orton with 45 and Houston's Matt Schaub with 36.
And just how successful has the rookie been on those plays?
Bradford is 22 of 35, a 62.5 percent completion rate. He has 260 yards with 2 TD, 1 INT and 2 sacks. His rating is 92.6, 15th best in the league. Only five QBs have more yards and only one has more touchdowns, though Bradford is one of 12 QBs with 2 TDs.
The thing to remember here is what people have been struggling with all season: Bradford is still just a rookie. His end zone INT to Earl Thomas last week was a perfect reminder of the kinds of things you're not likely to see as the former Oklahoma QB gets more NFL playing time.
As Bernie Miklasz pointed out in the PD the other day, Bradford has room for improvement with his accuracy, with 20.3 percent of his incompletions being the result of inaccuracy. That's encouraging because one of Bradford's top strengths coming into the league was his accuracy, and you still see plenty of that.
As he gets a better feel for the offense and his receivers, that will bet better. And then...imagine the possibilities.