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Sam Bradford was sacked four times by the Viking last week. That game marked another milestone for the St. Louis Rams third-year quarterback: it was the 30th game in a row Bradford has been sacked.
Bradford was asked about the dubious milestone on Wednesday, and it was the first time he'd actually heard of it. Of course, it's not surprising to think that sacks have become such a routine part of the Rams offense, how would he know the difference.
"Actually, I didn't know that," Bradford said. "If you don't get sacked in a game then obviously that means protection's good, the ball got out quick, guys on the outside won. It's a team effort to eliminate sacks. That's something that we work towards each week. And yes, if we can play these next two games with no sacks, then that would be awesome."
You have go all the way back to the Rams' Week 11 loss to the Falcons in 2010, Bradford's rookie year, to find the last game in which he was not sacked.
Bradford admits the game has definitely changed for him in three years, even if the pass protection hasn't.
"Understanding the game," Bradford said of his growth as a player. "I don't think people see on the outside what I'm asked to do now in the offense. My first year was kind of here's the play, run it, just do whatever, whereas now there's a lot more responsibility on my plate. I just feel much more comfortable with that responsibility."
More time together with the offense will also make Bradford that much more comfortable, especially with growth by his young receivers. That process is still happening, 15 games into the season.
"Since we are so young, I look at the wide receivers that I get to work with, just Quick and Givens and how far they've come and how much progress they make each week," Bradford said. "Just watching the improvement and route running, understanding our system and what it is that they're to do in our system. There's no doubt that even though it's Week 16, playing our 15th game, there's still a lot of improvement that we can make and there's still a lot of room for us to come together."
Stopping his sack streak at 30 games would be a nice sign of progress. The Buccaneers have just 25 sacks on the season, only three NFL teams have recorded fewer, so maybe this is the finally the week.