Things Rarely Get too Complicated for James Bradberry

PHILADELPHIA - Third-and-30 conversions don't happen very often in the NFL and when those types of plays do occur it's usually a desperation, Hail Mary-like environment.

During the Christmas Eve 40-34 loss to Dallas, the Eagles inexplicably got beat in such a circumstance when Jonathan Gannon got a little cute, calling for a Tampa-2 sink defense with a backup slot cornerback in Josiah Scott responsible for one-half of the field over the top.

Keeping it simple with a conventional Cover-2 look with both safeties splitting the field was probably all that was needed to get off the field. Instead, Gannon tried to disguise the coverage by giving the post safety Reed Blankenship a different responsibility while Scott raced out of the slot to a mirrored safety spot.

Veteran cornerback James Bradberry, one of the savviest defensive backs in the NFL, noted that it was the Eagles who got taken by surprise, however, something that complicated Scott's ability to get to his landmark.

"Definitely had a whole lot of moving parts on that play (the third-and-30) and the fact that they were rushing to the line, you know they got a quick snap on us," Bradberry said. "Just tough position to be in, you just got to be more aware of the situation as a whole."

The situation left too much room for error with literally the only thing that couldn't be allowed being what happened - T.Y. Hilton getting behind the defense.

"We didn't know. We didn't know they were gonna rush to the line and whatnot," said Bradberry. "I think we knew the play call because we were talking and communicating to everybody but we didn't know they would rush to the line and they caught us rushing and the defensive line but we got to be more aware of the situation and that way we put ourselves in a better position."

The Eagles use a host of different zone coverages from similar pres-snap looks with the goal of forcing the opposing quarterbacks to wait until post-snap until deciphering what the coverage actually is.

Compared to a traditional Cover-2 or Cover-3 defense, it's more complicated but Bradberry noted that the complexity of the modern NFL on both sides of the football is a bit overblown.

"The (defensive) schemes are kind of the same,” he said. “You have Cover-2, Cover-4, Cover-3, The terminology is usually different, how you run the coverage with the different techniques within the coverage is sometimes different.

“So that's what you got to learn."

The same is true of the opposite side.

"Really, I mean offenses don't change in this league," he said. "The route concepts kinda stay the same and how they get to those route concepts and landmarks are typically different. But, for the most part, pretty similar."

Bradberry did note that it takes some time and experience to get to his level of understanding, however.

"I feel like I'm more seasoned now," he said. "I wouldn't say I'm smarter but I know more about football. And I know more about schemes and whatnot. So of course my first and second year I didn't really know a whole lot. So I was trying to learn everything.”

With Scott and Blankenship on the field instead of the injured Avonte Maddox and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, perhaps the simpler path would have been the better one.

"I mean, I think it's all based on the player, what each player can handle," said Bradberry. "I mean, it's not too complicated. I mean, I've played in different schemes and whatnot. It's all based on the player really, it's hard. It's hard to say if something is complicated, and I don't think it's complicated to me."

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen