By Patrick Del Gaone, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
Former Philadelphia Eagles signal-caller Sam Bradford has been nearly flawless in his first four starts as the Vikings quarterback.
He’s completed 70 percent of his passes, and thrown six touchdowns compared to zero interceptions for Mike Zimmer's first-place team. The Oklahoma product’s tremendous efficiency since being traded in early September is magnified by the fact that he had an entirely new playbook thrust upon him just 11 days before his debut.
Bradford’s play comes as no surprise to Doug Pederson, who thinks he’d be excelling at a similar level in Philadelphia had the transaction never happened.
“I was fully confident that he was gonna have the type of success that he’s having now with Minnesota,” Pederson said. “He came off the preseason with us at an all-time high, he was throwing the ball with accuracy, with decisiveness, he was feeling comfortable with the offense. That’s why I fully expected him as our starter to have the same type of numbers that he has there. So, it’s not a shock.”
The Eagles will face their toughest test to date when they play host to the undefeated Vikings this weekend. The mid-season matchup against their former quarterback provides a unique set of circumstances not often seen in the NFL. Bradford understands essentially Pederson’s entire offensive playbook, having just finished a full training camp as the starter, while the Eagles defensive personnel and coaches are well aware of the 2008 Heisman winner’s strengths and weaknesses.
“Just knowing who he is, knowing the type of player he is obviously is an advantage to us,” Pederson said. “Just like he may have an advantage with some of the things that we’re doing here, or personnel. But our focus is getting ready for the Vikings as a team, we know he’s playing well, and it goes without saying, you have to put pressure on the quarterback whether it’s with four guys, five guys, six guys. We’ve gotta be able to do that this week, it doesn’t matter who is back there at quarterback. We know this guy, so that gives us a little bit of an advantage, just knowing his demeanor and his chemistry. But at the same time, he gets the ball out of his hand so it’s a little bit harder to get to him.”
Given his requisite knowledge, it’s highly likely that Bradford will be assisting Zimmer’s defensive staff as they prepare for Carson Wentz and the rest of Philly’s offense. Moreover, he could be asked to provide intelligence in key situations on Sunday if the Vikings feel his assistance is valuable enough. The answer to whether or not he’s helping the defensive staff should be evident by whether or not he's standing in close proximity to the defensive coaches while the Eagles offense is on the field.
Regardless, Pederson's offense have their work cut out for them. Through five games, Minnesota’s menacing defense is allowing just 287 yards per game (2nd in NFL) and 12.6 points per game (1st in NFL).
This morning, the first-year head coach was asked if the Vikings stout defense is more reflective of a sound scheme or talented personnel.
“It’s a little of both,” Pederson said. “They’ve got great personnel on defense, they’re healthy, they’re coming off a bye [week]. They really fly off the ball now. This is a good defense, and a good defense for a reason. It’s one of those schemes where they don’t do a lot, they kinda just line up and play defense, but they’re sound in what they do. Again, it’s an aggressive style, they let their defensive line just come off the ball and put pressure on the quarterback. They’ve got two good ends, and we’ve gotta be ready for another test up front.”
You can watch the full press conference from Pederson below.
