Now that Peyton Manning, pending his release from the Indianapolis Colts, is about to enter his Chiefs-Joe-Montana phase, it might be worthwhile to put a final pin in one of the most pervasive memes of the 2010 St. Louis Rams' season: The idea that Sam Bradford's rookie season was anything like Peyton Manning, nice round numbers aside.
↵In their first seasons, Manning threw for 3739 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 28 interceptions, averaging 6.5 yards per attempt. Bradford's numbers, a relic of Pat Shurmur-ball, were 3512, 18, 15, and 6.0.
↵In Peyton Manning's second season, he turned into Peyton Manning. He threw for 4135 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions, with 7.8 yards per attempt. Sam Bradford turned into—Zombie Marc Bulger. 2164, 6, 6, 6.1.
↵Bradford is, in the long-term, still a franchise-level quarterback, and I fully expect his third year to be his best yet. I also expect him to miss Manning's 4413 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 7.7 yards per attempt, but that's just me doing my all-the-way-out-on-the-limb thing.
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