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Bradford's Big Night Gives Eagles 33-23 Win At Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sam Bradford continues making his pitch to be the Philadelphia Eagles' starting quarterback.

On Saturday night, he threw mostly strikes.

With Carson Wentz missing a second straight game because of fractured ribs, Bradford led the Eagles on three touchdown drives and to a third straight preseason victory, 33-23.

Bradford has been virtually flawless in each of his three starts. This time, he was 17 of 20 for 167 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception. He played into the third quarter and led the Eagles to scores on four of their first six possessions.

READ: The Eagles' Good, Bad & Ugly

Will that be enough to hold off Wentz, the No. 2 pick in this year's draft?

Bradford has played well, and the Eagles defense put on an even better show Saturday.

Philadelphia stuffed the run and put so much pressure on Andrew Luck in the first half, that coach Chuck Pagano held out Luck for the final two quarters.

All the Colts mustered was a short field goal in the first quarter, a blocked punt that Jordan Todman recovered in the end zone in the third quarter and two late scores.

Luck finished 13 of 18 for 134 yards.

ROOKIE WATCH

Eagles: The rookies spent much of Saturday watching. Wentz didn't play and running back Wendell Smallwood, a fifth-round pick, got two carries before leaving in the third quarter to be evaluated for a head injury.

Colts: Rookie offensive linemen Ryan Kelly and Le'Raven Clark both struggled at times in their first significant NFL test. Safety T.J. Green, a second-round pick, again started next to Mike Adams and finished with five tackles.

POSITION BATTLES

Eagles: The depth chart at receiver may be tougher to sort out now. Josh Huff caught two passes for 60 yards and scored on a 9-yard run. The recently acquired Dorial Green-Beckham also caught two passes for 15 yards, including a 4-yard TD reception on which he used his bigger body to get position over a smaller defender.

Colts: If there was any doubt about Joe Reitz's starting job at right tackle, it's over now. Robert Turbin might have sewn up the No. 2 job at running back after running four times for 24 yards.

INJURY UPDATE

Eagles: Defensive end Vinny Curry left in the second quarter with an injured knee, Wendell Smallwood and tight end Chris Pantale both left in the third quarter with head injuries and defensive tackle Taylor Hurt left in the fourth quarter with a sprained knee. None of the four came back in the game.

Colts: Cornerback Darius Butler did not return after injuring his ankle in the first quarter and left guard Jack Mewhort was held out after hurting his knee in the third quarter.

QUOTABLE

Colts: Colts coach Chuck Pagano, on the offensive line: "They (the Eagles) did a nice job and we didn't do the job that we should have protecting the quarterback."

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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