PHILADELPHIA -- On a day that was all about LeSean McCoy's return to Philadelphia, it was Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford that stoked the fire of his teammates prior to Sunday's 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills at Lincoln Financial Field.

"Before the game, he gave us a big pregame speech and that really got us fired up," Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson said. "He's not really a guy who says a whole lot, but whenever he does, everybody listens."

PLUS: How did McCoy do in return?

The message from Bradford was a simple one.

"Just create some intensity," Johnson said. "Put your foot on the gas pedal and keep it there the entire game. He just wanted to create a lot of energy."

Sunday wasn't the first time Bradford addressed the team before a game. There was a meeting with the offense in the showers prior to a win over the New Orleans Saints, and he stepped up against the Patriots prior to last week's victory in Foxborough as well.

MORE: Good, bad and ugly from Eagles' 23-20 win over Bills

"Every time he does it, we seem to win," Johnson said. "He's not a guy that really is very outspoken. He'll talk when he needs to. If you see a guy like that get fired up, see the intensity, and you kind of feed off that."

It wasn't always pretty, but Bradford backed up his pregame pep talk by finishing 23-of-38 for with 247 yards passing, one touchdown and his first interception in 18 quarters on a highlight-reel play made by Bills cornerback Leodis McKelvin.

"I think it's big," Eagles tight end Brent Celek told NJ Advance Media of Bradford's emergence as a leader. "He's obviously a great player and the quarterback is naturally the leader of the team. No matter what. He did a great job of leading us today. We just have to keep it going and we have to make plays for him.

Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews, who caught three passes for 19 yards after suffering a back injury during Saturday's practice, says that he isn't surprised that Bradford not only is beginning to hit his stride on the field, but stepping up as a vocal leader, too.

"I've spent enough time around Sam to know whether he's saying something or not, he's about his business," Matthews told NJ Advance Media. "He's getting better in this offense. He's getting better as a quarterback and getting more confident in himself.

"If you look at some of those drives, we needed points at the end of the half, he was hitting guys left and right boom, boom, boom. We were converting on key third downs and that was huge for us today.

"That's a testament to Sam. If he's going to say something in front of the team or not, that dude's getting better as a quarterback for us. It's really fun to watch."

Bradford has passed for 603 yards, four interceptions and just one interception in his last three starts and the Eagles are 2-1 over that span as he appears to becoming more and more comfortable in Chip Kelly's offense.

"Sam's just gotten used to it," Matthews said of the offense's resurgence in recent weeks. "In that Miami game, he was really getting going. Even that Panthers game. There was a lot of stuff in that game that was on the receivers. Not on Sam.

"Sam's been getting better. Dallas game, you say Sam did well, then in the beginning of the Miami game, he was doing really well before he got hurt. He comes back and last week, he did what he had to do to help us win. This week, too. He's doing his thing in the offense now. It was a shame that he got hurt, but he's got to cope with it and keep going."

THE NO-HUDDLE SHOW, Ep. 20: How Sam Bradford's final 3 games impacts his future with Eagles

In a game that was all about Chip Kelly and LeSean McCoy, it was other players who had the biggest impact during the Eagles' 23-20 win over the Bills. One of those was Sam Bradford, who could be rewriting his future with the Eagles. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MDLombardo@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardo975. Find NJ.com Eagles on Facebook.