akm0404

I really haven't seen many posts with people showing a lack of respect for Fitzpatrick. Pretty much across the board, everyone respects his heart and his moxie. You can point out his obvious shortcomings and still respect the guy. But don't let that get in the way of your role as Player White Knight of the Internet

Don't be scared to have an elite quarterback on the team, even if it means the spotlight of scrutiny will shine on Buffalo. It'll be fun. I promise

I know, he's too busy hard partying and Ciroc sipping. And the award for most laughably hypocritical post of the year goes to... Wow, so let me get this straight. You imply that I'm the dumb one because I criticize someone I don't know on the Internet. Ok. Then, call me a loser and a nerd while saying that people with happy lives don't put down someone else. I'm sorry your life isn't happy, Sir.

Having some money (or in Maybin's case, renting some money since it'll surely not last too long) doesn't equate to success. In fact, that tremendously awkward and embarrassing lyric pretty much highlights just how unimportant a bag filled with cash is. Smart? Hardly. Successful? Laughable. He might have a few bucks more than you and me today, but I promise you that 90% of posters here are more successful than Mr. Maybin is and will be, measured on balance. Frankly, that little song sums up just about everything that is wrong with the thug culture. Really embarassing for him.

We are the bargain basement Wal-Mart of the NFL, so there is a kind of beautiful synergy here.

LOL. This is painfully awkward stuff to read, so for the sake of your ego, we should probably just let it go before more damage is done.

Chilly is a dolt. Plain and simple.

Extra point was cleanly blocked. The notion that a blocked extra point is always the kickers fault is laughable. Our coverage team fell asleep at the wheel and didn't expect the other team to actually try for the block - most times people just go through the motions on extra points. The error that many people are making in this thread is assuming that people who acknowledge Fitzpatrick's limitations think he is the ONLY reason the Bills are losing. To clarify, when Ryan has "Gone on the Fritz" late in close games this season, he becomes one of many contributors to the losses. It is a team game, and it takes a full team effort to lose every single week. When I say that Fitzpatrick has a nasty tendency to make a key mistake in the clutch, I'm not absolving our terrible defense. I'm only saying that he has a nasty tendency to make a key mistake in the clutch, and should be ultimately replaced by a better player. Pretty much all of the defense also needs to be replaced by players of a higher caliber. Just turns out the quarterback is the most important position in the history of organized team sports, so I'd just assume lock that up first.

People toss around "rookie salary cap" and "rookie wage scale" like they are already in place and absolutely certain. This still needs to be collectively bargained, and you can bet it'll be a big point of contention. I think I'd default to assuming that the next CBA will be more similar to the last one than different from it.

I kind of thought that was the whole point of this message board - to debate other people Interweb style. Curious about your point with regard to selling home games for cash - people swallowing that down aren't blindly optimistic? I figured everyone had just accepted that Buffalo wasn't "worth" having an NFL team, so we'd take whatever people dished out so they didn't take the team away from us...

So basically we should just ignore reality and start thread after thread about how good the Bills are during the literal worst season in franchise history? That same mentality is what got Buffalo Bills fans to convince themselves that they aren't worth having a good football team. Blind optimism, as you put it, is what leads Ralph Wilson to sell our home games and their competitive advantage for cash money. At some point, it is ok to ask out loud why things have to be this way. They don't. Things can be better, but you have to be willing to swallow a bitter pill of reality, look objectively, and demand change. This is the only way I know to demand it, on a silly message board that nobody who can change things will ever read. Oh wells.

I.e. he is mentally very astute and a great reader of defenses, but his physical tools are lacking. The physical tools being the ability to throw the ball close to his intended target, especially when the game is on the line. He "Goes on the Fritz" way too often to be an elite-level quarterback in the NFL. That is a physical tool. Nobody questions his heart, his resolve, or his brains. Those are the non-physical tools that he has in spades. Make more sense now?

I'm not sure there is a hard-and-fast definition, but certainly you can recognize it when you see it. But I'll try anyhow: An elite-level quarterback consistently performs at the top of his position, consistently wins games, and consistently makes good decisions and limits mistakes. You can pretty much look at the quarterbacks who make the playoffs year after year for an exhaustive list, as the elite ones always seem to end up there for some reason.

Fallen short? With Tom Brady, the Patriots have competed every single year for championships, and are consistently in the playoffs. They are a strong championship contender again this year, and are tied for the best record in the NFL. What are you even trying to say? Falling short? You are confirming the fact that having an elite-level quarterback allows a team to contend every single year, even without having a dominant defense. Absolutely true. One player alone does not a championship team make - but it also makes sense to lock up the most important player first, and build around them.

Why am I an idiot? I'm sorry that I feel that your favorite players aren't as good as you think they are. I wish they were better too, honestly. I guess people here would rather talk about how great the Bills are going to be - those "we're going to shock the world!" threads were the most popular before the season started. I guess the folly is trying to be objective when people are so emotionally connected to their favorite players. So it goes.

It isn't difficult to understand - the teams that get elite-level play from their quarterback (the "franchise quarterbacks", if you will), compete for championships year after year after year. They aren't "Supermen", the are just the best guys playing the literal most important in all of organized sports.

So the line this year is worse than last year, with Bell and Wood coming back from injury? Seems to me like the line is playing better.

It would be nice to get him enough touches so half of the quarterbacks in the NFL don't keep outrushing him.

LOL nice try. We are talking about starting NFL running backs, and you want to talk about his KICKOFF RETURN YARDAGE. Hahahahahaha. Sweet. Free kickoff return yards absolutely didn't cook the books on his total yardage stats last year. Fact: Fred Jackson was the ONLY 'starting' NFL running back who was his teams primary kick returner. Fact: Fred Jackson's kick return numbers put him as a below-average kick returner. Fact: Fred Jackson's rushing numbers put him as a below-average running back. Fact: Fred Jackson's rushing numbers are way down this year. Fact: Fred Jackson is no longer a primary kick returner. Fact: Fred Jackson won't be in the top 50 in total yards this year. Opinion: Due to his advancing age, Fred Jackson's best football is likely behind him. But yah, Spiller is obviously not working out real well as a running back, so hopefully we won't just pull a Maybin or a Carrington and just stop dressing him while we "wait" for him to magically get better.

You don't become a team that consistently makes the playoffs year after year and compete for a championship without elite-level play from your quarterback. Even in this so-called magical run for Spritzy, we haven't gotten that level of elite play. The Bills will sieze their once-in-a-franchise chance to draft a franchise QB #1 overall. Will he have a chance to be a bust? Absolutely, same chance as any player we would take #1 overall would. But, if you don't try to land that guy that'll make your team a contender for a decade, you are announcing your intention to rebuild your team back to 7-9. That would be an embarrassment.

I claimed that I was in the intelligent 50%. Not that I was one of a few. Pleasing to increase reading comprehension. Hahaha. Ok, now you've lost all credibility. That ship has already sailed.

Mr. Modrak...is that you?

He is now in the bottom half of the league in QB rating, and plummeting. Also, he continues to lose close games. He is good enough to be close, but just always seems to "Go on the Fritz" when he is needed the most. Oh well, it makes it easy to draft his replacement, and hopefully he'll have the right mindset to be a mentor to the new guy.

He is back down into the bottom half of the league in QB rating and falling by the week. He is undergoing a statistical correction that'll get his season stats right about in line with his underwhelming career numbers. Everyone got all hot and bothered when he was the #2 rated QB in the NFL, but the sensible among us noted that it would change, and boy has it changed quickly. Evaluate him by his numbers (which will be bottom third when all is said and done like always), his wins and losses (which, in case ya'll haven't noticed, Spritzy has won zero games), or his performance in key game situations (turnover machine). But, he absolutely should start every game until his replacement is ready to step in and perform at a high level. Pining for Brohm is about the dumbest thing imaginable. Do I fear that the coaching staff will "lose the team"? Heck no, they literally can not be worse. But still, Fitzpatrick is the way to go as we ride out this season in pursuit of the once-or-twice-a-franchise #1 overall pick.

A whole bunch.