MRW

Or Fisher and McNair. But both those combos were more on the level of sustained mediocrity rather than bad.

I know YPA is your favorite stat for evaluating QB play, but doesn't this cause you a little concern about how good an indicator it actually is?

Hitting him late is just stupid, but I won't understand it if the Bills don't try to bring all out pressure in his face and get (legal) hits on him. That's the only prayer this D has of making any plays. If they sit back and play passive again, the Pats will happily take a bunch of nice 10-12 play TD drives. So how bad would it really be to give up a big play if Brady at least takes a hit as he throws the pass?

I agree with both of you! I think it does happen, but it needs to be rooted out and expunged. Championship caliber players don't spend their time worrying about what the other guy is doing. Hell, if the D really gets down because Fitz is stinking it up, I'd rather see them get in his face and have some yelling going on. Getting dispirited and letting it affect your play is a loser attitude that I can't imagine coming from a player on Baltimore's or Pittsburgh's or San Francisco's D.

I agree with you 100%. We aren't talking about a defense getting worn down and demoralized and giving up a drive or two at the end of a game here, we're talking about complete collapses. And if the D is phoning it in because they feel Fitz is not good enough, I don't have any confidence in them being a part of a winning team if we do get a better QB.

You would probably try it if it would be a game-winner, but I think the evaluation of risk vs. benefit becomes very different when you know that Arizona will be getting the ball regardless of how the kick turns out.

Yep, sounds absolutely ridiculous. The only hope of anything coming out of this season is Fitz greatly improving his play and the defense performing like a marginally competent NFL defense. If Fitz bombs, there is no salvaging the season.

Jets and Fins? No way. The Jets already destroyed this team once and even with their injuries could take it to them again. And have you been watching Miami play? They're not immensely talented but they are playing far better than the Bills. The team to watch is the Chiefs.

When you post a thread calling out the QB immediately after a bad loss, don't be surprised when people look at everything that went into that loss. If you don't want to be tied so closely to a specific game, maybe you should wait for a day or two for the post-game dissection to die down.

I imagine some would be. The funny thing is I agree with the Fitz detractors that he isn't the answer, and I'm ready to see the Bills make a move to try and get a better QB in here. But I'm disgusted by the play of the defense in a way that I'm not with Fitz. There has been heavy investment in the D over the last several years, and a performance like this deserves to stand and be criticized on its own. Fitz is the player I expected him to be, but I expected him to have a defense backing him up that would permit him to muddle through.

I don't understand what you're trying to say.

Fitzpatrick had a poor game, but the defense was so far below "poor" that it feels ludicrous even thinking that a QB change will accomplish anything.

My favorite was when the Browns had the ball on our 40 with 3 minutes left and he said they should run play action - and they did and the D-line met at Weeden. Even as he was saying it I was thinking "Play action when you're down by two scores with almost no time left, and you haven't been able to run the ball all day?" Fortunately the Browns coaches are as bad at their jobs as he is at his. Though I guess you could say at least he was in tune with their thought process.

It's a coach CYA move. I don't think there's really any evidence that it has an impact on the game one way or the other, but if you don't ice the kicker and he makes it, you will be fielding a lot of annoying postgame questions. It is one of the most irritating (non-)plays in football, though. Wouldn't mind seeing the ability for coaches to call timeout removed, which is the only way I can think of to get rid of this move.

In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if we won't see a resurgence in the running game very soon. Things in the NFL are cyclical, and with passing percentages being high and defenses being geared around stopping the pass, I think it presents a real opportunity for teams to dominate with the running game.

Just chiming in here to say thanks to the last 3 posters for saying what I was thinking. I don't see any possible way to outlaw the kneeldown without a lot of adverse consequences (no giving yourself up?).

Very good post. There is, IMO, no good argument for cutting Smith from a roster perspective. What I'm on the fence about (but willing to see how it plays out this year) is whether he is worth the rather hefty salary he's getting. If cutting him made it possible to extend Byrd or Levitre's contract, I would probably say go for it. But I'm not sure that's the position the Bills are in right now.

There's only one kind of controversy, and it starts with 2 QBs who aren't very good. There's a reason you never see this sort of thing developing around good QBs.

Jeff Ireland.

True enough, but then again, the Bills have gotten some pretty good D-tackle play out of a guy taken in the fifth round. I don't disagree with you that getting good D and O-line play is important. Where I would disagree is that I think the Bills have invested substantial draft resources in recent years in the D-line, they've just done it poorly - Maybin, Troup, Carrington. On the DB side, they've picked McKelvin, Byrd, Williams, Gilmore. The difference is that in the DB selections, at least one has turned out well, one is looking promising, and one is coming into his second year so isn't a washout yet. Even a 50% hit rate is better than they've done with D-line. I just can't agree with you if you think that position should be the overwhelming consideration when drafting. I think, first and foremost, your first and second round picks need to be guys you expect to be solid starters or better. Just because you need a lineman or a QB does not mean there is one there worth taking.

So what you're saying is that it would be wise for the Bills to devote at least a couple of picks each year to DBs, to ensure that they find ones who can play?

Search for: "meteroirte" About 367 results And here I was thinking this page would be the only one I found it on...

I'll just be happy if the Bills are no longer farcical.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Those old program covers he did are really great!

Not getting hyped hasn't done anything for the Bills in recent years either. It's almost like their performance is due to their level of talent and luck with injuries rather than the amount of media attention they get, but that would be crazy.