JDG

I, too, was generally inclined to give Losman the bulk of the season to prove himself after winning the job fair and square in training camp - but I do have to wonder that with Felser and Carucci speaking out if the staff isn't planning to bring in their man Nall over the bye week.... I'm not 100% sure if I agree, but it seems like there are some indicators in that direction. I don't think that Felser and Carcucci just made their opinions up..... JDG

Actually, he doesn't seem all that inconsistent. He actually seems to be consistently rather bad. As Kelly the Dog might say, "Hence, the tease." I'm actually curious as to what those flashes might have been in the last three weeks? Our "broken play offense" against the Lions? The garbage time TD against the Bears? Our six points in a must-win, measuring-stick game at home? Just wonderin'..... JDG

A nice thought, but JP Losman has 6.52 yards per passing attempt and 4.1 yards per rushing attempt this year. Thus, including JP Losman's rushing yards should bring his yards per attempt *down.* I think you forgot that when JP Losman takes off and runs, the play is counted as a rushing attempt, not a passing attempt - if you add the rushing yards to his passing yards, then you need to add the rushing attempts to the passing attempts. JDG

The Raiders have had great difficulty in selling out the Oakland Alameda Colliseum as well. Part of the truth of the matter is that the Raiders don't have a continuous history in Oakland, and also that the San Francisco-Oakland Metro Area really shouldn't have two teams. JDG

I'll get tarred and feathered for this, I am sure, but I would not. Take the Bucs in Super Bowl XXVII - its great that they won, but I think that the Billls' run of four in a row will be remembered long after that game is mostly forgotten. JDG P.S. And *two* of those games were competitive. If I could take back one play in Bills history, I'd take back the Thurman fumble before the Norwood kick....

Isn't it obvious? In his third NFL season, I want him to perform like a good NFL QB. I want him to have an NFL-caliber ratio of good decisions to bad decisions. I want him to lead drives, score points, and win games. I want him to throw accurate deep balls, and short balls with good touch (and that rarely get the receiver hammered.) I want him to get the ball with us down by two with two minutes left and have me think "We have them right where we want them" rather than "I just don't see us winning this game." JDG

Well, this is the heart of the issue. I know John from Hemet hasn't had a chance to respond yet, but I'll jump in anyways. Contrary to what some people around here believe, I don't hate JP Losman, andI don't root for JP Losman to fai. On the other hand, I do think that JP Losman is better this year than he was last year (admittedly I don't feel that is saying much), and I think that JP Losman should start against New England on Sunday, and the week after that, etc. As near as I can tell, what has drawn the ire of so many people here is that last season, when many people were arguing that "JP Losman is performing about as well as I would expect for a QB of his experience", I had the temerity to point out that in fact JP Losman was actually performing substantially below what we should expect for a QB of hist experience. You argue, "why not let your young QB gain experience?" The reason why not, is that JP Losman was performing at an extraordinarily abysmal level - a level that as near as I can tell was almost unparalleled for a QB who had been through two NFL training camps. Let's take a look at the statistical measures of JP Losman's performance at that time: Game #2 @Tampa Bay - 11 of 28 (a mere 39.3%) for 113 yards (a measely 4.0 yards per attempt). O.k. this was one bad game, admittedly a tough road game against a solid defense. Game #3 vs. Atlanta - 10 of 23 (a mere 43.5%) for only 75 yards (a dreadful 3.26 yards per attempt). Now, its time to be concerned - with two terrible games in a row, this one at home. Game #4 vs. New Orlens @ San Antonio - 7 of 15 (a mere 46.7%) for a pathetic 75 yards for the second week in a row (5 YPA). What's more, this was the same New Orleans Saints defense that the Green Bay Packers had rung up 50+ points on. For three games now, Losman was performing at a level that indicated that he belonged nowheres near an NFL playing field on Sunday. I don't see how you could continue to trot out Losman under center in those circumstances - and even if you did, how you could avoid losing the team. The other 52 players on the team know what an NFL QB looks like, even without the stats, they could just see that he was not playing at anything remotely approaching an NFL level. It would be hard to continue playing at a peak level when you knew in your heart that your QB was giving you absolutely no chance to win the game. Mularkey was not a good coach, but he made the absolutely right decision in this case - even if for no othe reason than that it was very much a "no-brainer." JDG

Losman was unbelievably bad for 2+ quarters against Detroit - with only what one TBD poster once called "the broken play offense" going for him during that time. Granted he finally did put together one decent drive to make the game look close. As Kelly the Fair and Balanced Dog might say, "Hence, the tease...." JDG

I was pretty lonely when I first started pointed out that Losman was playing terrible - even for a QB in his first starts - but more and more people are coming around. Maybe you should try taking the arguments seriously, instead of just of just attacking the messengers. If Losman isn't playing terrible, then perhaps you can back it up? JDG

So, you would have left JP in the lineup after the first four games?

This is a case where stats don't tell the whole story. They certainly don't prove that two performances were the same. One of JP Losman's TD "drives" was a fluky broken play. Great job by JP, and I would be jumping up-and-down over that kind of play if he paired it with regular execution of the offense. Somehow, I just never seem to see the offensive execution. I will concede that you got me a bit on Matt Leinart "punching the ball in the endzone", except for one thing - isn't punching the ball in once on a short field one more time than JP Losman has punched the ball in on a short field this season? I could be forgetting something.... but right now, I think not..... Moreover, at the same time, Matt Leinart taking the Cardinals down the field in the two-minute drill, when the best defense in the League could just pin their ears back and blitz the heck out of perhaps the worst offensive line in football is as impressive to me as any touchdown drive. JDG

Its funny how the tease is the guy who beat Peyton Manning 41-0 in the playoffs, and basically won two road playoff games and not the guy who runs around on a broken play to throw a bomb to Roscoe Parrish or who picks up a ball off the turf and throws the deep out, but otherwise fails to consistently execute an NFL offense, fails to consistently put the appropriate touch on passes, fails to consistently engineer sustained drives - be they in the 4th quarter with the game on the line or otherwise, and seems to all too often take devastating sacks, often as a result of trying to do too much. Oh no, the guy with the cannon arm but very questionable NFL decision-making abilities isn't the tease - its the guy who's been winning playoff games basically ever time he plays and its the guy who put the best defense in the NFL in 20-0 hole, and then brought his team back down the field in the two-minute drill against one of the best pass rushes in the League for what should have been the game-winning field goal. JDG

Yep, some QB who has made the playoffs in both of his healthy years so far - despite being in the same division as a dynasty, beat Peyton Manning in the playoffs 41-0, and basically won road playoff games in San Diego and Pittsburgh clearly doesn't have what it takes. I'm sure that Arizona fans are terrified that Leinart is going to be just such a "tease." JDG

Which game was that? I've said that he had a B+ game against Minnesota, and against Houston last year. I've also said that he played good in relief against KC, and was just barely good enough to win against Miami this year. Where are all these "good games" that I am missing??????? JDG

I don't think that stats can prove that you are a good QB. Just look at Damon Huard's stats before this week for an example of that. There are some certainly minimum statistical benchmarks, like completing 50% of your passes, that can prove that a QB is *not good* - but I don't think that stats prove a good QB all on their own. In this case, consider the following stat: 17 Offensive Points. Three of which came on a scintillating -12 yard drive. I know that Matt Leinart benefited from some turnovers yesterday - but at least he punched the ball in the endzone, and he was also a rookie playing the best defense in football! You could just see that Leinart's decision-making was at least one level above Losman's. Leinart simply did a better job of executing the offense and sustaining drives against a better defense. JDG

Did you tune into the Bills - Detroit game only for the last 20 minutes of game time? JP Losman was horrible for over one half of football. Yes, the defense wasn't very good on Sunday - but I'm at least willing to admit that JP Losman wasn't either.... JDG

People forget that Rackers was pretty bad his first two years in Cincinnati.... and that some kickers seem to not be able to handle the nerves of a game-winning kick (c.f. Vanerjagt, Mike). JDG

JP had a decent game in his first start against the worst team in football, and then had three cover-your-eyes horrible games in his next three starts. Matt Leinart just looked great against the best defense in football in his second start, including leading his team down the field in a two minute drill...... I'm not calling for us to give up on JP Losman yet, but I am calling a spade a spade - and JP Losman has not played well. And in a League where QB's like Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers, and heck, even Bruce Gradkowski are looking good right out the gate, that is certainly cause for concern. JDG

Find anyone who says that then....

You must be referring to JP Losman's 2 play -12 yard drive for a field goal after McGee's kick return on Sunday, right? Or did you mean Losman's 3 play -9 yard drive for a punt after Minnesota punted the ball only 9 yards to their own 39 yard line? Nah, that wasn't it - did you mean Losman's 3 play -14 yard drive from Miami's 45 yard line? Or his 3 play -8 yard drive from Miami's 17 yard line for a field goal? Come to think of it - what *are* you thinking about? JDG

Or is it the other way around - that maybe a good QB can make the players around him look better, and a bad QB makes the players around him look worse? Everyone remembers Gandy impersonating a turnstile yesterday, but nobody remembers the line picking up a six-man-blitz.... because Losman didn't make the throw. Its like Marv used to say "when you win you look good, when you lose, you look bad." If Losman was able to make more things happen when he did have protection, we might not remember the times when the protection wasn't there quite so much. JDG

The scary question is how close is he to even Bruce Gradkowski..... Who's played *how* many games? JDG

Well, in my case its approximately five quarters, since I watched most of Leinart's game against Kansas City last week. He looked good to me then too... He looked great to me in college (I think he's going to be a great pro).... and now he just has played an oustanding quarter against what most people consider to be the best defense in the League. Can you even *imagine* JP Losman having a 1st Quarter like this against the Bears? And how many games has Leinart played again??? JDG

There were certainly times yesterday when the offensive line was horrible - the "Gandy impersonating a turnstile" plays stick out in my mind. On the other hand, the offensive line also had its moments yesterday. I remember one play where Detroit sent a six-man blitz and our offensive line stopped it stone cold. Of course, hardly anyone remembers it, because JP Losman threw a horrible pass anyways. You would hope that with a six-man rush being picked up that he could find the open guy, but sadly it doesn't seem to happen. JDG

O.k., so Leinart isn't perfect and makes some bad plays. On the other hand, he seems to be making a lot more positive plays than JP Losman does.... JDG