Probably deserves its own thread

[Kelly the Dog]

Regardless of whether or not Ryan Fitzpatrick is the Bills answer to the QB problem what should not be overlooked is the fact we were 10 points down with less than 6 minutes to go i think, and we scored 10 points, on the road, against one of the very best defenses in the league, at a point when we really weren't playing well and all the mojo was against us. It really can't be under estimated.

 

Frankly, I thought it was a bad decision to punt late in the fourth, but Gailey deserves credit for that decision because in retrospect, it was right. We did exactly what we needed to do. Stop them, score, stop them and score.

 

Seriously, who would have believed (not hoped) that the Bills could score a TD and a FG in the last six minutes against the Ravens, on the road.

[John from Riverside]

I thought the team took a baby step forward today.....

 

- Considering the opposition

- On the road

 

Our defense is embarrising.....but the team as a whole was game all day. They scored enough points to win it but just didn't.

[Dan]

Regardless of whether or not Ryan Fitzpatrick is the Bills answer to the QB problem what should not be overlooked is the fact we were 10 points down with less than 6 minutes to go i think, and we scored 10 points, on the road, against one of the very best defenses in the league, at a point when we really weren't playing well and all the mojo was against us. It really can't be under estimated.

 

Frankly, I thought it was a bad decision to punt late in the fourth, but Gailey deserves credit for that decision because in retrospect, it was right. We did exactly what we needed to do. Stop them, score, stop them and score.

 

Seriously, who would have believed (not hoped) that the Bills could score a TD and a FG in the last six minutes against the Ravens, on the road.

I, for one, thought there was zero chance we'd tie the game. Fitz definitely stayed calm and displayed some great leadership.

[deep2evans]

it was awesome to see. i thought the game was over in the 3rd quarter.

[b-unit]

ive got to say it was nice to see a qb not a poon who throws 3 yard passes. first 300 yard passer (374 dont want to take that away from him) in 60 games about damn time. D is what killed us today. need to learn the system. hopefully they address the offense in the draft this year and in free agency they fil the defense. all in all cant be too mad about the loss today after all who really expected them to hang with the ravens

[Mark Vader]

I have been highly critical of Fitzpatrick many times, but I have to give him a lot of credit. I did not think we would be able to send this game to Overtime.

 

Fitzpatrick showed leadership & guts in those last 2 drives and delivered. For that matter the entire offense was outstanding today. As exciting as Fitzpatrick, Johnson & Evans were today, let's remember how the O-Line played today too.

[Just Jack]

This is the first time in the past few years that being 10 points down I did not turn off the game, or go find something else to do.

[Nanker]

Not to look too deeply into the bag of second guesses, but one has to think what could have been this year had the coaching staff not invested all that time with Trent.

Go Fitz, Go Bills!

Edited October 25, 2010 by Nanker

[Reed83HOF]

Like Jack, this was the first time I decided to hang in there and watch the game. After the half and the Ravens went up, I thought it was over, but the team fought back; in previous years they would have just folded. The offense is buying into Fitz and his ability to make any throw and take chances that were sorely lacking with Trentative. The test is, can we build off of this and get better as the season progresses??

 

The OL did look better in this game, I am wondering if the OL really was that much better without Green or as the old adage goes good QB play can make a cruddy line look great? I think it was a a combo of both, but man Fitz was on fire today, the WRS looked good, the running game was good - the defense played much better against the run, but they gave way too much up in the air and can't cover a Tight End to save their lives...

 

Damn Fitz played a great game...

[Rockinon]

That was the first time a QB for the Bills had more than 300 yards in a very long time. But it was also the first time the Ravens D gave up 500 yards of total offense since 2000. The Bill's whole offense was playing lights out. Now if we could just make some progress on our D...........

[dpberr]

I was wrong about Fitzpatrick. Really was. Yesterday really opened my eyes relative to how he can play, along with his leadership.

 

I will grow a Fitzbeard in support.

[K-9]

I'll leave it to the armchair experts to debate the finer points of Fitz's qualifications but there is one indisputable fact after watching him yesterday:

 

The Bills or ANY team would be hard pressed to get better "quarterbacking" than what we witnessed yesterday.

 

His accuracy is a work in progress, his arm strength is average, and he is far from the physical specimen you'd draw up when listing what you'd want in your QB. But what he did at the LOS yesterday was a work of art. I lost count of how many times he audibled but three of his TDs were on calls at the line. We haven't seen that in I don't know how long. It'll be interesting to see if he can make teams continue to pay.

 

For those of us that have always appreciated the difference between being a passer and being a quarterback, it was truly fun to watch Fitzgerald totally befuddle one of the best defenses in the league in their own backyard. Baltimore just doesn't give up over 500 yards. 11 of 17 on third down conversions? Coming back from 10 down with under 7 minutes to play? B'more NEVER lets that happen. Ever. Especially at home.

 

I'm not sold on ANY college QB this year. The Bills would could do a lot worse than continuing to build around the QB position until that true franchise player emerges.

 

One thing's for sure: no rookie they draft at QB is going to be able to do what we witnessed yesterday against a great defense any better until he learns the game. Fitz knows the game and is only limited by his lack of physical tools.

 

That's far better than the reverse.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Fan in Chicago]

 

Seriously, who would have believed (not hoped) that the Bills could score a TD and a FG in the last six minutes against the Ravens, on the road.

I particularly liked how the team and Fitz in particular handled the TD drive. No panic, no rush, no nervousness. The announcers were saying that 'they need to hurry up' but it was critical that we got some score on that drive and it was worth the measured pace to make sure we did that without stupid mistakes and penalties. For that calm demeanor alone, I give the O high grades.

[Dorkington]

I have been highly critical of Fitzpatrick many times, but I have to give him a lot of credit. I did not think we would be able to send this game to Overtime.

 

Fitzpatrick showed leadership & guts in those last 2 drives and delivered. For that matter the entire offense was outstanding today. As exciting as Fitzpatrick, Johnson & Evans were today, let's remember how the O-Line played today too.

I'm of the same mind.

 

I was a critic.

 

I was also very very impressed with what he did yesterday.

 

Hell, even though the defense sucked most of the day, they deserve a little credit for the late stops, both in the fourth quarter and in OT.

[zow2]

I'll leave it to the armchair experts to debate the finer points of Fitz's qualifications but there is one indisputable fact after watching him yesterday:

 

The Bills or ANY team would be hard pressed to get better "quarterbacking" than what we witnessed yesterday.

 

His accuracy is a work in progress, his arm strength is average, and he is far from the physical specimen you'd draw up when listing what you'd want in your QB. But what he did at the LOS yesterday was a work of art. I lost count of how many times he audibled but three of his TDs were on calls at the line. We haven't seen that in I don't know how long. It'll be interesting to see if he can make teams continue to pay.

 

For those of us that have always appreciated the difference between being a passer and being a quarterback, it was truly fun to watch Fitzgerald totally befuddle one of the best defenses in the league in their own backyard. Baltimore just doesn't give up over 500 yards. 11 of 17 on third down conversions? Coming back from 10 down with under 7 minutes to play? B'more NEVER lets that happen. Ever. Especially at home.

 

I'm not sold on ANY college QB this year. The Bills would could do a lot worse than continuing to build around the QB position until that true franchise player emerges.

 

One thing's for sure: no rookie they draft at QB is going to be able to do what we witnessed yesterday against a great defense any better until he learns the game. Fitz knows the game and is only limited by his lack of physical tools.

 

That's far better than the reverse.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Totally agree. I was at the game yesterday and was telling my buddy the same thing. No rookie is gonna come in here and be able to do what Fitz has done. It's taken Fitz, a Harvard graduate, 6 years to get to the point where he can read a defense, understand coverages and be able to move people around on the fly before the snap. Dude has got brass b*lls too. Some of those throws yesterday, i never would have thrown. He ALWAYS knows who the correct guy is to throw to! He doesn't always get it there but hey, I'll take it. Now just maybe, teams can't stack 8 in the box and stuff the run and he's proven he can beat the blitz. He makes everyone around him look better. I have always been in the Fitz bandwagon and called for him to start the opener vs. Miami. That coulda been our one win.

I would still take a QB with the 1st or 2nd round pick, but Fitz would be my guy for a while and to help a new QB. You cannot find this intelligence on many other QB's. I hope the Bills can lock him down.

[Talley56]

In about every game Fitz has played in, besides the Jets game, he has been impressive and competitive. I'm not sure why so many people say he's only good during junk time when teams are playing prevent defense. That is not even the case at all. And what really impresses me with him is he is passionate about playing and winning. You can just see it in him, he is always playing with more heart than most QBs and he's willing to put his neck on the line to win (though I wish he'd learn to slide on some of those QB runs before he gets his neck snapped). Even in the Jets game, when everyone else was done and just ready to pack it in, he was still playing his still doing everything he could to try to get some points at the end. It has to be frustrating for him when he leads the team on a scoring drive only to constantly see the defense go right back out and give up another score. It sucks hearing people who want to go 0-16 just to get the first draft pick. Do you really want to witness that embarrassment just to garauntee the first pick for a QB who may or may not be entering the draft this year and may or may not be a franchise QB? Don't get me wrong, if we can draft Luck, I'd like to do it, but for right now, I am happy with Fitz and I would really like to see where he can lead the team he had better support on defense.

[Kelly the Dog]

I'll leave it to the armchair experts to debate the finer points of Fitz's qualifications but there is one indisputable fact after watching him yesterday:

 

The Bills or ANY team would be hard pressed to get better "quarterbacking" than what we witnessed yesterday.

 

His accuracy is a work in progress, his arm strength is average, and he is far from the physical specimen you'd draw up when listing what you'd want in your QB. But what he did at the LOS yesterday was a work of art. I lost count of how many times he audibled but three of his TDs were on calls at the line. We haven't seen that in I don't know how long. It'll be interesting to see if he can make teams continue to pay.

 

For those of us that have always appreciated the difference between being a passer and being a quarterback, it was truly fun to watch Fitzgerald totally befuddle one of the best defenses in the league in their own backyard. Baltimore just doesn't give up over 500 yards. 11 of 17 on third down conversions? Coming back from 10 down with under 7 minutes to play? B'more NEVER lets that happen. Ever. Especially at home.

 

I'm not sold on ANY college QB this year. The Bills would could do a lot worse than continuing to build around the QB position until that true franchise player emerges.

 

One thing's for sure: no rookie they draft at QB is going to be able to do what we witnessed yesterday against a great defense any better until he learns the game. Fitz knows the game and is only limited by his lack of physical tools.

 

That's far better than the reverse.

 

GO BILLS!!!

Agreed, and good post. It's really hard to "teach" accuracy, and that is Fitzpatrick's most glaring weakness. It's what cost him on the early 3rd quarter INT. But it's also possible that it can be harnessed. If he can continue to play like he has for four games (which would surprise me) he will be a decent starting QB in this league. We still need a franchise QB in all likelihood, but I will be very interested to see how Fitzpatrick plays next week, also in a tough house on the road, and for the next four game stretch. I don't think anyone knows how that will turn out. He easily could revert to his old inconsistent, inaccurate ways. He could really have turned a corner.

[Reed83HOF]

Agreed, and good post. It's really hard to "teach" accuracy, and that is Fitzpatrick's most glaring weakness. It's what cost him on the early 3rd quarter INT. But it's also possible that it can be harnessed. If he can continue to play like he has for four games (which would surprise me) he will be a decent starting QB in this league. We still need a franchise QB in all likelihood, but I will be very interested to see how Fitzpatrick plays next week, also in a tough house on the road, and for the next four game stretch. I don't think anyone knows how that will turn out. He easily could revert to his old inconsistent, inaccurate ways. He could really have turned a corner.

 

Great Post/Topic KTFBD

 

It will definately be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out. Fitz could maybe be a diamond in the rough or this game could've been his once in a career day. If Fitz continues to grow each week, that may really change things for us. It's still too soon to tell, but it's nice to have something positive to follow regarding this team this season.

 

The way the team fought back to the end is something that has managed to change; normally we would've folded and that would've been it...

[Wooderson]

You know what throw impressed me the most? Post to Evans into zone coverage near the endzone and he zips the ball in between two defenders perfectly. No way in hell Trent ever even attempts to make that throw.

[Dan]

You know what throw impressed me the most? Post to Evans into zone coverage near the endzone and he zips the ball in between two defenders perfectly. No way in hell Trent ever even attempts to make that throw.

Agreed. And I, like the Ravens HC, the announcers, and probably just about everyone else in the stadium and at home, took a gasp and said aloud; "You gotta be kiddin' me! Where did that come from."

 

Absolutely great play by Fitz and Evans. If they can start doing that with any level of consistency (hitting post routes down the 20-30 yds down the middle); the days of 8-9 in the box are done.