Brohm?

[dayman]

Old football truthism: 2nd string QB is always the most popular guy on the team.

 

Yup. Always. Unless you are a team that has won a super bowl recently.

[Alphadawg7]

Not to knock Fitz, but he has really only had one game where he was really relevant thoughout the game, and that was Balt. So, lets not get ahead of ourselves here. His play against Balt was very encouraging, however, he still made 2 very costly mistakes with the 2 INT's in the 3rd quarter that led to Balt points and Balt taking the lead to never trail again. As much as he was a big reason as to why we made the game competitive, he was also a big part of why we lost with the 2 picks that made us play catch up the rest of the game. People around here act like the guy won the SB for us when we didnt even win the game.

 

The good news is that he seems to have gotten better each week, and thats encouraging as it could be a sign of better things to come as he continues to settle into this system. However, he still needs to prove he can do this on a more regular basis before we can declare we don't have any QB issues. If he goes out and struggles over the next couple of weeks, Brohms name will surely surface again, and rightfully so at that point.

 

I will say this, I am actually optimistic about Fitz getting better for the first time...I just need to see some consistency and a decrease in some of his dreadfully inaccurate passes that seem to just come out of nowhere at times. If he can keep improving his accuracy and consistency then I will feel better about his long term chances. Until then, Brohm is just a few bad games by Fitz away (or an injury) from getting his chance.

 

Quite frankly, I dont care who the QB is, I just want to keep seeing an offense worth watching, so hopefully this wasn't a fluke by Fitz and a sign of things getting better.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Actually, I am thrilled at how Fitz is playing right now...he looks better than last year. I attribute that to haviing a real offense to run with chan puting the system together. But, any team needs at least 2 and maybe three capable QB's...and we don't really know about Brohm or Brown. An interesting quandry will arrise is the Bills are 1-9 coming up on the last 6 games...that is, the Bills need to find out if Brohm can play....obviously he did OK in preseason to have Chan cut Brown, a Chan draftchoice. Question is, is he a pro QB...and the last 6 games of a lost season are the time to find out IMHO. If Brohm played well , then you would know you have two capable QB's, and some of the other glaring needs could be targeted in the draft...name the position. (LB IMHO) Anyhow, the only reservation I have about this line of logic is that somehow we ended up with Edwards as starting QB for the season, thus bringing into question the judgement of Chan & co. But, my answer to that is that it was ownership that dictated that solution....and it was only after ANOTHER major failure that ownership gave up on Edwards. Says me, Chan was never a true believer in Edwards...looking back on all his neutal statements in the preseason. Sooo. unless some sort of miracle occurs...I think we will see Brohm this year...perhaps more than a little..since the season appears to already be a throwaway.

 

There may be some other factors:

1) Bcuz of the "QB Competition", whatever you think of it, Fitz did get more snaps with #1 and more practice with the offensive scheme than previous years where he was just tossed into the frying pan

2) This years starting WR, Parrish and Johnson, were last year's #2s. Fitz has had a bit of time to build trust and chemistry with them

3) Both the coach and the team are giving Fitz a "vote of confidence"

4) Fitz seems to have a pretty fierce competitive spirit, which he has been keeping in a bottle as appropriate to a backup QB

Now it's out of the bottle.

 

These are flesh-and-blood humans, not little plug-and-play Madden chips. As long as Fitz continues to get snaps (game and practice) and coaching attention, he has a fair chance to "be all he can be". As long as he keeps playing well and improving, doesn't he deserve to keep that "vote of confidence"? Take it away without cause, just to see who ya got on the bench, risks damaging the chemistry and the competitive spirit.

 

Somehow other teams manage to evaluate their #2 QB without benching their #1. Maybe the Bills can figure that one out.

[reddogblitz]

Not to knock Fitz, but he has really only had one game where he was really relevant thoughout the game, and that was Balt.

Miss the 2009 season? He hung in made the plays that needed to be made to beat the Jets. The Fish game at the Ralph was a thing of QB beauty. Ran one in form 31 yards out. Hit TO for a 50 yard TD pass. Came back form 7 or so down in the 4th quarter. he did pass for 299 in one game. Hit TO on a 98 yarder on the road in Jacksonville. And coming into the Baltimore game he had 7 TDs and 2 picks in 3 games. Even if you take his 2 "garbage time" TDs, it's still 5 and 2 in 3 games. Fitz has played well in every game he's played this year and each one has been better than the week before.

 

If we had any kind of defense, we'd be a decent team right now.

[Spiderweb]

Miss the 2009 season? He hung in made the plays that needed to be made to beat the Jets. The Fish game at the Ralph was a thing of QB beauty. Ran one in form 31 yards out. Hit TO for a 50 yard TD pass. Came back form 7 or so down in the 4th quarter. he did pass for 299 in one game. Hit TO on a 98 yarder on the road in Jacksonville. And coming into the Baltimore game he had 7 TDs and 2 picks in 3 games. Even if you take his 2 "garbage time" TDs, it's still 5 and 2 in 3 games. Fitz has played well in every game he's played this year and each one has been better than the week before.

 

If we had any kind of defense, we'd be a decent team right now.

 

Jeez, take off the rose colored glasses, will ya? 2009 showed a Fitz who threw 9 Tds against 10 Ints with a QB rating of 69.7. Pretty poor numbers there.

 

Yes, Fitz has proven to be far more effective than Edwards, but heck, how hard was that? Fitz was playing well against the Pats, up until those two wildly inaccurate throws that were picked and sealed the win for the Pats. He played fairly miserably against the Jets( 12-27 for a whopping 128 yards, with about a third of that coming in the 4th quarter after the Jets were up 38-7 and coasting. After the game, Gailey has said he was about to give Brohm some playing time, but since Fitz got the Bills a score with 9 minutes left in the 4th, he decided to give Fitz another series, in which the Bills did squat. That was not a good performance, but Fitz wasn't alone, the O-Line was horrible that day as well. Pedestrian would be the best way to describe his performance against the Jags. Nice garbage time TD to Johnson in the 4th made his stats look better than he was effective.

 

In truth, his best games, against the Pats and the Ravens, were both marred by his two costly interceptions in both games.

 

Fitz is the proverbial "almost" QB. More than adequate in a backup role, yet.......

Edited October 30, 2010 by Spiderweb

[peteski]

First of all I have to laugh at the original poster. HA HA. I can't believe you made a thread like this and were totally wrong. To be quite honest I thought the same thing when I looked at it. I just skimmed over it and I took the information from your post and believed what you believed. I laugh at you, but I am also laughing at myself.

OK, back to the topic at hand. At the beginning of the year I wanted Brohm. I had a feeling that Trent was going to win because he has talent and is very good when he knows he isn't going to get hit(examples- practice preseason). I thought with the reputation that Gailey had he could make something out of Trent. I was wrong and so was Gailey and he released Trent because of it.

When Trent was released I thought Brohm should get the job because of the potential he may have. Gailey and co. seen it another way and put in Fitz. I wasn't happy,but I supported his decision because I am a Bills fan. Fitz has impressed me. He has made everyone on our O better. Our line doesn't look as bad, Johnson and Parrish have become players that we thought that they were. He is doing a good job and he desrves to be the starter right now.

With that being said, I think he has a short leash. This is a rebuilding year so the wins and losses don't mean as much if we were a contender. If Fitz has a bad game he deserves another start. If he fails again then we should start Brohm. I really want to see what he can do if given a few starts. I think Brohm looked good in preseason and has potential, but I am just a fan. I am not a football guy.

I hope Fitz keeps on putting up numbers like this. We really need help on defense. If we could use the first rounder on D our team would be better. I know it depends on what happens in free agency but it would be nice if Fitz keeps up this pace.

The thing I am having difficulty with right now is what happens if we end up with the first pick in the draft and Fitz keeps playing this way? I am a believer that we pick up the best player available (unless it is a running back). What if the best player available is a QB? Do we pass on him because of Fitz's one good year? Do we take him even though we might not need him? We do not have the luxury of letting players develop. We need help right now.

This is what is going through my mind right now. I want Fitz to succeed, but not at a cost where it will hinder of future. Could you imagine the uproar if Fitz plays well for just this season and we let a franchise QB go to a different team.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Can't believe I got this many posts out of a mistake.

[Hanoverbills]

Actually, if Fitz continues to play at this level I would rather see the Bills use Fitz as their stop-gap and groom Levi for the QB of the future. I know he was a 7th round pick, but so what? During the games of the Pre-Season some of the analysts were saying that Levi had the best arm and size for a QB on the team but needed to grow into the position. Well, if Fitz continues to play well and the Bills can win some games, that would buy Levi this year and maybe another two to "grow" into the QB position, and imagine this....keeping the same freakin offensive system that would allow Levi to mature into it and take the reigns in a few years. Just a thought...especially if the Offense continues to play at this level, that would mean with Easely returning next year, and David Martin and Shawn Nelson along with Stupar, that O-line depth is needed but that the real playmakers needed would be on Defense; gap eating NT, DE and a couple of stud LBs....time will tell

I agree, look at the ravens the year they won the Superbowl. They had a great defense with Dilfer managing the offense. Fitz could be our Dilfer. Build up the defense.

Edited October 31, 2010 by Hanoverbills