reddogblitz Posted May 1, 2011 Posted May 1, 2011 I think Fitz is ok if you are like me and have no expectations for this year. I think Fitz will be good this year and I have HIGH expectations. When do the expectations start around here? We will be in our second year with HC and staff in place. We had a decent draft. Hopefully we pick up a little more in FA. We won 4 of our last 8 games last year. We should be a LOT BETTER this year. I'm thinking 8 wins at least. Go BILLS !!
Deep2Moulds46 Posted May 1, 2011 Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) I think Fitz will be good this year and I have HIGH expectations. When do the expectations start around here? We will be in our second year with HC and staff in place. We had a decent draft. Hopefully we pick up a little more in FA. We won 4 of our last 8 games last year. We should be a LOT BETTER this year. I'm thinking 8 wins at least. Go BILLS !! Maybe I'm getting old, but I've spent the last decade trying to pretend our starting QB is better than what my eyes tell me and I don't have the energy to do so anymore. I like fitz. I think he is a gamer, he's gritty, and if you got sick of Trent Edwards checking the ball down, then Fitz is the perfect QB , because he will force some throws. But, all of his good qualities don't erase that fact that his career numbers add up to being a mediocre NFL starter, and last year in his career year, he still had some horrendous games. I think he gets the most out of his ability, which again....cannot be said for our last 2 starters.......but I think he is like that pitcher who gets called up from the minors who has a couple good starts, then starts getting lit up. I think as a 16 game starter, he gets exposed, and he doesn't have the physical ability to make up for it. Easy guy to root for, and for where this team is, I think he is a servicable starter. But if you want to start talking about high expectations, then let me know when they have a different QB Edited May 1, 2011 by Deep2Moulds46
CodeMonkey Posted May 1, 2011 Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) OK, we'll have to agree to disagree then (or you can disagree to disagree I guess ) Yup I think it's widespread across every field of endeavor - athletics of all sorts, science, all kinds of scholarship. Is a certain amount of ability needed, yes. Over and over again, the kid with that certain amount of ability and the "fire in the belly" goes further and lasts longer than the incredibly talented, outstandingly gifted one who's just cruisin' I've seen this myself with students and colleagues. Now, if you take an outstandingly talentied individual with a fire in the belly, they'll go furthest of all. But there's that intangible factor you dismiss so glibly. To say ability trumps all and intangibles are of minor importance - again, we have to agree to disagree. Oh certainly, the "Rudy" stories do happen. But by far are the exception rather than the rule. Some borderline practice squad player who makes the big team in a special teams role maybe. But for the QB position in particular, "fire in the belly" is only going to take you so far at the NFL level. But dare to dream Edited May 1, 2011 by CodeMonkey
1billsfan Posted May 1, 2011 Posted May 1, 2011 I believe Fitzpatrick's ceiling is somewhere below Drew Brees and above Eli Manning. Go ahead and mock me if you want. Last year, Fitzpatrick blew away Bills fans' perceived ceiling of his by throwing an eye popping 23 TDs in 13 games on a team with no running game or defensive turnover abilities. He scared the daylights out of the Ravens and Steelers defenses. Was this an anomaly or did a light switch go on? I think a light switch went on. The beauty of the 2011 season is that we're all going to get to witness Fitzpatrick's audition for the Bills franchise QB roll. Because no matter what the doubters say, the guy DID make a huge improvement last year which suggests that he's even got more ceiling, and I'm talking about franchise QB level ceiling. So while you'll never change the minds either way of fans who believe he's got the ceiling or not, in the end it'll be what he does on the field. This is what makes the 2011 season so exciting! I think the 2011 Bills will look a lot like the 1987 Bills. At least that's what I'm hoping for. A team which is clearly on this rise and which will be ready to make some serious noise in 2012.
VADC Bills Posted May 1, 2011 Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) Is Fitz perfect? No. Is he a great QB? No. Is he a pretty good QB who gives us a chance to win? Yes. In his first game of 2010, AT New England, he put us in a position to tie in the final minutes. AT Baltimore, he put on a show and had us in position to win. The D surrendered the win in OT. AT Kansas City, he took us to OT against the Chiefs. The D surrendered the win in OT. Against Chicago, we were tied in the final minutes. The D surrendered a game-ending field goal. He led us to victory against the Lions. He led an epic come-from-behind thumping of the Bengals in Cincy. He took us to OT against the Super Bowl Steelers and had a perfectly thrown ball to Stevie in OT to win it...dropped. He got wins over Cleveland and Miami. Yes, I'm cherry-picking stats. Yes, our 4 wins came against mediocre teams. But our close losses came against playoff teams. Wins are what matters, which is why I'm not giving him credit for being a champion. But there were A LOT of units that let this team down, and in a majority of the cases, it wasn't our quarterback. We need a star QB, but Andy Dalton and Ryan Mallett aren't stars. We have enough "average," thank you. We have gotten so use to losing that people look at loses to good teams as victories. Fitz needs to improve but I agree with Gailey and Nix we need a veteran as a backup. Let make sure that we can get a good one that will give Fitz a run for his money. Edited May 1, 2011 by VADC Bills
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