Fitz misses David Nelson BUT he is just getting warmed up

[BuffBill]

Getting warmed up? Are you serious, he is getting worse week by week. The guy is terrible. He has wide open receivers or backs 5-10 yards away and hits them in their feet. Guys wide open down field and throws it over their heads or in the turf? I like Fitz, but as a QB, he is closing in on being the worst starting QB in the entire NFL. This isn't a great team by any stretch, but what talent that is on the offense he is holding them back from producing.

[jr1]

The Bills should just have a Jugs Football Passing Machine as QB

[mrags]

I do have some hopes from what a poster wrote here. He is streaky and WILL get hot again. We can all hope that just like the last 2 years, he's had a 6-8 game streak where he looks pretty good and a 6-8 ge streak where he looks pretty horrible and another fee in there where he looks average. Here's to hoping he gets that hot streak and rattles off 5-6 wins on the back end of the year.

[MDH]

Fitz's mistakes come from his footwork - which is just abismal. With no pressure on him he constantly throws off his backfoot or off balance and he rushes his throws. Not surprisingly many end up off target. QBs with strong arms can get away with this sometimes but Fitz can't.

 

Fitz is fantastic at 2 of the 3 most important elements of QB play: His reads are good and he makes them quickly. The problem is he's missing the most important thing - accuracy. All the correct and quick reads don't matter if you can't put the ball where it needs to be.

[BobChalmers]

If only Fitz had Nelson to throw to, then Fitz could throw the ball at his feet too.

 

Fitz's mistakes come from his footwork - which is just abismal. With no pressure on him he constantly throws off his backfoot or off balance and he rushes his throws. Not surprisingly many end up off target. QBs with strong arms can get away with this sometimes but Fitz can't.

 

Fitz is fantastic at 2 of the 3 most important elements of QB play: His reads are good and he makes them quickly. The problem is he's missing the most important thing - accuracy. All the correct and quick reads don't matter if you can't put the ball where it needs to be.

 

Well said, though he had some weird reads yesterday too. Early in the game there was confusion in the Cardinals secondary with just 2 DB's pointing and yellng for help pre-snap against the 3 WR on the Bills' right, but Fitz doesn't even look over there and instead tries to force it to Stevie on the left who was doubled.

 

At this point, I think it would be fair to say that if the Bills use ANY 1st round pick on a QB in April there is a good chance they can upgrade even with a rookie.

[BringBackFergy]

Getting warmed up? Are you serious, he is getting worse week by week. The guy is terrible. He has wide open receivers or backs 5-10 yards away and hits them in their feet. Guys wide open down field and throws it over their heads or in the turf? I like Fitz, but as a QB, he is closing in on being the worst starting QB in the entire NFL. This isn't a great team by any stretch, but what talent that is on the offense he is holding them back from producing.

 

As crazy as it sounds, yes, I am serious. I've seen his INT's but I've also seen him take us out to a 21-7 lead over the Pats with some decent passing on target. KC had a decent secondary and we fared well. Fitz needs to demonstrate some restraint and play within his skillset. That's why I am wondering if he would play better if given the opportunity to call his own plays (rather than Chan trying to prove we are a passing team we should let the passing game evolve and grow out of a solid run game).

[stony]

Fitz is pretty bad at times, but anyone who doesn't think he's been hurt by Nelson being out is out of their mind. Nelson is the most reliable WR on the team.

 

Maybe on his best days. But if this season has shown me anything, it's that Stevie is consistently open and becoming a bonafide #1. If he had a QB with just avg. accuracy, he would have had another 4 catches for 50+ yds yesterday. Same thing in the NE and San Fran games.

Edited October 15, 2012 by stony

[Dorkington]

Maybe on his best days. But if this season has shown me anything, it's that Stevie is consistently open and becoming a bonafide #1. If he had a QB with just avg. accuracy, he would have had another 4 catches for 50+ yds yesterday. Same thing in the NE and San Fran games.

 

A lot of Stevie's routes are on the outside, unfortunately. So his effectiveness is diminished by Fitz's problems throwing out there.

[boyst]

I think part of the point on play calling is that it not a good idea. We cannot rely on a QB to throw every down. We need to let him throw no more then 6-7 yards and he should not need any more. By 2nd or 3rd down our RB tandem or someone should have picked up at least 3 yards.

[DC Tom]

When Fitz throws to a wide open Stevie and the ball is thrown at his feet, that is on Fitz, and it happens s lot

 

No, no, no. Fitz doesn't throw to Stevie's feet. He throws BEHIND Stevie. He throws at JOHNSON'S feet.

[TPS]

Fitz is markedly worse than last year. Is it possible that David Lee, by messing with his mechanics, is responsible for this state of affairs?

I think it has added to his regression this year. I liken it to trying to change your golf mechanics--you play really crappy for awhile until things start to click. Not saying it'll work, rather the change could certainly make him regress.

[BringBackFergy]

I think part of the point on play calling is that it not a good idea. We cannot rely on a QB to throw every down. We need to let him throw no more then 6-7 yards and he should not need any more. By 2nd or 3rd down our RB tandem or someone should have picked up at least 3 yards.

 

Exactly - everyone says Fitz is "pressing" and forces throws and to some degree they are right...but the playcalling (correct me if I'm wrong) is from Chan. I really think Chan is trying to give Fitz every opportunity to throw his way to a win to build up Fitz' confidence but this is backfiring. Chan should let Fitz establish the run, pound the ball with Fred, CJ and our full O Line back healthy. Once the run is established, short routes or longer seam routes with play action will open up. Whether Chan understands you can't run PA with an empty backfield set remains to be seen.

[Kemp]

Fitz has been poor, but the blame goes squarely on the D.

 

Is there a worse set of lbs in the league?

[Best Player Available]

Fitz is pretty bad at times, but anyone who doesn't think he's been hurt by Nelson being out is out of their mind. Nelson is the most reliable WR on the team.

Losing an all world receiver named Nelson certainly has hurt fitz's accuracy. There can be no other reason except another rib injury.

[BuffBill]

Fitz's mistakes come from his footwork - which is just abismal. With no pressure on him he constantly throws off his backfoot or off balance and he rushes his throws. Not surprisingly many end up off target. QBs with strong arms can get away with this sometimes but Fitz can't.

 

Fitz is fantastic at 2 of the 3 most important elements of QB play: His reads are good and he makes them quickly. The problem is he's missing the most important thing - accuracy. All the correct and quick reads don't matter if you can't put the ball where it needs to be.

His footwork is so bad because his arm is so weak, that he has to put his entire body into a throw to get it 30 yards downfield.

[CHOICE SCREEN]

Im in no way defending fitz however there should be zero question that this team misses David Nelson. That was a huge loss to this offense. very reliable slot receiver with sure hands and a good redzone target. Easily our 2nd best wr on a team that right now is lacking wrs and not just because of fitz inaccuracy. If anyone really believes Donald Jones is a #2 well to each their own.

[MDH]

His footwork is so bad because his arm is so weak, that he has to put his entire body into a throw to get it 30 yards downfield.

 

You've got this backwards. Good footwork enables him to get more of his body into the throw. When his footwork is good his arm isn't nearly as weak and he can actually make all the throws.

[BuffBill]

Fitz has been poor, but the blame goes squarely on the D.

 

Is there a worse set of lbs in the league?

How is it the D's fault that Fitz sucks? Maybe it is Fitz's fault that the D sucks, afterall when you miss Fred Jackson from 3 yards away for a sure first down and the defense has to go back on the field 30 seconds after it left, that has to wear you out.

[Lv-Bills]

I don't hold myself out as an expert football analyst or QB coach...I have seen him throw his share of ducks, yes. But I have also seen him hit Chandler in stride, CJ along the sideline (which resulted in a fumble), TJ Graham in the endzone and multiple tosses to SJ for TD's. With the good comes the bad. He is learning to control the bad (hopefully)...but alot of the problems (in my opinion) fall equally on the shoulders of Chan for some of the boneheaded schemes and alignments under certain downs and distances.

I like Fitz alot. However, Sunday was the last straw for me as well. The only saving grace for Fitz is that he is our only available option at QB right now, although I'm starting to think T. Jax is maybe a better option.

 

Your argument really isn't valid, because Gailey has called so many plays that has had WR's WIDE OPEN, with Fitz missing them, it's not even funny. Fitz has been flat out awful. I'm actually even believing that with a halfway decent QB, this offense would be downright nasty.

 

Fitz has been awful. Period. Not even debatable. I think Gailey is now even trying to hide him.

 

I often wondered if Stevie was a true #1 WR. Seeing how open he gets vs. other teams #1 CB's, and with no true #2 WR is almost remarkable. I'm starting to think that if Stevie has a good QB, he would be a top WR in this league. I actually am starting to feel bad for him.

[todd]

Oh, so now it is because he hasn't gelled with his WRs? I thought it was playcalling?

 

Here's the truth: Fitz is inaccurate. He misses wide open targets nearly as much as he hits them. He has a horrible, horrible deep ball. These are facts. We should deal honestly with them.

 

I see the Titans have a defense comparable to ours (at least as far as the rankings go on ESPN). This may be the exact kind of game Fitz needs to gel with his receivers before going away to play the "Big Boys". Hey, you guys can fire away until your computer screen cracks...I could give a %$#@. Fitz is our only answer for QB right now....he'll get better.

 

I think you are avoiding the accuracy issue. He misses open targets with plenty of time to throw. Yesterday he missed Stevie twice, DJ once, Chandler once and Freddie once - all on short to medium routes. He overthrew two deep balls. How would allowing him to call his own plays improve his ability to hit open targets?

 

As crazy as it sounds, yes, I am serious. I've seen his INT's but I've also seen him take us out to a 21-7 lead over the Pats with some decent passing on target. KC had a decent secondary and we fared well. Fitz needs to demonstrate some restraint and play within his skillset. That's why I am wondering if he would play better if given the opportunity to call his own plays (rather than Chan trying to prove we are a passing team we should let the passing game evolve and grow out of a solid run game).