What exactly happened to Fitz?

[NoSaint]

As a Bills fan, I always want to see the team win with the players they have. Unfortunately, the players we have don't alway live up to that. I've been as critical as anyone around Fitz and his inability to find that extra something to close out games. The guy just seems to do just enough to lose. With that being said, what exactly happened?

 

When he got his contract extention, I remember being perfectly okay with it. Here's a guy who would make some mistakes, but was absolutely making all of the throws. Remember the infamous SJ drop against the Steelers? That was a perfect deep ball that I've never seen Fitz throw since. Remember the Oakland game last year? That guy orchestrated every single one of those drives and was moving up and down the field at will. The Ravens game from two years back, he was throwing bullets into coverage that only our guys could catch. Was he perfect, no? But could he make the throws and get it done...usually.

 

Now, unless it's a crossing route 15-20 yards down field, it seems like Fitz has no chance of completing a pass of 10 or more yards. It's all YAC for him. When is the last time he his his guy just running deep? We know we've tried. Every single infuriating 3rd and 2 reminds us of that. And the problem is, they aren't even close. They are terrible throws.

 

I just don't understand what happened. I want him to succeed, I do. But I'm honestly surprised that teams play cover 2 against us with our complete inability to throw deep.

 

This isn't meant to be a bashing thread. I could even care less about the int against the Pats at this point. Eli throws INT like it's his job and still finds a way to win. Mistakes happen. It just seems like he lost his ability to do the complete job

 

you do realize you just brought up about a half dozen throws over 3 years?

 

fitz, truth be told, has been inconsistent pretty consistently for his career. it just is what it is. does he have the physical tools to throw a ball 50 yards, sure. does he have the tools to do it accurately? nope. sometimes itll go where he wants, sometimes no.

 

you were ok last year because it was easy to be optimistic given the record, but even in the first month he wasnt without glimpses of those issues.

 

he is what he is, which equates to either a top tier backup or a below average starter. still a great accomplishment for him, but it should shock us when he struggles over the long haul.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

I think the other thing is defenses have got to know him better and take naway the things he does best. His receiving corps may have been better last year too, at least in the early part of the season until injuries took hold.

 

I've also wondered how much David Lee's help to "improve" his mechanics made it worse. So am wondering the last few games he's looked better. Has Lee's isntuction fiannly helping or is he just ignoring it and going back to what he use to do?

[mjt328]

What happened to Fitz? Nothing, he has played to his full potential his entire NFL career. He's tough, a team first guy, but has shown he is not a NFL starter that can win consistently. His accuracy has been in question since he was first drafted into the league in the 7th round. Other than Brady there's a reason a lot of QB's last that long on the board.Some become adequate back ups exactly where Fitz was intended to play when the Bills brought him in. Pre Gailey. Clutch games is when he plays his worst. Great guy though.

 

Thanks Chan!

 

Exactly. Nothing happened to him.

He always had a low celing because of his limited physical skills. At 29 years old (almost 8 years in the league), he's reached his full potential.

 

For his first 6 seasons, Fitz was known around the league as inconsistent and inaccurate - better suited as a backup than as an NFL starter.

In early 2011, Chan and Fitz caught some teams off-guard with how successful he was in the spread offense... and he had a nice 4-5 game stretch. But once defensive coordinators caught on, the offense came back down to earth.

 

He still has a nice game once in awhile against the really bad defenses of the league. But whenever he faces a good defense, he's pretty much screwed.

 

 

And for the people that claim that his passing is getting BETTER as the season wears on...

You do realize that our offense was held without a touchdown in two of our last three games, right?

[Captain Hindsight]

Despite that, it is just not enough to get the job done.

31 points and nearly 500 yards of offense on the road usually gets that done

[It's in My Blood]

Honestly, I have to question David Lee changing up his throwing motion. That or his arm is incredibly weak. I've never seen an NFL QB that couldn't hit 1 deep pass a game.

 

Tom Brady didn't have a pass over 25 yards against us last week. So if you watched that game, then you indeed did see a NFL QB not hit one deep pass in a game. Just sayin'.

Edited November 21, 2012 by It's in My Blood

[NoSaint]

 

 

Tom Brady didn't have a pass over 25 yards against us last week. So if you watched that game, then you indeed did see a NFL QB not hit one deep pass in a game. Just sayin'.

 

he said couldnt, not didnt. as in the ability to do it, not having accomplished it 100%

 

 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Would be great if he could throw a bomb like Jp losman, but not really necessary. Brady kills us with 5 yard passes all day.

[ganesh]

As a Bills fan, I always want to see the team win with the players they have. Unfortunately, the players we have don't alway live up to that. I've been as critical as anyone around Fitz and his inability to find that extra something to close out games. The guy just seems to do just enough to lose. With that being said, what exactly happened?

 

When he got his contract extention, I remember being perfectly okay with it. Here's a guy who would make some mistakes, but was absolutely making all of the throws. Remember the infamous SJ drop against the Steelers? That was a perfect deep ball that I've never seen Fitz throw since. Remember the Oakland game last year? That guy orchestrated every single one of those drives and was moving up and down the field at will. The Ravens game from two years back, he was throwing bullets into coverage that only our guys could catch. Was he perfect, no? But could he make the throws and get it done...usually.

 

Now, unless it's a crossing route 15-20 yards down field, it seems like Fitz has no chance of completing a pass of 10 or more yards. It's all YAC for him. When is the last time he his his guy just running deep? We know we've tried. Every single infuriating 3rd and 2 reminds us of that. And the problem is, they aren't even close. They are terrible throws.

 

I just don't understand what happened. I want him to succeed, I do. But I'm honestly surprised that teams play cover 2 against us with our complete inability to throw deep.

 

This isn't meant to be a bashing thread. I could even care less about the int against the Pats at this point. Eli throws INT like it's his job and still finds a way to win. Mistakes happen. It just seems like he lost his ability to do the complete job

 

When he was given the contract extension with a 5-1 record, the only good team they beat was the Patriots. Buddy did not see through that and gave the extension. When they had to finally play the AFC East...they went 5-0 remainder of the way.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

As a Bills fan, I always want to see the team win with the players they have. Unfortunately, the players we have don't alway live up to that. I've been as critical as anyone around Fitz and his inability to find that extra something to close out games. The guy just seems to do just enough to lose. With that being said, what exactly happened?

 

When he got his contract extention, I remember being perfectly okay with it. Here's a guy who would make some mistakes, but was absolutely making all of the throws. Remember the infamous SJ drop against the Steelers? That was a perfect deep ball that I've never seen Fitz throw since. Remember the Oakland game last year? That guy orchestrated every single one of those drives and was moving up and down the field at will. The Ravens game from two years back, he was throwing bullets into coverage that only our guys could catch. Was he perfect, no? But could he make the throws and get it done...usually.

 

Now, unless it's a crossing route 15-20 yards down field, it seems like Fitz has no chance of completing a pass of 10 or more yards. It's all YAC for him. When is the last time he his his guy just running deep? We know we've tried. Every single infuriating 3rd and 2 reminds us of that. And the problem is, they aren't even close. They are terrible throws.

 

I just don't understand what happened. I want him to succeed, I do. But I'm honestly surprised that teams play cover 2 against us with our complete inability to throw deep.

 

This isn't meant to be a bashing thread. I could even care less about the int against the Pats at this point. Eli throws INT like it's his job and still finds a way to win. Mistakes happen. It just seems like he lost his ability to do the complete job

 

He was never great before he just won a few games and the Boss thought he should get paid.

[plenzmd1]

Well, I got Fitzy a shock collar and his barking is way down!

 

Oh, we are talking about the QB and not my dog named after the QB? Yes my two year old dog is named after Fitz, so just so you know I am in the tank for the guy.

 

I think he can be our starter and take us to a championship...I too am of the belief that our D has let us down far more than Fitz, and if we run the table The first half of the year will be forgotten.

 

BTW, I watch mostly FCS college ball, but I have not seen a college QB I would take over him so far this year..

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Despite and/or a portion all of his stats coming in garbage time...Fitz has a record of 19-31 as a Bills starter

 

What's the record of the Bills team while he's been a starter?

 

I heard a rumor from a reliable source that Lee's coaching was screwing with Fitz's head during games...too much to think about, etc. So the last couple games Fitz is just chucking the rock like before, mechanics be damned.

 

As "Head made of Meat" would opine, "Link or it didn't happen"

 

He's just not an NFL QB.

Everyone need to just deal with that.

 

He is an NFL QB. He's an NFL QB who ranks in the middle to bottom of the 2nd tier. That's what he plays like, that's what his stats say he is, and that's more or less what he's paid like (paid more like middle to top of 2nd tier).

 

Everyone needs to just deal with that.

 

Dude, have you watched, play by play, three QB who rate lower than Fitz?

[FreakPop]

Despite and/or a portion all of his stats coming in garbage time...Fitz has a record of 19-31 as a Bills starter

 

so sick of hearing about "garbage time"! take your "garbage time" philosophy and stick it. To complain about garbage time means you know nothing about the game!

[Coach Tuesday]

There have been zillions of Fitz threads the last few years.

 

This is the first one worth reading.

 

My question is, What happened to the Fitz Threads?

[bigK14094]

Fitz is a starting NFL qb, maybe not top 1/3 though. His stats quoted above say its so. His paycheck says its so, you could never pay a backup that money. But, he isn't getting the 15-25 mil per year that Brees/Manning command. (He gets 10 I think, alex Smith getting 9 I think) Two middle tier guys. Now, Smith has a better supporting cast, and is winning, but he turned it around last year after many Fitz like years, and with the right supporting cast, Fitz would also do that. I agree the David Lee thing has caused probelms, Fitz has not been the guy who started out on fire last year with the long ball. In the end, as a season ticket holder, I have been entertained by Fitz play, and can wait for a draft choice to be developed for a change at QB. You know, we had Losman, he lacked the head to play but had the arm. Fitz is great on the mental side, but lacks the big arm. Thats how it goes, I guess.

[jumbalaya]

Fitz' ineffectiveness throwing deep has severe impact on the under throws and the run game, I say play Easley to see what we have and ask Fitz to just toss it up and let the big guy fight for it.

[Ray]

Fitz is a starting NFL qb, maybe not top 1/3 though. His stats quoted above say its so. His paycheck says its so, you could never pay a backup that money. But, he isn't getting the 15-25 mil per year that Brees/Manning command. (He gets 10 I think, alex Smith getting 9 I think) Two middle tier guys. Now, Smith has a better supporting cast, and is winning, but he turned it around last year after many Fitz like years, and with the right supporting cast, Fitz would also do that. I agree the David Lee thing has caused probelms, Fitz has not been the guy who started out on fire last year with the long ball. In the end, as a season ticket holder, I have been entertained by Fitz play, and can wait for a draft choice to be developed for a change at QB. You know, we had Losman, he lacked the head to play but had the arm. Fitz is great on the mental side, but lacks the big arm. Thats how it goes, I guess.

 

I'd have to agree with pretty much all you have to say here. Fitz brings all the intangibles and has a great football knowledge. He just lacks consistency and a big big arm. Well, welcome to the NFL. Everyone seems to say draft a QB to replace him. Like who? Do you want Colt McCoy, J Clausen, Blaine Gabbert, Wheeden or Tannehill playing for us? We would be a lot worse with those guys. No QB in the past three drafts the Bills passed on would make this team much better and quite arguably would have made them worse. Maybe Andy Dalton who has looked good at times, but I've got news folks the Bengals are not going to the SB with Dalton and neither would the Bills. The problem is we want the franchise guy and we could not get Luck, RG3 or Cam Newton. Had Newton dropped the Bills would have taken him. Did you really want Gabbert at 3 instead of Darius?

Fitz is a decent QB ranking in the middle of the pack in the NFL.

[Dorkington]

FWIW, Fitz is 13th in the league in accuracy. So those claiming he's got *bad* accuracy, I guess are saying there's only 12 average to good QBs in terms of accuracy in the league. One of them being Tom Brady who is only 2.5% ahead of Fitz.

[Buffalo Mike1]

I'm still wondering if this is the same QB that threw the perfect long strike that Stevie Dropped against Pittsburgh ?????

Edited November 22, 2012 by Buffalo Mike1

[NewEra]

FWIW, Fitz is 13th in the league in accuracy. So those claiming he's got *bad* accuracy, I guess are saying there's only 12 average to good QBs in terms of accuracy in the league. One of them being Tom Brady who is only 2.5% ahead of Fitz.

 

Is this sarcasm? 95% of his throws are under 10 yards. 50% of them seem to be 1-5 yards. His % is elevated due to his playbook. He is absolutely as inaccurate as they come on passes that travel 20 yards in the air. He's accurate 1-10, after that I would call him inaccurate. What that mean? I don't know, but I don't view fitz as an accurate passer because his % is 13th in the league.

[Max997]

Nothing happened, he is same marginal at best player he always was people just got caught up into what he did in the two comebacks vs bad defenses in Pats and Raiders last year