AirBledsoe11 Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-b...ov=ap&type=lgns Bills ready to stick with Bledsoe as starter By JOHN WAWROW, AP Sports Writer January 4, 2005 AP - Jan 3, 1:18 pm EST More Photos ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Sub-par numbers aside, quarterback Drew Bledsoe is confident he's earned the right to remain the Buffalo Bills' starter heading into next season. ``It's my team,'' Bledsoe said this week after the Bills missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year despite a strong finish. The Bills -- from coach Mike Mularkey to team owner Ralph Wilson -- agree with Bledsoe. ``It wasn't all Drew,'' Wilson said, following Buffalo's season-ending loss Sunday to Pittsburgh, when Bledsoe struggled. Mularkey shrugged off questions of Bledsoe's so-so passing numbers, saying the only figure that counted was the nine games his quarterback helped win this season. ``It's do you win or lose? That's the stat that comes out most,'' Mularkey said. ``I don't know what the rest has to do with performance to be honest with you.'' The Bills (9-7) enjoyed their first winning season since 1999, and first in three years since acquiring Bledsoe in from New England in 2002. ADVERTISEMENT Yet Buffalo's strong finish, in which the Bills overcame an 0-4 start, hasn't prevented Bledsoe detractors from urging the team to bench or release the 12-year veteran in favor of J.P. Losman, the rookie first-round pick who had very limited playing time this season. Critics point to Bledsoe's poor performance in the season finale, a 29-24 loss to the Steelers that eliminated the Bills from playoff contention. Bledsoe went 16-of-30 for 189 yards and threw one interception. He also had a costly fourth-quarter fumble, which linebacker James Harrison returned 18 yards for what proved to be the decisive touchdown. Bledsoe finished 18th in the league with 2,932 yards passing, the second consecutive season in which he's failed to break the 3,000-yard mark. He had 20 touchdown passes, 16 interceptions, and his efficiency rating of 76.6 ranked 13th in the AFC and 25th overall. It's better than where Bledsoe finished in 2003, when he had a career-low 2,860 yards passing, with 11 TDs and 12 interceptions. But it's a far cry from Bledsoe's first season in Buffalo, when he had 4,359 yards passing, set 10 franchise records and earned his fourth Pro Bowl selection. Bledsoe hasn't had a 300-yard passing performance in 30 games, going back to Week 2 of the 2003 season. In comparison, 31 quarterbacks had at least one 300-yard game this season. Bledsoe is buoyed by how he found his rhythm in coach new coach Mularkey's, helping the team win six straight and nine of 11 before the loss to Pittsburgh. ``Obviously, you go back and there are definitely plays that I want back,'' Bledsoe said. ``But overall, I am proud that I was able to stay the course and keep going forward as a leader on this team and through some very hard times.'' The calls for Bledsoe's benching grew loudest nine games into the season, after he went 8-of-19 for 76 yards and three interceptions in a 29-6 loss at New England. He and the Bills rebounded by winning six in a row, a stretch in which Bledsoe was at his most efficient. That included his 185 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37-17 win against St. Louis on Nov. 21. Two weeks later, he had a season-best 277 yards passing and four touchdowns in a 42-32 win at Miami. Bledsoe has two years left on a contract he restructured. ``I'm very proud to be a part of this team,'' he said. ``I anticipate great things for this team going forward. And I'm excited about what the future holds for me and this team and this organization.''
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