Coach Tuesday Posted February 20, 2013 Author Posted February 20, 2013 You know what's funny about this thread? Metz was far more damning of the defense than of Fitz, yet it's flying over everyone's head. No one disputes that the D was awful. There are still folks out there who dispute that Fitz is awful. There's your why.
CardinalScotts Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 http://blogs.buffalo...itzpatrick.html "Fitz is an average to below-average kind of guy, and unfortunately he made some bad decisions at the end of games and then didn't make plays at the ends of other games we had chances to win. So it's got to start there." Interesting that he also says that he inquired about a job with Marrone's staff and no one even returned his calls. So OBD keeps Fitz around, and doesn't even return the phone calls of a decent coach who was also a solid contributor and warrior as a player. Classy stuff. Here is my real question - putting aside whether you think Fitz is salvagable or not, how on earth are they going to sell any season tickets if he is the starting QB heading into the season? It boggles my mind from a marketing perspective. most people realize outside of Johnson we had borderline nfl backups to throw to give a guy (who ever it is) actual nfl players to throw to and if your willing as the new head coach to roll with Fitzpatrick then it's on you. 31st ranked D and we focus on the QB -
JohnC Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Nix, once again, put this team in a terrible hole with that contract. He bowed to media pressure to re-sign the guy, and now they've got a bad contract that yields little benefit by cutting him. Fitz's starting days are over, and it's that awful contract keeping him around. The other unique aspect is that prior to re-signing TJ, Fitz was the only QB signed for 2013. It's one thing to get 2 QB's, but not having any signed is leaving yourself wide open. You have to believe other teams would feed on that sort of thing. You are right that the cap hit exists whether he stays or goes. But from the view of Littman and the business staff who take a different perspective from the football staff it makes a lot of sense to cut his payroll and pocket the savings. Littman and the Michigan business people don't give a dam how keeping or releasing Fitz will affect the roster. How the team performs has never been a priority to his boss and his financial advisors. If cutting Fitz saves a chunk of money on the salary side and enhances cash flow side then that is an easy decision for them to make. The only thing that is going to change the calculation for Littman is if Fitz is willing to take a major salary cut. When Littman and the finance people compare the salaries of Fitz and T. Jackson and compare the talent levels then it is very easy to predict the outcome of this scenario. In my view the business people have a very compelling case on their side and the football people are holding a very lackluster hand. http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/52785/bills-can-save-millions-by-cutting-fitzpatrick
Nanker Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 I mean, we are talking about this guy, right? No. This guy. http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nfl/players/full/6413.png&w=350&h=254
Mr. WEO Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 How has Cincy's defense compared to ours? He's throwing to A.J. Green, who has more talent than all our WR's combined. I don't care how well he's done with the Bengals, try to imagine what the BILLS would have been like with him in charge. Not so pretty. Good point about Green. But why stop there? Montana was throwing to Rice, Manning to HArrison, Kelly to Reed....... And you could also have pointed out that Buddy could have had Dalton AND Green instead of Dareus and Williams. 2 years later, our Offense would have been much better and our Defense certainly no worse than it is now.
Coach Tuesday Posted February 20, 2013 Author Posted February 20, 2013 most people realize outside of Johnson we had borderline nfl backups to throw to give a guy (who ever it is) actual nfl players to throw to and if your willing as the new head coach to roll with Fitzpatrick then it's on you. 31st ranked D and we focus on the QB - Why can't it be BOTH? What is it with Bills fans (and human beings for that matter) requiring that there be only one simple answer to all of life's complicated questions? No, it's not JUST the QB, but the QB was freakin' terrible.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Looks like he threw Marrio under the bus as well; "I thought we would have a dominating defense," Metzelaars said. "Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. It was disappointing. The expectations of how much money was spent and who it was spent on , we thought things would be different going into the season."
GG Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 No one disputes that the D was awful. There are still folks out there who dispute that Fitz is awful. There's your why. Average to below average is not awful. But who are these mythical people who still insist that Fitz is the answer. I love this board for no other reason than the polarization of stupidity. Even when you point out the obvious that there isn't a much better available option than Fitz in 2013 makes you an apologist...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 and the Receivers; "You need to give the quarterback some weapons," Metzelaars said. "You've got to get another receiver. You need continued improvement from T.J. Graham. Hopefully Scott Chandler comes back healthy." Glad to see Pete confirm many of the things I've said on TSW.
Coach Tuesday Posted February 20, 2013 Author Posted February 20, 2013 Average to below average is not awful. But who are these mythical people who still insist that Fitz is the answer. I love this board for no other reason than the polarization of stupidity. Even when you point out the obvious that there isn't a much better available option than Fitz in 2013 makes you an apologist... Try looking a few posts above yours and you'll find someone suggesting that the defense and receivers were the real problems last year. And I'm not going to name names but another poster in another thread today suggested that Fitz is a competent QB who was saddled with a bad supporting cast last year. They are not alone. And I disagree that there aren't better options than Fitz for 2013. Try drafting two QBs (one early, one middle-to-late) and let them fight it out in camp - at least then you have a higher ceiling.
GG Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Try looking a few posts above yours and you'll find someone suggesting that the defense and receivers were the real problems last year. And I'm not going to name names but another poster in another thread today suggested that Fitz is a competent QB who was saddled with a bad supporting cast last year. They are not alone. And I disagree that there aren't better options than Fitz for 2013. Try drafting two QBs (one early, one middle-to-late) and let them fight it out in camp - at least then you have a higher ceiling. And if you really read Grahams piece it's exactly what he said too.
The Big Cat Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Try looking a few posts above yours and you'll find someone suggesting that the defense and receivers were the real problems last year. And I'm not going to name names but another poster in another thread today suggested that Fitz is a competent QB who was saddled with a bad supporting cast last year. They are not alone. And I disagree that there aren't better options than Fitz for 2013. Try drafting two QBs (one early, one middle-to-late) and let them fight it out in camp - at least then you have a higher ceiling. Competent was the operative word!
Coach Tuesday Posted February 20, 2013 Author Posted February 20, 2013 And if you really read Grahams piece it's exactly what he said too. No, it isn't. He said the Bills need to "solve" the QB situation, and called out Fitz for making bad decisions, playing inconsistently, and turning the ball over in key moments toward the end of games. He also said that maybe Fitz had to press to score on every possession because the D sucked, and that his WRs didn't help him. But he clearly, and I mean CLEARLY doesn't think Fitz is the answer at QB. Competent was the operative word! I guess maybe it turns out semantics - I don't view Fitz as "competent." I think calling him "competent" is a compliment relative to his actual skills (kind of like calling the Taliban a Stone Age society - they're not even that.)
Dibs Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 You know what's funny about this thread? Metz was far more damning of the defense than of Fitz, yet it's flying over everyone's head. Did you read the article? How could you possibly get that impression? On Fitz: "I don't want to throw Fitz under the bus, but you've got to get an answer at quarterback," Metzelaars told me. "That's got to be the No. 1 priority." "If you have a dominating defense, you can get by with an average to below-average quarterback," Metzelaars said. "If you don't have a dominating defense, you need a winning quarterback in the NFL." "Fitz is an average to below-average kind of guy, and unfortunately he made some bad decisions at the end of games and then didn't make plays at the ends of other games we had chances to win. So it's got to start there." "I thought we needed to dominate on defense to let the offense work because when you don't have a great signal caller, there's going to be times when you can't be explosive on offense, when you'll have to go three plays and punt....." "The offensive line is solid. Stevie Johnson is good. The running backs are really good. It's just got to start with the quarterback." "You want to be positive about it," Metzelaars said, "and think 'We're close. Give us another year.' If Fitz gets better or we get better at the quarterback position or get another wideout, then we really could get this thing going....." On the D: "I thought we would have a dominating defense," Metzelaars said. "Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. It was disappointing. The expectations of how much money was spent and who it was spent on, we thought things would be different going into the season." "...Too many games we had to score every time we had the ball because of how the defense was."
Maury Ballstein Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 fitz is trash.....turn the page this is the NFL not arena ball it's time to get serious.
xsoldier54 Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Our coaching search can be summed up with: "OMGWTFROFLSMH LETS GET THIS GUY QUICK BEFORE THE BROWNS DO!" and then after that with "Who cares just hire all of your friends to work with you" Couldn't possibly disagree with you two any more. All of the potential candidates were evaluated, most were interviewed, and the Bills decided that Marrone was the best fit. They were decisive and hired him as soon as the decision was made. Whether they made the right decision remains to be seen, but the process was fine. As far as hiring friends, please find me one HC in the NFL who has not hired people that he has worked with before or knows.
White Linen Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 I don't know if Fitz will still be around. Jackson has been a starter and no worse than Fitz, so why keep him and pay him money to ride the pine? Unless he takes a pay cut, which he'd be smart to do. No doubt they told him there would be an open competition/he figured this was his best shot at starting, and took a "prove it" contract. Because he might be better than Jackson.
GG Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Yes I read the article and it's plain that he doesn't think that Fitz is the type of qb who can carry the team on his back. It's also clear that the coaches didn't expect him to be that kind of player as the expectations from the D were much higher. Now it's obvious that the D may not be as good as expected and will take longer to fix. The quicker fix would be a QB. But this is a horrible year to address it, and you can thank the good ol boys who most here were praising until 4 months ago.
Dibs Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Yes I read the article and it's plain that he doesn't think that Fitz is the type of qb who can carry the team on his back. It's also clear that the coaches didn't expect him to be that kind of player as the expectations from the D were much higher. Now it's obvious that the D may not be as good as expected and will take longer to fix. The quicker fix would be a QB. But this is a horrible year to address it, and you can thank the good ol boys who most here were praising until 4 months ago. ....but you'd agree that Metz was not in fact far more damning of the defense than Fitz?
KOKBILLS Posted February 20, 2013 Posted February 20, 2013 Why can't it be BOTH? What is it with Bills fans (and human beings for that matter) requiring that there be only one simple answer to all of life's complicated questions? No, it's not JUST the QB, but the QB was freakin' terrible. Exactly... I keep reading that Fitz was not the biggest problem, and the Defense was worse, or he had inferior targets, blah, blah, blah...How about they all sucked-out-loud? The QB situation gets more attention, as well it should, due to the importance of having a really good one...But saying QB is The Bills biggest need does not mean we don't need serious help on Defense, or at WR as well...Everyone knows that...
Recommended Posts