Falsehoods, lies and the new Stadium Wall

[Yoho]

The one thing that seems to be totally ignored about this season is the weather conditions we played in. I never remember a season with so many miserable days for games, especially the wind. From the Miami game to the Arizona game, the Cleveland game and even the Pittsburgh game, it was cold and blustery and just tough to throw or kick the football for both teams.

 

I have been meaning to do an analysis of how opposing kickers did against us and compare it to Lindell. I am fairly confident that the QB rating of opposing quarterbacks at the Ralph would be at or below Drew's. I would be happy to have someone prove me wrong.

 

But for anyone who sat through the Arizona game to criticize any QB's passing must have passed out in the parking lot before the game. It was miserable and totally uncondusive to passing.

 

Amazingly, in Miami, in lovely weather, our offense was very good and our defense was not so dominant. I am no lover of Drew, but let's at least be fair and not compare him to QB's throwing in no-climate situations like the dome quarterbacks. Even Jim Kelly would have had trouble this year in some of the condidtions and I have been going to games since 1962, I never remember more games with tough conditions.

[Arkady Renko]

These ramblings are not a new thing.  See:  Flutie vs RJ, Todd Collins era.

 

They may seem new, but they have been around since the beginning.

197892[/snapback]

 

Hmm.. yeah, you know I think I do remember AKC and Todd Collins back in the day. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Just good old times. Was that soon after the old DandC board was shut down?

[BILLS4LIFE]

Phew. I thought he was gonna go somewhere else with that post title. 

198006[/snapback]

 

 

You and me both!

[SJ Bills backer]

Couch your arguments in whatever clothing you like here, AKC. While you make a number of good pts, making the connection between criticism of Bledsoe's performance and the behavior of fans an society in general is either a stretch or an exercise.

 

The bottom line is that several posters have correctly highlighted numerous reasons and stats which validate criticism of Bledsoe. And while it is a team game, its his performance perhaps more than any single factor which stands out. from this season.

 

I'm out (heehehehehee - couldn't resist!)

[BILLS4LIFE]

Just answer one question......

 

Was Spiked right or wrong about Drew?

 

anyone?

198014[/snapback]

 

 

You can ask him that yourself over at the Buffalo Range Message Boards.

[Larry Playfair]

gimmie a break, people are free to post what they want. just because tom wolfe writes a 1000 page novel, doesnt make it any better a 3 line poem. 3 hour movies arent any more powerfukl then shorts. the more your write doesnt make it any more thoughtful. besides, many posters are probably closer to the truth then the media or the decision makers at onebills drive. this isnt art, its football. and jokers, intelligent and not, are free to post their opinions, whether they are insightful or not.

 

the things that sucks about this board the most is the attacks on each other. no one is right or wrong, we all just add our opinions. and w/o opinions, buff would just be another friggin new town consisting of strip malls and movie theaters. we are a town of souls, with strong opinions. not necessarily educated, or insightful, but definately w/ a viewpoint. plus, its a community where we can all have input about something we love - THE BILLS! In my view, all our welcome to post whatever they like.

 

if you dont like it.....be good or be gone.

[AKC]

Find me just one post where someone has said that Drew Bledsoe, and Drew Bledsoe alone, cost us the season.  Please, find just one.  I expect crap like that from some here, but now you too?  There are many here who have seen enough of Drew Bledsoe to last a lifetime, and that group, myself included, have been vocal.  Do we exagerate to make a point?  Probably, but not to the extent that you have.

198144[/snapback]

 

I haven't seen you yet on the comedy circuit- could you post a schedule up? We'll do some serious recruiting for someone as funny as you!

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

 

Bottom line right there. Sorry it didn't work out for Drew, AKC; we all are.

198025[/snapback]

 

 

As far as it goes with Drew, I think like most things I'm pretty middle of the road and go to excruciating detail as to why I have drawn a conclusion. I think I\m fairly middle of the road regarding Bledsoe as well. I think getting him in trade was a good deal to make as he was a vast improvement over what RJ and AVP could produce and it was great to have NE subsidize our purchase of a QB who no longer scared me when we played NE. I think this proved to be true because even with BB undressing him twice he was a big part of producing a huge improvement in W/L to 8-8 that I do not think the other QBs available like Chrus Chandler or Jeff Blake could have pulled off.

 

However, in his second year opposing teams had the videotape to catch up to his game (particularly with BB providing a roadmap of a way to do this) and most of all Killdrive was too hidebound to switch Drew andthe Os game to a more winning form and GW already having burned through his first try at OC proved powerless to make him switch.

 

Yet, overall, I judged the Bledsoe era a wash as he brouight a much needed excitement to this region after a 3-13 year and he simply sucked his second year. I was happy and willing to say adios at that point.

 

However, TD never listens to me and he resigned Bledsoe against my wishes. However, there were two saving graces to this move, TD renegotiated a deal with Bledsoe which was the only cap friendly way to keep him and MM/Clements proved capable of relying on the team rather than relying on Bledsoe which I think is the best if not only way to win with him.

 

As far as judging between the two extremes of Drew lovers and Drew haters, it seems to me that both are wrong in their extreme attitudes however of the two I find the pole represented by folks like AKC much closer to the truth than the pole which some would label as Drew haters (you can name yourself to this group if you want but the banter back and forth between posters really is a sideshow so I will pass on calling anyone out by name here).

 

The bottomline for those who are interested is this from my perspective:

 

1. Bledsoe is our QB because of the ill-advised deal TD resighned him to and that will not change next year and if it does it will have totally disastrous or near disastrous impacts on the team. This has little to do with Drew's play but the cap hit on this team for letting him go before June 1st would mean $4.3 million in dead space. Replacing him with another QB even using the extra left over from Drew's cap hit if you kept him would leave us with a QB crop of JP, Matthews, and I don't know who but in terms of salary it likely would be someone not much better than a Matthews level QB. It ain't gonna happen and I think the idea that it will real defies reality.

 

2. Bledsoe strikes me as having the same strengths and weaknesses that he always has had. One of the bigger idiociies on TSW has been the folks who keep claiming that this player who played QB under Parcells and got an SB berth and who played QB in the majority of a must-win game in NEs 2001 SB run has never won a big game in the NFL, Huh? Teams can clearly win with Bledsoe QBing if they find away of following the Parcells mantra of getting him to throw the damn ball rather than going into his pat or run the O Weis developed for Brady which relies on the team rather than on the QBs arm.

 

MM/Clements did a tremendous job of running the O through the streak which proved to be the bulk of our year's production and seem to have developed a good feel for running the TEAM in a way that it is one of the better teams in the NFL.

 

3. TD has said publicly that Bledsoe an all other players must win their jobs. Yhis is the greatest thing and quite frankly all the folks who want Bledsoe gone are going to get. if JP is ready this will be enough as he will show qualities which cannot be denied. if he isn't good enough yet he will sit on the bench which is where he belongs if he is not good enough. Its hard for me to see how anyone can logically disagree with that.

 

JP does not have to be perfect to get a start. He needs to demonstrate to MM/Clements.and Wyche that he is close enough that playing in a couple or games will complete his education enough for him to be competitive. If he can;t do that, if he needs 6 games of real time practice before he is good enough then I think he should sit. If folks are right about Bledsoe the season will be done soon enough and he can play for practice next year after the season is done.

[AKC]

several posters have correctly highlighted numerous reasons and stats which validate criticism of Bledsoe. 

198191[/snapback]

 

And I've just posted factual statistics that irrefutably show a number of posters here to either be unbelievably misinformed or just plain Stojaned.

 

But I'm waiting patiently for the first refutation of the FACT that our D skated almost the whole season while our O played the far tougher schedule- know anyone who might make the mistake of engaging me? ;-)

[Grant]

The first half of your post (regarding the "history of Bledsoe as a Bill" and the pros and cons of the trade, in general

 

I should say that I agree with this. And to be honest, although no one wants to actually listen to the other side, I believe that almost everyone was excited about the trade for Drew Bledsoe in 2001.

 

No one is blaming Donahoe for bringing Bledsoe here in the first place. It helped a lot , in many different ways. You've pointed out how it helped the financial aspect of the team (which, to be honest, I don't think many fans care about unless it directly effects the product on the field), and also as far as Free Agents. With no Bledsoe, we might not have Takeo Spikes, Sam Adams and Lawyer Milloy. If for no other reason than that, the Bledsoe trade was a success (even if we have pretty much been at the mercy of Belichick since then).

 

The problem lies in the fact that, although we may like Bledsoe, we also have to look at each player with some degree of objectivity (are you listening, AKC?). However, regardless of the other factors outside of the actual football performance, you have to ask yourself when discussing his performance on the field: has Bledsoe honestly helped this team more than hurt it? Many people, not only on this board but also in the organization, feel that he has not.

 

 

1. Bledsoe is our QB because of the ill-advised deal TD resighned him to and that will not change next year and if it does it will have totally disastrous or near disastrous impacts on the team.  This has little to do with Drew's play but the cap hit on this team for letting him go before June 1st would mean $4.3 million in dead space.  Replacing him with another QB even using the extra left over from Drew's cap hit if you kept him would leave us with a QB crop of JP, Matthews, and I don't know who but in terms of salary it likely would be someone not much better than a Matthews level QB.  It ain't gonna happen and I think the idea that it will real defies reality.

 

I disagree with this, especially in light of Donahoe's recent comments regarding his unhappiness with Bledsoe's play. Fact is, we don't completely know the cap situation outside of what little is told to us in the press.

 

The main problem is that there may not be many alternatives in free agency who could provide a helping Veteran hand that would be servicable as starters and could compete with Losman for the job, as well as simply providing a fresh start.

 

2. Bledsoe strikes me as having the same strengths and weaknesses that he always has had.  One of the bigger idiociies on TSW has been the folks who keep claiming that this player who played QB under Parcells and got an SB berth and who played QB in the majority of a must-win game in NEs 2001 SB run has never won a big game in the NFL,  Huh?  Teams can clearly win with Bledsoe QBing if they find away of following the Parcells mantra of getting him to throw the damn ball rather than going into his pat or run the O Weis developed for Brady which relies on the team rather than on the QBs arm.

 

I disagree with this, too, and although this is a point you've brought up numerous times, I think it's one of your weakest points.

 

Players change over the course of their NFL careers, especially when it comes to the twilight of their career. I can't tell you exactly what, but it's very obvious that the Drew Bledsoe that plays for us is not the same player that took the Patriots to the Super Bowl under Parcells. The sacks have cought up to him or something, I don't know; but he certainly doesn't have the awareness that he showed in his early career in New England.

 

Also, I'm not one to rely on numbers, but they don't lie when you're talking about Bledsoe in big games, especially when comparing them to other contemporary successful quarterbacks. You can deny the quarterback's importance all you want, but when you need to move 70 yards in under two minutes, your quarterback is the most important player on your team. Bledsoe has shown through out his career, especially the latter half, that he simply folds more often than not in pressure games and situations.

 

MM/Clements did a tremendous job of running the O through the streak which proved to be the bulk  of our year's production and seem to have developed a good feel for running the TEAM in a way that it is one of the better teams in the NFL.

 

I don't know. I don't want to take anything away from the offense, but they were saved a lot from the special teams and defense. The Cincinatti game, the San Francisco game, the Seahawks game all come to mind immediately.

 

 

3. TD has said publicly that Bledsoe an all other players must win their jobs.  Yhis is the greatest thing and quite frankly all the folks who want Bledsoe gone are going to get.  if JP is ready this will be enough as he will show qualities which cannot be denied.  if he isn't good enough yet he will sit on the bench which is where he belongs if he is not good enough.  Its hard for me to see how anyone can logically disagree with that.

 

Reading between the lines of Donahoe's statement, you can be assured of one thing: Bledsoe is not as safe as he once was.

 

When said player contributes to a loss they take the heat AND when said player contributes to a victory they are either not mentioned at all or were somehow just "along for the ride" while the team won in spite of him.

 

On the surface, that sounds like a good statement. But it doesn't hold much water when you think about it.

 

Teams are more than one person (which is the point you tried to make, but it didn't quite work). Again, they have stronger players and weaker players - and some times the stronger players can carry the load for the weaker players. Teams can, and often do, win in spite of certain players.

 

Take Mike Pucillo for example. He hurt the team more than he helped it when he was a starter, and yet we won a few games with him in. Were they because of him or in spite of him?

 

It's not as magical as "well, if we won, then everyone did good; if we lost, everyone did bad." Sorry. But don't feel too bad, a lot of Stadium Wall posters have a hard time grasping this.

[34-78-83]

When said player contributes to a loss they take the heat AND when said player contributes to a victory they are either not mentioned at all or were somehow just "along for the ride" while the team won in spite of him.

 

On the surface' date=' that sounds like a good statement. But it doesn't hold much water when you think about it.

 

Teams are more than one person (which is the point you tried to make, but it didn't quite work). Again, they have stronger players and weaker players - and some times the stronger players can carry the load for the weaker players. Teams can, and often do, win in spite of certain players.

 

Take Mike Pucillo for example. He hurt the team more than he helped it when he was a starter, and yet we won a few games with him in. Were they because of him or in spite of him?

 

It's not as magical as "well, if we won, then everyone did good; if we lost, everyone did bad." Sorry. But don't feel too bad, a lot of Stadium Wall posters have a hard time grasping this.

[right']198239[/snapback][/right]

 

Looks like you didn't even grasp what I was saying there smartass I was refering to posters who contradict themselves. Also I pointed out "when said player contributes to a win" which is not in all cases. My point was made loud and clear for someone with comprehension skills. Spare me your "don't feel too bad" garbage especially when you can't even comprehend the point I made.

[Grant]

uh.... no. I understood your post just fine. What did I miss? I highlighted the summary of your post and addressed it. You said the easiest way to pick out personal bias is when they blame a certain player for a loss and refuse to give credit when they win. What's not to understand? I think maybe you are the one lacking the comprehension skills, sir.

 

Also I pointed out "when said player contributes to a win" which is not in all cases.

 

Okay, the rest of your post was just a bunch of insults and this highlighted sentence doesn't make sense. Try again.

[eball]

After all that effort, it seems a shame that you only got a half-assed comment in response.

 

The truth is, you bring up an interesting perspective. The overwhelming majority is quick to suggest that Drew Bledsoe, and Drew Bledsoe alone, cost us the season, particularly in light of the crappy teams we played. And yet the defense is not held to the same scrutiny, and in fact is elevated for playing brilliantly against the same crappy teams.

 

Only slightly more annoying are the handful of people who are convinced that if you don't think JP should start next year, you are off your meds and clearly love Bledsoe.

 

Thanks for the post, AKC.

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a fantastic example of this is certain posters' refusal to criticize the bills' "elite" defense for their 4th quarter collapses in four of the bills close losses this season (see bills v. jags, bills v. jets, bills v. pats I, bills v. steelers). if they do the job in any one of those games, the discussion on this board is about a playoff game today or tomorrow...despite bledsoe's admittedly mediocre year.

 

it's a team game. do the bills have to get better at the QB position? you betcha. they have to get better on defense as well.

[Grant]

a fantastic example of this is certain posters' refusal to criticize the bills' "elite" defense for their 4th quarter collapses in four of the bills close losses this season (see bills v. jags, bills v. jets, bills v. pats I, bills v. steelers).  if they do the job in any one of those games, the discussion on this board is about a playoff game today or tomorrow...despite bledsoe's admittedly mediocre year.

 

it's a team game.  do the bills have to get better at the QB position?  you betcha.  they have to get better on defense as well.

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This is true. Obviously, the entire team needs to improve each year, regardless of the prior season's outcome.

 

However, it should be pointed out that despite the examples listed that the defense was one of our strongest and most consistent units. And to be honest, the games that they did "blow" or "give up", keep in mind that they were the unit that kept us in the game to that point in the first place.

 

In all of your examples, we were in tight low scoring games (the Pats game could be an exception possibly). It's not like 2002 when the offense would be scoring 30 points a game and the defense couldn't stop anyone.

[Spiderweb]

And I've just posted factual statistics that irrefutably show a number of posters here to either be unbelievably misinformed or just plain Stojaned.

 

But I'm waiting patiently for the first refutation of the FACT that our D skated almost the whole season while our O played the far tougher schedule- know anyone who might make the mistake of engaging me? ;-)

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Not me, but I would like to add that while Bledsoe was still a big disappointment, he isn't the one who allowed three 4th down conversions to lose us the Jags game, Sure, we should have scored more than 10 points, but we all remember that finish all too well.

 

It also wasn't directly Bledsoe's fault that we lost the first game to the Jets either. Sure he played like crap for 3 plus quarters, and then helped put together two scores for us to take the lead, only to watch the Jets make a ball control drive for the winning field goal at the end.

 

Our "D" needed just two more stops and the record would have been 11-5 at the end with a Playoff berth in hand going into the Pitt game.

 

Or how about TH's inability to quit tripping himself up? I remember the Raiders game, and also a key run against the Pats (just before the big fumble) where a hole was there only for TH to go turf first.....

 

The "team" came thru for 9 wins, but there were also "team" losses as well. Bledsoe wasn't the only reason. Yet, with the exception possibly being the Miami game, it sure would have been nice to see Bledsoe help pick up the slack a bit more often and make a few more plays himself.

 

Bottom line, it was the "team" that lost their chance for the playoffs....

[Grant]

Not me, but I would like to add that while Bledsoe was still a big disappointment, he isn't the one who allowed three 4th down conversions to lose us the Jags game, Sure, we should have scored more than 10 points, but we all remember that finish all too well.

 

It also wasn't directly Bledsoe's fault that we lost the first game to the Jets either. Sure he played like crap for 3 plus quarters, and then helped put together two scores for us to take the lead, only to watch the Jets make a ball control drive for the winning field goal at the end.

 

Our "D" needed just two more stops and the record would have been 11-5 at the end with a Playoff berth in hand going into the Pitt game.

 

Or how about TH's inability to quit tripping himself up? I remember the Raiders game, and also a key run against the Pats (just before the big fumble) where a hole was there only for TH to go turf first.....

 

The "team" came thru for 9 wins, but there were also "team" losses as well. Bledsoe wasn't the only reason. Yet, with the exception possibly being the Miami game, it sure would have been nice to see Bledsoe help pick up the slack a bit more often and make a few more plays himself.

 

Bottom line, it was the "team" that lost their chance for the playoffs....

 

 

How sad is it when you have to look for bad things that Bledsoe wasn't directly responsible for in order to prove "it's not his fault."

 

Again, no one is letting Travis Henry or the defense off the hook. But those simply aren't the big issues this off season, and for good reason. Henry's position was upgraded. The defense finished in the top 3 defenses statistically.

 

There were bad times for everyone this season. It's just depressing when you have to go hunt for those in order to say "Well, it wasn't ALL Drew."

[Beerball]

I haven't seen you yet on the comedy circuit- could you post a schedule up? We'll do some serious recruiting for someone as funny as you!

198228[/snapback]

Two words for you: fu(< of%. I wasn't replying to anything you wrote, I replied to another poster. This kind of BS I do expect from an a$$ like you. Spewing BS is nothing new to you.

 

How's that for funny?

[cåblelady]

....okay, I wasn't gonna say, it but I'll say it.....I know what cost us the season. It's that damn midget on the sideline? What is he, an equipment manager? A trainer. I'm trying to watch the game, and all I can focus on is this damn midget on the sidelines! How the fugg is Drew or anyone else suppose to concentrate with a midget on your sidelines. And he looks like Mini-mee from Austin Powers. Same shaved head, same evil eyes? I think Mike Mularkey is trying to groom him into mini -me, aka mini MM.  I was just waiting for an appearance from Dr. Evil. So, now you all know, it's the MIDGET on our sideline that is causing us to be unfocused and lose.

198150[/snapback]

 

Coffee on the monitor alert. Thanx alot, Hardy.

[Oneida Lake]

How sad is it when you have to look for bad things that Bledsoe wasn't directly responsible for in order to prove "it's not his fault."

 

Again, no one is letting Travis Henry or the defense off the hook. But those simply aren't the big issues this off season, and for good reason.  Henry's position was upgraded. The defense finished in the top 3 defenses statistically.

 

There were bad times for everyone this season. It's just depressing when you have to go hunt for those in order to say "Well, it wasn't ALL Drew."

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There's nothing sad or depressing about the post that you've tried to marginalize. It's called supporting an argument, or refuting a generalization, with facts.

[RuntheDamnBall]

I disagree with this, too, and although this is a point you've brought up numerous times, I think it's one of your weakest points.

 

Players change over the course of their NFL careers, especially when it comes to the twilight of their career.  I can't tell you exactly what, but it's very obvious that the Drew Bledsoe that plays for us is not the same player that took the Patriots to the Super Bowl under Parcells.  The sacks have cought up to him or something, I don't know; but he certainly doesn't have the awareness that he showed in his early career in New England.

198239[/snapback]

I think it was the deadly hit in that Jets game. I believe Drew hasn't been the same, and has been more tentative, ever since. I think he ran on adrenaline, with something to prove, and the sheer energy of playing again when he began his Bills career. But later on the psychological elements caught up with him.