If We Made The Playoffs Last Year...

[IDBillzFan]

...regardless of how deep we got...would you have kept Bledsoe this year and give JP more time, or would you still have cut Bledsoe and turn the team over to JP?

 

Please discuss.

[PromoTheRobot]

...regardless of how deep we got...would you have kept Bledsoe this year and give JP more time, or would you still have cut Bledsoe and turn the team over to JP?

 

Please discuss.

339582[/snapback]

Drew Bledsoe would had to win the Super Bowl, and even then I'm not sure I would have kept him. The problem is that Drew already showed he was limiting what the Bills could do offensively. Everything had to be "just so" for Drewie. Had to have this...had to have that. If he were anyone else but a #1 overall draft pick, he would have been mowing lawns with Ryan Leaf ages ago. The level of excuse-making for DB boggles my mind.

 

PTR

[plenzmd1]

...regardless of how deep we got...would you have kept Bledsoe this year and give JP more time, or would you still have cut Bledsoe and turn the team over to JP?

 

Please discuss.

339582[/snapback]

 

That implies winning the Stillers game. If Drew has that same game, but we win, and then another lousy game in playoffs, hes still gone. However, if he had a decent stillers game, then lost on the rd in the plaoffs, hes still here

[Mark VI]

That implies winning the Stillers game. If Drew has that same game, but we win, and then another lousy game in playoffs, hes still gone. However, if he had a decent stillers game, then lost on the rd in the plaoffs, hes still here

339596[/snapback]

 

(shudder)

 

Oh well, he's in Dallas. Parcells can lose his mind now.

[stuckincincy]

...regardless of how deep we got...would you have kept Bledsoe this year and give JP more time, or would you still have cut Bledsoe and turn the team over to JP?

 

Please discuss.

339582[/snapback]

 

Sure. You are pushing the nipple "envelope" with your recent avatars. Stop it.

[Like A Mofo]

...regardless of how deep we got...would you have kept Bledsoe this year and give JP more time, or would you still have cut Bledsoe and turn the team over to JP?

 

Please discuss.

339582[/snapback]

 

 

Its a good point you bring up, but its hard to say.

 

lets say the Bills beat the Steelers but then the next week Drew was 15-34 for 189 yds 0 TD and 4 INT against the Colts....maybe the mindset would still be the same to turn it over to JP. If Drew played solid and the Bills advanced a round, well then IMO he would still be under center for the Bills.

 

Having said that, I think missing the playoffs in 04 might turn out to be the best thing for the Bills in the upcoming years.

[Bill from NYC]

I am thinking that it wasn't JUST the playoffs, but the loss to Pittsburgh. That particular game may have been a BIGGER factor than merely not getting in the playoffs. It seems to me that there was a ton of personal embarassment for TD and MM, especially TD because he was ousted from Pitt in the dispute with Cowher.

 

The Bills Management took a HUGE gamble in turning over the offense to an unknown. If JP sucks, I am thinking that TD should be fired. If Mr. Wilson wants to give TD/JP 2 seasons, that makes sense too, but this team looks like they have a TON of talent and is in the hands of a qb who could just as easily suck as be good.

 

Even if JP is awful, the season can be salvaged if MM has a quick hook. I for one do NOT, under any conditions, want to see JP keep the Buffalo Bills from making the playoffs in 05.

[Bill from NYC]

(shudder) 

 

Oh well, he's in Dallas. Parcells can lose his mind now. 

339600[/snapback]

 

Parcells isn't a rookie. He knows what he is doing.

[Shameless Homer]

Drew Bledsoe would had to win the Super Bowl, and even then I'm not sure I would have kept him.  The problem is that Drew already showed he was limiting what the Bills could do offensively.  Everything had to be "just so" for Drewie.  Had to have this...had to have that.  If he were anyone else but a #1 overall draft pick, he would have been mowing lawns with Ryan Leaf ages ago.  The level of excuse-making for DB boggles my mind.

 

PTR

339592[/snapback]

 

You f'n people are driving me nuts. The Steelers game was a g'damn team loss!!

Bigtime. D sucked. Couldn't keep a 3rd string running back from ripping off a 42 yard run from scrimmage. Allowed a 9 1/2 minute drive against them in the 4th quarter of a playin game against 3rd stringers. Moulds dropped 3 passes, Reed 2

Evans 1, McGahee 1.

11 penalties in a playin game. Jeezus. Blame Bledsoe so that the Losman thing works for you. Great.

 

This offense was 31st out of 32 teams in penalties against. 1157 yards!!!

Bledsoe my arse.

 

And keep your yards passing per game to yourselves. We tried to run the ball all year. Our number one reciever was ranked 45th in the league. Wake freaking up.

[jarthur31]

...regardless of how deep we got...would you have kept Bledsoe this year and give JP more time, or would you still have cut Bledsoe and turn the team over to JP?

 

Please discuss.

339582[/snapback]

 

If we played badly then he would've been cut. I think we would've kept him if we had gotten to the championship game. I'm beginning to think some team member didn't want him around anymore so they tanked that game on purpose.

 

I can't think of any other playoff bound team to disintegrate to scrubs in an important game. Nobody showed up to play that day. It's like they didn't care.

[ROCCEO]

Sure. You are pushing the nipple "envelope" with your recent avatars. Stop it.

339602[/snapback]

Heaven forbid someone should be subjected to look at a breast.....the most offensive thing in the Universe.

 

And for those who argue: "well if it was a penis you'd be even more upset than these people are currently" Thats garbage, I have one attached to my freakin' body for christ's sake.

 

I know this is off-topic, but i would find a nipple/breast/penis severely less offensive than a lot of the things which are posted on this board daily.

[IDBillzFan]

You f'n people are driving me nuts.  The Steelers game was a g'damn team loss!!

Bigtime.  D sucked. Couldn't keep a 3rd string running back from ripping off  a 42 yard run from scrimmage. Allowed a 9 1/2 minute drive against them in the 4th quarter of a playin game against 3rd stringers.  Moulds dropped 3 passes, Reed 2

Evans 1, McGahee 1. 

11 penalties in a playin game. Jeezus. Blame Bledsoe so that the Losman thing works for you. Great.

 

This offense was 31st out of 32 teams in penalties against. 1157 yards!!!

Bledsoe my arse. 

 

And keep your yards passing per game to yourselves.  We tried to run the ball all year.  Our number one reciever was ranked 45th in the league.  Wake freaking up.

339653[/snapback]

Bledsoe really sucked in that game, though. It's a good example of "a quarterback carrying his team." Despite the team's errors, if he had just played a hair better, we could have won.

[Fezmid]

Bledsoe really sucked in that game, though. It's a good example of "a quarterback carrying his team." Despite the team's errors, if he had just played a hair better, we could have won.

339674[/snapback]

 

If anyone had played just a hair better, we could have won. Including the WR who took a surefire 8-point lead and made it a potential 4-point lead, leading to the kicker taking that potential 4-point lead and leaving it as a paultry 1-point lead.

 

Damn unnecessary holding penalty.

 

CW

[Kelly the Dog]

Bledsoe really sucked in that game, though. It's a good example of "a quarterback carrying his team." Despite the team's errors, if he had just played a hair better, we could have won.

339674[/snapback]

I agree, but if we had won, I think it would have been tough to cut him. I am NOT saying it wouldn't have been wise to cut him, but I just don't think the brass would have gone through with it. It would have meant the Bills had won their last seven games going into a road playoff game. You probably read where a lot of Bills veterans were surprised or not all that in favor of letting Bledsoe go after he played terrible and lost that game. Plus, it would have been a huge confidence boost going into the playoffs. We likely would have gotten beat handily in Indy if that's where we played but I think drew would still be here.

[Lori]

Even if the Bills had made the playoffs, I believe there would have been an open competition in training camp this summer - Drew's caphit, plus the thought of having a #1 pick cooling his heels on the bench for a second year, would have forced the issue.

 

TD went with "potential" before, when he chose RJ over Flutie. (That move was also partly financial, since the 'dead money' caphit for cutting RJ would've been worse than the one for Flutie.) I see no reason he wouldn't make the same decision again.

 

But yeah, Bill, in the end that Pittsburgh game was undoubtedly what tipped the scales in JP's favor. Not just that the Bills lost, but the way Drew played in that game. (Yes, I know other players didn't acquit themselves well that day, either. But a mistake made by the QB is a lot easier to spot than, say, a missed tackle or a dropped pass...)

 

I forget which of the guys on GR said this, in the week or two right after that game. It was someone I don't normally agree with (which could apply to most everyone there except for Simon), and it may have been a little harsher than I'd have put it, but he made a good point: if your QB is going to make rookie-type mistakes, I'd rather have a rookie making those mistakes (and learning from them) than watch a 12-year veteran make those same mistakes.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I agree it would have been hard if not impossible to dump Bledsoe if the Bills made the playoffs. Perhaps if he was the clear main reason for a playoff loss and got undressed the way Belicheck played him in his first game against the Pats, then maybe.

 

However, it really would have taken this type of power outage in the first playoff game to overcome:

 

1. The Bills would have been featured as one of the comback stories of the year going from an 0-4 start to a 10-2 finish. WM's prescense would have gotten the main credit, but Bledsoe being the QB for a team that finished with a very very impressive 7 regular season wins in a row would have got his fair share. It ould take a huge Bledsoe power outage even surpassing his joining with Lindell, Clements funble and the D taking the weekend off against Stillers scrubs to reverse the effects of this week long commercial for the Bills and Bledsoe.

 

2. If the Bills finished with 7 straight wins and double digit victory, not even taking into account the reversal of fortune after an 0-4 start, Bledsoe was so horrendous in 2003 that as the nod is for regular season performance a lousy playoff game would not stop Bledsoe from getting some nods as 2004 comeback player of the year, It would be really hard even after a playoff loss unless it was all demonstrably Bledsoe's fault to cut him rather than invest in the hope that he would comeback yet again from this playoff loss.

 

3. Bledsoe actually did improve quite a bit under MM and TCs guidance even though he did not improve enough to be adequate (TD should have cut him after his 2003 horrendous season rather than resign him). Under MM, Bledsoe did achieve after the 0-4 start:

 

A. a great ability to run the playfake leading to beautiful downfield tosses with his strong arm to Evans. He always had good ballhandling ability as shone by his catching some of the shotgun adventures from Teague until he settled down a bit and he used this well receiving pitchbacks from WM and throwing sufficient bobs to Evans. Many QBs can't even throw a catchable bomb on the dropback and Bledsoe catching the pitch from a first year player and hitting the downfield receiver for a TD or big gain should not be dismissed as something anyone can do because they can'.

 

B. They even used the stature as an effective runner sending him on several QB draw plays for positive yardage last season. It does not matter that he never broke one for a TD or much more than a gain of 6 yards or so. Bledsoe being used as a runner on the delay up the middle combined with WMs effectiveness to force opposing players (particularly their LBs from selling out completely on the blitz or going around the blitz pick-up because they had to hesitate to watch the middle before abadoning it for the blitz. I admit I had actually been lulled by the constant references to him as a statue on TSW to assume he would never run. MM and TC however, correctly saw that Bledsoe is a big boy who can survive a hit 6 yards downfield as well as he could survive multiple hits he took getting sacked.

 

C. They also used Bledsoe as a credible fake to run the QB sneak (something I think KG and GW never did) and he turned this fake into a pitch back to WM who scampered over 40 yards for the TD as the D committed to looking inside first to stop the Bledsoe 4th and 1 dive.

 

Clearly the comfortable 6 wins came about because of theST, WM and the D primarily but I think it is not logically deniable (though those who are psycotically addiceted to Bledsoe do not depend on logic or rationality to bash him) that Bledsoe was much better in 04 than his incredibly stinky 03 when the Bills went 10 or so quarters consecutively under his QBdom not scoring an offensive TD.

 

4. it would have have been a ticket sales and PR disaster to cut a playoff QB who has been a totally quality guy until he got the word the Bills wanted to cut him if he didn't take a paycut, Many hate Bledsoe (we have seen their posts), but likewise from the moment he arrived a lot of people loved him and worship him. To cut him once his squad made the playoffs would have so soured a lof of ledsoe loving Bills fans (even after a playoff lost) that it would have meant a lot of splaining and selling to fans and would have heightened the already big pressure on JP to produce and produce now.

 

Further, MM and TD would have heightened the risk they are taking which will comeback to bite them IF JP has the usual first year adjustments players have and Parcells remains smart enought to coach Bledsoe to "just throw the damn ball" as he did when he made the SB with Bledsoe. I actually suspect that Dallas is a better situation for Bledsoe to be productive than Buffalo.

 

1. Parcells will not have to rely on the QB leading the team like many Bills fans will expect more than JP individually than he needs or likely can produce for the Bills to be a winner. Both Dallas and Buffalo will likely win more games by getting a Trent Dilfer like result out of QB than getting a John Elway like result. Neither Bledsoe or JP is anywhere near a Elway in terms of playing ability. The question is whether this player with the golden arm/lead brain of Bledsoe or the a player with the first year starter limitation of JP can in fact be coached into managing a game like a Trent Dilfer. Parcells did this once before with Bledsoe when they made the SB so saying it cannot happen ignores reality.

 

2. The personnel in Dallas will actually suit Bledsoe- They are in OK shape at RB with Jacque Jones showing not as much promise as WM, but he is good. The WRs are muc weaker than Moulds and Evans but to the extent this makes even Bledsoe think twice about throwing instead of running this may not be bad. Their OL is getting old with old talents like Larry Allen and Flozell Adams and young but les productive than hoped talents like Gurode, but I see no one saying our OL is a stone cold lock to be solid from the start. I think we will solve the TE problem but like us TE is a question mark but Parcells has demonstrated that he can find productive answers to these questions even with the limitations of a Bledsoe.

 

3. There schedule does have them facing 6 games against playoff teams but only 2 of those in the first 8 and the last two against Carolina and St. Louis. Getting out of the gate well will be tough but can be doable for Mr. Bill and if he gets on a roll then and Bledsoe are on a roll.

 

The bottomline is that if Bledsoe is even hinted by the press as a doing a comeback after the Bills cut, then the Bills better be winning with JP (I think we can if we do not rely on this youngster to win games as Pitt did last year letting RoboQB ride Bettis and an opportunistic D to Ws) or TD and M will have some splainin to do to disatisfied customers. If Lindell had not missed a chip shot. the D had played their usual game against Pitts scrubs, if Clements hadn't taken away by laying the ball on the carpet as much as he giveth with is TD return. or if Bledsoe had proven to be a good enough QB to overcome all these errors (he is not) and we had made the playoffs, then TD/MM would have gotten grief even if this team was winning and Bledsoe produces Ws in Dallas.

[Mark VI]

I agree, but if we had won, I think it would have been tough to cut him. I am NOT saying it wouldn't have been wise to cut him, but I just don't think the brass would have gone through with it.

339690[/snapback]

 

I disagree. I think Mularkey,Clements and Wyche were completely frustrated with having their hands tied all year with Bledsoe's glaring limitations. They could never implement the Offense they wish to run. The Bills 6 game winning streak was mainly the result of huge plays on ST's and Defense. They combined for 10 TD's and everyone knows that's a rare happening and impossible to expect again in 2005.

 

The Head Coach insisted on the change and one game wasn't going to blind them to his struggles of the past 2 1/2 years. The losses were not all his fault but he came up small all too often in close games, usually in disastrous fashion.

 

Fearing change is only natural with an unproven rookie but he is replacing a proven failure with no upside as the Bills QB, regardless of his past name recognition and accomplishments which no longer applied to the current situation.

 

I feel far better about our QB situation than last year, since I believe our BACKUP QB is even an upgrade over Bledsoe. If Losman stumbles or is injured, we can replace him with a solid talent who can run the Mularkey offense.

 

Bledsoe was the polar opposite of what Mularkey wants out of his QB.

[BillsFanNC]

I agree it would have been hard if not impossible to dump Bledsoe if the Bills made the playoffs.  Perhaps if he was the clear main reason for a playoff loss and got undressed the way Belicheck played him in his first game against the Pats, then maybe.

 

However, it really would have taken this type of power outage in the first playoff game to overcome:

 

1. The Bills would have been featured as one of the comback stories of the year going from an 0-4 start to a 10-2 finish. WM's prescense would have gotten the main credit, but Bledsoe being the QB for a team that finished with a very very impressive 7 regular season wins in a row would have got his fair share.  It ould take a huge Bledsoe power outage even surpassing his joining with Lindell, Clements funble and the D taking the weekend off against Stillers scrubs to reverse the effects of this week long commercial for the Bills and Bledsoe.

 

2. If the Bills finished with 7 straight wins and double digit victory, not even taking into account the reversal of fortune after an 0-4 start, Bledsoe was so horrendous in 2003 that as the nod is for regular season performance a lousy playoff game would not stop Bledsoe from getting some nods as 2004 comeback player of the year, It would be really hard even after a playoff loss unless it was all demonstrably Bledsoe's fault to cut him rather than invest in the hope that he would comeback yet again from this playoff loss.

 

3. Bledsoe actually did improve quite a bit under MM and TCs guidance even though he did not improve enough to be adequate (TD should have cut him after his 2003 horrendous season rather than resign him).  Under MM, Bledsoe did achieve after the 0-4 start:

 

A. a great ability to run the playfake leading to beautiful downfield tosses with his strong arm to Evans. He always had good ballhandling ability as shone by his catching some of the shotgun adventures from Teague until he settled down a bit and he used this well receiving pitchbacks from WM and throwing sufficient bobs to Evans. Many QBs can't even throw a catchable bomb on the dropback and Bledsoe catching the pitch from a first year player and hitting the downfield receiver for a TD or big gain should not be dismissed as something anyone can do because they can'.

 

B. They even used the stature as an effective runner sending him on several QB draw plays for positive yardage last season. It does not matter that he never broke one for a TD or much more than a gain of 6 yards or so.  Bledsoe being used as a runner on the delay up the middle combined with WMs effectiveness to force opposing players (particularly their LBs from selling out completely on the blitz or going around the blitz pick-up because they had to hesitate to watch the middle before abadoning it for the blitz. I admit I had actually been lulled by the constant references to him as a statue on TSW to assume he would never run. MM and TC however, correctly saw that Bledsoe is a big boy who can survive a hit 6 yards downfield as well as he could survive multiple hits he took getting sacked.

 

C. They also used Bledsoe as a credible fake to run the QB sneak (something I think KG and GW never did) and he turned this fake into a pitch back to WM who scampered over 40 yards for the TD as the D committed to looking inside first to stop the Bledsoe 4th and 1 dive.

 

Clearly the comfortable 6 wins came about because of theST, WM and the D primarily but I think it is not logically deniable (though those who are psycotically addiceted to Bledsoe do not depend on logic or rationality to bash him) that Bledsoe was much better in 04 than his incredibly stinky 03 when the Bills went 10 or so quarters consecutively under his QBdom not scoring an offensive TD.

 

4. it would have have been a ticket sales and PR disaster to cut a playoff QB who has been a totally quality guy until he got the word the Bills wanted to cut him if he didn't take a paycut, Many hate Bledsoe (we have seen their posts), but likewise from the moment he arrived a lot of people loved him and worship him. To cut him once his squad made the playoffs would have so soured a lof of ledsoe loving Bills fans (even after a playoff lost) that it would have meant a lot of splaining and selling to fans and would have heightened the already big pressure on JP to produce and produce now.

 

Further, MM and TD would have heightened the risk they are taking which will comeback to bite them IF JP has the usual first year adjustments players have and Parcells remains smart enought to coach Bledsoe to "just throw the damn ball" as he did when he made the SB with Bledsoe. I actually suspect that Dallas is a better situation for Bledsoe to be productive than Buffalo.

 

1. Parcells will not have to rely on the QB leading the team like many Bills fans will expect more than JP individually than he needs or likely can produce for the Bills to be a winner. Both Dallas and Buffalo will likely win more games by getting a Trent Dilfer like result out of QB than getting a John Elway like result. Neither Bledsoe or JP is anywhere near a Elway in terms of playing ability.  The question is whether this player with the golden arm/lead brain of Bledsoe or the a player with the first year starter limitation of JP can in fact be coached into managing a game like a Trent Dilfer.  Parcells did this once before with Bledsoe when they made the SB so saying it cannot happen ignores reality.

 

2. The personnel in Dallas will actually suit Bledsoe- They are in OK shape at RB with Jacque Jones showing not as much promise as WM, but he is good. The WRs are muc weaker than Moulds and Evans but to the extent this makes even Bledsoe think twice about throwing instead of running this may not be bad.  Their OL is getting old with old talents like Larry Allen and Flozell Adams and young but les productive than hoped talents like Gurode, but I see no one saying our OL is a stone cold lock to be solid from the start. I think we will solve the TE problem but like us TE is a question mark but Parcells has demonstrated that he can find productive answers to these questions even with the limitations of a Bledsoe.

 

3. There schedule does have them facing 6 games against playoff teams but only 2 of those in the first 8 and the last two against Carolina and St. Louis.  Getting out of the gate well will be tough but can be doable for Mr. Bill and if he gets on a roll then and Bledsoe are on a roll.

 

The bottomline is that if Bledsoe is even hinted by the press as a doing a comeback after the Bills cut, then the Bills better be winning with JP (I think we can if we do not rely on this youngster to win games as Pitt did last year letting RoboQB ride Bettis and an opportunistic D to Ws) or TD and M will have some splainin to do to disatisfied customers. If Lindell had not missed a chip shot. the D had played their usual game against Pitts scrubs, if Clements hadn't taken away by laying the ball on the carpet as much as he giveth with is TD return. or if Bledsoe had proven to be a good enough QB to overcome all these errors (he is not) and we had made the playoffs, then TD/MM would have gotten grief even if this team was winning and Bledsoe produces Ws in Dallas.

339713[/snapback]

[Lori]

FFS, I'm not going to take on your entire post, but I would like to comment on this:

4. it would have have been a ticket sales and PR disaster to cut a playoff QB who has been a totally quality guy until he got the word the Bills wanted to cut him if he didn't take a paycut, Many hate Bledsoe (we have seen their posts), but likewise from the moment he arrived a lot of people loved him and worship him. To cut him once his squad made the playoffs would have so soured a lof of ledsoe loving Bills fans (even after a playoff lost) that it would have meant a lot of splaining and selling to fans and would have heightened the already big pressure on JP to produce and produce now.

 

I think 'ambivalent' is the word I'd use for how most of the fanbase viewed Bledsoe by the time of his departure.

 

I'll use my workplace as an example: by far, the most negative reactions to DB's release came from the Patriots fans I know who are happy they have Brady, but still respect Drew. They think TD is nuts. The other negative reactions came from Cowboys fans, after he signed in Dallas - they think Parcells is nuts. When the Bledsoe-to-Cleveland rumor popped up on WGR, the Browns fans I work with thought it was a horrible idea (although they're not real amused with losing Holcomb and trading for Dilfer, either.)

The Bills fans? They're mostly shrugging and saying "okay, let's see what the kid's got." Like I said, ambivalent.

 

One other note: Clements' fumbled punt in the Pitt game led to a Stiller FG, not a TD, so your "taken away by laying the ball on the carpet as much as he giveth with his TD return" line is inaccurate.

[Realist]

I disagree. I think Mularkey,Clements and Wyche were completely frustrated with having their hands tied all year with Bledsoe's glaring limitations. They could never implement the Offense they wish to run.  The Bills 6 game winning streak was mainly the result of huge plays on ST's and Defense. They combined for 10 TD's and everyone knows that's a rare happening and impossible to expect again in 2005.

 

The Head Coach insisted on the change and one game wasn't going to blind them to his struggles of the past 2 1/2 years. The losses were not all his fault but he came up small all too often in close games, usually in disastrous fashion.

 

Fearing change is only natural with an unproven rookie but he is replacing a proven failure with no upside as the Bills QB, regardless of his past name recognition and accomplishments which no longer applied to the current situation.

 

I feel far better about our QB situation than last year, since I believe our BACKUP QB is even an upgrade over Bledsoe. If Losman stumbles or is injured, we can replace him with a solid talent who can run the Mularkey offense.

 

Bledsoe was the polar opposite of what Mularkey wants out of his QB.

339720[/snapback]

 

 

What he said.

 

Unless we got to the Championship game last year, I doubt if Bledsoe would have been back. We saw his weaknesses all season, even during the winning streak.