JDG Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 I have to give credit to JP Losman on today's game. I've been waiting for him to have his first career 300+ yard day, and did not expect that it would come on a blustery day in Orchard Park. Unfortunately, I've said for a while now that JP Losman's decision-making worried me - most especially after our gameplan against Miami where decision-making was taken out of his hand - and sadly, today did nothing to alleviate that concern. 1) Buffalo's first four drives all pushed deep into Jets territory - yet we came out of those four drives with only 7 points. That's a strong leading indicator of how to lose a football game. Our fifth drive goes into the red zone and only gets three points. You only get so many chances. While those failures aren't all solely JP Losman's fault, most teams need their QB to make their other players better. The breakdowns in Jets territory shows that JP isn't there yet. 2) One of those failures was a JP Losman fumble - the first of turnovers on the day. A three turnover day happens to all young QB"s though, and again is a sign of just not being good enough.... yet. 3) The interception is an all time-horrible interception. Everyone will focus on the wounded-duck nature of the pass, but how about the decision to throw the ball in the first place? Lee Evans was clearly double-covered. Indeed, it seemed that on most of the shots we tried taking downfield, JP Losman was launching the ball into double-coverage, including an earlier ill-advised pass to Lee Evans, and the play where Peerless Price may have saved an interception by making offensive pass interference. 4) JP Losman twice failed to complete a sideline-out to Josh Reed on fourth down. The first one may have been Reed's fault, but the last one, with the game on the line, was terrible. We also saw the ugly return of JP Losman's pass in the dirt, as well as two horribly-thrown dumpoffs to McGahee on the final drive. On many occasions, JP Losman seemed to buy plenty of time for himself by running around behind the line of scrimmage, but it seemed that these runs produced few big plays. Was there really noone open? Or was Losman just not seeing them? Plus, for whatever reason, JP Losman only decided to run with the ball once - he seems to have a lot of work today on when to use his legs and when to wait for things to develop. 5) Again, there were many reasons to be impressed by JP Losman's passing today. I'd still like that 57% completion percentage to be higher, so that can be added to the things to work on. At the end of the day, JP Losman did some impressive things - like that overthrown bomb to Lee Evans into the wind, but still can't really point to a "complete game" on his resume. He did some good things, but isn't quite good enough for us to win with just yet. JDG
Fan in San Diego Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 Growing pains ! He'll get better and minimize these mistakes with more experience.
Fixxxer Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 Good post JDG. Hopefully he can improve and learn from this game.
Acantha Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 Yep, made some great plays and made some bad plays. Pretty much what everyone hoped for/expected. Enough here though, no point in trying to talk about this with you. Like trying to talk draft with Bill in NYC or football with VA.
Ramius Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 Enough here though, no point in trying to talk about this with you. Like trying to talk draft with Bill in NYC or football with VA. 784840[/snapback] aint that the truth! Couldnt have said it better myself.
Billzfan23 Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 Yep, made some great plays and made some bad plays. Pretty much what everyone hoped for/expected. Enough here though, no point in trying to talk about this with you. Like trying to talk draft with Bill in NYC or football with VA. 784840[/snapback] Thsi was the classic game of a team that is not quite ready to get over the hump, evidenced by the the fact that we outyardaged the opponent 475-256, having 26 first downs to the Jets' 15 and haveing over 33mins in time of possession. The turnovers tell the story, and as he gets more starts under his belt the turnovers should be few and far between. A good effort all around, but no pass rush - that really was the difference in this game and the last 2 efforts.
Fixxxer Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 How long these growing pains going to take, its his 3rd year in the league. 784851[/snapback] With only 12 starts. I know you don't like him, so I'll leave it at that.
Frez Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 How long these growing pains going to take, its his 3rd year in the league. 784851[/snapback] Ask Drew Brees
Mark Vader Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 1) Buffalo's first four drives all pushed deep into Jets territory - yet we came out of those four drives with only 7 points. That's a strong leading indicator of how to lose a football game. Our fifth drive goes into the red zone and only gets three points. You only get so many chances. You make a lot of good points JDG, but this is the main reason why we lost. We could have put the Jets in a big hole early on, and were unable to do it. I think this is how the season is going to be. Lots of frustrating moments, and lots of ecstatic moments. Losman made some outstanding plays and some bone-headed plays. Still Losman is getting better. The coaches have to take in some of the blame today also. The fake-FG; not challenging the Jets Defensive TD, and not putting Anthony Thomas in when the Bills were 2nd & Goal on the 2. I'm not bashing McGahee, but he has been known to struggle on short yardage/goal line situations. Speaking of McGahee, it is sad that we let another one of his big games be wasted away.
eSJayDee Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 The INT looked dumb cuz likely the ball ended up about 20 yds shorter than he wanted. If he's able to adequately throw the ball so that Evans is roughly in stride, it wouldn't look like such a bad pass. Also, I haven't watched the tape yet, but is it possible his throwing motion was impeded? The only throw I recall going 'in the dirt' was toward the end of the game when it was raining heavily & quite windy. Not too concerned about that either. Those short out patterns on 4th down however were Holcombesque.
MadBuffaloDisease Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 The INT looked dumb cuz likely the ball ended up about 20 yds shorter than he wanted. If he's able to adequately throw the ball so that Evans is roughly in stride, it wouldn't look like such a bad pass. Also, I haven't watched the tape yet, but is it possible his throwing motion was impeded? Yes it was.
MDH Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 Probably the most sensible post I've seen you make about Losman. One point: I'm not sure a 57% completion percentage is a big issue when the QB is making many throws downfield. JP's YPA was 8.6, which is quite good. QBs that throw the ball downfield aren't going to complete 60% of their passes.
Catholic Guilt Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I will ask again - where was our defense today? 1 sack for -1 yards on a scramble? No pressure all day. I'm not pinning this on Losman.
MadBuffaloDisease Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 You could ask "where was x" today and fill up several pages of a new thread. Well except for Lindell and McGahee when it came to running the ball on non-short yardage plays.
JDG Posted September 25, 2006 Author Posted September 25, 2006 I will ask again - where was our defense today? 1 sack for -1 yards on a scramble? No pressure all day. I'm not pinning this on Losman. 785059[/snapback] The defense held the Jets to 257 total yards of offense, 21 offensive points, forced four three-and-outs and seven punts overall. It wasn't a dominating defensive day, but it wasn't a bad defensive day. JDG
Recommended Posts