Bledsoe isn't our main worry

[BilzFanGA]

Why do some of you continue to act as if Drew Bledsoe is the main problem with this offense, but he is one player who is actually playing somewhat decent and people act as if he is the root cause of all of our problems. DB is not a franchise QB who is going to carry your team anymore. BUt he can be very good if you give him time to throw.

 

The guy has completed almost 60% of his passes (with multiple drops not factored in), has almost a 2 to 1 td/int ratio and when given time has thrown the ball very well. He's throwing a great deep ball when given time. Out of the 3 picks, 1 was tipped in the air by Henry, and another was a hail mary at the end of the Jets game.

 

His problem is that he is immobile. That's been well known for years. Well it's up to offensive line to protect him, and runing backs to pick up the blitzes. If that's not happening then that's not Drew Bledsoe's fault.

 

Could he play better, sure. But he is not our problem. We need our offensive line to start blocking much better so our passing game and running game gets on track.

 

I'd be a little more concerned with our line and Travis Henry falling all over himself even when a hole is there. Get off the Bledsoe rants and talk about what our real problems are, because they are the ones that have cost us every game so far.

[Guest Guest]

Bledsoe isnt the problem and he is definately not part of the solution either. You cant do much with him back there.

[BilzFanGA]

He is one dimensional, I'll give you that. But he can do that one dimension very well if you give him a chance. That's all I'm saying. We have much worse problems.

[Mike in Syracuse]

I agree with you that Drew has played relatively well. My issues with Bledsoe don't all relate to his ability to complete passes though. In my opinion, it's what Drew can't do that limits the offense and therefore leads to predictability. Let me see if I can explain what I mean.

 

Drew is a known commodity in the NFL. Every defensive coordinator in the league knows precisely what he can and can't do but it's the "can't do's" that hurt him and us the most. It's a well documented fact that Bledsoe is as mobile as a maple tree. Most people look at this and say, "see the guy can't avoid a sack" which is true but only adds to the problem. His immobility allows defensive coordinators to gameplan much more aggressively than they would be able to do with a more mobile QB. Here's what I see

 

1. Defensive ends can rush with abandon, they have no concern about containment.

 

2. Defense coordinators can allow their CB's to play a lot of zone without "peeking" into the backfield. They have no worries that Drew is going to take off. This gives them the opportunity to "jump routes" and lock onto the recievers and play their hands. If you watch how DB's play McNair and McNabb you'll see what I mean. They're always looking into the backfield.

 

3. Bledsoe's immobilty forces a limitation in the playbook. Roll outs are possible but inneffective because the LB's are not worried about Drew taking off therefore they can be extremely aggressive.

[Bill from NYC]

I agree with you that  Drew has played relatively well.  My issues with Bledsoe don't all relate to his ability to complete passes though.  In my opinion, it's what Drew can't do that limits the offense and therefore leads to predictability.  Let me see if I can explain what I mean.

 

Drew is a known commodity in the NFL.  Every defensive coordinator in the league knows precisely what he can and can't do but it's the "can't do's" that hurt him and us the most.  It's a well documented fact that Bledsoe is as mobile as a maple tree.  Most people look at this and say, "see the guy can't avoid a sack" which is true but only adds to the problem.  His  immobility allows defensive coordinators to gameplan much more aggressively than they would be able to do with a more mobile QB.  Here's what I see

 

1.  Defensive ends can rush with abandon, they have no concern about containment.

 

2.  Defense coordinators can allow their CB's to play a lot of zone without  "peeking" into the backfield.  They have no worries that Drew is going to take off.  This gives them the opportunity to "jump routes" and lock onto the recievers and play their hands.  If you watch how DB's play McNair and McNabb you'll see what I mean.  They're always looking into the backfield.

 

3.  Bledsoe's immobilty forces a limitation in the playbook.  Roll outs are possible but inneffective because the LB's are not worried about Drew taking off therefore they can be extremely aggressive.

67906[/snapback]

 

Mike, all of the above is true. The question is, what can be done about this?

 

Answer #1: Blocking, the key ingredient in football. Sometimes I truly believe that as Bills fans, we have been denied this precious commodity for SO long, that we almost disregard it, and look toward our "skill players" to always bail us out.

 

Answer #2: We simply cannot have players dropping beautiful passes, running wrong routes, and a rb standing there like a total fool after missing a key block, especially given the limitations Drew does have.

 

What frustrates me is that I cannot see a future plan in place for the Bills to become a tough team on the offensive side. Where will we get a Left tackle after Jennings leaves? How much of our cap space will be down the toilet to a hopefully average RT? How long will it take Losman to get maimed?

 

Imo, these are bigger concerns than Drew Bledsoe.

[eventualchamps]

Take all the stats aside and the fact remains that Drew IS NOT a leader. We need a spark - similar to Pennington when he started for the Jets. He got his whole team pumped up. Brady did the same thing for the Patriots. Big ben is doing it right now for the Steelers.

Sorry to say it but you are wrong, wrong, wrong. Stop defending a losing cause. As certain as the Red Sox choke and are not "winners", so goes Drew.

Don't get me wrong, I think Drew is a great guy but he just can't get it done. He's had four games to prove himself (not to mention a previous season and a half of sucking) and he still has yet to get it done. Hell, I'll bet $1000 that if JP starts four games, he will win one of them. Any takers form the Drew apologists?

[Bill from NYC]

Take all the stats aside and the fact remains that Drew IS NOT a leader.  We need a spark - similar to Pennington when he started for the Jets.  He got his whole team pumped up.  Brady did the same thing for the Patriots.  Big ben is doing it right now for the Steelers. 

Sorry to say it but you are wrong, wrong, wrong.  Stop defending a losing cause.  As certain as the Red Sox choke and are not "winners", so goes Drew.

Don't get me wrong, I think Drew is a great guy but he just can't get it done.  He's had four games to prove himself (not to mention a previous season and a half of sucking) and he still has yet to get it done.  Hell, I'll bet $1000 that if JP starts four games, he will win one of them.  Any takers form the Drew apologists?

68008[/snapback]

 

>>> Hell, I'll bet $1000 that if JP starts four games, he will win one of them.<<<

 

Big deal. How long will it take him to get injured behind this OL, with a rb who misses blocks continuously?

The problems lie WAY deeper than merely the qb position. That is the point I am trying to make.

[Like A Mofo]

The thing that I want to know right now for sure is where the problem REALLY is....sometimes IMO is tough to tell, Mike in Syracuse made a great point about DE's pash rushing at will and not being concerned about containment, thats a HUGE plus for a defense. Lets see Losman get some action, heck, Id even say matthews. Now if either one of those QB's play, and the sack totals are cut in half, and the bills start scoring more pts a game, they we will knowFOR SURE where the biggest problem was, and that is with Drew. Now if the other QB's played behind this OL and they still struggle like the Bills offense is now, then ok, then its DEFINATELY the OL.

[Mike in Syracuse]

Mike, all of the above is true. The question is, what can be done about this?

 

Answer #1: Blocking, the key ingredient in football. Sometimes I truly believe that as Bills fans, we have been denied this precious commodity for SO long, that we almost disregard it, and look toward our "skill players" to always bail us out.

 

Answer #2: We simply cannot have players dropping beautiful passes, running wrong routes, and a rb standing there like a total fool after missing a key block, especially given the limitations Drew does have.

 

What frustrates me is that I cannot see a future plan in place for the Bills to become a tough team on the offensive side. Where will we get a Left tackle after Jennings leaves? How much of our cap space will be down the toilet to a hopefully average RT? How long will it take Losman to get maimed?

 

Imo, these are bigger concerns than Drew Bledsoe.

67989[/snapback]

 

Bill,

 

I agree with your assessment of the blocking deficiencies but let's look back at Flutie. RJ looked like a maple tree until Flutie came in. All of a sudden the line "appeared" to get better. Did they really block better for Flutie or were they more concerned about the little bastard getting away from them and running for 30 yards. My guess is the latter. There is simply nothing in Bledsoe's arsenal to keep at DT or DE from running full speed right at him. They are virtually assured that he will be there.

 

As for the dropped passes, I know how to cure that. Put their sorry asses on the bench. Demoting Reed has done wonders already.

 

Bledsoe is a great guy and a wonderful teammate. I'm just not sure that these guys are ready to die for him.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Exactly It is amazing to see the drew psychosis among many fans who either want to ignore his limitations and are sure he will lead us to victory AND the folks who want to ignore what he does well which when properly used can be a part of a winning team

 

Definitely the stats throughout much of his career truthfully indicate that he has mostly been a part of losing teams However it is just silly that Bledsoe haters simply ignore the factual occurence that he has been an essential part of winning teams given the great HC job done by Parcells when a Bledsoe led team made the SB and by BB and Weis when Bledsoe played an essential role in QBing the team in a must win game when they won their first SB

 

Again he was extremely productive in his first year as a Bill until opponents got enough tape on the Kevin Killdrive O to defend against it and the marginal late season weather took away a chunk of what he could still do well

 

I do not think unfortunately that the Bills can win consistently {or at all if the OL can"t block and receivers drop key passes} with Bledsoe at the helm unless the HC can provided the determined clear leadership of a Parcells or has the O genius of a Weis However it simply strikes me as an incorrect view of football to claim that it is impossible to win at all with Bledsoe"s limitations Teams have proven and he has proven several seasons during his career that this is possible with outstanding offensive coaching and the right play by teammates

 

The Bills problem is that the HC and OC have not yet shown they have the right stuff to work with {or around if you must be negative about the Bills though why you hang around TSW without a realistic suggestion about how to get better is beyond me} Bledsoe"s strengths and limitations and also that Bledsoe"s teammates have not picked up for him to maximize his game by dropping passes and tripping running into the line and missing blocks

 

Did TD make a mistake resigning Bledsoe? You bet unless he was set to do a number of other things to win with him In my mind they are:

 

A Build an ol which is a positive running force: I think he has started to do this by hiring an adult to run the OL rather than not ready for PT types like Vinklarek and Ruel but this will take a little time as the OL is still suffering from three years of insufficient leadership and the best OL leader on the team Ruben outstayed his welcome by fighting with Kevin Killdrive {justifiable but a player cannot defy the braintrust like he did and expect to stay} Villarial is a reasonable replacement as a player but simply does not have enough time in place as a Bill to be an on the field leader of too young players who need to be led

 

The woulda coulda shoulda on building an OL quickly would have been to go get an SB winner vet center like Woody to fill the gap Yet Damiens center days may be behind him and the cap constraints are real so I"m not sure this was a viable alternative Unfortunately time may be the only thing you can do

 

B Try to build a Ravenesque D: Given my sense that the O was not going to be the answer for this team then building an outstanding D would seem to be the other route The current D performance indicates that building this way was and is possible but the D is a top notch DE away and a quality safefty as starter away from being there The cap again is the major factor If the D were that good then all you are looking for is a Trent Dilfer contribution from the QB

 

C Focus on ST: The current successful model for an SB winner is not one of relying on the draft as some on TSW say but instead to make good quality marginal FA acquisitions like the NE Pariots The draft is obviously important as seen in acquisitions like Seymour but clearly it is not the lead to their strategy as good FA pickups like harrison and unheralded late round draftees like Brady have played a far bigger role for the team I think the key is to look for marginal FAs who can make your ST studlike and can step up when an FA acquisition like colvin goes down or you mishandle a situation like Milloy

[ganesh]

And if the Running game and the OL doesn't put us in 3rd 10 and 15s then

DB doesn't take those sacks......

 

The coaches preached the 1-2 punch the whole off-season, but I am yet

to see a single game where we have the 1-2 punch in the running game...

 

The sooner our running game gets fixed, our passing game is more likely

to open up and demand the respect.

[KOKBILLS]

I think everyone on this thread brings up some valid points...

 

But Folks, when are we going to realize the Bledsoe issue has come down to one very simple point...14-22 as a Starter for the Bills, 9-19 in the last 28 Games...

 

Sure there are a ton of factors, but with every loss Bledsoe gets more than his share of the blame because this is a pattern dating back to the start of the 1999 Season in NE. Is it really a coincidence that Bledsoe was 13-21 in his last 34 Games (7-19 in the last 26) as a Starter in NE?

 

To me, those numbers are scary in their similarities...13-21 to 14-22 (9-19 in the last 28 Games in Buffalo, 7-19 in the last 26 Games in NE)...How close can you get? I detect a pattern here, and it simply does not bode well for the Bills as long as Bledsoe is the chosen "Leader" of this Team...Or at least the Leader of a still sputtering Offense... B)

[Rico]

I think everyone on this thread brings up some valid points...

 

But Folks, when are we going to realize the Bledsoe issue has come down to one very simple point...14-22 as a Starter for the Bills, 9-19 in the last 28 Games...

68199[/snapback]

That's really what it comes down to.

 

And to who ever jumps in with that old chestnut that

QB's don't lose games, teams lose games,

I fart in your general direction.

 

Starting pitchers in baseball don't "lose" games either, but they are still measured by their W-L record, and QB's in football are no exception.

 

In addition to all the most excellent points brought up above,

I would just like to add that DB is very, very boring (unless you're a fan of the other team)

and just seeing him on the field sucks a lot of joy & excitement out of this Bills fan.

 

I wish Drew well, and I admit I was impressed with the 2 TD comeback last weekend,

but I can't wait for him to leave town so that the JP era can begin & excitement can return to the Ralph.

[Guest Drive By Pats Fan]

The current successful model for an SB winner is not one of relying on the draft as some on TSW say but instead to make good quality marginal FA acquisitions like the NE Pariots

 

Whoah. That is very wrong with regards to the Pats. The free agents were important, but the draftees that aided in the last Super Bowl are key to the Pats' success last year and going forward.

 

The current regime drafted Deion Branch, David Givens, Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Eugene Wilson, Dan Klecko, Matt Light, Bethel Johnson, Asante Samuel, Vince Wilfork, Daniel Graham, Ben Watson, and others. All are contributors and have helped win games. And then there's Brady.

 

If the Patriots didn't draft well, they wouldn't have won the Super Bowl last year and would look like the Buccaneers do right now in a year or two. Plus draftees are cheaper than veteran FA's. If you draft well it will give you the salary cap flexibility to obtain veterans that fill your specific needs like Colvin and Dillon.

 

First and foremost, the Bills need to draft better. There's no question about it. That issue is more important than the QB debate in the long run.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

Whoah.  That is very wrong with regards to the Pats. The free agents were important, but the draftees that aided in the last Super Bowl are key to the Pats' success last year and going forward.

 

The current regime drafted Deion Branch, David Givens, Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Eugene Wilson, Dan Klecko, Matt Light, Bethel Johnson, Asante Samuel, Vince Wilfork, Daniel Graham, Ben Watson, and others. All are contributors and have helped win games. And then there's Brady.

 

If the Patriots didn't draft well, they wouldn't have won the Super Bowl last year and would  look like the Buccaneers do right now in a year or two. Plus draftees are cheaper than veteran FA's. If you draft well it will give you the salary cap flexibility to obtain veterans that fill your specific needs like Colvin and Dillon.

 

First and foremost, the Bills need to draft better. There's no question about it. That issue is more important than the QB debate in the long run.

68393[/snapback]

Actually the FA's were VERY important. Out of that list above, only Seymour and Light (okay not "only," since they're both excellent players) were on the 2001 SB team. Beyond that what people (not you per se) fail to realize is that the Pats brought-in 19 FA's prior to the 2001 season, and over half of them became starters. That right there tells you about the quality of the 2000 team, and you don't add that many guys and expect to "jell" immediately. Also as 2002 proved, it's the defense that is the backbone of the Patriots, and had the Bills HAD a defense in 2002, they would have done a LOT better than they did. Last year they had a defense and no offense, and it looks so far like more of the same. But again, when Bledsoe's teammates stop making 10+ times the number of mistakes as he does, THEN we can say that Bledsoe is the major problem.