Was Bledsoe's play that different today?

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I start this as a new thread because even though it covers the same ground pursued in another thread. I think an honest football based answer to this question provides an answer that neither the folks who focus too much attention on his play as the central question for the Bills seem to want to confront.

 

I think he played an OK game today, but generally the same weaknesses (and strengths) which he has displayed most of this season were there.

 

I agree with Simon that Bledsoe made a number of seemingly unforgiveable errors by a starting NFL QB. He clearly overthrew some receivers one would hope and even expect an NFL starting QB to hit. He exercised some really poor judgment on a few of his throws where the only answer for a Bills rooter was thank gosh Zach Thomas has hands of stone. The great leadership which he has shown in this town marketing the Bills product was not matched by great in-field leadership which encourages/forces his teammates to perform well and this was reflected in Takeo Spikes being our biggest offensive weapon in the first half.

 

Nevertheless, we won the game as offensive blocking finally provided him with a bit of time, Bledsoe once again demonstrated that you need not be a good runner to buy siome critical time at QB, and the D was maddening giving uo 1st downs on some critical ong yardage third down situation but this time stepped up with a lead to make a crucial goal line stand and get some timely sacks to win the game.

 

The bottomline for me is that Bledsoe looked pretty much the same to me as a performer in this game and ironically desoite the fact he was generally the same in my view as a performer we racked up a W against this very bad team instead of producing an L.

 

Face it Bledsoe worshippers, he is no longer the QB (if he ever was) to lift this team onto his broad shoulders and lead them to even a winning season much less an SB.

 

However, also face it Bledsoe bashers even if he is a statue he is quite capable of being the QB of a team which can win in this league, can even make the SB with some phenomenal coaching and he can even play an essential role in helping a team win an SB with some extraordinary circumstances.

 

Face it, Bledsoe was the QB on a team which made the SB in conjunction with (or behind the phenomenal coaching work of Bill Parcells and his NE colleagues. He also played an essential role QBing NE to a win in a must win game in place of an injured Brady in the 2001 season running a BB/Weis offense built a long a low risk model for the young Brady.

 

Bledsoe played well enough today to be part of the Bills getting a W at home against a bad team and so far this season has played at about the same level to unfortunately not allow the TEAM to win against better coached teams experiencing some good luck (bad ref calls mostly) where virtually none of the Bills not only are unable to pick-up and load the team on their shoulders at critical times but also make some bad individual plays at the wrong time like commitng undisciplined penalties.

 

I hope the main thing which comes from today's great victory is that all you folks who were already composing your posts about how Bledsoe is a total failure will look at reality and realize that though Bledsoe is no longer (if he ever was) capable of winning games on his own, it is also not his failings as a player which has caused this team to lose games. He certainly had a role, but Bledsoe's play is well below even a secondary area where this team can and needs to improve in order to become a TEAM and a winner.

[Tom]

I start this as a new thread because even though it covers the same ground pursued in another thread............

Were you drinking today? Ramble on.............

[Rico]

JUST WIN, BABY!!!

[_BiB_]

I'm neither an appoligist or a can him now. Being objective.

 

Bledsoe played a good game. Under the conditions he played, both the weather and with people he wasn't used to, plus the "intangibles" of a flat on their ass team. I think he exhibited the value of a veteran quarterback. He made some throws into the wind that 4-6 NFL QB's wouldn't/couldn't make. A couple of those throws were like "wow" he got that in there? I thought way back when we all loved Bledsoe that was part of him getting picked up. He can play in bad weather. He's got an arm. The line, bless their heart, gave him more than 2 seconds today. I actually saw the boy sidestep a blitz and get a completion out of it today. He ran for a first down that got called back on a bogus holding-but it showed decent awareness. I tip my hat to Drew for this one. Put yourself in his spot.

 

Not going to make any judgement on one game, but I see progress.

 

Willis got his feet/wind later in the game. He needed a start. I think he might be a little less worried about the knee now.

 

That said, Ravens Defense is going to kill them. Sorry, way it is.

[seq004]

The offensive line gave him more time to throw the ball. He did make a couple of throws that could have lost the game for us. He still has a great arm and the one improvement I did notice today was his pocket awareness and his run of 9 yards to what have should have been a first down. Refs made a bad call. I think Losman might be QB by the end of the year

[NorCal Aaron]

The win justifies the means, but I'm still concerned that Bills managed just 13 offense points.

[VABills]

No his play wasn't much different. The difference was for the most part his Rb picked up blitzes, the line blocked better, he had a running back not tripping over the lines on the field. Drew pretty much plays pretty consistent and you know what you get week to week. It is up to the coaches to give the team a chance to win. Drew won't win a lot by himself, but he rearely loses them without some help. Think about it, if we knock down the ball against Jags, Travis doesn't fall down repeatedly againt Oakland, Travis doesn't run the wrong way against NE (we may win that one), and Buffalo d stop someone on the final drive against the Jets we should be at least 4-1, possibly 5-0. I fail to see where Drew was a major failure in any of them nor did he come up big and win it for us. But he sure put us in a position to win everyone of them.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

The offensive line gave him more time to throw the ball. He did make a couple of throws that could have lost the game for us. He still has a great arm and the one improvement I did notice today was his pocket awareness and his run of 9 yards to what have should have been a first down. Refs made a bad call. I think Losman might be QB by the end of the year

73388[/snapback]

 

 

As a Bills fan I would love it and wish that Losman would come back from his injury, force the Billd to play him at starting QB and moraculously lead this team into the playoff this year in route to getting the first of many SBs wins.

 

However, as a semi rational fan I know this is not going to happen. I put a lot of stovk in the fact that playoff making QBs from the better athlete than almost anyone Michael Vick to the brainy and gutsy Chad Pennington profitted from and needed to sit and learn most of their first year in the NFL and regardless of my fantasy hopes for JP, Losman can become the most productive QB for the Bills by sitting and learning his rooke year.

 

If his unfortunate injury has had the result of him spending time above the field in the booth learning the game and soaking up the knowledge of Sam Wyche without the distraction of preparing himself to lead his teammates based on some small minuscule chance he might play ironically he and we will probably be much better off.

 

Players learn how to eventually lead NFL teams and contribute to NFL teams through both on field play and studying the playbook and MFL offenses. From seeing Losman play a little with the Bills in pre-season and seeing game tape of him at Tulane, I think he profits far more from focusing on the book side of being an NFL QB than the irreplaceable learning which comes from playing at NFL speeds.

 

The idea that some have put forward on TSW that a 1st rounder must play and produce for his team his rookie year is silly and simply does not correspond to reality where excuse me in addition to the Vick/Pennington experiences big draft pick Carson Palmer sat all last year.

 

I'd love it if JP outdid Marino and Manning as a rookie, but reality tells me that if JP isnever more than the Bills disaster QB and never plays even one down in the NFL this year, he and the Bills will likely be better off for this having happened and this is one die-hard fan that will grudgingly accept that JP didn't walk on water but I will not be disapointed at all.

[_BiB_]

No his play wasn't much different.  The difference was for the most part his Rb picked up blitzes, the line blocked better, he had a running back not tripping over the lines on the field.  Drew pretty much plays pretty consistent and you know what you get week to week.  It is up to the coaches to give the team a chance to win.  Drew won't win a lot by himself, but he rearely loses them without some help.  Think about it, if we knock down the ball against Jags, Travis doesn't fall down repeatedly againt Oakland, Travis doesn't run the wrong way against NE (we may win that one),  and Buffalo d stop someone on the final drive against the Jets we should be at least 4-1, possibly 5-0.  I fail to see where Drew was a major failure in any of them nor did he come up big and win it for us.  But he sure put us in a position to win everyone of them.

73406[/snapback]

 

 

Well, I wasn't going to mention Travis this thread, but Willis did his part to keep Miami off him. I know it's a huge diff. (Bye-bye, Travis...). I'm not a Bledsoe "fan", but I think all in all he had a good game today. He's also a bad weather QB. Buffalo will always need one.

 

Aw !@#$ it dwarf-head. You notice they beat Miami and we're all so ho-hum it doesn't matter?

 

I miss the twentieth century.

[_BiB_]

As a Bills fan I would love it and wish that Losman would come back from his injury, force the Billd to play him at starting QB and moraculously lead this team into the playoff this year in route to getting the first of many SBs wins.

 

However, as a semi rational fan I know this is not going to happen. I put a lot of stovk in the fact that playoff making QBs from the better athlete than almost anyone Michael Vick to the brainy and gutsy Chad Pennington profitted from and needed to sit and learn most of their first year in the NFL and regardless of my fantasy hopes for JP, Losman can become the most productive QB for the Bills by sitting and learning his rooke year.

 

Yep, a lot of us had a few too.

[Bill from NYC]

No his play wasn't much different.  The difference was for the most part his Rb picked up blitzes, the line blocked better, he had a running back not tripping over the lines on the field.  Drew pretty much plays pretty consistent and you know what you get week to week.  It is up to the coaches to give the team a chance to win.  Drew won't win a lot by himself, but he rearely loses them without some help.  Think about it, if we knock down the ball against Jags, Travis doesn't fall down repeatedly againt Oakland, Travis doesn't run the wrong way against NE (we may win that one),  and Buffalo d stop someone on the final drive against the Jets we should be at least 4-1, possibly 5-0.  I fail to see where Drew was a major failure in any of them nor did he come up big and win it for us.  But he sure put us in a position to win everyone of them.

73406[/snapback]

You tell it VA!!! In a way, Travis won us the game by virtue of being off of the football field.

Give travis a month, and he would be unable to figure out how to run those shovel passes, or he would have fallen on his ass.

Before this football game, I had seen enough of his bumbling idiocy. Now, we can only keep our fingers crossed that a team will come calling with a decent offer before the trading deadline, and that WM stays healthy.

[Guest Guest]

The offensive line gave him more time to throw the ball. He did make a couple of throws that could have lost the game for us...

73388[/snapback]

 

I also saw a few clutch plays he made that would have continued drives if not for drops / bad calls (which you mentioned...) I figure it all evens out...

 

I think starting Losman any time soon would be disastrous for both him and the team.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

Actually to turn your question back on you and with a twist, I think Drew played about the same as he's played all year, with the exception that his supporting cast played (a little) better, the defense held, and the refs didn't overly screw them. Also the wind was horrible, which you seem to want to ignore.

[jad1]

This had to be Bledsoe's best game for the Bills in pocket. His ball fakes were excellent. The TD to Campbell was set up by ball fake. In the fourth quarter, on the Bills FG drive, Bledsoe completed a pass to Moulds after a pump fake, and a fake handoff.

 

His footwork and pocket awareness were also good. Later in that drive, he avoided two defenders on 3rd and 9 to hit Evans for a 20 yard gain. The shovel passes to McGahee, which converted 3rd downs were also well disguised.

 

He also hit the TE with some key throws. The TD was one. On 2nd and long from inside the 20, he hit Campbell for 7 yards, setting up McGahee's first down run. Later in that drive he hit Campbell over the middle for 16 yards.

 

He came back to Evans after Evans dropped a ball for the 20 yard game. Over the last year and a half, Bledsoe has ignored receivers who dropped easy catches.

 

To me, those were the differences in Bledsoe's performance today over past year or so.

 

--He was extremely good in the pocket

--He hit the TE in key situations

--He trusted receivers other than Moulds to make plays

[MDH]

The thing that concerns me the most about Bledsoe are his mechanics. Even when he has lots of time to throw he'll frequently just sling the ball out with just his arm instead of actually stepping up into the throw. This causes him to be less accurate than he would with the proper foot work. We saw it again time and time again today. Unfortunately it appears that all the work with Wyche isn't paying off in terms of his mechanics, so we'll continue to see inaccurate throws from him.

[ssuch]

I actually thought Drew looked better today. He had a lot more zip on his throws and didn't look as tentative. Didn't anyone see him step up in the pocket and then run for ten yards??? (stupid refs). Of course we'll see how he stands up next week against the Baltimore D. I'll save any real praise until after that game...

[34-78-83]

I start this as a new thread because even though it covers the same ground pursued in another thread. I think an honest football based answer to this question provides an answer that neither the folks who focus too much attention on his play as the central question for the Bills seem to want to confront.

 

I think he played an OK game today, but generally the same weaknesses (and strengths) which he has displayed most of this season were there.

 

I agree with Simon that Bledsoe made a number of seemingly unforgiveable errors by a starting NFL QB.  He clearly overthrew some receivers one would hope and even expect an NFL starting QB to hit.  He exercised some really poor judgment on a few of his throws where the only answer for a Bills rooter was thank gosh Zach Thomas has hands of stone.  The great leadership which he has shown in this town marketing the Bills product was not matched by great in-field leadership which encourages/forces his teammates to perform well and this was reflected in Takeo Spikes being our biggest offensive weapon in the first half.

 

Nevertheless, we won the game as offensive blocking finally provided him with a bit of time, Bledsoe once again demonstrated that you need not be a good runner to buy siome critical time at QB, and the D was maddening giving uo 1st downs on some critical ong yardage third down situation but this time stepped up with a lead to make a crucial goal line stand and get some timely sacks to win the game.

 

The bottomline for me is that Bledsoe looked pretty much the same to me as a performer in this game and ironically desoite the fact he was generally the same in my view as a performer we racked up a W against this very bad team instead of producing an L.

 

Face it Bledsoe worshippers, he is no longer the QB (if he ever was) to lift this team onto his broad shoulders and lead them to even a winning season much less an SB.

 

However, also face it Bledsoe bashers even if he is a statue he is quite capable of being the QB of a team which can win in this league, can even make the SB with some phenomenal coaching and he can even play an essential role in helping a team win an SB with some extraordinary circumstances.

 

Face it, Bledsoe was the QB on a team which made the SB in conjunction with (or behind the phenomenal coaching work of Bill Parcells and his NE colleagues.  He also played an essential role QBing NE to a win in a must win game in place of an injured Brady in the 2001 season running a BB/Weis offense built a long a low risk model for the young Brady.

 

Bledsoe played well enough today to be part of the Bills getting a W at home against a bad team and so far this season has played at about the same level to unfortunately not allow the TEAM to win against better coached teams experiencing some good luck (bad ref calls mostly) where virtually none of the Bills not only are unable to pick-up and load the team on their shoulders at critical times but also make some bad individual plays at the wrong time like commitng undisciplined penalties.

 

I hope the main thing which comes from today's great victory is that all you folks who were already composing your posts about how Bledsoe is a total failure will look at reality and realize that though Bledsoe is no longer (if he ever was) capable of winning games on his own, it is also not his failings as a player which has caused this team to lose games.  He certainly had a role, but Bledsoe's play is well below even a secondary area where this team can and needs to improve in order to become a TEAM and a winner.

73172[/snapback]

 

 

FFS, Let's just say the old television set doesn't always give you quite the perspective of reality that you think it is providing. I was at the game and the winds were a consistent 20 to 30 mph with varying gusts. Other than the ball carrying on play 1 due to a gale force gust, DB's passes today largely appeared as though there really wasn't any wind. Didn't you maybe wonder for a second why every single one of Fiedler's passes wobbled like wounded seagulls (touchdown pass included)?

[LancasterSteve]

I'll save any real praise until after that game...

73609[/snapback]

 

So will I but Bledsoe did play his best game in a long time. Very decisive with the ball which was good to see. No pat-pat-pat plus the line did an overall good job with a noticable improvement up the middle with Ross Tucker at center for the injured Trey Teague.

 

I was at the game and the wind was brutal, no let-up all game long but Bledsoe for the most part was on target with his passes. I've been a critic of DB when I thought it was warrented but I'll give him his do that today he played a decent game.

 

I just hope the team can build off this win and DB continues to play like he did today.

[Fan in San Diego]

FFS, Let's just say the old television set doesn't always give you quite the perspective of reality that you think it is providing. I was at the game and the winds were a consistent 20 to 30 mph with varying gusts. Other than the ball carrying on play 1 due to a gale force gust, DB's passes today largely appeared as though there really wasn't any wind. Didn't you maybe wonder for a second why every single one of Fiedler's passes wobbled like wounded seagulls (touchdown pass included)?

73621[/snapback]

 

I agree, Drew's best game in quite awhile. He even showed some mobility and pocket awareness today. Is this the occasional good game that keeps people hanging on? Or was it because the OL played much better today?

 

I would like to see this same OL play again next week. And see if the same result happens. I also would like to see Trey Teague play at RT and see how he does there. Move MW to a guard spot.

[DanInSouthBuffalo]

I agree, Drew's best game in quite awhile. He even showed some mobility and pocket awareness today.

 

YES YES YES! I was very impressed with that. He stepped up in the pocket and/or sidestepped the pressure a bunch of times. That's the way it's supposed to work Drew!

 

And then he had that great run that was called back for a hold. That killed me!!!!