Alphadawg7
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Posts posted by Alphadawg7
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I would assume DC which I would love over our own schmuck
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Best unis I have ever seen. Wouldn't mind the bills following the same pattern. Maybe they could win like the ducks then too.
I loved the Unis...the carbon fiber concept work on the helmets, numbers, logos, etc make them look strong and the neon gives an elimate of speed...what a great combo. Nike hooked them up (Nike headquarters is in Oregon, so everything there is Nike if you didnt know). Best helmets I had scene as well.
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I knew this reaction was coming as I saw the highlights on NFL Network, and thought "Ohh great, here we go with the Marshawn is awesome, and Nix/gailey are stupid" threads. I am not going to judge him or any other player on one game, or one season, let alone one run. Yes, the run was amazing, and since he is so slow and indecisive, every guy on defense had a crack at him, and maybe even a few more than once. I will say that on film it looked impressive, and he looked strong indeed, but my point here is that he has proven time and time again that he is not capable of doing that all the time, or even for games at a time. I will be the very last person on earth to miss him, simply due to the fact I never saw him as an elite back, and unless this marvelous run has converted him from now forward into an elite player, I don't see what the fuss is. I still believe the Bills did the right thing. The guy wanted out anyway. In case anyone has been paying attention, his stats have been average at best since the trade.
What no one seems to point out is that up until that game, Marshawn has been a bust in Sea. He has struggled all season, and this was their first 100 yard game by a RB this season. He has been indecisive, dancing at the line, and slow to the hole all season for them. It was a great run, no doubt, but as a whole that trade had not worked out for Sea thus far until that run.
We will see what he can do for them moving forward, but to this point he had struggled there for the most part.
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It's puzzling to me how people who say "facts are facts" are often so very selective in which facts they choose to examine and which facts they choose to
His QB rating improved 12 points between two previous years, and this year, from 70% to 82%. This improvement reflects the following: his TD% went up more than 1%, his INT% went down 1%. His accuracy also improved 2% from last year, from 56% to 58%. He had a previous year where his completion percentage was higher, 59% in CIN under a more functional offensive system than last year in B'lo IMHO.
Coaches have very little regard for QB rating in case you were not aware. It carries very little weight as its a fundamentally flawed rating system and an unreliable measure of a QB's effectiveness. The 3 most important stats coaches look at for determining a quarterbacks effectiveness are completion %, yards per attempt, and 3rd down efficiency. None of those 3 are areas where Fitz has been strong in any part of his career.
I get why people are defending him, because I like him too. Still, that doesnt change the fact that he struggles with accuraccy.
As far as his TD improvement went...lets be honest, he got 8 of those TD's in 2 games (one of which he stunk in until both safeties got knocked out).
Lets be honest, Fitz only had solid or good games against:
Balt, Cincy, Pit, and Miami and yet his 2 straignt INT's in Balt gave away our lead for good and forced us to play catch up all game, and he got bailed out in Cincy when the 2 starting safeties got hurt because he was awful that game prior to that(not to mention how he threw 3 INT's in his first 3 drives, but one was reversed because of roughing the passer) and his Miami game was just ok. Pitt was a good game for him as he came up big finally with game on the line but SJ dropped it.
Lets look at the rest of his games:
NE - was ok considering he just gotten the job, but struggled to move the ball a lot in that game, got a garbage time TD at end.
NYJ - was terrible all game, got a garbage time TD at end.
JAC - started strong, but disappeared in the 2nd half until he got a garbage time TD with one min left in the game.
KC - was awful all game with the exception of a single drive. Throws INT when we are driving for win in regulation then goes on to complete just 33% of his passes in OT including missing a wide open Spiller to win game BEFORE we missed the long kick.
CHI - Struggled most of the game, threw game ending INT again.
DET - Struggled most of the game to move the ball
MIN - Was awful again this game
CLE - Another bad game
NE - Horrendous game
So while I get people love him, heck I love the way he plays too, but the reality of how well he played this season is getting grossly exaggerated. I get it, because next to Trent he is tremendous, but compared to good NFL QB's he is bottom half of the league and maybe even bottom 3rd.
Funny thing is, people talk about how he was thrown into the lineup and thats why he stuggled...well for your information:
1. He had at least 2 TD's in his firt 3 games, yet only accomplished this 3 more times in the next 10.
2. His 3 best comp % games all occured in his first 4 starts.
3. He threw 11 of his TD's in his first 4 games and only managed 12 over his next 9 games (4 of which came in one game)
4. In his first 3 starts he had only one game with a turnover. He would only have on game the rest of the year without a turnover after that.
So, it seems he started a lot better than he finished, so that theory doesnt excatly hold water either. Sorry
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That sound you hear is Alphadog's fingernails scraping the bottom of the barrel attempting to come up with a counter argument. Every close game ever played could have turned around if the QB had completed one more pass in a crucial moment. This is a laughable argument.
You have lost whatever scraps of credibility you have so far retained with this post.
LOL...what counter argument...I am not the one scrapping the bottom of the barrel to come up with any and every kind of excuse to validate his struggles with accuracy.
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Of course, in almost 3 hours, no one has answered my question. If Evans s**** so bad, how do you think he would do on any of the current playoff teams next year? How would you project his performance if Brady, Brees, Mannning, Vick or Matt Ryan were throwing him passes?
I will answer your question:
NE - Dangerous weapon for Brady who would really utilize his big play capability, especially how they spread the ball around and they cant shift so much attention to him.
Indy - MAJOR factor with Collie out and Mannings accuracy and how often they pass.
NO - Factor, but not as much as he could be on other teams...Brees has lots of people he throws to (multiple TE's, all his RB's and all the WR's) and he would just be another weapon in the arsenal. While he would be capable of a big game any week, more likely the ball gets spread around so much that no one really has huge game.
Phi - Dangerous weapon given all the attention DJ would get along with Maclin...Reid would have all 3 on the field a lot and in that offense coupled with Vicks duel threat, I could see Evans putting up some big games given how much they pass.
ATL - MAJOR factor given all the attention White draws as well as having a potent rushing game. Lee could get a lot of one on one looks and would be capable of putting up some big plays with Ryan tossing him the ball.
So, for the most part, I really feel like Lee would have a sizeable impact on the passing games of the teams you mentioned.
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I don't know if it's been pointed out already, but given that Fitz threw the ball 441 times and completed 255, in order to get his completion percentage up to 60% he would have to complete only 9 more passes over the course of the season. Over 13 games that is 0.7 more completions per game. Over 16 games that is 0.56 more completions per game.
To get to 63% he would have to complete 22 more over the course of the season. Over 13 games that is 1.7 more completions per game, and over 16 games it's 1.5 more completions per game.
So if it's just about completion percentage (and I know it isn't but that's the big complain that is being made here) then we're talking about less than one more completion per game. Does anyone seriously think Fitz can't achieve that?
This doesn't make him THE ONE, but in my mind there's too much obsessing about some magical QB who is going to come here and turn muck into gold.
Its puzzling how anyone can look at this as logical simply because this is also true for the other 26 QB's who complete a higher percentage of passes than Fitz. So if you are going to say he can complete another .56 passes a game to get to 60%, then you have to give the other 26 Quarterbacks that have a better completion the same assumption and the gap between Fitz and them remain. Not to mention, 60% is below average in todays NFL still.
1. He has never completed at least 60% at any point in his 7 year NFL career.
2. When evaluating a QB's effectiveness, the 3 stats a coach evaluates the most are completion %, 3rd Down efficiency, and yards per attempt...none of which are Fitz's better areas.
And, to those acting like 1 more pass a game isnt a big deal...I ask you only to look at the KC game. If he completes just one more pass in regulation (rather than a terribly thrown interception) we have a chance to kick the game winning FG rather than go into OT. Then in OT, if he just completes his last pass attempt (where he missed a wide open Spiller by 7 yards in the end zone to win the game) we win that game. If Vick completes his last pass of the GB game, Phi advances in the playoffs. In the NFl, one pass can often be the difference in winning and losing.
The facts are the facts...Fitz has never been accurate, still struggled with accuracy this year...you can spin it any way you want, but what ever liberties you give to Fitz, you have to make the same assumptions for the other 26 QB's who have a better completion % otherwise its meaningless since it didnt happen.
He may be able to approve his accuracy next year, but QB's who have been in the league as long as him and never eclipsed 60% completion percentage dont generally suddenly jump to 65% just because, so I have my doubts. I can honestly say that I really hope he does, I love the way he plays, I just dont think his cieling is much higher than it was this year.
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I was listening this morning to a couple of different shows on the ESPN network and can't remember which show it was but i heard that Kevin Kolb said that he wanted to be a starter on a team not a back up . One of the announcers said that he may put pressure on the Eagles to trade him .
With that and the history of all of the people going from the Bills to the Eagles in past years (Peters , April , Jauron , Bell) i started thinking about some things that had been brought up on BB.com .
On the Thurman Thomas show interview with Chan Gailey i think it was there was mention made of the log jam at WR the Bills may have with Roscoe , Evans , Easley all coming back off injury & then Jones , Nelson , Roosevelt all stepping up and making plays plus the others that managed to stay healthy .
I for one this year have been on the wagon not only because of Lee Evans lack of production but large contract to see if we might be able to trade him for a position that may be in need of up grade or look to the future .
Then i heard what they were saying about Kolb on ESPN & thought BINGO !! the Eagles could use another WR & it's a place that Evans would have a chance to go to the play offs a validate his career log jam eased a bit monies freed up for other's or used for Kolb . Plus Kolb when put on the field has done some great things & has the arm to play in the elements of the Ralph !
I don't really like the idea of having to put Fitz on as a back up again seeing the intangibles that he brings to the team & he is a Buffalo type of guy if i've ever seen one , but even Gailey himself said that he can't see Fitz being in a different role than our starting QB next year but doesn't rule out any possibilities .
I think it would be better served to have some one a bit more proven in the NFL brought in rather than a rookie . Because let's face it after the last game i think Brohms future in Buffalo is all but over . So we'll have to bring in some one else anyway .
Well there it is in a nut shell , i thought i would put it out there & see if you all thought that the trade would be of equal value for both teams with all considered and just what your thoughts were .
So lay it on me good or bad !! I can take i have to i'm a BIlls fan 4 life !! GO BILLS !!!!
How does this make any sense at all? Eagles are set at WR with DJ and Maclin and the likes of players like Avant. DJ and Evans are very similar types of players, except DJ is younger and returns kicks too.
Kolb to Buffalo makes sense, but trading Lee does not. Not to mention, adding Kolb but subtracting Lee hurts Kolb once he gets here. We have a log jam of PROSPECTS, not proven WR's. Roscoe has never had a big year and is very small and will have a hard time staying healthy with a lofty amount of touches. SJ has proven that he is NOT a #1 WR yet, Easley has never stepped foot on to the field, and the rest of the guys on our squad are intriguing yet have proven nothing thus far.
As of right now, our best WR on this football team is still Evans, especially in terms of defensive attention. If you are going to bring in a young QB, the last thing we should do is trade away one of his best weapons. Lets see if Kolb can utilize him first before we decide to trade him away. Not to mention, all this talk about his contract is crazy...Lee doesnt make as much as posters on here claim he does next year and his salary in NO WAY impacts this roster in a negative way. We have plenty of other money to spend.
I just find it funny that every one complains about Ralph as if he doesnt spend money, then you complain about Lee's contract as if its holding this team back, which it clearly isnt.
A draft pick for Kolb is by far the more likely scenario and the one that makes the most sense for both teams.
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I don't belive Fitz is the second coming of Joe Montana, but he did a serviceable job this year. I would love it if the Bills had a sure thing QB sitting on the bench getting ready to start his long HOF career. They don't have that person yet. I do believe if you are drafting at 3 you better grab a sure thing blue chip player. I don't want a reach, project, questionable character type player.
My point for this reply was, that you say you didn't start this thread to bash him, and yet you talk about Int's that didn't happen due to penalties, or drops. I'm pretty sure other Qb's had the same thing happen. You take all the stats and list them as they are the only truth. At that point the one stat that you want to elaborate on is the one that would have him throw more int's. Be honest. It's like Fox News saying they don't lean to the right or CNN saying they don't lean to the left.
My gut instinct is that he will not be a consistent top 10 Qb in the league. I also think he can get you deep if you have good players around him(see Sanchez). If a Qb is there at some point and is higher on your draft board then another position then take him. He is a Qb that will fill the role until we find the real one.
That stat is fact, he is tied for 9th in the league for INT's yet only played 13 games. And its also a fact he threw a lot of other would be INT's...not tipped balls...but balls right directly into the hands of the defender who flat out dropped it. I mean, he had 3 in KC alone. Those are facts, and while it is true that all QB's have this happen, its worth noting that he got fortunate an awful lot of times in 13 games with these drops that he threw right to the defender. Again, I am not counting tipped passes (either by our own guys or the D Line), just passes he delivered directly to the defense that failed to complete the easy catch.
Talking about the facts is just that...a discussion of facts. There is a difference of bashing a guy and being critical of the performance delivered on the field. I won't bash Fitz because I completely appreciate and respect how he plays the game. That being said, that doesn't aboslve him from criticism about his play.
Same goes for Stevie. I was high on him when we drafted him, I was high on his potential last year, I was high on him coming into this season. I actually was not surprised by his break out this year. I was surprised by his dropsies. I have been equally critical of him this year despite liking the kid. Too many times he had an opportunity to make a play that we needed and didn't, including defending a couple of Fitz's INT's this year. IMO, he is no where near a #1 option right now and was the benefit of the extra attention Lee got. In fact, most people dont even realize this, but SJ only had 3 games this year over 70 yards recieving. Not exactly #1 material when you add that in with his mental lapses this year. I still like the kid, am high on his potential, but I think the jury is still out on whether or not he can develop into a true #1 at this point.
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As soon as I saw the author of this thread, I knew exactly what this was about.
It's a broken record with Alpha. Sorry brah
LOL, well maybe if in every single thread that had to do with anything about Fitz didnt have dozens of people inaccurately stating how we had all these drops and thats the reason for his low completion percentage, struggles, etc.
Hence its own thread to just display the facts and put this myth to rest
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Percentages are misleading and used when intentionally trying to prove a point i.e. cherry pick one stat to base an entire argument on.
The beat way to make this argument using this stat would be to use the number of passes total per qb then break out the drops pet attempt for the qb an drops per target for wr.
Percent alone tells nothing. It's a fool's stat.
What does that even change? Its a pecentage. Not to mention, the Bills were 17th in the league in dropped passes as a team, but Fitz only played 13 games and balls were dropped in the 3 games he didnt play. That means, he had even FEWER dropped passes then out team total of 26 as not all the dropped passes were ones thrown by Fitz making his completion % even more inexcusable.
My guess is Fitzs also leads the NFL in missing WRs of curls and come back routes by 3+ yards.
And screen passes thrown out of bounds, in the ground, or behind the WR...seriously, I have never seen a QB struggle to complete a screen pass properly as much as he did. Even on completed ones often they were off target causing the RB or WR to have to have to adjust to the ball allowing the D to recover and stuff the play.
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The thing with Fitz throughout his career was that he was inaccurate and has a noodle for an arm. He did a serviceable job coming in and playing well at times. However, he's turnover prone, isn't accurate, and doesn't have a great arm. Color me not impressed. With that said, I wouldn't hate it if we drafted a QB and gave him a year to sit for a year while Fitz played.
I definitely give him props for playing his back side off and helping the offense find some life again. Sadly though, he had more bad games than good, and I feel like he is playing at or near his cieling. I would be fine with him starting while we groomed another prospect as well, I actually love the way he plays. I just don't see a QB who can lead this team for the long term in him.
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This was in another thread, but since it keeps coming up in multiple threads I felt it deserved a seperate topic to finally dispell this myth that Fitz's completion % was so low because of dropped passes in comparison to other teams. Here are the real facts based on the dropped pass stats that have been compiled for this season.
1. Buffalo was 17th in the NFL in dropped passes.
2. Out of the 16 teams with MORE dropped passes than the Bills, 13 of them had QB's with a higher completion percentage than Fitz
3. Fitz ranks 27th in the league in completion % this year only above Kerry Collins, Sanchez, Claussen, and Derek Anderson.
4. 12 of those 13 QB's with MORE drops and a higher completion % still completed over 60% of their passes with only Hasselbeck under 60% at 59.9%...
5. Fitz completed a lowly 57.8%
6. Bonus fact: He is tied for 9th most INT's this year yet only played in 13 games and got bailed out on many more INT's through unrelated penalties or drops on non-tipped balls that were thrown directly into the hands of the defenders.
Someone started a thread comparing Fitz to the "Big 3", so lets look at the big 3:
1. Indy had the MOST drops and yet the 2nd highest completion % in the league was Manning at 66.3%
2. Saints were 7th in drops and yet Brees led the league in completion % at 68.1%
3. NE is 4th in the league in most drops and yet Brady is 4th in the league at 65.9%
So can this excuse for Fitz's accuracy issue be finally put to rest and just realize he isnt very accurate? 13 QB's had more drops than Fitz and yet still managed to complete over 60% of their passes (hasselbeck actually was 59.9% as only exception, still 2% higher than Fitz). Fitz's completion % is low because he isnt a very accurate QB, never has been ever in his entire NFL career...
This wasnt to bash him, but to be honest about what he is versus what he isnt. I love his passion, guts, and grit and he is light years better than Trent ever was...but that doesnt change that he just isnt that accurate and not nearly accurate enough to be a consistently succesful starter in this league.
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I decided to compare Fitz's stats to the big three for 2011, just to see...
Yes, I'm on a pro-Fitz kick, but no I'm not saying he is as good as these guys (or ever will be), just wanted to see how the stats compared.
Fitz obviously only played 13 games, so I averaged his numbers out to 16 games and I included rushing yards since that is
part of his game as well.
...................................................FITZ.................................Manning...........................Brees............................Brady
Games....................................16 (prorated)............................16...................................16.................................16
Pass Attempts...............................542...................................679.................................658...............................492
Pass Completions..........................313...................................450.................................448...............................324
Completion Percentage.................57.8%...............................66.3%...............................68.1%...........................65.9%
Total Yards (Pass & Rush).............4,005................................4,718..............................4,617............................3,930
Passing Yards...............................3,692................................4,700..............................4,620............................3,900
Yards Per Attempt..........................6.8....................................6.9..................................7.0................................7.9
Touchdown Passes.........................28.....................................33....................................33................................36
Interceptions.................................18......................................17....................................22.................................4
Total 1st downs (Pass&rush)..........202...................................255.................................237..............................199
Comp for 1st Downs.....................186....................................253.................................236..............................189
Rushing Yards...............................331......................................1...................................-2.................................30
If Fitz had the same number of attempts as Manning (with these numbers) he would have had 4,623 yds to Peyton's 4,700
(77 yards less or 5 yards less per game) and he would have had 35 TDs to Peyton's 33; INTs would go up however to 22 for Fitz
compared to 17 for Peyton...I know that's all speculative, but its interesting nonetheless.
Fitz's yards per attempt were similar to Manning and Brees and he had more total yards than Brady on the season (including rushing).
The only major disparity is in completion percentage (8-10%) and TD/INT ratio versus Brady.
Granted the big three didn't have career years this season (except for Brady's TD/INT%), but they also all had better offensive lines, more proven
skill players, and have been in their offensive system for multiple years. Fitz's stats look pretty good to me for a guy with a lot less playing
time and in his first year in a new system. If he can improve his completion % with a better O-line and more experience then we have a pretty
good QB (I know a lot of you think he can't improve his accuracy, but I'm not so sure...not having to run for your life helps a lot).
Not every team can have an elite QB; at any given time there are probably only 3-5 teams of 32 that have an elite QB. So, I'm happy we at least have
Fitz and not another Trent Edwards, J.P., etc. I think Fitz can win in this league with the right pieces around him.
What say you?
Go Bills!
You do realize that you can do this with a lot of QB's in the NFL right? For example Alex Smith had the same number of attempts as Manning he would have the same amount of yards and 28 TD's. Jason Campbell would have almost 300 more yards than Manning...David Garrard would have almost 400 yards more and 41 TD's.
This is how ridiculous this comparison is. I mean, it would project Garrard out to almost 5,100 yards and 41 TD's!!! Do you know why these QB's dont have these stats and this many attempts? Because they were not good enough to keep drives going long enough to accumulate these stats. They all play the same amount of game time, in fact, we passed a lot this year, or at least tried to. Its the inablility to execute that was the problem.
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Do you realize that Buffalo was 17th in the NFL in dropped passes and that out of the 16 teams with more dropped passes than ours that 13 of those teams had QB's with higher completion percentage than Fitz? In fact Fitz ranks 27th in the league in completion % this year only above Kerry Collins, Sanchez, Claussen, and Derek Anderson.
In fact, 12 of those 13 QB's with more drops and a higher completion % still completed over 60% of their passes with only Hasselbeck under 60% at 59.9%...Fitz completed a lowly 57.8%.
So, please let this be the end of the "we had so many drops, so thats why Fitz comp % is low" excuse.
Funny, the team with the most credited drops in the NFL was Indy, and the 2nd highest completion % in the league was Manning at 66.3. Brees led the league in completion % at 68.1% and yet the Saints were 7th in the league with 32 drops. Brady is 4th in the league at 65.9% and yet the Patriots were 4th in the league with drops.
Drops are not an official stat because they are so hard to credit. As fans, its easy to think more occur as they pretty much think any ball that touches any part of a WR should be caught regardless of how difficult it is or how bad the pass is. I have seen people on here talk about balls being dropped that were actually knocked out of the recievers hands by the defender making a great play. Given SJ's high profile, its not surprising to think we somehow had more drops than we did.
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If I could find drops from the 1990s I would. Stevie had a lot. Googling and searching the usual sites (e.g. espn) don't even return it as a stat this year.
To crunch some estimated #s, if he has 2 a game which I think is low, and we're passing 33 times in a game (actual average) that's 6%. Much more than the 2% which you seem to think is a huge deal.
You act like Kelly didnt have drops too...you have to add back all of Kellys drops to if you are going to do it for Fitz...again, like I already said, the average number of drops for Fitz vs Kelly, or any of todays QB's isnt much different. They all have it happen at a very similar rate and yet all complete more passes than him by a significant marging. And 2% considering the era Kelly played in his HUGE. If Kelly played today, his completion % would be much higher than it was back then given all the rule changes to encourage better passing attacks since Kelly retired.
This is absurd. Regardless of completion percentage, Kelly was one of the best of his era and his numbers were near the top for several years.
You cant compare his numbers to Fitz's now when the rules are different and much more offense oriented.
If you really think you could just transport Fitz back to those 90s Bills and have him put up the same numbers you are insane. Fitz is an avg QB and there is nothing to suggest otherwise.
This isnt like Kelly who was a blue chip prospect developing the first few years when he struggled. Fitz was a 7th backup QB we picked up who has a 35% winning pct and subpar #'s in everything else.
Are you saying this topic is absurd or my post? You replied to my post which was essentially saying what you appear to be saying...
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There is one big thing about VY that people dont seem to see. He stopped trusting his coach...once a coach loses his player, its just about over at that point. For whatever reason, these two didnt gel and when you have that kind of relationship from the coach and the most important position on the team then its not likely going to work out. I am not saying it was Fishers fault or VY's fault, only those 2 really know what the issues are. But, when you lose your player or players as a coach its pretty much a divorce waiting to happen.
I have not been a big VY fan, but I actually think Gailey could be a great fit for the kid and getting his game rounded out. Reid did it with Vick, and honestly, I think Chan is one of the top coaches in this league in bringing out the best in his QB's. He's had success with much less talented QB's then VY, and I think he is the type of player that could flourish in his offense. Seems like it would be a low risk high reward type of situation.
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Overall I think the comparison is flawed, but I find your comparison of the completion % to be ridiculous. Jim was throwing to Andre Reed and James Lofton in those prime years (not to mention Beebe, Metzelaars, Thurman, and Tasker.)
Fitz had Lee Evans and Stevie "God made me drop it" Johnson. C'mon. I'm not sure if dropped passes are kept as a stat (or if so if it was kept in the early 90s) but if it were I'd be willing to bet it would bring his completion % up to a much more respectable # in comparison with Jim.
yup
This is the most over stated and inaccurate thing I keep seeing as an excuse for Fitzs low completion %. I mean how many drops do you people think there were? I know as a fan it seem like a ton of drops, but in mathematical reality the number of drops in comparison to other teams and what other QB's have happen to them is not much different then what we had.
First off, no QB has zero dropped passes by his intended targets over a course of a season. So, what we are really talking about is the additional drops above the NFL team average of dropped passes. Truth of the matter is we as a team probably were within 5 dropped passes of the NFL average. SJ was the biggest culprit, and because he was one of our more recognized and regular offensive weapons it got blown way out of proportion as if we somehow had substantially more drops than anyone else. I watched Manning have at least 7 dropped passes in a game recently...it happens to all QB's and yet they still manage to complete a much higer percentage of passes.
If you give Fitz credit for even 5 additional drops above the NFL average (which is quite generous and probably too many) he still doesnt hit 60%...so other QB's have completion % substantially higher than Fitz and deal with their own dropped passes as well. So, this argument that it was low because of the drops doesn't actually hold any water when comparing to other QB's.
And if you want to talk about drops, then you have to talk about the more than crazy amount of dropped INT's he threw that were dead on in the hands of the defenders, even one he threw that got over turned because of a penalty unrelated to the INT. People want to say "All QB's have near INT's or dropped INT's" then talk about the WR drops as an excuse as to why his completion % is so low as if other QB's dont have the very same thing. And its true, all QB's get lucky have would be INT's dropped that should be easy INT's, but Fitz flirted with these INT's at a pretty alarming rate.
And lets not forget the many circus catches our guys made this year or terribly thrown balls and bailed Fitz out. His accuracy is a definite issue and he is well below where a succesful starting NFL QB needs to be in TODAYS NFL. Kelly played in an era where the RULES were DIFFERENT and it was much harder to complete passes as Defenders had many more things they could do throughout a play.
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Dante won a co MVP award, blew out his knee and was never the same. But your point is well taken, there aren't many examples
Actually, one could argue that it was Randy Moss being traded to the Raiders that led to Culpepper never being the same. Culpepper blew his knee out the first year without Moss and when he blew his knee out he had just 7 TD's (6 passing, 1 rushing) and 15 turnovers (12 INT's and 3 lost fumbles) and had a record of 2-4 going into the 7th game where he was knocked out in the first quarter. The year before with Moss he was Co-MVP with 39 TD's and 11 INT's...he also added 2 more TD's rushing that year.
He looked terrible that year without Moss prior to his knee, so hard to say what "really" was the cause of the demise of Culpepper.
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Fitzpatrick's surprising play has benefitted us to the point where we can put off drafting a QB. Luck may not declare and if he does, will not be there when we draft and trading up is not an option.
There's no sense reaching for a QB, especially when we've got other holes to fill.
A lot depends on how free agency shakes out for us. I don't anticipate any big-name signings. I hope we re-sign Posluszny, he's solid. I would like to retain Whitner as well but he's not worth the money he's seeking.
The Bills ranked 25th in total offense and 24th in total defense, so help is needed everywhere. Most telling however, is that we ranked dead last in rush defense. This has to stop.
I think we should go heavy on the defense. I like DE Da'Quan Bowers and OLB Von Miller. We need to bolster the front seven, big time. Either of these two guys could help us out tremendously and immediately. These guys are NFL-ready. I really like Miller as that 3-4 edge rusher we've been sorely lacking. The Butkus winner had 10 sacks this year and 17 last year. That's consistent, big time production. And at 6'3 and 243lbs with 4.6 speed, he's a gamer. Bowers was the top recrit coming out of high school and is a big boy who has been simply unblockable this year. He could easily line up at end and be our new Bruce Smith.
The front seven should be this team's priority. Everything else will fall into place after that. We need pass rushers and run stuffers. If we can do that, we'll see more turnovers, more sacks and more 3-and-outs for opposing teams. The defense gets off the field and the offense gets on it and puts up points. That's how you win football games, IMO.
Thoughts?
I dont have a problem going D at #3, I mean we clearly need help. But I wouldnt go as far as to say "Defense wins championships" anymore though. Sure, ELITE defenses can carry a team to a title (see Ravens), but if you look at the teams in the playoffs, and more importantly the teams who are seriously contending this year and you will see one common denomenator...Good to great QB's.
Its still a little early to see how the QB's are all going to grade out and start getting a grasp on where some of them are likely to get drafted. With this deep of a QB class, I think its quite possible we could see a player slip to us at the top of the 2nd at QB. If in round 1 or 2 there is a QB our FO believes to be a franchise guy that run this offense for the next decade, then you have to pull the trigger IMO rather than go D in both round 1 and 2.
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Orton is no better than Fitz. I dont hate the guy, especially if he was all we had. but Id be pissed if we even gave up a 4th for him since we already have him on the roster, more or less.
Yeah, I would agree with this that I dont see Orton as much of an upgrade on Fitz to warrant a high 2nd round pick on team full of holes. IMO Orton is probably a little better QB than Fitz, but I just dont think he is enough of an upgrade to give up a high 2nd round pick on a team this devoid of talent at so many positions. I wouldnt be pissed if we traded a later pick or a mid pick this year and next for him, but anything more than that would be too much unless we could retrieve some compensation by then trading Fitz.
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What exactly do you expect Carolina to say right now? They would be complete fools to not claim they will take Luck if he declares regardless of whether they want to or not. If they are willing to pass on Luck, then they know they can get a bounty for their spot, but they need other teams to think they will take Luck at #1 to run the price up. Otherwise, the other teams wanting to trade up will be calling Denver to get ahead of us instead of Carolina leaving Carolina with just the #1 pick and no Andrew Luck.
So, to give this story any real merit is pretty silly right now this far from the draft. They may or may not want to take him...either way they will still leak that they want him. I mean why do you think this story has been leaked in the first place?
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There are plenty of guys who get waived out of the league who NEVER get to start 2 games, or even 1, or EVER get any playing time. So why don't we bring in all the rejects & give them two starts and then keep the best one on the roster? This we have to see more garbage from the Brohm hanger ons is getting old. He sucked last year, he sucked in camp, he sucked this year. When will it sink in to the Brohm boys that he has NEVER led his team in any playing time to a TD? Even Levi Brown has done that in a lot less time.
Those impossible conditions you speak about will always be there-any time Brohm has to face an NFL caliber defense in a regular season game, he will always face impossible conditions.
It's time for Brohm to go back home & get a high school coaching job & get on with his life. Who knows, maybe in 5-10 years he can actually have a decent career as a coach, because he surely doesn't have a future as an NFL QB. He doesn't need one more second of time, he needs to get on with his life & start a productive career in coaching, or whatever field he's best suited for. I wish him luck in his next career, but as a ticket buying fan the only time I ever want to see him on an NFL field again is in an opponent's uniform, because with Brohm at QB, the opponent is always in good shape.
What are you talking about? Fitzpatrick was the QB in 5 of the 6 2009 wins. Perry Fewell & his teammates loved the guy, but you were in your Brohm haze & missed 2009.
As far as Brohm goes, it's way too LATE for the guy. If he's on the roster next year, it would mean the Bills have no NFL caliber backups behind Fitzpatrick. There's no rational reason for Brohm to get one more dollar of Ralph Wilson's money.
Funny how you site the wins, but not Fitzs performance in 2009. The mere fact that he was beat out by Trent should tell you that they hadnt seen enough out of him yet either. I knew you would chime in with some unintelligent post. The majority of your posts seem to just be factless, pointless, rants and your bases of your evaluations are comical at best.
So, let me ask you this, what was Fitz's QB rating in 2009? Let me help you, since facts alwasy seem to escape you. He completed only 55% of his passes, posted a dismal 69 QB rating, and threw more INT's than TD's (10 ints, 9 TD's), and he averaged a pathetic 142 yards per game. So, I know you have a man crush on Fitz, but LAST year he didnt show much. The TEAM rallied to win some games, but Fitz struggled. The offense had more life as he would at least try and get the ball down field compared to Trent, but he struggled quite a bit himself and had a poor enough season that the staff felt Trent was the guy to go with first this year.
As far as Brohm goes, you seem to be obsessed with him. You spend so much time bashing this guy that its hilarious. The people who wanted to see what he could do just simply wanted to see what he had to offer before making a judgement on him. You like to label those people "Brohm Boys" as if we think he is this great player or something. None of us make any claims, we just would rather judge him on the field, like any player, rather than in some blind uneducated hatred like you do. Its like he never answered your fan letter or something or nailed your girl or something.
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Also FWIW, I'm not sure this board was filled with a bunch of "Brohm lovers" ... more like folks wanted to give the kid (or for that matter any other warm body who just might show more upside than Fitz) a look.
Exactly...Because Fitz didnt show a whole lot last year, got beat out by Trent in preseason, and Brohm never got a chance to play with the starters. So its was more about lets see what the kid can do then being a "brohm lover" back then as Fitzy hadnt shown a whole lot up to that point. Fitz improved, but was still too inconsistent this year and mistake prone. At times he looked all pro and others he looked like a rookie making rediculous mistakes. Hopefully Fitz can improve some more, but I am still not sold on him either.
As far as Brohm goes, its way too early to condemn the kid and I still think he has potential and I would be surprised if he isnt on the roster next year unless we take another QB in the draft in the first few rounds.
Ron Rivera new HC of the Panthers
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
Yeah, I think Rivera being a D coach does tip the scales a little bit to a defensive player, but AJ Green still is a major need on that team. Peterson at CB is also a strong option, but I just have a real hard time picturing a DB going #1 overall. So, I think it most likely will be Fairley, Green, or whatever DE they have ranked highest. If I had to guess right now, I think I would still go Green as they are going to want to try and develop Claussen as well as add some excitement to that team.