2003Contenders

Bad comparison... Rivers inherited a playoff caliber team that's been running the same offense for the past couple years.

I guess you mean Tom Brady? Who wouldn't want him? Now, if you're talkin' Brady Quinn, how exactly is he a "good proven quaterback"?

I have bad news for you JP haters. Barring something really crazy happening -- such as him tossing 20 ints in these next 7 games -- he'll be back next year. Here is a stat for you: 1, 1, 2, 5... Those are the rounds of draft picks that TD used to acquire QBs (Drew and JP) between 2003-2005. You think the team could have used some help along the OL and DL and maybe even a quality TE to boot with those picks? Maybe JP isn't the long-trem answer. But until the team can fix other obvious areas of need, it's doubtful that ANY QB is going to be successful back there. If JP still sucks after some of the other parts have been fixed, that's when the team will start looking elsewhere. There may be some on this board that don't undertand this, but I think the coaching staff does.

In the past couple weeks he's been sacked once for every 4 drop-backs. Asking him to throw it 40 times per game would equate to 10 sacks at that rate. How long do you think he'd stay healthy given those odds?

Yea, how'd that work out for Gradkowski and the Bucs again?

OK... Let me try to say this for the upteenth time... Clearly the offensive strategy going into that Colts game was to run an ultra-conservative offense to shorten the game and keep Manning and company on the sidelines. Given that the Colts have one of the top 3 pass defenses and the WORST run defense, it makes sense, right? Also, given that Manning didn't see the football before over 8:00 minutes had been chewed off the clock, and that we were in the position to WIN that game in the 4th quarter against a superior opponent, I'd have to say that the gamplan was sound. No? I am so sick to death of hearing this stuff about how the coaching staff doesn't trust JP. Anyone that knows anything about Jauron knows that he's alwasy been a proponent of the run-first offense with a caretaker QB. Remember, he had guys like Jim Miller and Shane Matthews playing QB for him in Chicago. There was once a saying that 5 things can happen when a QB drops back to pass, and only 1 of them is good. That JP was sacked 4 times on just 16 drop-backs would seem to illustrate that point. And -- I can't remember a single one of those 4 sacks that I would call his fault in this particular game. How might everyone's view of what happened Sunday have changed if Freeney doesn't beat Royal -- why exactly was Royal in the situation of having to block Freeney anyway, McNally? -- and Losman ends up tossing a TD pass there? Probably not in the slightest, I guess, as many here didn't want to give him credit for the game winning TD pass to Evans against the Packers the week before...

Good point. I also think that history has shown that DJ believes in building a strong defense and relying on the running game on offense. Get used to seeing the 8/12 days like that from Losman. He's doing what the coaching staff requires of him. Maybe all this forcing him to stay in the pocket will eventually reap dividends, when he HAS to throw the ball. That is, of course, if the OL can protect.

They also had an excellent draft -- picking up 2 immediate contributors along the OL in the first round. What a novel idea!

When DJ and the rest of the staff review the fact that Garrard threw 4 INTs in the loss to the Texans on Sunday, he's liable to think otherwise...

Yes, it is when that is what the uber-conservative gameplan calls for...

You are correct! And even the most delusional fans out there that had us going, say 13-3 this season, had Sunday's contest against the Colts chalked up as a loss. Yet, we almost pulled off the upset...

Exactly

Anyone able to zero-in on how well Preston did yesterday subbing for CV?

Landing a stud TE wouldn't hurt either...

Like it or not, I think that what you've seen the past 2 weeks is the Dick Jauron philosophy on offense. That is, the role of the QB is to primarily hand the ball off -- and not lose the game. I don't think it has anything to do necessarily with WHO the QB is... Given that he's completed a good percentage of his passes over the last 2 weeks and protected the football, contrary to popular fan opinion, I have a feeling that the coaches are actually pretty happy with what Loseman has done on the field.

I don't think the minimal number of pass plays called the last two weeks says one thing or the other about the coaching staff's opinion of Losman. DJ has never been a fan of airing the ball out. Just look back at his Chicago teams that had Jim Miller and Shane Matthews behind center. He's from the school of thought that you win by presenting a strong defense and running the football and only having to throw the ball on occasion. For all of those whining about the lack of production in the passing game, I think this is just part of the gameplan as designed by the current coaching staff. Boring football? Maybe. But it resulted in a win last week -- and a near-win this week against a team that was clearly better than us. Bottom line: I think the coaching staff is satisfied with what Losman's doing, as he is doing exactly what they are asking of him.

Could it be just a numbers game based on the depth chart? That is, he's designated as Nate's backup on the depth chart, while Thomas and Greer aren't backups perse but nickel and dime corners. If Nate were to get injured, is it possible that AY would start in his place?

Supporting cast aside, there is also a reason why Eli, Rivers, and Big Ben were all revered as top 10 draft picks (I know Big Ben went #11, but he was rated much higher), while JP was rated as a late first rounder. It had little to do with talent, as some scouts felt that JP was every bit as talented as the other 3 in terms of arm strength and especially mobility. However, while the others had all played in major programs and were center stage in Bowl games, Losman played for a program in Tulane that was far less sophisticated. The reality at the time that the Bills drafted him was that he was green and was going to take some time to develop, which didn't seem like a problem, since we had an established QB in Bledsoe. Like Drew or not -- the decision to simply cut him prior to last season, without even giving him a chance to compete for the job was a very foolish one. As unpolished as Losman was, he may have benefited more from sitting on the bench an extra year than dealing with all that was thrown at him. If we throw out last year entirely (given the ousted coaching staff) -- and just look at what he's done so far this year, it is quite consistent with what you've come to expect from a 1st year starter. In fact, his 1400+ passing yards through the first 8 games this year are right in line with the 2800-2900 passing yards that Bledsoe put up in each of his last two seasons here... With that said, if he does not show major improvement over the second half of the season, I think we have no choice but to look elesewhere next year. Given the much easier schedule (on paper) in the second half, I'd say that the odds are in his favor.

With all of that said... both the Jets and Titans did a decent job against Manning and the Colts. Anything is possible, especially if the Bills can protect that ball and FORCE some turnovers.

You know... I will say this about Nate. He always seems to play his best when matched up against a star receiver. One of his best days, for example, came last year when he pretty much shut down Steve Smith. The bigger question is: Will McGee be able to cover Reggie Wayne?

I know the point of your post was to take another slap at JP. However, you may have actually stumbled onto something here. For as bad as the OL looked in pass protection on Sunday, they looked exceptional in run blocking (save for a couple of 3rd and 1 non-conversions). In fact, the Packers couldn't stop the rushing attack in the 4th quarter, when they needed to. Indy's run defense is their achilles heal. I would personally like to see our gameplan consist of something like a 2-1 run to pass ratio on Sunday to keep the Colts' offense on the sidelines. In order for that to happen the offense will have to avoid the penalties, of course, to keep us out of 3rd and long situations. Additionally greater commitment to the running game should force the Colts to back off their pass rushing -- and may set things up for some play-action passes.

Given that Big Ben has been turning the ball over so regularly, I'm not sure. Remember, this is the team that lost to Oakland last week!

From what I saw, Pennington was only beaten cleanly once -- and that was early in the game. I believe the other 4 sacks came up the gut -- and at least 2 of them were on CV. Now, I'm not sure if the others were on CV, Fowler or Gandy. I will say that Gandy did a good job a couple of times (especially on the TD pass) in helping Peters with KGB. Of course, sacks don't tell the whole story, as there were numerous other times that the interior of the line caved, such as on the play that ended Willis' day. Again, don't know where to point the finger -- but clearly CV for one is a a liability.

All the throwing things around in the world isn't going to matter when your opponent has a better product on the field.

Sure, he could have been worse. He could have turned the ball over 4 times like his hall of fame counterpart did yesterday. Also, remember this: The Bills led all game long up until the 4th quarter. Once the Packers tied it up, JP came through with a clutch TD pass.