The Chief Corky Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Somebody is not receiving the proper credit here, Chan Gailey. His reputation is quarterback development and he has done a fantastic job. If Fitzpatrick can keep this up, the Bills have eliminated the need for a QB, 2nd receiver,a new offensive line,and the Bills can focus on defense. That's would be quite an accomplishment in 3 months. Seems like yesterday we needed a completely new team. Yeah...he did a great job with Edwards. Complete new team needed??? Not really...only the complete defense, offensive front line, administration and someone to buy the tickets to the remaining losing games in our fantastic 0-16 season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I'll be the first to admit that I was wrong about Ryan Fitzpatrick. I always liked him, thought him a great QB to have on the roster in a backup role, and absolutely knew he is a much better QB than Fanning-Fan Edwards, but I'd still to see how Fitz does in the next few games before the ever-so-fickle TSW - changing with the wind once again based on a one-game performance - annoints him the Bills' savior. Same thing with the newly now-rejuvenated O-line - the general TSW consensus a week ago was that it 'sucked out loud', but now it is apparently no longer an 'area of need' in the upcoming draft according to TSW armchair GMs. That said... GO BILLSSS!!!! 14 and 6 baby!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 good point, I like how everyone forgets how much Fitz had to run for his life against the Jets, he will do that again against the Steeler's Like I posted in another thread, this is what Chan Gailey can do with a decent QB, make him look really good. Fitz is getting the ball out very quickly and finds the open receiver very quickly, but lets not forget he threw two INT's that hurt the team. Last time i looked about the ONLY QB that can do it all on his own is Payton Manning, and Fitz is definitively not a Manning This team is going to continue to lose until they upgrade the O line and start running the ball more often Funny how just a week ago everyone was certain he'd be running for his life against the Ravens. Most didn't think he'd finish the game, let alone throw for 4 TDs. So, now he's got to prove it against the Steelers' D because the Ravens' D isn't tough enough? Every great QB in the league throws interceptions. Every great QB in the league has a bad game. Should the Saints draft a QB because Brees looked bad against Cleveland? You can't expect 350+ yards passing, 4 TDs, and 0 INTs every week. All you can expect from your QB is consistent, solid play that leads your offense and your team. FItz has given us that, so far. Is he the QB of the future? The next 10 games will go a long way to answering that question. But you can't expect perfection week in and week out. It's just not realistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoretalk Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 You'll never get anyone here to admit it, but QB is no longer the #1 weakness. The biggest weakness is Linebacker and pass rushers I will step up and agree with you!! The O-line may have found the answers at tackle with Bell and Howard. Young, not perfect but gamers who seem to correct their past mistakes. I want to see a couple more complete offensive games before I totally say yes we have an O Line but the Green Giant is done waving at opposing defensive players leisurely going by him to our QB and that alone is a plus! You have to like our 4 top wide outs. Evans is showing why he is a #1 receiver (all it takes is getting the ball to him downfield or at least trying to); Stevie Johnson is another one of those young guys who has made mistakes but is getting better all the time and fits in nicely at #2 although David Nelson is going to keep the pressure up; Roscoe in the slot has proved me wrong over and over this season ... his one leaping catch versus Baltimore alone had me eating crow; and David Nelson ... I love this kid and his potential. The TE position ... who knows. Shawn Nelson is so raw but from his college days has so much potential but I will say that this is a wash in need of improvement. Corey McIntyre ... give me 53 of him! He never stops ... just one of his hits on special teams is harder than all of the hits Mr. Aaron Maybe has had in his entire pro career plus he blocks with fervor and can catch the ball and run with it. He is such an asset to the Bills! Freddie Jackson ... still can't believe we demeaned him by having Marshawn start this year. Freddie is our MVP!! But having CJ in tandem gives us a powerful running attack. And, then there's Fitz ... again, I am eating crow but I am so enjoying how he plays the game and I will accept the interceptions just because he is willing to try. He is a nard nosed thinking QB and just maybe our answer to the next 5 years plus (at the very least he can be the starter until some future rookie stud takes over). And, then there's our offensive defense. I think linebackers are the key ... our NT's have no support so I don't want to lay the blame with Williams and Troup because without a single decent linebacker and weakness on the ends (who knows maybe Dwan will have more games like Sunday) they aren't going to do anything. So, right now I want some defensive stud as my first pick ... I can remember this stud we picked up in the mid-80's .... BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Funny how just a week ago everyone was certain he'd be running for his life against the Ravens. Most didn't think he'd finish the game, let alone throw for 4 TDs. So, now he's got to prove it against the Steelers' D because the Ravens' D isn't tough enough? Yes, he does - but first he has to prove it against the Chiefs' and Bears' defenses, along with the 'lesser' defenses of the Lions and Bengals. Sorry, but that's just how it is, if the Bills are going to base - or alter - their 2011 draft strategy based on the recent emergence of Ryan Fitzpatrick as a premier NFL QB. And, I hope he does great and continues to play at the level we saw against the Ravens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Yes, he does - but first he has to prove it against the Chiefs' and Bears' defenses, along with the 'lesser' defenses of the Lions and Bengals. Sorry, but that's just how it is, if the Bills are going to base - or alter - their 2011 draft strategy based on the recent emergence of Ryan Fitzpatrick as a premier NFL QB. And, I hope he does great and continues to play at the level we saw against the Ravens. While I completely agree that Fitz has to prove over the course of the entire season that he's the starter for the future; let's also not discount past performances. For example, if he plays poorly against the Steelers, we shouldn't forget that he played exceptionally against the Ravens. Many of the comments this week remind me of JP's last season (please... I'm not turning this into a JP debate!). But, each week JP had to prove he was the starter. He played great against the Bengals. OK... but next week will be the real test. He played ok that week, but the Bills won. Yeah, yeah... next week will be the real test. That went on for about 3 or 4 weeks until he had a really bad game. And suddenly everyone had the cause to scream for his immediate benching. My point in bringing this up, again has nothing to do with JP, but has everything to do with people's over-inflated sense of what should be expected. In this league very few, if any, players (especially QBs) are great week in and week out. Most all QBs have good games and bad games. They all throw interceptions. So, we need to take all of Fitz's games into account and not try to ride him out of town the moment he has a bad game. So, yeah, he may be running for his life against the Steelers. But that doesn't mean he's only a backup no more than throwing 4 TDs against the Ravens means he's the future franchise Qb. That's all I'm trying to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 good point, I like how everyone forgets how much Fitz had to run for his life against the Jets, he will do that again against the Steeler's Like I posted in another thread, this is what Chan Gailey can do with a decent QB, make him look really good. Fitz is getting the ball out very quickly and finds the open receiver very quickly, but lets not forget he threw two INT's that hurt the team. Last time i looked about the ONLY QB that can do it all on his own is Payton Manning, and Fitz is definitively not a Manning This team is going to continue to lose until they upgrade the O line and start running the ball more often It's nice when an INT is called an INT, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Avenger Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) Do you not think Fitz has been generally consistent during each of his 4 starts this season? His QB rating was at 99 (not that stats tell the whole story) before the Baltimore game and there were some fans already calling for him to be the guy, possibly longterm. The Baltimore game was much better than his previous 3 starts but he certainly wasn't doing terribly before. 4 games? Seriously? You're willing to get excited about a guy being a franchise quarterback and being able to address other areas where we lack talent because Fitzpatrick has 4 decent games? I can show you a whole slew of games where he's been well below average. Jumping to conclusions kills this teams and it's fans. Off to a 5-1 start? Sign Dick Jauron up for a big extension NOW! If this organization and its fans start thinking the quarterback problem is solved after 4 games then they'll get exactly what they deserve when it doesn't pan out. Can't wait to see what people are saying at the end of the season..... Edited October 27, 2010 by The Avenger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsox Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Let's wait before we start celebrating here. First off. The Bills had 2 weeks to prepare for the Ravens. Lets see how we do against a weaker opponent in the Chiefs. 300 Yards against the Chiefs should be a cake walk for Fitz. If we go there and take it to them on offense, this is a the start of a good trend. But there are 10 more games people. Hold your horses before you start thinking we've turned the corner. If we play out the rest of the year like we did against the Ravens. We might very well be better than advertised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In-A-Gadda-Levitre Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) Every great QB in the league throws interceptions. Every great QB in the league has a bad game. Should the Saints draft a QB because Brees looked bad against Cleveland? You can't expect 350+ yards passing, 4 TDs, and 0 INTs every week. All you can expect from your QB is consistent, solid play that leads your offense and your team. FItz has given us that, so far. Is he the QB of the future? The next 10 games will go a long way to answering that question. But you can't expect perfection week in and week out. It's just not realistic. good point... We screamed about Trentative's lack of confidence to throw the ball into coverage and it was totally justified. Now we have a QB who's willing to take chances with throwing into tight windows, like the pass to Lee Evans with 2-3 defenders around him in the Raven's game. In this case Lee makes the catch, but sometimes plays like that turn into INTs. We can't have it both ways and hopefully the number of TDs far exceeds the INTs. Edited October 27, 2010 by In-A-Gadda-Levitre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinegun12 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I understand that he said "before New Orleans", but I'm going to go out on a limb and ASSUME that when he referred to Brees' early struggles with San Diego he was referring to the actual seasons in which he struggled, which roughly correlate to the same number of starts as Fitzpatrick at the beginning of 2010. I may have conflated the point because it's specifically been discussed in other threads, but that's the way I took it. you know what assuming does.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Franchise QB? Not ready to stamp him with that after a few decent games. If he continues to perform at about 90 QB rating and above for the rest of the season, I say let him keep his job. If he goes back to his play of the past, then we need to be looking at a QB. Personally, I hope he turns out to be as good as he's shown this year... so we can concentrate elsewhere and improve faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 4 games? Seriously? You're willing to get excited about a guy being a franchise quarterback and being able to address other areas where we lack talent because Fitzpatrick has 4 decent games? I can show you a whole slew of games where he's been well below average. Jumping to conclusions kills this teams and it's fans. Off to a 5-1 start? Sign Dick Jauron up for a big extension NOW! If this organization and its fans start thinking the quarterback problem is solved after 4 games then they'll get exactly what they deserve when it doesn't pan out. Can't wait to see what people are saying at the end of the season..... You said 1 good game doesn't show consistency--- but he's played 4 good games, which obviously shows some semblance of consistency. I'm not exactly getting excited that Fitz is our franchise QB, I'm saying he's been generally consistent in 4 starts. you know what assuming does.... He was obviously talking about Brees' early career struggles. If you want to take the win on this one because he mistakenly typed "before New Orleans", then have at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIE HARD 1967 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 *shaking my brain free of butterflies* wtf? So we skip over the O Line entirely??? Everything is roses with QB, OLine and we go straight to Defensive line? Fitz is a smart kid, but once again, if you don't protect him (and start opening holes for Freddie and CJ) he becomes one dimensional which makes defensive game planning easier. Don't get ahead of yourself...the O Line needs help too. Fitzpatrick had the protection against one of the best defenses in football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cash Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 You'll never get anyone here to admit it, but QB is no longer the #1 weakness. The biggest weakness is Linebacker and pass rushers I'll admit it. Right now, QB is definitely not the #1 weakness. It's hard to rank all of the weaknesses on that mess of a defense, but it's got to have the top 3, right? That doesn't mean we have a franchise QB or can necessarily pass on a potential franchise QB in the draft. At least, not yet. But after Sunday's game, I'm beginning to wonder if I underestimated Fitz's potential, and maybe he can be The Guy for us. I still doubt it, but at least he's playing well and fun to watch right now. That's a hell of a lot better than what we've been used to. Also, I just want to point out that the line stopped looking so bad when Fitz took over. The 3 remaining Trent apologists will say that the line is playing much better, and that's why Fitz is playing so much better than Trent ever did. They are wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBeane Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) He was obviously talking about Brees' early career struggles. If you want to take the win on this one because he mistakenly typed "before New Orleans", then have at it. Thank you. Maybe Brees wasn't the best example of the point I was trying to get across. All I'm trying to say is that every QB that is a late bloomer (which Fitz may very well be) have people saying exactly what some are saying about Fitz right now. Sure it has only been 4 games, but in those 4 games we have actually been able to move the ball and we all know about his passer rating in those 4 games. Edited October 27, 2010 by SpillerTime21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinegun12 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) He was obviously talking about Brees' early career struggles. If you want to take the win on this one because he mistakenly typed "before New Orleans", then have at it. I'm not trying to "take a win"...We both saw the OP completely different and so assuming made an a$$ out of both you and I!! Edited October 27, 2010 by machinegun12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I'm not trying to "take a win"...We both saw the OP completely different and so assuming made an a$$ out of both you and I!! I gotcha--- is that "Bubba" Braxton in your avatar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinegun12 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I gotcha--- is that "Bubba" Braxton in your avatar? Good eye. I've been waiting for someone to ask about my Cookie Gilchrist avatar and I was gonna joke with them that it was indeed Thurman Thomas wearing throwbacks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in Syracuse Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/ryan_fitzpatrick_have_the_buffalo_bills_found_a_franchise_quarterback/3485684 If we think that Luck is great and Fitz keeps it up maybe we could trade him for another #1 pick. Look how NE did it with Cassell. Just sayin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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