Poll on whether Fitz is the right guy or not

[NoSaint]

Ryan Fitzpatrick was objectively better than Sanchez and Cutler last year (two of the "final four" QBs.) This is without much help from the defense, playing behind one of the most inexperienced offensive lines (being pressured on over 20% of dropbacks,) and not having had the benefit of the majority of training camp reps. He obviously had problems in cruchtime, ala Jim Kelly in 1986, but I, for one, think he will be even better in 2011.

 

Those were also the two that had great teams and came up short cause of qb play. Just saying.

[KOKBILLS]

Those were also the two that had great teams and came up short cause of qb play. Just saying.

 

Exactly...And those Defenses are pretty darn good too...

 

These poll results disturb me. People are operating under the assumption that Fitz will only get better next year. Nobody is talking about him regressing back to the mean and stinking it up like he always has.

 

I've been saying that for months and months now...Thank you...

 

I simply don't understand why the assumption is at this point of his career that he will continue to improve...I think certainly it's possible...But it's equally possible he regresses or returns to 2009 form too...

[NewEra]

I voted he can do it without a world-beater defense. I think a good defense that can stop the run & a dominating run game is all he'd need. Fred & CJ need to produce which will allow Fitz to flourish. Also acquiring a TE who is competent would help, especially for 3rd down conversions.

 

You know we're talking about winning the super bowl right?

[CodeMonkey]

Awww guys come on, let them Billieve.

Now is the only time they can.

Don't pee in their corn flakes

[JESSEFEFFER]

Those were also the two that had great teams and came up short cause of qb play. Just saying.

 

 

Neither championship game was a template for the importance of elite QB play..........

 

 

Sanchez

20 of 33 for 233, 2TDs and a passer rating of 102.2

 

Roethlisberger

10 of 19 for 133, O TDs and 2 pics for a passer rating of 35.5

 

Rodgers

17 of 30 for 244, 0 TDs and 2 pics for a passer rating of 55.4

 

Cutler

left the game with a knee injury

 

.....but let's not let the actual facts get in the way of believing what we want to. Just saying.

Edited April 18, 2011 by JESSEFEFFER

[NoSaint]

Neither championship game was a template for the importance of elite QB play..........

 

 

Sanchez

20 of 33 for 233, 2TDs and a passer rating of 102.2

 

Roethlisberger

10 of 19 for 133, O TDs and 2 pics for a passer rating of 35.5

 

Rodgers

17 of 30 for 244, 0 TDs and 2 pics for a passer rating of 55.4

 

Cutler

left the game with a knee injury

 

.....but let's not let the actual facts get in the way of believing what we want to. Just saying.

 

 

It's funny how big bens td run and mark Sanchezs fumble returned for a td don't show up in either stat line. Or how the jets refused to open up the play book in the first half for some reason.

 

Or that jay was 6-13 with a pick in the first half.

 

Meh. Don't let a stat line get in the way of watching the actual games.

[BiggieScooby]

You know we're talking about winning the super bowl right?

 

For some reason I thought we were talking about going 6-10 like back in the good ole Jauron days.

[NewEra]

For some reason I thought we were talking about going 6-10 like back in the good ole Jauron days.

Or going 4-12 and being tied for the 2nd worst record in football. I know the defense was the biggest reason and he wasn't handed the team in training camp, but the record says something. Again, I like Fitz more than any QB we've had since Kelly, Bledsoe ad flutie included, but I just don't see him winning us a SB, great defense or not. He plays balls to the wall and is as fearless as they come, but his accuracy really holds him back. Maybe he can improve on it, but he's been in the league for what, 5-6-7 years? I think we would have improved it by now.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Fitz plays balls to the wall and is as fearless as they come, but his accuracy really holds him back. Maybe he can improve on it, but he's been in the league for what, 5-6-7 years? I think we would have improved it by now.

Reasons why Fitz' accuracy could improve:

 

1) Fitz wasn't the starter to begin the season. He got fewer reps than Edwards in the early weeks of the season after a preseason of splitting reps with Edwards and Brohm.

2} It was Fitz' first year in a new system.

3) Fitz' wideouts included only two established veterans (Parrish who only played in eight games and Lee Evans), a first year starter (Steve Johnson), and three undrafted rookie free agents (Donald Jones, David Nelson and Naaman Roosevelt).

4) Fitz never had the opportunity to play with an established starter at tight end. The Bills might have the worst tight ends in the NFL and no one stepped up at that position

5) Fitz received mediocre pass protection. The pass pro only appeared to improve from Edwards to Fitz because Fitz did a much better job calling the protections pre-snap and getting the ball out quickly than did Edwards.

 

So there's five legitimate reasons that Fitz could possibly improve his accuracy (completion percentage) this upcoming season.

Edited April 18, 2011 by San Jose Bills Fan

[CodeMonkey]

Reasons why Fitz' accuracy could improve:

 

1) Fitz wasn't the starter to begin the season. He got fewer reps than Edwards in the early weeks of the season after a preseason of splitting reps with Edwards and Brohm.

2} It was Fitz' first year in a new system.

3) Fitz' wideouts included only two established veterans (Parrish who only played in eight games and Lee Evans), a first year starter (Steve Johnson), and three undrafted rookie free agents (Donald Jones, David Nelson and Naaman Roosevelt).

4) Fitz never had the opportunity to play with an established starter at tight end. The Bills might have the worst tight ends in the NFL and no one stepped up at that position

5) Fitz received mediocre pass protection. The pass pro only appeared to improve from Edwards to Fitz because Fitz did a much better job calling the protections pre-snap and getting the ball out quickly than did Edwards.

 

So there's five legitimate reasons that Fitz could possibly improve his accuracy (completion percentage) this upcoming season.

And the sun was in his eyes and the grass was to long. There, that should about cover the excuses now.

[The Avenger]

Lest we forget, this team has a serious dearth of talent at a whole host of positions. To even say the word championship with this group is absurd. We would need to make major changes up and down the lineup in order to be a true championsip contender. IF we make some good moves in drafting, IF we develop young guys and IF we get some solid free agents I think we can turn this ship around, but it'll happen in baby steps - not finishing last in the division, going over .500, having double-digit wins, making the playoffs, then becoming a contender. By the time this happens Fitz will be out of football, and that's only IF the Bills suddenly starting making better evaluations of talent (the reason we've been in this decade of failin the first place). If we keep picking Aaron Maybins and John Mccargos and throwing money at Chris Kelsays we'll never get get out of this whole and it won't really matter who is under center for the Bills.

[Bill from NYC]

Lest we forget, this team has a serious dearth of talent at a whole host of positions. To even say the word championship with this group is absurd. We would need to make major changes up and down the lineup in order to be a true championsip contender. IF we make some good moves in drafting, IF we develop young guys and IF we get some solid free agents I think we can turn this ship around, but it'll happen in baby steps - not finishing last in the division, going over .500, having double-digit wins, making the playoffs, then becoming a contender. By the time this happens Fitz will be out of football, and that's only IF the Bills suddenly starting making better evaluations of talent (the reason we've been in this decade of failin the first place). If we keep picking Aaron Maybins and John Mccargos and throwing money at Chris Kelsays we'll never get get out of this whole and it won't really matter who is under center for the Bills.

 

Nothing to argue with in this post.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Reasons why Fitz' accuracy could improve:

 

1) Fitz wasn't the starter to begin the season. He got fewer reps than Edwards in the early weeks of the season after a preseason of splitting reps with Edwards and Brohm.

2} It was Fitz' first year in a new system.

3) Fitz' wideouts included only two established veterans (Parrish who only played in eight games and Lee Evans), a first year starter (Steve Johnson), and three undrafted rookie free agents (Donald Jones, David Nelson and Naaman Roosevelt).

4) Fitz never had the opportunity to play with an established starter at tight end. The Bills might have the worst tight ends in the NFL and no one stepped up at that position

5) Fitz received mediocre pass protection. The pass pro only appeared to improve from Edwards to Fitz because Fitz did a much better job calling the protections pre-snap and getting the ball out quickly than did Edwards.

 

So there's five legitimate reasons that Fitz could possibly improve his accuracy (completion percentage) this upcoming season.

 

And the sun was in his eyes and the grass was to long. There, that should about cover the excuses now.

So just to be clear, you don't think any of the five reasons I posted above have any legitimacy?

[CodeMonkey]

So just to be clear, you don't think any of the five reasons I posted above have any legitimacy?

All but the first one are accurate statements about last season. Fitz had the majority of the season with starter reps. That should have been enough, particularly by the end of the season. And in fact as far as the last one goes I'd say you are being very generous when you say the OLine gave him mediocre pass protection.

 

But there were many times, including critical situations, that he got decent protection, the receiver was open etc. etc. and he flat out missed the opportunity because his accuracy is just not quite good enough to be a significant QB at this level. That's just the harsh reality of the situation. You don't like that, and that is fine. In fact based on the current poll results I'd say there are many who feel the same way you do. But listing excuses while ignoring the basic fact seems ill conceived. In my opinion anyway.

Edited April 18, 2011 by CodeMonkey

[Alphadawg7]

So just to be clear, you don't think any of the five reasons I posted above have any legitimacy?

 

I will field this question SJBF...

 

Reasons why Fitz' accuracy could improve:

 

1) Fitz wasn't the starter to begin the season. He got fewer reps than Edwards in the early weeks of the season after a preseason of splitting reps with Edwards and Brohm.

2} It was Fitz' first year in a new system.

3) Fitz' wideouts included only two established veterans (Parrish who only played in eight games and Lee Evans), a first year starter (Steve Johnson), and three undrafted rookie free agents (Donald Jones, David Nelson and Naaman Roosevelt).

4) Fitz never had the opportunity to play with an established starter at tight end. The Bills might have the worst tight ends in the NFL and no one stepped up at that position

5) Fitz received mediocre pass protection. The pass pro only appeared to improve from Edwards to Fitz because Fitz did a much better job calling the protections pre-snap and getting the ball out quickly than did Edwards.

 

So there's five legitimate reasons that Fitz could possibly improve his accuracy (completion percentage) this upcoming season.

 

1) INVALID - This excuse doesn't hold water with me. Fitz had a lot of reps and even more importantly, those reps were important reps where he was out to do his best each one as he was competing to be a full time starter. People act like QB's who are already the starter dont still split reps with the 2nd and 3rd string QB's all through camp. In fact, if Fitz had been the unquestioned starter without a QB competition going into camp, the number of reps would not have been much more than he actually got while competing for the job last year. I mean the difference in reps is the equivalent of him missing a couple of practices to rest a minor injury during camp. If a QB can't develop his accuracy with the number of reps he got last year, then the limited additional reps are not going to make a difference.

 

2) VALID - Yes it was a new system for him, so stating that a QB can benefit from being in the 2nd year of the new system is a valid statement. Although, I am skeptical that a QB who has had accuracy issues his whole career suddenly becomes accurate because he has a year under his belt in this system, but this is none the less a valid point that having experience in the system is always beneficial is multiple ways. How much, well thats yet to be seen.

 

3) INVALID - People talk about the "green" receivers, yet overlook the fact that Fitz had a lot of experience with Lee, Parrish, and SJ and our WR core was more talented than people give it credit for. Fitz had both game and practice experience with Lee and substantial practice experience with SJ and Parrish, especially SJ, from working with the 2nd unit so much since he got here. Both SJ and Fitz have said that getting a chance to work with each other so much in practice as part of the 2nd unit allowed them to develop chemistry, which showed almost immediately on the field. So, the fact that he was "green" didn't matter as he did NOT play that way on the field. They were an effective connection from the start.

 

4) VALID - Clearly, the one thing we don't have is an established TE. How much Chan uses a TE is still something to be seen, but we definitely do not have one on this roster. A good TE can help the QB, but I don't know if a good receiving TE improves his accuracy issues as much as you think. He still has to throw the ball accurately to complete the pass to the TE, so just having a guy out there ready to catch a pass doesn't equally translate to a more accurate delivery. Fitz's accuracy issues don't stem from no one being open, he is just not accurately delivering the ball even on a lot of his completions. I think a good blocking TE will help him more in that way than a good receiving TE because it will increase his pass protection.

 

5) VALID & INVALID - Let me explain...its 100% valid to say that improving your pass protection makes a QB's job easier...even if you have the #1 OL in all of football, that is still a true statement. And our pass protection does certainly need to improve which will help Fitz or any QB under center. Why I say it's also invalid is because every year there are teams with worse pass protection than us that still are atop the leader boards in passing. Better QB's are capable of performing behind the line we had last year. I will also say, there were a lot of times we got good protection and he still missed by a mile, threw an INT, delivered the ball low/behind/high preventing the receiver from making a play, etc. If Fitz was accurate when he had time and struggled when the OL broke down, I would say this is 100% valid. But he struggled with accuracy just as much with good protection, so it wasn't a situational issue IMO.

 

So, I totally see why you would think those are 5 legit reasons, I just struggle to see them having the impact you think they will because his accuracy issues are not situational IMO, he just struggles to consistently deliver the ball where it is supposed to be even when the elements are favorable.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Alphadawg7

[Billy in 4C]

Guys the question isn't make the playoffs or win a few playoff games. The question is can he either win the division & playoff bye then win 3 playoff games in a row or win 4 straight playoff games. IMO he is too inconsistent. With a good defense and a better team he can win games against playoff teams, no doubt. But he can't win 4 straight. I like Fitz, but he would need to be surrounded by A LOT - even then, it's not happening.

[DreReed83]

With this team? Nope. With the Steelers/Jets/Ravens defense? yes.

 

I'd say that Peyton Manning is the only QB in the NFL right now that can single handedly carry his team to the show with an inferior defense.

Edited April 18, 2011 by DreReed83

[Offside Number 76]

The poll question doesn't match the thread topic. He's the right guy for right now.

[KD in CA]

Guys the question isn't make the playoffs or win a few playoff games. The question is can he either win the division & playoff bye then win 3 playoff games in a row or win 4 straight playoff games. IMO he is too inconsistent. With a good defense and a better team he can win games against playoff teams, no doubt. But he can't win 4 straight. I like Fitz, but he would need to be surrounded by A LOT - even then, it's not happening.

 

If we are talking about winning a SB, than the Bills are just as far away at several other positions (DT, DE, LB, TE, OT) as they are at QB, and the SB isn't going to be a realistic possibility until you fix all or nearly all of those problems. Therefore, you fix the problems based on the quality of the people available, not based on some arbitrary ranking of which position is more important.

 

The reason the Bills suck is because they have consistently missed on their top draft picks. That's it. So stop drafting projects, guys who are injured, guys who "project at" a different position than they played in college, or guys with "upside" and start drafting guys that can play at an NFL level right now.

[Alphadawg7]

With this team? Nope. With the Steelers/Jets/Ravens defense? yes.

 

I'd say that Peyton Manning is the only QB in the NFL right now that can single handedly carry his team to the show with an inferior defense.

 

You say this, but do you realistically look at that statement? You have the Steelers on that list, so are you saying that Fitz is better than Big Ben and that if Fitz played for Pitt last year they still make the SB and instead beat GB rather than lose to them? Even Balt...are you saying that Fitz is better than Flacco? Because I don't know a single team, GM, etc that would take Fitz over Flacco at this point in their careers, and Balt didn't even make the SB last year under Flacco...so for you to say that you would have to believe that Fitz is not only an upgrade to Flacco but enough of one to be the difference in why Balt hasn't won the SB the last 2 years. Jets have Sanchize who has his strengths and weaknesses, but he has for the most part been a good playoff QB, so hard to say how much better the Jets are with Fitz in instead of Sanchize, if at all.