Virgil Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Yes, it's not all Fitz's fault in the aspect that it's a team game, but he definitely could have won it just by doing his job. Taking that sack in the first half that knocked him out of FG range was rookie dumb. AND, making that 2nd int pass, when he was off all game and should have been running down the clock, on the DB who had already burned him once, was just plain stupid. So yeah, he should take some heat for this loss. But, the guy has also won most of our games for us too. So him and Florence, they get a pass. We wouldn't even have been 4-1 without them to this point. It happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckeyeBill Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Fitz didn't lose the game for us... but he had a chance to win it for us, and he blew it with that interception. Would have liked to see a little more conservative runs and throws when we are tied with less than 4 minutes in the game... and driving into the opponents Red Zone. Instead Fitz threw a risky throw that failed the first time. I don't know why he thought it would succeed the second time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Fitzys stat line goes: 21/30, 244 yds, 2 td's, 2 ints. Thats a 70% completion percentage, with 244 yards and 2td's, along with 2 picks. He made 3 mistakes the whole game, which did cost us somewhat, however, he made TONS of good throws and decisions and the completion percentage along with the yardage proves it. Yes, he underthrew those two balls for Stevie, which resulted in picks. However, the defense wasn't there at all today! They were able to march down the field too easily on many drives and there was zero pressure on Eli. Nevertheless, the front seven was missing 3 key players ( Williams, Merriman, Kelsay), who happen to be our 3 best pass rushers. With a week off, lets get healthy and get our act together on defense, because i believe we have the talent. Regarding Fitzpatrick, this game is not on him, its on the defense. The offense looked in sync most of the game, which is a sign of solid QB play. Guys, this is the best quarterback we've had in a long time. Let's look at the positives; we're 4-2, with a good chance of going to 5-2 against the Redskins. Once we get healthy again after the buy, i think we'll settle down and start to look like the Bills against the Raiders, Pats and Eagles instead of the Bills against the Bengals and Giants. Go Bills! Of course its not all on Fitz. But he did not have a good game--despite having decent stats. Even more than the 2 very bad intercepts he threw at critical times--was the poor judgment he showed several times during drives that killed our momentum.-He did some good things---but he was the biggest factor in losing the game. I dont think the D was that bad. In fact it had more stops than in the past several weeks. All that said Fitz is a good QB -and without him this team is absolutely nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdBlueNorth Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 You missed my point… which is that you win and lose as a team. You can blame Fitz… you can blame Florence… I wasn't absolving anyone. But I wouldn't personally blame one person for the loss. Did not miss the "team loss" point you were trying to make which I think is an admirable sentiment that is worth embracing for teams to play together. Some of us are old enough to remember the bickering Bills. Just disagreed with one of the examples you used to make your point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Gotcha, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Fitz lost us the game. BUT like a lot of QB's he will get the blame for wins and losses. I still have no problem with Fitz as QB. The Giants are a decent team and it was a road game not exactly a easy game to win. But we had the game tied late and Fitz had the ball late deep in Giants territory and he made a mistake. The mistake cost us the game, and hey it happens. Like Bill Parcels says its usually the team that doesn't make the mistake at the end that wins. And the Bills were the team that made the mistake it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Hang on here. Let's not give Fitz credit for winning games for us (especially games where the D scored touchdowns) and then be afraid to pin a loss on him when he plays like crap. Fitz stunk today and cost the Bills the game. Any other assessment is simply dishonest. I guess your assessment is honest, for definitions of "stunk" which include 70% completion percentage, 2 TDs, and 244 yds. That's not most football fans definition of "stunk" Fitz made mistakes at bad times. He cowboyed up and took them on himself. Good for him. But football IS a team game, and there were plenty of other places where better performance could have given us the win (Florence, the D getting a couple key stops, some questionable play calling) Win as a team, lose as a team. Any other assessment is in my opinion, biased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Fitz made a bad pass at the end. The sack before the firs half knocking us out of FG range irritated me at the time and was also the difference. We got greedy. We should have pounded it in with Fred who the Giants had no answer for and take some time off the clock. make the Giants burn their time outs. Do to them what we did to the Patsies. Even if we didn't get a first, kick the FG. Maybe that shows how little confidence coach Gailey has in our D? But there were plenty of mistakes to go around. Go to bye. Lick our wounds, and come out firing vs Deadskins. At 4-2, we're in excellent shape to make a run at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderweb Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Again, I have no problem blaming Fitz for the loss. QB is a high-responsibility position, after all. But I think we're oversimplifying here. In football you win and lose as a team. By blaming Fitz for instance, are we absolving Drayton Florence? How about the non-existent pass rush which exposed Florence to bad coverage situations? It was a 3-point loss. Any number of plays was the difference today. See "Goats" thread. The loss was squarely on the shoulders of two players, Drayton Florence and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Florence was being toasted badly even before the two stupid PI's. Fitz had two Ints on similar plays where he horribly under threw each pass. Then there was the seies he took the Bills out of FG range with stupid sacks instead of throwing the ball away. Gotta be smarter than that Ryan..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryland-bills-fan Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Fritz is a quick thinker, has balls and can work with all the tools that Gailey provides him. That makes him a lot better than some guys we have had who were not quick thinkers (Losman) or didn't have balls (Edwards). With Gailey/Fritz we can hide some of our weakeness on offense and have a productive offense, that will keep us in a position to win games. (Our two loses were by a field goal). Fritz (in my opinion) will never be a "league star" QB because he lacks the natural arm strength or whatever muscle-strength/nerve-reflex/brain-nerve connection/mecahnical-body-arrangement that allows a human being to throw the effortless, smooth long pass.(*) When you look at the top NFL long passers, they throw the long ball with a lot of touch and without apparent effort. Fritz looks like he is putting his whole body into it with a windup and followthrough like a shotputter. We have to accept this limitation- but in conpensation there are not too many guys out there with that long ball skill and even half of Fritz's quick decision making and smarts. We should, every year, spend a 2nd or 3rd round pick on a developmental QB untill we get such a guy. Right now, we need o-line, a true speed WR adn OLB players more with our 1st round pick. (*) For comparison, in baseball most pitchers throw in the low 90's. Regardless of their size and shape. A few pitchers throw 95 to 100mph. Try to figure out why. In the NFL, these are these guys with guns for arms. Fritz is not one of them. Amoung the guns-for-arms guys, a lot of them are really limited in the smarts department but get by on schemes that recognize this. A few of them (P. Manning) have the smarts as well and I consider these the "franchsie"guys. It is hard to find these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackFergy Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 He really didn't play that poorly overall, though he made three costly mistakes. Let's cut him a break until he does a complete nosedive. Let's have some perspective folks. They're 4-2. I agree. I thought everyone was of the opinion this would be another rebuilding year. 4-2 is acceptable. Fitz is really a 2nd Year QB. He's playing like one. These are all learning mistakes and he will remember these picks....it will be a good bye week. Defense needs to heal up and get their $&@; together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juror#8 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Maybe it will happen that Matt Barkley (and no quality DE, LB, OT or CB) remains at pic 24-32. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 at one of the best posters on this board Hyperbolize much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasternOHBillsFan Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Fitz didn't lose the game for us... but he had a chance to win it for us, and he blew it with that interception. Would have liked to see a little more conservative runs and throws when we are tied with less than 4 minutes in the game... and driving into the opponents Red Zone. Instead Fitz threw a risky throw that failed the first time. I don't know why he thought it would succeed the second time. AGREE. What happens if we get 3 points from that drive, and the Giants go down and score a touchdown, because they had plenty of time left...? Our defense must and will get better. I'm glad now that finally people are sobering up and we can get to the meat of the season and get down to the business of improvement and getting to be a great team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Hang on here. Let's not give Fitz credit for winning games for us (especially games where the D scored touchdowns) and then be afraid to pin a loss on him when he plays like crap. Fitz stunk today and cost the Bills the game. Any other assessment is simply dishonest. So it's Fitz' fault that the defense couldn't get to the qb, make a play or stop bradshaw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpleman Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 (edited) Goat or no goat all the people here with "man crushes" need to admit Fritz is simply an average workman QB. Never was, and never will be a franchise QB. He is what we have now, but is not the answer for the future. Florance or McKelvin are not the answer at their position, we need to find someone top quality to fill that glaring hole. Our defense still sucks. No pass rush. We need a speed receiver with good hands to provide the deep threat to keep the opposing defense spread. But we also need a QB with the arm strength and accuracy to do it. As much as I rooted for the Merriman project, despite his drive and talent he just can't overcome his ruined body. And that interception at the end of the game. If Gailey called those passes instead of letting Stevie rush, rush, rush and burn the clock for the the safe field goal, he is not the brilliant coach everyone proclaims him to be, it was just plain stupid. I know this was a building year, but we can dream for more. We need a pass rusher, a speedy receiver with good hands, a franchise QB, some quality in the secondary and more to be a contender. It will take more than drafting & castoffs to get this done. We need to trade and go after free agents or we are doomed to mediocrity for years to come. No more excuses, we need real commitment from the owner. Edited October 17, 2011 by simpleman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 How the hell is it that all you people that want to send fitz down the road know so much about quarterbacks? How come your not all out working in the NFL ????? Take a chill pill people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keukasmallies Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 On the other hand, if we had a very young QB, we'd be making excuses for interceptions, etc. by saying, "He's young, he'll improve with experience." I think Fitz is just the right fit for this team at this point in it's development; maybe for next year and the year after, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Fischer Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 "Franchise QBs" never throw picks. Just ask Tom Brady. Also: See Brees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papazoid Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 is Fitz a "franchise" QB ?....not in my mind. (defined as top ten in league). is Fitz a legit starting NFL QB ?.....yes. (defined as top twenty in league). could we use a franchise QB ?....sure, (who doesn't want one of those). will we get one in next years draft ?...probably not, (other than Andrew Luck, it's a crapshoot). i think it makes more sense to improve the defensive front 7 and O-Line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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