Fitz' last INT.

[1B4IDie]

I really don't agree with this argument at all.

 

Fitz failed on the throw earlier in the game.

 

I think most people would predict that if the play was called again that it would be more likely that Fitz make the adjustment and succeed on the throw the second time.

Speaking from my personal experience, it seems to me that most people get better when given the chance to do something again.

 

Also, do you not think it's important to "get back on that horse" and also that a coach should show faith in his players in these situations?

+1

You had a big gainer that was underthrown.

You got to go back to it.

SJ13 pwned Webster on that move.

You have to take advantage of that.

Every coach in the NFL would go back to that at some time and expect the pass not to be underthrown a second time.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Why So Serious?

[truth on hold]

Point is, he already hadn't. It's like a catcher calling for a fastball in a critical spot when he knows the pitcher's gassed. You need to know what your guy can do AT THAT TIME and call your game around it.

I understand the point. But you can't game plan around an NFL qb that can't make that throw. You're going no where if you do. Might as well get Kelly Holcomb back

Baseball analogy doesn't work as they would bring in a relief pitcher if the starter couldn't throw a basic strike.

[MRW]

I understand the point. But you can't game plan around an NFL qb that can't make that throw. You're going no where if you do. Might as well get Kelly Holcomb back

Baseball analogy doesn't work as they would bring in a relief pitcher if the starter couldn't throw a basic strike.

Yep. If Fitzpatrick really can't make that throw (he can, but supposing he couldn't), it's better to know now. The team needs a QB who can make that throw in that situation.

[5 Wide]

All on Fitz. He threw those balls in the only place you CANNOT throw it. Long or outside, not short and inside. Stevie had his man beat on both plays and both balls were put in the worst possible position.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

i would have preferred a run or 2 before going for jugular but Fitz had a terrible game today and except for 80 yards on one play we only had about 40 yards rushing.

[Nostradamus]

All on Fitz. He threw those balls in the only place you CANNOT throw it. Long or outside, not short and inside. Stevie had his man beat on both plays and both balls were put in the worst possible position.

 

I mostly agree, though I will say this. He was actually getting pressure from the left side as the end split a double team and got pressure in Fitz's face, forcing him to throw off his back foot as opposed to stepping into the pass. This was in part due to the Hairston injury, as Levitre didn't have the footwork to stay with the Giants end. (Not a knock on Levitre, who, I think along with Jackson are our most valuable players so far this year.)

 

Hindsight is 20/20, but, given the circumstance, I can at least understand the opposing point of view, that Gailey was being a little too aggressive. Either way, Fiztpatrick has to find a way to not make a mistake at that point of the game.

[jkirchofer]

I just don't understand the reluctance to take a shot down field. Everyone is aware that Buffalo won't do it. The broadcasters were even discussing it before the game. Lord knows the team has a lot to prove and very little to lose at this point. But it seems like our QB is playing not to lose instead of playing to win. That last pick was such a timid throw. I guess we should just start calling him Fitzedwards. Just imagine what it will be like when the O-Line starts to let people through.

[Smears]

It is a hard loss to swallow because I feel the Bills were the better team today. I have complained of our defense after every win and loss this season. Noone should give up 300-400 yards a game every week. We had control during the end of the 4th. I expected some runs just to take time off the clock. My buddy said "Ok no picks" before that play. I wanted to smack him. I blame Fitz. But Im still behind our guy. Hope he can shake off this game after today realizing we were the better team.

[KD in CA]

As QB, Fitz has the option to throw to any of the available WRs. He's not a friggin college freshman that needs to be 'put in the situation to succeed',. he's friggin professional. To choose to go downfield and then fail to execute on the throw is 100% on Fitz. This loss was all on him....he was terrible today.

[BB2004]

Please respond to the poll above as the discussion is going on in at least 3 different thread topics.

 

The Situation: The Bills are at the Giants 27-yard line (relatively short field). There is 4:02 left in the 4th quarter, the Bills are first and ten and the score is tied at 24.

 

I think this speaks to all the plausible scenarios:

 

The Bills could possibly:

 

gain no yards, then get a 44-yard field goal attempt.

 

run some clock and score a touchdown.

 

run some clock and score a field goal.

 

lose yardage and end up punting.

 

turn the ball over on downs.

 

lose the ball on a turnover to the Giants.

 

Also, 3 plausible outcomes of the throw which was intercepted:

 

The throw could be good resulting in a touchdown.

 

The throw could result in an incompletion.

 

The throw could be underthrown and be intercepted, which happened.

 

Other possible factors:

 

Fitz had an audible (double play) option and saw man to man and chose to throw.

 

Please vote and no need to comment.

 

I really thought at that point we were going to run the ball down so there would be a few minutes left and at least have a shot to make a field goal. I didn't mind passing in that situation but the pass needs to be thrown a lot better. Make the throw so that Johnson is the only one who is able to make that catch.

[BringBackFlutie]

Man, an incomplete pass.

 

I think we should fire everyone.

 

C'mon, we all know it was a questionable call at best. If it was completed we would have all cheered.

 

It was a poor throw, but again, if it was completed, we would have all cheered.

 

I don't understand the need to burn anyone at the stake over this. Humans made mistakes. Overall both the humans in question have been doing more good than bad for this team this year. People need to calm down.

 

You're so on-point today. You're like the opposite of Fitzpatrick.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

I blame the guy who called a pass play. RUN THE DAMN BALL. At worst (by running) the Bills kick a FG!!!!! The most likley result would have been GAME OVER BILLS WIN.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Bump… for those who have not yet voted.

 

BTW, this is a private poll… no one will know how you voted.

Please respond to the poll above as the discussion is going on in at least 3 different thread topics.

 

The Situation: The Bills are at the Giants 27-yard line (relatively short field). There is 4:02 left in the 4th quarter, the Bills are first and ten and the score is tied at 24.

 

I think this speaks to all the plausible scenarios:

 

The Bills could possibly:

 

gain no yards, then get a 44-yard field goal attempt.

 

run some clock and score a touchdown.

 

run some clock and score a field goal.

 

lose yardage and end up punting.

 

turn the ball over on downs.

 

lose the ball on a turnover to the Giants.

 

Also, 3 plausible outcomes of the throw which was intercepted:

 

The throw could be good resulting in a touchdown.

 

The throw could result in an incompletion.

 

The throw could be underthrown and be intercepted, which happened.

 

Other possible factors:

 

Fitz had an audible (double play) option and saw man to man and chose to throw.

 

Please vote and no need to comment.

[bowery4]

so let me get this straight, 4 threads on the topic was too many so you started a post with a poll to stop the nonsense? I think I will start a post with a poll if there could be too many posts about a subject.

[Andrew in CA]

I voted for Fitz. Bad playcall by Gailey, I think you run the ball in that situation, especially given how the Bills had the Giants on their backs at that point (and running the clock, of course), so Gailey's fault for calling the play in the first place. However, given some stroke of luck, Stevie was open enough to make that a probable TD had Fitz thrown it 3 yards farther, so it's Fitz's fault because the play, though a bad playcall in the first place, would have been successful (or not an INT) but for Fitz's underthrow.

[BillsVet]

Fitz had already underthrown the same ball earlier, resulting in an INT. If this was Chan's call, I blame him. Players are supposed to execute, yes, but coaches are supposed to put players in positions to succeed. That call did not play to Fitz's strength.

 

Thanks for making this point. I need my QB to be more consistent on his intermediate to deep throws than Fitz was yesterday. Both interceptions were passes more than 20 yards down the sideline, which is clearly not Fitz' strength. All due respect to Johnson, Nelson, Roosevelt, and Chandler, but none are going to beat people deep. Worse still, if Fitzpatrick lacks touch on these passes it could go downhill fast unless Chan comes up with something new.

 

Until Fitzpatrick beats a few CB's in man or Cover-1, teams will keep doing what Cincinnati and NYG have done to Buffalo in the latter's two losses.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

so let me get this straight, 4 threads on the topic was too many so you started a post with a poll to stop the nonsense? I think I will start a post with a poll if there could be too many posts about a subject.

I asked people to respond to the poll so that we could:

 

a) see where opinion was and

b) get away from all the rhetoric and closed-loop, repeating arguments.

 

I even suggested to people that they simply vote and not feel obligated to comment.

 

So now that you've decided that it's worth your trouble to give me a hard time, what is your excuse for replying to a poll that you appear to deem useless?

 

What is your excuse for replying to a poll that the original poster suggested you not reply to?

 

Do you understand the difference between a poll and a topic?

 

Do you understand the difference between numbers and discussion?

 

Edited October 18, 2011 by San Jose Bills Fan

[bowery4]

I like redundancy on the message board honestly because sometimes it does lead to new avenues of thoughts on a subject and it just takes lots of discussion to get there. I think a post with a poll is still a post and therefore is going to cause more discussion and honestly I didn't vote because frankly as in a lot of polls you didn't have a chice I liked.

I see your point though and I didn't really mean to make my reply sound as sanrky as it did (sorry for that). I guess that what I meant to get at, was people can ask mods to close or merge threads that repeat the same arguments. Again San Jose, I meant no offense, like and respect you, tone just doesn't come across well in my typing sometimes.

As far as the subject of the post, I think sometimes professionals have bad days and everyone is just reading way too much into this game and Fitz's bad day. Let's put it behind us and hope it is not a recurring issue the rest of the season, which I think IS what is causing all the discussion, we are worried that Fitz didn't really take that step forward that we think he did. Actually the D and Dray-Flo are just as much or to blame as Fitz in this game IMO.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I like redundancy on the message board honestly because sometimes it does lead to new avenues of thoughts on a subject and it just takes lots of discussion to get there. I think a post with a poll is still a post and therefore is going to cause more discussion and honestly I didn't vote because frankly as in a lot of polls you didn't have a chice I liked.

I see your point though and I didn't really mean to make my reply sound as sanrky as it did (sorry for that). I guess that what I meant to get at, was people can ask mods to close or merge threads that repeat the same arguments. Again San Jose, I meant no offense, like and respect you, tone just doesn't come across well in my typing sometimes.

As far as the subject of the post, I think sometimes professionals have bad days and everyone is just reading way too much into this game and Fitz's bad day. Let's put it behind us and hope it is not a recurring issue the rest of the season, which I think IS what is causing all the discussion, we are worried that Fitz didn't really take that step forward that we think he did. Actually the D and Dray-Flo are just as much or to blame as Fitz in this game IMO.

Thanks for replying Bowery.

 

I do not like redundancy on message boards. One of my pet peeves is that people will post a response before reading an entire thread. I understand if it's a 12-page thread… obviously I wouldn't expect anyone to read the entire thing although I respect those who do.

 

But even sometimes when a thread is only 2 pages long, you see replies which clearly are made by people who didn't read through the whole thread (because for instance they'll ask a question which has already been answered or they'll make a joke that's already been made).

 

I think it's a sad statement that people are so quick to talk but so slow to listen. I think that there are probably a lot of lurkers who would have much to add if they were inclined to actually post but I believe that many of these people see the simple virtue and wisdom in listening and not talking.

 

I appreciate posters who try to add value and I don't enjoy posters who are simply repeating virtually the same thing others have already said numerous times.

 

I appreciate people who post only when they think that they're adding something of value.

 

To me the only usefulness of repetition is to get a sense of where opinions lie. And that's why I like polls because a good poll really cuts to the issue and gets rid of a lot of the superfluous crap.

 

I find that in this particular topic spanning numerous threads that almost all the responses can be broken down into about 5 standard models. You get to a point where everyone is repeating stuff that's already been said and no one is bringing anything new… and IF they are, it gets obscured in the deluge of repetitive responses.

 

Anyways I'm rambling now and proselytizing so I'd better end it.

 

Thanks again, Bowery.

 

 

[hondo in seattle]

The strengths of the Bills Offense are Jackson's runs and Fitz's short passes.

 

The weakness of the Bills is the defense.

 

With the game on the line - and running down the clock a good thing - you play to your strengths. You run. You throw short. You march methodically down the field, eat some clock and take the lead.

 

Fitz is notoriously inconsistent on long balls. That's the one call you don't make. Too risky - and scoring quick is not to our advantage.

 

However, Gailey and Fitz have us at 4-2 so life is good and I don't want to be too critical.

Edited October 18, 2011 by hondo in seattle