Fitz under pressure

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Now wait just a minute there, hoss.

 

There's definitely pressure on Fitzpatrick, and rightfully so. IMO, he could use a bit more pressure in terms of competition for the starting job, but the whole thing isn't riding on Fitz's arm.

 

I see this entire season as CHAN GAILEY'S BABY. He's the guy who's supposed to be designing this offense to cater to the strengths of it's players. Whether or not Fitz stumbles out of the gates next season is a secondary concern. I want to see how mr big-shot creative offensive guru calls the first three games. That will tell me alot about what to expect from the remaining thirteen.

 

I think it goes without saying that if we go 6-10 next season, Chan should recieve the proverbial boot. And truthfully, I don't see a new head coach keeping Fitzpatrick as his starter. No way.

 

I find myself in wholehearted agreement with your major point. Item: both the '9ers and the Texans adapted their game - the only two playoff teams who actually ran more plays than they passed.

The '9ers shifted the offense in the offseason to something Alex Smith could get comfortable with, and it paid dividends in the form of a trip to the NFC championship. The Texans changed their offense in response to...wait for it...in-season injuries costing them not one, but both of their QB.

 

Chan couldn't figure out how to get Spiller any snaps until Fred went down. He couldn't figure out how to adjust when Fitz took a helmet to the ribs and had trouble breathing for 3 games. I could go one but why, I'm clearly preaching to the choir here.

 

As for Fitzpatrick, whether a new coach would keep him or not depends on 3 factors 1) how he does this next season 2) what are the alternatives 3) how astute and open-minded is said hypothetical new coach - not because an astute open minded coach would keep Fitz, but because an astute open-minded coach will want to see for himself what he's got, just as Harbaugh did with Alex Smith.

[Floridabillsfan1]

I wish we took a QB in the 3 rd round this year . I feel we should draft a prospect every year until we get our guy . Nothing against tj graham but ....... Broncos took one early with Manning on their roster while we sit on our hands .

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

That's the beauty of this season.... Everything is in place. We should finally get the answer to the question this year...." can fitz lead this team to a winning season.

Edited May 28, 2012 by over 20 years of fanhood

[Hapless Bills Fan]

I wish we took a QB in the 3 rd round this year . I feel we should draft a prospect every year until we get our guy . Nothing against tj graham but ....... Broncos took one early with Manning on their roster while we sit on our hands .

 

I understand your viewpoint. In terms of NFL success, however, late 2nd round or 3rd round QB who turn into elite QB are relatively rare - I think as rare as late-round or FA QB or rarer. From the 3rd round... Schaub - and who else? Jury's still out on Dalton. From the 4th round - do you like Orton? As late round or UDFA, Brady, Romo and perhaps Matt Moore? Matt Flynn?

 

I think there's something to be said for the viewpoint, when drafting a QB either Go Big (ie 1st round) or stay home.

 

That said, I think the Bills were looking at 1 or 2 QB and would gladly have drafted one of them if the cards fell right. I think the Redskins snagging Cousins in the 4th was a shock. OK, it shocked me anyway. And they "kicked the tires" on a couple of rookies. So it's not that they aren't mindful of picking up a dev. QB, they just haven't found one they like.

[Gugny]

When are my fellow Buffalo Bills fans here going to realize that Ryan Fitzpatrick is NOT a starting NFL quarterback? This team goes NOWHERE with him as QB.

 

OK, well maybe not nowhere but certainly not deep in the playoffs. Not at all!! He's just WAY too easy for opposing defensive coordinators to game plan against.

 

The guy's just not going to be there for us when it counts - in the (possible) playoffs!

 

Wake up, people!!

I'm so confused. If Fitz isn't a starting NFL QB, then how, pray tell, did Stevie Johnson amass back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons? Why is there a number "23" under the TD category for Fitz? Maybe I'm just an idiot, I don't know. But 23 TDs and nearly 4,000 yards on a team that had the worst defense in the league and an offense that was decimated by injuries ... oh, yeah, and playing half the season with broken ribs ... call me stupid, but that sounds like a pretty goddamned good NFL QB to me.

[Optometric Insight]

That's the beauty of this season.... Everything is in place. We should finally get the answer to the question this year...." can fitz lead this team to a winning season.

 

But if it doesn't work out for Fitz, do we give him another year? This is the first year he has an entire off-season to prepare for starting for the Buffalo Bills.

[Magox]

A fast start and solid contributions by all Bills players offense and defense will certanly help. I am a supporter of Fitz. But if he falters he will take the team with him. Does he have a supper short leash? 0-2 pull him? Or ride the magic show all year long? Here is a good articlhttp://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8294f7b1/article/ryan-fitzpatrick-faces-pivotal-seasone about him. I am sure most of you have read it.

Yeah, I believe Fitzpatrick has shown that he CAN get the job done. Having said that I do have my reservations, first I noticed towards the latter half of the year, that his confidence had gone down, you could see it in his body language. There were countless instances where I would see him walking onto the field before a drive with his head held down.

 

So he's gonna have to get his MOJO back, thats first and foremost. The other area that I have concerns with him is his deep ball. Simply put, it's awful. I'm hoping he practices that long ball a good bit during the offseason, there were numerous opportunities for key plays during games and TD's that were squandered because of his woeful inaccurate deep ball.

 

 

In regards to his "leash", well I think without a doubt that having Vince Young on the team made his leash that much shorter. It's tough to say when they would yank him, I don't believe you can accurately put a number on it. There are many variables that I believe Chan would look at, such as Wins/Losses, his performance with INT's/TDs, his accuracy, how the team is driving down the field and body language.

 

I'd say that he is my biggest concern for the year for the Bills.

[3rdand12]

At least this year if he falls apart as he did last year we have someone who can spell him. That might be good for Fitz too. If he gets dinged he wont have to carry the whole load. He did lose his confidence last year Magox and not many folks mentioned that, but i think that is part of why Gailey left him in and showed that he still beleived Fitz was the guy for Fitzes sake. Kinda screwed the team over but otherwise i dont know why Chan left him in and or did not shift emphasis to the run.

All that said i think Ryan will be much better this year. he has time to think about last season, and he now has a qb coach/tech that i suspect is really going to help our team.

[mead107]

If there is any improvement at all, it is a win win situation.

[3rdand12]

agreed^

[Hapless Bills Fan]

At least this year if he falls apart as he did last year we have someone who can spell him. That might be good for Fitz too. If he gets dinged he wont have to carry the whole load.

 

Amoung other things, it's hard for me to believe that a guy might not heal from broken ribs a bit faster if he can spend a couple weeks letting them heal, instead of having 300 lb beasts slam him to the ground and dive on top of him.

 

I do hope VY picks it up to the point where he can come in and shine, I truly do. (Based on last year in Philly, it is not a sure bet though)

[3rdand12]

well we can hope cant we?

[Santana]

It's the final year in Gailey and Nix's three year plan that they stated they had in mind. I was not at all in favor of the way Fitz played once the teams caught on to the 7yd slant patterns on every single passing down. Last year Buffalo exceeded expectations to a lot of people anyways with just 6 wins. It was a season with basically no off season at all so I think with extended time at his disposal with the players and rookies especially I have faith that Gailey will be able to get the most out of his guys. Gailey should be a lot more complex and versed in his play calling this year. I really hope coach Lee working on Fitz's mechanics will show, he needs a hell of a lot of work especially on deep passes and anticipating where his receivers are going to be. On more than a few occasions his passes were behind receivers which end up in the trailing defenders hands. The thing that always concerned me with Fitzpatrick is the way that he handles himself when he throw's a pick or the other team is pulling away. Instead of being fired up and pissed off and rallying the troops he holds his head down and continues his downward spiral of horrible play. If he can just work on a couple things to bring his play to a consistent level of play we will win 9 plus games. GO BILLS!!!

[RevWarRifleman]

Is the season squarely on him? No. There's 10 other guys on offense that's responsible for making plays, plus 11 on defense, plus special teams. The responsiblity is squarely on each & every one of them, too.