San-O Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 you must be a traditionalist. i prefer fewer tds, more ints from my quarterback. He led the league in INT's, so I don't know what more you can ask really. I would say fewer soul crushing, game losing, horribly timed INT's would be my choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockinon Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 The answer to the OPs original question is simple. Fitz just needs to keep doing what he is doing right now. He is becoming very familiar with his receivers, learning their traits and how to get the ball to them. He has accepted that he has flaws and is taking the advice of his coach by trying to improve his mechanics. He is spreading the ball around and not putting all of his eggs in one basket, so to speak. Fitz knows how to use his strengths(like his ability to read a defense and his ability to get rid of the ball quickly). He has strengths that he can capitalize on and he has weaknesses that he can improve upon. He is taking a proactive approach to improving his game and is simply going forward, one step at a time, one day at a time. The whole stats thing is really not relevant. He is improving his game by putting in the work and that is what is most important. Stats? Those will improve with the work that he is doing right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justice Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 After taking a look at Drew Brees' first 57 games played in the NFL, his play looked an awful lot like our very own Ryan Fitzpatrick. He was slightly better than Fitz, I'm not trying to say that Ryan will be the next Drew, but if #14 truly works on his mechanics and it actually helps him then he can take his game to the next level. In Brees' first 57 games played he averaged an 84.6 QB rating, Ryan is at 75. Completion percentage is at 62% compared to Ryan's 59.2%. And finally, int's per game stands at 0.89/game for Brees and 1.14/game for Fitz. Yes indeed, Drew Brees was ahead of Fitzy in all three categories, but not by much. I don't expect Ryan to be no where near the QB that Drew is now, there are other variables that go into that such as domed stadium vs outdoors Buffalo, offensive scheme, and personnel, but it still gives me hope that a QB can improve significantly after his first 60 games played in the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Landing Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 In response to this, and many other threads, I have to ask: is there a difference between an "excuse" and a "reason?" At the beginning of last season, Fitz looked great. He looked like a franchise QB. He got a contract like a franchise QB. He started getting press and people like Jaws and Jon Grudin started singing his praise. Then his play fell off and he was back to being, "average at best," "inconsistent," "Buffalo needs to resolve their QB issues," etc, etc. etc... Even people on these boards are repeating these phrases- people who presumably are paying attention. There seems to be a near obsession with the zero tolerance concept of "no excuses" that causes willful amnesia. OK, I get it. No excuses. Fitz never made excuses. He said all the right things: "it all rests on me...," "I need to elevate my play...," "no excuses...," etc. BUT... as fans (and as amateur analysts), can we not agree that there is a difference between a reason and an excuse? There were reasons for Fitz's play dropping off. They are obvious. They are well documented. And, it's foolish to discount them all for the sake of the phrase, "no excuses." Let's see Brady, Brees, or even Ben Rothlisberger play with cracked ribs and missing key players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA Bills Fan Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Consistent OL protection, better field position (from D), technique improvement/coaching, playing with lead vs from behind will lead to less risky throws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Just to recap: 1) Fitz played from week 4 on with broken ribs. 2) Fitz lost Fred Jackson in week 10. 3) From training camp on Fitz lost receivers such as Donald Jones, Marcus Easley, and Roscoe Parrish and Scott Chandler (not to mention Lee Evans). 4) Stevie Johnson played all season with a strained groin muscle. 5) There was a rash of injuries on the offensive line to Eric Wood, D Bell, and Urbik which caused the team to have to shuffle the O-line on an almost weekly basis. As someone has pointed out numerous times (I think it was Hopeful), if Fitz completed 1 pass per game more last season, his completion percentage would have gone from a solid 62.0% to an outstanding 64.9%. Considering the above five factors all conspired against Fitz, I don't consider it optimistic at all to expect a big season from Fitz… and that's not even considering how much a dramatically improved defense will help the offense in terms of field position, time of possession by the other team, and takeaways in our favor… or the fact that we have a new QB coach who will work on improving Fitz' mechanics. In fact I would go so far as to say that I think it's naive to think that Fitz won't be an improved quarterback in 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optometric Insight Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Just to recap: 1) Fitz played from week 4 on with broken ribs. 2) Fitz lost Fred Jackson in week 10. 3) From training camp on Fitz lost receivers such as Donald Jones, Marcus Easley, and Roscoe Parrish and Scott Chandler (not to mention Lee Evans). 4) Stevie Johnson played all season with a strained groin muscle. 5) There was a rash of injuries on the offensive line to Eric Wood, D Bell, and Urbik which caused the team to have to shuffle the O-line on an almost weekly basis. As someone has pointed out numerous times (I think it was Hopeful), if Fitz completed 1 pass per game more last season, his completion percentage would have gone from a solid 62.0% to an outstanding 64.9%. Considering the above five factors all conspired against Fitz, I don't consider it optimistic at all to expect a big season from Fitz… and that's not even considering how much a dramatically improved defense will help the offense in terms of field position, time of possession by the other team, and takeaways in our favor… or the fact that we have a new QB coach who will work on improving Fitz' mechanics. In fact I would go so far as to say that I think it's naive to think that Fitz won't be an improved quarterback in 2012. Great recap but didn't Fitz injure his ribs on the shot from London in week 8? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Great recap but didn't Fitz injure his ribs on the shot from London in week 8? Whoopsie… you're right, TI. Week 8 it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just in Atlanta Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Higher completion ratio. Shorter beard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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