JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yjpANEVexhY Trent was never the same after this hit. Do we think the London Fletcher hit on Fitz in Toronto last year might've had the same effect? He never was the most accurate passer but the deep ball pretty much completely disappeared from his "aresenal" after this happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acantha Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 (edited) Trent was never the same after this hit. Do we think the London Fletcher hit on Fitz in Toronto last year might've had the same effect? He never was the most accurate passer but the deep ball pretty much completely disappeared from his "aresenal" after this happened. I actually believe this hit derailed Trent a lot more than most people. Everyone points to it just being an excuse, but the difference before and after that hit were obvious. As for Fitz, I didn't really notice the same change directly after London's hit, but there's no doubt that there was something off about his play this year. Of course he was never a great QB, but he used to be so willing to fling the ball around all over the field. Yes, he used to throw INT's, but he also made some crazy completions, and plenty of down the field throws. This season he seemed hesitant and more erratic than usual. I've had it in the back of my mind that it had to do with the QB "coaching" he had this off-season. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it put him off his game. Edited December 31, 2012 by Faustus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 (edited) It seems like it changed something last season. The change I noticed is last season we heard a lot about how fitz, stevie, etc were all hanging out together and putting in extra work. We didn't seem to hear about that this offseason. Fitz also got a great contract around the same time. Edited December 31, 2012 by jeremy2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 id buy it, if his play actually changed. hes been remarkably consistent before and after that play though. some good days, some bad days, not enough skill to do it week in and week out. people need to go back and watch those 5 games last year because they were not near as impressive as some remember them to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterpan Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Trent played lights out the next week at SD i believe it was. hard to blame the hit when he had one of his better games the very next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Trent played lights out the next week at SD i believe it was. hard to blame the hit when he had one of his better games the very next week. someone with some kind of insider info has since stated that after that SD game, Cinco recieved another concussion in practice the following week. Take it fwiw, I have no link but I know I've seen it here before. Maybe someone who said it can come forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 someone with some kind of insider info has since stated that after that SD game, Cinco recieved another concussion in practice the following week. Take it fwiw, I have no link but I know I've seen it here before. Maybe someone who said it can come forward. I heard the same story. After the Adrian Wilson hit, Trent was concussed again, this time in practice, but it was the week after the Chargers game where he played so well. He appeared on the injury report but not with a concussion. According to this story (if I remember it correctly) the Bills didn't disclose the practice concussion and Trent didn't miss any games. He was subsequently concussed a third time in the game against the Jets. So according to this story from an insider, he suffered 3 concussions within one months time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterpan Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 someone with some kind of insider info has since stated that after that SD game, Cinco recieved another concussion in practice the following week. Take it fwiw, I have no link but I know I've seen it here before. Maybe someone who said it can come forward. That could be, I would think it more likely happened during the SD game tho. I would be skeptical of it happening in practice where players know not to touch the QB ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 That could be, I would think it more likely happened during the SD game tho. I would be skeptical of it happening in practice where players know not to touch the QB ever. Unless breaking his leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealityCheck Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 As much as people would like to rationalize their misplaced faith in Fitz and blame his play and Trent's on taking big hits, it just isn't true. Fitz is historically bad against the blitz and tight man coverage while being above average against soft zones and no blitzers. Trent was actually money against the blitz and man coverage while mysteriously being frozen by defenses that would just drop 8 into coverage with him checking down or getting a "coverage" sack because of indecisiveness. 2 completely different QBs that can only handle one half of an NFL defense's playbook while being predictably dismal at the other half. I will never ever forget being at the Browns game years age and watching the Browns just drop 8 every time and Trent just sitting there in the pocket looking lost while a younger Stevie Johnson playing the slot got open every time and Trent not once looking his way. And that was the recipe for getting Trent out of the league as a starter candidate. Why bother blitzing when you can just drop 7 or 8 and play the run first and tackle the RB he just checked down to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevWarRifleman Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Ya know, that's an interesting question. One can see parallels in their play after their respective hits. But I think Fitz's play, especially this season, was more about: A. poor (repetitive) play calling by Gailey, B. poor throwing mechanics by Fitz, C. Zero deep-ball accuracy by Fitz, Edwards' play? Yeh I think the hit had an effect. But I also think part of the problem was poor tutelege in bringing along a young QB. I remember the Jauron offenses AND his O coordinators. TERRIBLE!!! Just plane TERRIBLE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Very good point. Fitz lost the swagger he had prior to the hit. It is not the first time (ala Edwards) where a QB lost confidence after a big hit. Once they start to flinch and get happy feet/bad mechanics it is all over. Too bad for Fitz that it ended a solid career and turned him into an object of scorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maury Ballstein Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Fitz was never good Chans gone, wannys gone, fitz is on deck Likeable yea, we all wanted him to be good but ultimately he's a solid backup......just a lil regression to the mean IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasBB Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 I actually believe this hit derailed Trent a lot more than most people. Everyone points to it just being an excuse, but the difference before and after that hit were obvious. As for Fitz, I didn't really notice the same change directly after London's hit, but there's no doubt that there was something off about his play this year. Of course he was never a great QB, but he used to be so willing to fling the ball around all over the field. Yes, he used to throw INT's, but he also made some crazy completions, and plenty of down the field throws. This season he seemed hesitant and more erratic than usual. I've had it in the back of my mind that it had to do with the QB "coaching" he had this off-season. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it put him off his game. I've often thought this, too. I question how much bringing in the mechanics coach really helped Fitz. If anything, it seemed to set him back. I have to believe last year's issues was mostly from playing hurt (as opposed to playing scared like Trent did) and I think this year's issues could be tied to the change in QB coach. Fitz definitely regressed for whatever reason. Also, I really liked George Cortez as the QB coach -- hated to see him leave for the HC job in Hamilton and I wonder if that created more of a vacuum than people believed it to. I still want the Bills to bring in a top young QB prospect, but I'd have no problem with Fitz taking on a backup role or given the chance to compete outright for the job again, but no way have it handed to him -- he'd need to earn it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonborn10 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Fitz iniially threw a decent deep abll but was terribly inaccurate on medium length throws. I would argue he is greatly improved on his short to medium throws especially up the seam. Whatever he has changed mechanics wise has totally messed up his deep ball. He misses wide open guys by several yards. Not finger tip stuff - several yards. He overthrows Spiller! Is this fixable I do not know. As for the hit affecting him I think that is non-sense. Even the local media who relish in piling on Fitz have written and spoken about his toughness and the shots he has taken. Fitz will be the QB week 1 next year no doubt about it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombstone56 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 SIMPLE ANSWER TO THAT IS " YES " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuncha Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Nope - his heavy wallet ruined him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Beard Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Trent Edwards played scared after getting hit in the head twice within a three game stretch. Fitz didn't seem to play scared after the London Fletcher hit, but his accuracy went from bad to worse and he never seemed the same, even a year later. Was he just always that bad, or did the hit by Fletcher cause some sort of musculoskeletal injury that has had a lasting effect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Blizzard Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yjpANEVexhY Trent was never the same after this hit. Do we think the London Fletcher hit on Fitz in Toronto last year might've had the same effect? He never was the most accurate passer but the deep ball pretty much completely disappeared from his "aresenal" after this happened. I think Trent was traumatized by waking up with a big black man on top of him. Just sayin'.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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