Did Bledsoe's performance&production improve 03-04

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Cliff notes begin : The question is whether Bledsoe and the O can continue to improve in 2005 from 2004 at the same rate they improved from 2003 to 2004. I doubt it because opponents will have the tape on what we did well in 2004 and have a blueprint on how good teams can stop it from the Steelers game. Yet, I doubted that MM/Clements could even pul off what they accomplished this year and they did.

 

In addition to their being some possibility (though not a likelihood) they can continue to improve Bledsoe in 2005, with TDs comments expressing inadequacy as a judgment of Bledsoe'as 2004 play and stating that all starters must prove themselves again, there is an opening for JP to prove himself on the field. There is also a possibility this may happen (though again not a likelihood). The best thing to me is that I really believe in the Bills braintrust sticking with Bledsoe if they judge he can win OR going with Losman instead if they think he can win.

 

I am comfortable with there only being a 1 out of 3 chance that Losman will be adequate (hypothetically as this is not the place I want to debate Losman's chances) and there being only a 1 out of 3 chance of Bledsoe being adequate (again hypothetically as I do not want to descend into this debate of the future either) if that gives us a 2 out of 3 chance of the Bills having an adequate QB next year because though I do not have faith in Bledsoe or Losman being up to the job. I do have faith in MM/Clements/Wyche and the gang making the right choice.

 

Cliff notes end

 

 

This is the same old question, but perhaps folks may be able to say the same things they seem intent on saying taking this from a new angle.

 

I think a couple of things are true and folks can argue against them if you want but if you do I think your arguments will not reflect reality:

 

1. Bledsoe was inadquate in terms of his play and production in 2004.

 

I think that assessment of play and assessment of production are intrinsically linked but are two different facets of the same thing and most accurately are talked about in terms of these differences if one chooses to go in depth. An athleres play is how he performed in terms of the mechanics of the game. An athelete's production is how this play turned out in terms of moving the ball, scoring point, etc.

 

My sense is that both Bledsoe's play in terms of how he read defenses, did his check-off on progressions, attempted to throw passes, ran plays, etcetera was inadequate in the 2004 season and his production in terms of how it worked in terms of the Bills moving the ball and scoring offensive points was also inadequate.

 

Perhaps, if we had actually made the playoffs, or the offense was the lead and a reliable part of our team scoring points and commanding field position during the streak or the O had put enough points on the board at home against Jax that the D could not have blown the game on 3 poor plays on the last drive I would judge him as having produced adequately, but he didn't and we didn't.

 

2. Bledsoe's play and production improved a lot when comparing 2003 and 2994.

 

In particular Bledsoe's production in 2004 improved tremendously as the team was able to put up a winning record of 9-7 instead of a losing record of 6-10. This increase in production in my view was not primarily diue to better play by Bledsoe, but because Clements ran a better O scheme which did not depend upon great play using the extraordinary arm of Bledsoe to gain production for the O or for the team. The better O production came from using Bledsoe as a change-up rather than relying upon him and relying upon him in a predictable way as Killidrive did. The better team production came from better production by the ST and D which put new-found points on the board and won the field position battle in many facets of the game.

 

Perhaps most impressive to me as a sports watcher is that in addition to this improvement in production by the Bills because the team raised its play across the board and the offense was operated in a run first and then run again manner that had better production, I would also note that from my view Bledsoe played better ar an athlete in 2004 than he did in 2003.

 

Mind you, this is not saying a world-beating thing in that he improved from being horrendous and virtually totally bad in 2003 to become "merely" inadequte in 2004. However, I think that the anti-Bledsoe crusaders simply destroy their case and arguments by ignoring the fact (from my view) that Bledsoe's play improved from 2003 to 2004 even though in the end his level of personal production (and thus production of the team who he handles the ball for a lot) proved to be inadequate in 2004.

 

In general you cannot teach an old dog new tricks (though the changes and effectiveness we have seen in many athletes who learn how to deal with and actually perform better after Tommy John surgery and the best athletes who deal with the reality of losing a step by using their experience to save two steps happems all the time in sports), but I think the key to imprioved play and production by Bledsoe in 2004 compared to 2003 is that Clements found a way to re-employ old tricks that Bledsoe had used when he experienced success in this league under Parcells and in a must-win game Belicheck.

 

I argue that we saw improvement in Bledsoe's play in these specific areas.

 

1. MM/Clements used their alarm clock to secure the same results Parcells did when he would repeatedly yell just throw the damn ball at Bledsoe when he would hang onto it oo long and go into his pat-pat-pat mode.

 

One of the clear Bledsoe problems under Kevin Killdrive was that he was allowed to hold the ball too long as he waited for the receiver to get a little room so he could use his rifle arm to deliver the ball quickly as few can. MM/Clements seem to greatly improve on this issue by consistently reminding Bledsoe and developing the game habit in him of delivering the ball with 4 seconds of the snap. He had learned and responded well to this lesson before under Parcells so this was not a new trick. I think he played better than he did in 2003 by getting rid of the ball quicker and this can be seen in the statistic of the team giving up far fewer sacks in 2004.

 

2. MM/Clements realized that just because Bledsoe isn't at his best when running this does not mean he cannot run at all.

 

I think folks buying into the statue argument really hurt the Bills production. No one will ever mistake Bledsoe for John Elway. Bledsoe clearly throws more accurately from the pocket rather than rolling out. However, if Bledsoe never runs this only allows the LBs and the safeties to sellout completely on the blitz and not worry about the opening they have left in the center of the field when they go wide or hit a particular gap on the blitz. Bledsoe is a big man and though he will never win a footrace, he can pick up 6 yards + on a well run QB draw. Running the QB draw is not a tough read because if a safety drops back in a 1 deep zone, an OLB is left covering the TE alone or goes out to the flat with an RB in motion and the MLB cheats up to blitz into the gap left of the center then Bledsoe merely runs into the gap to the right of center and picks up 5 yards before he is hit.

 

Further, on plays like the Bledsoe TD pass to Evans against SF, Bledsoe hit this toss on a rollout. If we call the rollout on 2nd down which gives us a play even if the pass is incomplete. Bledssoe knows he is not the brightest bulb in the pack and like most atletes he will follow orders and knows his NFL success comes not from freelancing (he ain't Michael Vick) but from doing the same thing with the same timing every time. If he is ordered to throw it away if Evans is covered he will throw it away and move on to 3rd down.

 

Bledsoe did a fine job on us refinding the QB running game and the occaisional rollout during th streak.

 

3. Bledsoe was not asked to make a lot of choices and this showed in improved offensive production.

 

I think one of the best moves we made this year is seen in Bledsoe saying that we have limited the number and types of audibles he can call. By doing this, we simplified the offense for him and the receivers. We reduced our tendency to be pass happy because not only was Clements less reliant on calling the pass than Killdrive, but Bledsoe could not change the few run calls into passes because he thought he saw something or like any athlete was more willing to rely on his arm than on the RBs legs and he might change the play to a pass.

 

4. Bledsoe ran some great fakes.

 

From plays like Bledsoe sold the opponents that he was going to run a QB sneak and then turned and flipped it to WM who ran for a score to Bledsoe selling the hand-off to WM but still keeping his eyes in the receivers so he could receive the flip back and throw downfield to an open Evans. Bledsoe did a great job on these fakes. The trick play playcalling of Clements/MM was a new wrinkle and beautifully executed by Bledsoe.

 

Am I saying Bledsoe was great in 2004? No. HE WAS INADEQUATE. However, did he improve his play over a year ago. He sure did and for folks not to acknowledge this drives their arguments further away from reality. It's simply untrue to argue that Bledsoe never won anywhere (he has the deserved AFC Champion ring under Parcells and the deserved SB champion ring under BB to prove he has won big games in his career). It is simply untrue to argue that his play did not improve in 2004 compared to 2003 if only because he stunk so badly running the Killdrive O in 2003.

 

To argue this simply makes you wrong and ignores reality. The important thing here is to understand that just because Bledsoe has won big games before and he improved this past season this does not mean that he is necessarily the right QB for the Bills in 2005. In fact, I hope to gosh and I think there is a good chance that JP Losman will have developed enough that he will gain the Bills QB starting job in 2005 if he show enough in the "voluntary" mini-camps and in the pre-season to meet TDs challenge and win the job.

 

I was impressed with Bledsoe in 2004, because if I were in charge I would have cut him and expected the 2004 Bills under his leadership to be much like the 2003 Bills under his leadership. However, the 2004 Bills turned out to be much improved in ST plsy, in turnovers and to run a much more effective offense in 2004 under Clements than the 2003 version under Killdrive which could go not simply multiple quarters but even multiple games without the O scoring a TD.

 

The question is whether Bledsoe and the O can continue to improve in 2005 from 2004 at the same rate they improved from 2003 to 2004. I doubt it because opponents will have the tape on what we did well in 2004 and have a blueprint on how good teams can stop it from the Steelers game. Yet, I doubted that MM/Clements could even pul off what they accomplished this year and they did.

 

In addition to their being some possibility (though not a likelihood) they can continue to improve Bledsoe in 2005, with TDs comments expressing inadequacy as a judgment of Bledsoe'as 2004 play and stating that all starters must prove themselves again, there is an opening for JP to prove himself on the field. There is also a possibility this may happen (though again not a likelihood). The best thing to me is that I really believe in the Bills braintrust sticking with Bledsoe if they judge he can win OR going with Losman instead if they think he can win.

 

I am comfortable with there only being a 1 out of 3 chance that Losman will be adequate (hypothetically as this is not the place I want to debate Losman's chances) and there being only a 1 out of 3 chance of Bledsoe being adequate (again hypothetically as I do not want to descend into this debate of the future either) if that gives us a 2 out of 3 chance of the Bills having an adequate QB next year because though I do not have faith in Bledsoe or Losman being up to the job. I do have faith in MM/Clements/Wyche and the gang making the right choice.

[nodnarb]

the short version of all this is

 

NO

[Bill from NYC]

Previous Slams:

 

1) "Couldn't win on the road."

This year he did (4 road wins) but it doesn't count because he had "good field position."

 

2) "Cant win a big game"

Won 6 in a row. A loss in any one of these games would have eliminated the team. This doesn't count because the "opponents sucked."

 

3) Bad stats:

They too improved, but it doesn't count because he had "no 300 yard games."

 

4) Not a leader:

He declared the Bills were "his team" in 05. Doesn't count, in fact he is an a-hole for saying that.

 

5) Cant beat good teams:

Defeated a losing wildcard team, and 2 teams that advanced in the playoffs. Could have had another win (vs the jests) but the defense collapsed with approx. 2 minutes to play. This doesn't count because playoff wins notwithstanding, these teams suck.

 

I dont know, did he improve?

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

the short version of all this is

 

NO

201862[/snapback]

nod (and others)-

 

Do you have belef in MM and the Bills braintrust to make the right decision or at least the best decision they can make regarding QB and how do you think that decision will work?

 

Right now I think the Bills have DB as their #1 but have announced and created the pressure on him to earn the job for 2005 which will give JP the opening to push for the starters; job in the "voluntary" minicamps and pre-season.

 

If JP shows well in practice and plays well in pre-season I do not think this can or will be hidden and if Bledsoe does not play well the only way to keep Bledsoe in the job will be for the braintrust and Bledsoe's teammates to push to keep him there (which they show no willngness to do in the face of poor Bledsoe performance or good JP performance).

 

In terms of what will happen, it really depends.

 

It depends upon how diligent JP gas been in becoming a vet rather than a rookie. His on field play improved in his brief appearances and he is clearly a good enough athlete that though it is necessary to play against pro athletes and to see Ds over Teague's back if he has learned pro offenses and defenses and downloaded well from Wyche I think he can learn to produce quickly and can be productive this year if he is good enough.

 

It depends on how good Clements/MM really are at the demonstrated ability they have shown to run and develop Os that revive failed QBs. I was pretty much a non-believer in MM/Clements but they certainly revived the play of a failed Stewart and Maddox and I think they demonstrably improved Bledsoe's play and production from horrendous in 2003 up to inadequate but more productive this year.

 

Squeezing additional improvement and production out of Bledsoe this year strikes me as a difficult thing to do, but MM/Clements proved me wrong this year so I'm not stupid enough to say doing as well this year is impossible.

[crackur]

yeah anyone can learn an entire new offense in a season

[Dawgg]

Did he improve?

 

Absolutely. But then again, considering his pathetic showing a year ago, there really was no direction to go but UP.

 

That said, there are two problems that Bledsoe has that I think necessitate a replacement:

 

1. Lack of Accuracy. While he throws an excellent deep ball, his short to intermediate passes get erratic at times. I was at the Oakland game and all his short throws were horrible. Against Pittsburgh, there were at least 3 balls that were thrown directly to the opposition. He even gift-wrapped a pass to Troy Brown for old time's sake. I do love his deep ball, however. But a deep ball alone won't cut it in Mularkey's offense.

 

2. Does not take care of the ball. Only 4 quarterbacks in the NFL had more turnovers than he did.

 

Regarding his wins on the road this season, I was impressed that he played reasonably well in Ciny and Seattle, both tough places to play.

 

In terms of leadership, just don't go there. Most losses aren't only his fault, but some of them were. And when they were, he rarely stood up and took accountability for them. It was excuse after excuse. Saying "this is my team in '05," I liken that to Travis saying "I'm a starter" -- and Bill, I know how you feel about that one.

 

Previous Slams:

 

1) "Couldn't win on the road."

This year he did (4 road wins) but it doesn't count because he had "good field position."

 

2) "Cant win a big game"

Won 6 in a row. A loss in any one of these games would have eliminated the team. This doesn't count because the "opponents sucked."

 

3) Bad stats:

They too improved, but it doesn't count because he had "no 300 yard games."

 

4) Not a leader:

He declared the Bills were "his team" in 05. Doesn't count, in fact he is an a-hole for saying that.

 

5) Cant beat good teams:

Defeated a losing wildcard team, and 2 teams that advanced in the playoffs. Could have had another win (vs the jests) but the defense collapsed with approx. 2 minutes to play. This doesn't count because playoff wins notwithstanding, these teams suck.

 

I dont know, did he improve?

201876[/snapback]

[HOF]

Previous Slams:

 

1) "Couldn't win on the road."

This year he did (4 road wins) but it doesn't count because he had "good field position."

 

2) "Cant win a big game"

Won 6 in a row. A loss in any one of these games would have eliminated the team. This doesn't count because the "opponents sucked."

 

3) Bad stats:

They too improved, but it doesn't count because he had "no 300 yard games."

 

4) Not a leader:

He declared the Bills were "his team" in 05. Doesn't count, in fact he is an a-hole for saying that.

 

5) Cant beat good teams:

Defeated a losing wildcard team, and 2 teams that advanced in the playoffs. Could have had another win (vs the jests) but the defense collapsed with approx. 2 minutes to play. This doesn't count because playoff wins notwithstanding, these teams suck.

 

I dont know, did he improve?

201876[/snapback]

 

This is an excellently laid out argument. I am a big, big Drew fan, therefore let me chime in: Drew has a problem "risiing to the occasion" and has atendency to "force things". In my opinion, if these were non issues, he wouldn;t take the abuse that he takes!

 

Do the Bill shave abetter chnace to make the playooffs next year with Losamn rather than Drew........I really don;t think so!!!!!

[Hardy Pyle]

Who cares if he improved. His performance is not acceptable. Looking at an 11 year vets improvement on the down side of his career is comical. Next, Dallas fans will be wondering if VINNY will improve next year?? Duh, he'll be the same slow Vinny just another year slower.

 

We need to move in a new direction, lets do it sooner rather than later. Who cares if we go 8-8, 9-7, 10-6 with Drew next year. We won't win the superbowl with him. Unless we hand it off every play. I don't think we're asking alot from our QB position, that's why I don't think a learning JP will be that much of a drop off.

 

Heck, Matthews looked better than Drew. Put him in for all I care. Just not Drew.

[JohninMinn.]

All that can be summed up with two numbers. 9 and a 7.

[Bill from NYC]

Did he improve?

 

Absolutely.  But then again, considering his pathetic showing a year ago, there really was no direction to go but UP.

 

That said, there are two problems that Bledsoe has that I think necessitate a replacement:

 

1. Lack of Accuracy.  While he throws an excellent deep ball, his short to intermediate passes get erratic at times. I was at the Oakland game and all his short throws were horrible.  Against Pittsburgh, there were at least 3 balls that were thrown directly to the opposition.  He even gift-wrapped a pass to Troy Brown for old time's sake.  I do love his deep ball, however.  But a deep ball alone won't cut it in Mularkey's offense.

 

2. Does not take care of the ball.  Only 4 quarterbacks in the NFL had more turnovers than he did.

 

Regarding his wins on the road this season, I was impressed that he played reasonably well in Ciny and Seattle, both tough places to play. 

 

In terms of leadership, just don't go there.  Most losses aren't only his fault, but some of them were. And when they were, he rarely stood up and took accountability for them. It was excuse after excuse.  Saying "this is my team in '05," I liken that to Travis saying "I'm a starter" -- and Bill, I know how you feel about that one. 

202155[/snapback]

 

Since you brought it up, I have a few more points that I want to briefly address...

 

1) McNally

I was on this board before the season doubting that he could help the misfit Buffalo Bills offensive line, but you know what? He did! He turned an utter, sickening disgrace into an average unit, but it took a few games, would you agree?

 

2) Mike Williams

He came into camp as a fat, third string bag of sh--, but ended the season as a decent RT. He played poorly vs. Pitt when CV went down, but all in all, he improved as the season went on. Still on the same page?

 

3) Travis Henry

 

You see, this is what floors me. Travis had 2,700 yards in 2 seasons. He is lauded for this. Drew has more than 39,000 total yards. Nobody cares.

All but about a dozen of Drew's sacks happened when TH was the starter. The only "hater" who acknowledged this was BFII. Travis, despite his good numbers in the past, was sliding on his ass on crucial plays, dropping passes, missing blocks, and sulking. When MaGahee was inserted, the Bills improved ten fold.

 

As you can see, all of this was happening early in the season. The 0-4 start can be attributed to the above more than to Drew alone. My point is that Drew, despite his limitations, played well enough to take the Bills to the playoffs.

Haters can point fingers as they will, but there are other directions at which to point.

[30dive]

[JP-era]

I don't have faith in Bledsoe period.

Its not the mediocre part that bothers me so much about Bledsoe, its the way he breaks down in big games that really gets to me and the reason why he shouldn't be the quarterback for this team(Or any team, IMO) next year.

201851[/snapback]

 

 

My hangup with him is that he cant seem to beat the Pats. I dont know what planet many here live on, but if you want the best chance to get into and win the playoffs, you win your division and get home-filed advantage. The Pats OWN drew at this point and I dont see this changing. If we want to win our division, we must head in a different direction. Screw the wildcard, I want to win the damn division!

 

Does anyone truly believe Drew can win the division for us?

[JP-era]

Since you brought it up, I have a few more points that I want to briefly address...

 

1) McNally

I was on this board before the season doubting that he could help the misfit Buffalo Bills offensive line, but you know what?  He did! He turned an utter, sickening disgrace into an average unit, but it took a few games, would you agree?

 

2) Mike Williams

He came into camp as a fat, third string bag of sh--, but ended the season as a decent RT. He played poorly vs. Pitt when CV went down, but all in all, he improved as the season went on. Still on the same page?

 

3) Travis Henry

 

You see, this is what floors me. Travis had 2,700 yards in 2 seasons. He is lauded for this. Drew has more than 39,000 total yards. Nobody cares.

All but about a dozen of Drew's sacks happened when TH was the starter. The only "hater" who acknowledged this was BFII. Travis, despite his good numbers in the past, was sliding on his ass on crucial plays, dropping passes, missing blocks, and sulking. When MaGahee was inserted, the Bills improved ten fold.

 

As you can see, all of this was happening early in the season. The 0-4 start can be attributed to the above more than to Drew alone. My point is that Drew, despite his limitations, played well enough to take the Bills to the playoffs.

Haters can point fingers as they will, but there are other directions at which to point.

202227[/snapback]

 

He played well enough to take us to the playoffs? are you frikkin kidding me? He got spanked by the Steelers 3rd stringers god dammit! What crap is this?

 

All we needed was Drew to be serviceable (able to perform average) and we would have gotten in, Hell, I bet a damn rookie could have put up comparable numbers to Drew! He supposedly is a vet, supposedly this is "his" team, yet when we needed him to just play average he couldnt do it, and lost to the damn third stringers!

 

Sorry, Im not hearing this, the discussion is over in my mind. You go on thinking that we can continue to TRY to sneak into the playoffs as a wildcard behind Drew, Because we all know he cant beat NE, Ill start rooting for someone else!

[JP-era]

This is an excellently laid out argument. I am a big, big Drew fan, therefore let me chime in: Drew has a problem "risiing to the occasion" and has atendency to "force things".  In my opinion, if these were non issues, he wouldn;t take the abuse that he takes!

 

Do the Bill shave abetter chnace to make the playooffs next year with Losamn rather than Drew........I really don;t think so!!!!!

202163[/snapback]

 

 

In 2005? probably not, after that you bet your a_s!

 

Hell, if anything the Steelers proved that you can very well get into the playoffs behind a young QB. Me, Ill take ny chances at this point. Drew has no upside, only downside. JP has TONS of upside. Evans, McGahee both turned out to be pretty damn good, I think its Losmans turn.

[KOKBILLS]

Does anyone truly believe Drew can win the division for us?

202333[/snapback]

 

 

Um...No...

 

Drew did improve ever so slightly in 2004, but so did the Team overall...Where would the Bills have finished if the Special Teams Unit was not among the NFL's best?

 

Anyway...It was not enough, and it will never be enough as far as DB is concerned...The truth is in the Games that REALLY were the difference...the Home Games vs. The Steelers and Jags, along with the Road Games at Oakland, NY Jets, and Baltimore, Bledsoe's combined QB Rating was 65, he threw 7 INT's compared to 4 TD's, he was Sacked 19 times, and he lost 3 Fumbles...As usual, not good enough...

 

The QB situation in Buffalo is all up to JP...The Coaches know it, we all know it...If JP really makes strides in the Off Season, he will be the man in 2005...If not, it's more barely average Drew at QB...

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

My hangup with him is that he cant seem to beat the Pats.

202333[/snapback]

 

How do you explain the first game last season if the Bills can't beat the Pats? I think it is true they do not even come close to NE on the road, but they were very competitive with them at home this year even driving for ascore in the 4th until the stupid fumble by the Bills Seymour returned for a score.

 

The Pats are certainly better than the Bills and virtually every other team in the league but given that they played them close once this season and beat the Pats like a drum last year they are actually a bit ahead of most other teams regarding taking on the SB champ.

 

We gotta get better but I don't see this matchup as futile for the Bills at all.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Um...No...

 

Drew did improve ever so slightly in 2004, but so did the Team overall...Where would the Bills have finished if the Special Teams Unit was not among the NFL's best?

 

Anyway...It was not enough, and it will never be enough as far as DB is concerned...The truth is in the Games that REALLY were the difference...the Home Games vs. The Steelers and Jags, along with the Road Games at Oakland, NY Jets, and Baltimore, Bledsoe's combined QB Rating was 65, he threw 7 INT's compared to 4 TD's, he was Sacked 19 times, and he lost 3 Fumbles...As usual, not good enough...

 

The QB situation in Buffalo is all up to JP...The Coaches know it, we all know it...If JP really makes strides in the Off Season, he will be the man in 2005...If not, it's more barely average Drew at QB...

202344[/snapback]

 

I certainly don't see the Bills improvement from 6-10 to 9-7 as a slight improvrment. It clearly was less than we hoped for but I think it was pretty darned good and both the dreck of the league (Miami, AZ. SF) the tier B teams on the upswing (Cin) and even some of the playoff teams (St. L and Seattle) would agree that this Bills team is still inadequate but is much improved. As far as Bledsoe goes,

 

I think that his improved performance over leading a unit which failed to score for something like 2 and half games straight at one point was much much improved this year. Again this is testimony to how bad Bledsoe's production was in 2003 that even an OK performace in many games this year was a huge improvement.

 

It does amuse me that some folks seem to be so locked into an indictment of Bledsoe that they cannot even acknowledge the fact it seems to me that 2003 was so bad that even the fairky average performace by him in 2004 represented a marked improvement of his work.

 

I think this attitude is really reflected in that you somehow seem tio discount the Bills ST performance as somehow separate from team's improvement which you cite as being ever so slight. The Bills ST performance improved significantly which is one of the reasons the Bills improved significantly regardless of your assessment of the team.

[c-biscut]

On two separate occasions Drew made the big play to but his team in a possition to win but stupid penalties negated each play. One is obviously the Jags game where he read the d and opted out of a pass in favor of a run. This run gave a first down and the Bills could have run out the clock. ooops--holding

 

The second was the pass to get the Bills to first and goal late in the third quarter of the steelers game. I actually heard a radio guy say "the Bills are about to take control of this game". oppps, pass intf., missed FG and lapse in concertration on D etc. Maybe he had a tough game up till then, but on that long drive he did everything he needed to put the Bills in place to win.

 

So to say that Drew can't read the D or freaks out when faced with complicated defenses is incorrect. Drew handled the Steeler defense enough to give the Bills a chance to go up by 4 or 8 points. Regarding the Int, his hot read, I think it was Josh reed, did not turn around for the leaving Bledsoe in the lurch. Ball in hand, a tired D, down by two-- he gambled by waiting for Reed to turn around, and lost. The fact of the matter is that Bills should not have been in a position where they needed to gamble.

 

In the first year of a new conservative system, Bledsoe was able to improve by 9 TDs is considerable improvement.

[Lothar]

This discussion has already played out several times and we're barely a week out of the season. I said in an earlier discussion that I felt Bledsoe improved this past year - from decrepit to merely mediocre.

 

Drew has been a good QB for the Bills for about 12 out of 48 games, mediocre for about 20 and flat out awful from about game 5 last season till game 5 this season. I'm not one who relies completely on stats but you can't ignore relative comparisons. Drew finished about the same or worse in nearly every measurable category this year when compared to his peers (see earlier post on similar subject started by FFS). Yet when he played bad teams, he avoided disastrous mistakes and relied on McGahee and the defense to carry the team. And that's ok. I give him credit for moderating his own tendencies and not giving most winnable games away. But if that's the best thing you can say about him - he's acceptable when they play bad teams, then you really don't expect much from the leader of this team.

 

For Bill and others, Tom Brady in his first year as QB, behind the same line that Drew had - perhaps worse since they lost 2 starters during the year at different times - became an all-pro. That's right, he played with a much maligned group in front of him. Just go look at the Patriots boards from when Bledsoe was still QB till Brady took over. All of a sudden the group that couldn't keep Bledsoe upright was helping Brady become one of the least sacked QBs in the game. Gee, what could possibly explain that reversal? While I never thought the Bills OL was comprised of all stars, I think many people would have told you 3 years back that our OL was better than the Pats. But who did we have as QBs the last 5 years? Rob Frickin Johnson and Drew McQueen (yah that's his real middle name) Bledsoe. Those 2 would even humble KC's all-pro OL. Well, maybe that's a stretch ....

 

The Drew lovers seem to be - by reflex - Travis haters as well. And to be honest, I have to admit that while Travis is a very good runner and an ok receiver, he is just not a good blocker. Seeing Willis pick up backers really highlights this difference to me. And no one can deny that Henry got off to an awful start this year, 2 slips, a trip, a couple missed blocks all led directly to a couple losses. But TH haters ignore he was the team's MVP 2 years back and a solid back in 2003.

 

If I can expect more from our 2003 OL and our 2003 RB, then I certainly can expect more from our 2003-4 QB. I'm not a hater. I just think JP can be as mediocre as Drew (averaging out as the 26th best QB in the league each of the last 2 years in most categories) with at least the potential of becoming a good, if not great QB. I don't want Losman to be GIVEN anything next year - but I honestly believe he'll win the job by mid-season.

[nick in* england]

Previous Slams:

 

1) "Couldn't win on the road."

This year he did (4 road wins) but it doesn't count because he had "good field position."

 

2) "Cant win a big game"

Won 6 in a row. A loss in any one of these games would have eliminated the team. This doesn't count because the "opponents sucked."

 

3) Bad stats:

They too improved, but it doesn't count because he had "no 300 yard games."

 

4) Not a leader:

He declared the Bills were "his team" in 05. Doesn't count, in fact he is an a-hole for saying that.

 

5) Cant beat good teams:

Defeated a losing wildcard team, and 2 teams that advanced in the playoffs. Could have had another win (vs the jests) but the defense collapsed with approx. 2 minutes to play. This doesn't count because playoff wins notwithstanding, these teams suck.

 

I dont know, did he improve?

201876[/snapback]

 

a voice of reason??

 

how unreasonable