The Curse of Flutie?

[fan_in_tx]

The Curse of Flutie started when he LOST the playoff game he started against the Dolphins in 1999. Oh yeah...he did lose that game. He lost it by fumbling the ball on the goal line. Funny how no one remembers. Kind of ruins the whole Flutie mania thing, I guess.

 

PTR

 

I still can't believe people make this statement. I put the loss on Andre Reed for the tantrum at the 1, Eric Moulds for fumbling the first play, and if you want to blame Flutie for the fumble, Blame Thurman for not blocking Trace Armstrong first.

 

21 of 36 for 360 yds 1 td 1 int. He out played Dan Marino in that game

 

Let it go man!

[PromoTheRobot]

And this is why Doug Flutie is different from every other Bills player. As the last half dozen or so posts show Flutie fans find any one of a number of excuses to deflect blame from him. Yet every other Bills players, short of Jim Kelly, gets pilloried for the smallest mistake. Never annoy the Cult of Flutie.

 

PTR

[Cugalabanza]

And this is why Doug Flutie is different from every other Bills player. As the last half dozen or so posts show Flutie fans find any one of a number of excuses to deflect blame from him. Yet every other Bills players, short of Jim Kelly, gets pilloried for the smallest mistake. Never annoy the Cult of Flutie.

 

PTR

 

I'm not deflecting any blame from anyone. Flutie did well as the Bills QB. Certainly a better win/loss record than anyone else since--not even close. I simply asked what is the reason for hating the guy. I still haven't heard any evidence that he was a bad guy. I'm a fan of his because he played with a ton of heart and seemed to bring out the best in his teammates. Those couple years were fun for me as a Bills fan. It's been kind of miserable since that time.

[fan_in_tx]

I still can't believe people make this statement. I put the loss on Andre Reed for the tantrum at the 1, Eric Moulds for fumbling the first play, and if you want to blame Flutie for the fumble, Blame Thurman for not blocking Trace Armstrong first.

 

21 of 36 for 360 yds 1 td 1 int. He out played Dan Marino in that game

 

Let it go man!

 

 

Judge for thy self

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGIru82z-Fw

[Kemp2Warlick]

yeh..I still curse flutie ... that backstabbing midget...!@#$ him

[Cugalabanza]

Judge for thy self

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGIru82z-Fw

 

Well...yeah, he got hit and lost the ball, right at the end of the game. It sucked. Flutie lost the ball and the Bills lost the game. I don't see how that makes the guy a lousy QB or a bad person. He also made a bunch of great plays that year and the following year. Andre Reed is *will be in the hall of fame, but he made some crappy plays too. He had some crucial drops in that first super bowl that killed drives. Doesn't make him a bust.

 

 

 

*EDIT

Edited November 12, 2013 by Cugalabanza

[4merper4mer]

I'm not deflecting any blame from anyone. Flutie did well as the Bills QB. Certainly a better win/loss record than anyone else since--not even close. I simply asked what is the reason for hating the guy. I still haven't heard any evidence that he was a bad guy. I'm a fan of his because he played with a ton of heart and seemed to bring out the best in his teammates. Those couple years were fun for me as a Bills fan. It's been kind of miserable since that time.

 

They did not just go to Johnson for no reason. Flutie was God awful brutal the entire second half of that season and the games the Bills won what they won in spite of him.

 

One game in particular was at NE when the Bills won in overtime against a terrible NE team. Dougie completed something like 10 passes in a row in OT and was the hero.................despite single handedly losing the game 15 times over in regulation and OT only to be bailed out by Adam Vinatieri of all people.

 

To say like some have that the Bills were SB bound that year is a joke. A warm body at QB was a better option than Flutie and only the people that have memory failure or Flutie syndrome. The Bills and Titans were both very good that year but with Flutie in there the game would have been a blowout in favor of Tenn. RJ played ok. Flutie had not been "ok" at all for a long time before that. What made the Bills that year was the defense.

[Cugalabanza]

yeh..I still curse flutie ... that backstabbing midget...!@#$ him

 

Whose back did he stab? Please tell me. It might be true, but I've never heard anyone back up that statement. Please edify.

 

They did not just go to Johnson for no reason. Flutie was God awful brutal the entire second half of that season and the games the Bills won what they won in spite of him.

 

One game in particular was at NE when the Bills won in overtime against a terrible NE team. Dougie completed something like 10 passes in a row in OT and was the hero.................despite single handedly losing the game 15 times over in regulation and OT only to be bailed out by Adam Vinatieri of all people.

 

To say like some have that the Bills were SB bound that year is a joke. A warm body at QB was a better option than Flutie and only the people that have memory failure or Flutie syndrome. The Bills and Titans were both very good that year but with Flutie in there the game would have been a blowout in favor of Tenn. RJ played ok. Flutie had not been "ok" at all for a long time before that. What made the Bills that year was the defense.

 

I will grant that Flutie was fading that second year, although I think you're exaggerating a bit. I don't know what the outcome of that Tenn game would have been with Flutie, but I still say it was a mistake to go with Rob. Even Wade eventually came out and said he wanted Flutie for that one, but that his hand was forced.

 

Anyway, the part that still confuses me is the stuff about how Flutie was a cancer, a backstabbing midget, etc... I'm still waiting for someone to tell me the reasons for having that impression.

Edited November 12, 2013 by Cugalabanza

[dave mcbride]

They did not just go to Johnson for no reason. Flutie was God awful brutal the entire second half of that season and the games the Bills won what they won in spite of him.

 

One game in particular was at NE when the Bills won in overtime against a terrible NE team. Dougie completed something like 10 passes in a row in OT and was the hero.................despite single handedly losing the game 15 times over in regulation and OT only to be bailed out by Adam Vinatieri of all people.

 

To say like some have that the Bills were SB bound that year is a joke. A warm body at QB was a better option than Flutie and only the people that have memory failure or Flutie syndrome. The Bills and Titans were both very good that year but with Flutie in there the game would have been a blowout in favor of Tenn. RJ played ok. Flutie had not been "ok" at all for a long time before that. What made the Bills that year was the defense.

 

Game 15 of that season? It was a howling gale punctuated by sheets of rain, yet Flutie still managed to go 22-35 for 212 yards with no INTs. Jonathan Linton fumbled the ball twice. Bledsoe was 10-21 for 101 yards, partly because of the elements.

[Rob's House]

The Curse of Flutie started when he LOST the playoff game he started against the Dolphins in 1999. Oh yeah...he did lose that game. He lost it by fumbling the ball on the goal line. Funny how no one remembers. Kind of ruins the whole Flutie mania thing, I guess.

 

PTR

There's always one guy who has to piss in the punch bowl.

[4merper4mer]

Game 15 of that season? It was a howling gale punctuated by sheets of rain, yet Flutie still managed to go 22-35 for 212 yards with no INTs. Jonathan Linton fumbled the ball twice. Bledsoe was 10-21 for 101 yards, partly because of the elements.

 

Meaning before his final 10-10 he was 12-25 against a terrible team, but that is not the entire point. You should be forced to watch the entire second half of the season if you are trying to make the case that somehow Flutie had not been figured out and stifled by the entire league.

 

I get that people want to think that we somehow robbed ourselves, no pun intended, of some sort of title but Flutie was terrible. Sorry.

 

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/1999.htm

 

Reality was uglier than those ugly stats.

Edited November 12, 2013 by 4merper4mer

[dubs]

Re: The Miami Wild Card Game: Plenty of blame to go around. What I saw at the end was DF trying to make a play and got hit. That happens multiple times a year. If Brady's fumble didn't get overturned by the tuck rule, would you be saying it was his fault? Just terrible to blame the game on Flutie, he made lots of great throws that game.

 

Re: 1999: Flutie may have played poorly the second half of the season, but he played well enough to get the team into the playoffs with a 10-5 record. Benching your starter for the backup prior to the playoffs sends a terrible message to the team and create doubt and uncertainty. It's not like he was hurt and the team had to rally around RJ.

 

I am not saying DF was the best QB or best guy, but defending the decision to bench him makes no sense on any level. Especially since we know the outcome and witnessed how poorly RJ played.

[Cugalabanza]

I actually thought Rob did ok in that Titans game, even though I wanted Flutie instead. Rob took a vicious beating all day and hung in there enough to engineer that last one shoe-floppy sock drive that should have won it. Rob's stat line looked bad, but the Titans D was relentless. I'm not sure any QB could have put up good numbers in that one.

 

My frustration with Rob Johnson really blossomed the following year.

Edited November 12, 2013 by Cugalabanza

[4merper4mer]

Re: The Miami Wild Card Game: Plenty of blame to go around. What I saw at the end was DF trying to make a play and got hit. That happens multiple times a year. If Brady's fumble didn't get overturned by the tuck rule, would you be saying it was his fault? Just terrible to blame the game on Flutie, he made lots of great throws that game.

 

Re: 1999: Flutie may have played poorly the second half of the season, but he played well enough to get the team into the playoffs with a 10-5 record. Benching your starter for the backup prior to the playoffs sends a terrible message to the team and create doubt and uncertainty. It's not like he was hurt and the team had to rally around RJ.

 

I am not saying DF was the best QB or best guy, but defending the decision to bench him makes no sense on any level. Especially since we know the outcome and witnessed how poorly RJ played.

 

RJ played better in the Tenn game than Flutie played the second half of the season. Personally, I don't think you can count the Indy game where RJ lit it up. It was an almost meaningless game.

 

You can say it was unfair and sad to deny poor little Dougie his chance at glory and maybe it was unfair, but in reality it wasn't a chance. He had no chance because he was what was holding the team back. If Johnson had been playing and sucking and they switched to Flutie, less people would have cried but the result would have been the same, QB being the weak link.

[QB Bills]

My memory is a bit foggy from the end of the game, but according the attached link, they attempted the kick with 20 seconds left even though it was first down and the Titans had only two timeouts left. Can someone explain if that's accurate? If so, the coaching staff cost them the game by not making the final fg the last play.

 

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200001080oti.htm

[dubs]

Flutie 1999 stats (I know stats can be deceiving but I am not going back and watching every game) from games 8 - 15:

 

Record: 6-2, 56% Completion, 10 TDs, 8 INTs, 6.9 YPA, 4-1 record on the road.

 

I guess you could nitpick on the TD/INT ratio, but that's a pretty solid line. Certainly not bad enough to be benched just prior to the playoffs.

 

RJ played better in the Tenn game than Flutie played the second half of the season. Personally, I don't think you can count the Indy game where RJ lit it up. It was an almost meaningless game.

 

You can say it was unfair and sad to deny poor little Dougie his chance at glory and maybe it was unfair, but in reality it wasn't a chance. He had no chance because he was what was holding the team back. If Johnson had been playing and sucking and they switched to Flutie, less people would have cried but the result would have been the same, QB being the weak link.

 

??? How can you say that with such certainty? And what does his size have to do with anything? I think what RJ showed us in the playoff game and afterward was that he his brain was 80% apple sauce. He was constantly holding onto the ball too long. That cost us in the Titans game.

[dubs]

My memory is a bit foggy from the end of the game, but according the attached link, they attempted the kick with 20 seconds left even though it was first down and the Titans had only two timeouts left. Can someone explain if that's accurate? If so, the coaching staff cost them the game by not making the final fg the last play.

 

http://www.pro-footb...00001080oti.htm

 

If you look at the "location" column, you'll see Bills called their final TO on the Titans' last drive. Tennessee called TO prior to the kick, so they would have had to run another play with 20 seconds and then spike the ball or run the FG team out if they wanted to run more clock.

[4merper4mer]

 

 

??? How can you say that with such certainty?

 

I watched the games.

[Beerball]

Whose back did he stab? Please tell me. It might be true, but I've never heard anyone back up that statement. Please edify.

 

 

 

I will grant that Flutie was fading that second year, although I think you're exaggerating a bit. I don't know what the outcome of that Tenn game would have been with Flutie, but I still say it was a mistake to go with Rob. Even Wade eventually came out and said he wanted Flutie for that one, but that his hand was forced.

 

Anyway, the part that still confuses me is the stuff about how Flutie was a cancer, a backstabbing midget, etc... I'm still waiting for someone to tell me the reasons for having that impression.

I don't think it's an exaggeration at all. Flutie's arm was dead. He couldn't get the ball down the field.

[dubs]

I watched the games.

 

Are you sure it was the right games? I think you are WAY off. Pretty much every future result and metric from those games refutes what you are saying you witnessed.

 

Flutie played much better in the final half of that season than RJ played in the Wild Card game. Thats not saying much since Rob pretty much played a terrible game, but its different than what you are posing as the truth.