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What game was it for Bills fans when you realized Ryan Fitzpatrick wasn’t good?


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None.  Chan Gailey's pop-gun offense lacked sustainable originality.  He spent all off-season coming up with a surprise, and at times it worked fine, but he lacked the long-haul thinking to make an offense consistently problematic for the opposing defenses.  
 

Fitz tried too hard, but it's as much a reflection of his surrounding talent as it is his shortcomings.  The guy can win anything with a good cast.  

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The game against the Jets after we had beaten the Skins in Toronto to go to 5-1. We got manhandled in our “white out” home game. He was pathetic and that was it. The hope had gone. We went one to lose 8 of our last 10 that year, only barely beating Tebow at  home in week 15 or 16. 

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4 minutes ago, Jamie Nails said:

The game against the Jets after we had beaten the Skins in Toronto to go to 5-1. We got manhandled in our “white out” home game. He was pathetic and that was it. The hope had gone. We went one to lose 8 of our last 10 that year, only barely beating Tebow at  home in week 15 or 16. 

 

It was 5-2 but otherwise I agree. The wheels fell off there and they had already committed the money so we were stuck for another year. 

 

I mean, I was always skeptical but it was a hell of a start.

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Roughly junior year of high school. This was reinforced by his college play, and confirmed by his draft slot. At some point you have to realize your hoping for a guy to be something he never was.

 

doesnt mean he’s a bum or bad guy... but he’s not the guy you expect to carry anything. You just hope he holds it together and brings a little energy.

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22 minutes ago, BringMetheHeadofLeonLett said:

None.  Chan Gailey's pop-gun offense lacked sustainable originality.  He spent all off-season coming up with a surprise, and at times it worked fine, but he lacked the long-haul thinking to make an offense consistently problematic for the opposing defenses.  
 

Fitz tried too hard, but it's as much a reflection of his surrounding talent as it is his shortcomings.  The guy can win anything with a good cast.  


 

he had a 7th round qb

udfa rb

7th and 4 UDFA WRs 

7th left tackle

 

dont get me wrong, any one of those guys is fine and I loved Fred but you need actual elite playmakers somewhere to be sustainable. I doubt there was a lower drafted set of skill positions in the league the last 20 years 

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35 minutes ago, Jamie Nails said:

The game against the Jets after we had beaten the Skins in Toronto to go to 5-1. We got manhandled in our “white out” home game. He was pathetic and that was it. The hope had gone. We went one to lose 8 of our last 10 that year, only barely beating Tebow at  home in week 15 or 16. 

 

I thought he got his ribs cracked in that Jets game? 

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45 minutes ago, Jamie Nails said:

The game against the Jets after we had beaten the Skins in Toronto to go to 5-1. We got manhandled in our “white out” home game. He was pathetic and that was it. The hope had gone. We went one to lose 8 of our last 10 that year, only barely beating Tebow at  home in week 15 or 16. 

 

I was coming in to post this as well. Though I had my thoughts well before that game as well. But a real stinker that one. Was there live to watch that.

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19 minutes ago, Bubba Gump said:

Not a game, it was when he got drafted by Cincy.


But that never happened!

 

I never kept track, but I vaguely remember a game against the Cowboys(?), shortly after the extension, that really solidified the thought in my head. I knew Fitz wasn’t the future, but I loved how he played the game. Hard to not like a QB that lowers the boom on DBs instead of just running out of bounds.

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1 hour ago, Jamie Nails said:

The game against the Jets after we had beaten the Skins in Toronto to go to 5-1. We got manhandled in our “white out” home game. He was pathetic and that was it. The hope had gone. We went one to lose 8 of our last 10 that year, only barely beating Tebow at  home in week 15 or 16. 

 

And what happened in that game from November 2011?  NYJ pressed BUF's WRs at the LOS to disrupt their timing.  It forced Buffalo to have Fitz throw downfield and exposed his lack of arm strength as RR planned for.  After that game it was straight downhill and a blueprint established on how to defeat Buffalo's offense.  The Bills managed to score only 140 points in the next 9 games on their way to a 1-8 finish after that 5-2 start.  

 

But not before Buddy "The Genius" Nix bowed to pressure and signed Fitz to a significant contract extension that he complained to former Bucs GM Mark Dominik about in a leaked conversation.  

 

58 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

he had a 7th round qb

udfa rb

7th and 4 UDFA WRs 

7th left tackle

 

dont get me wrong, any one of those guys is fine and I loved Fred but you need actual elite playmakers somewhere to be sustainable. I doubt there was a lower drafted set of skill positions in the league the last 20 years 

 

Buddy Nix was not suited to the GM job and the game had passed him by.  And I think Chan wanted to go with unheralded types as if to prove he could scheme lesser talent.  16-32 after 3 seasons says they were both incapable.  Of course, this was after they used the 9th overall pick on a RB and used significant resources to transition in 1 offseason from a Cover 2 defense to a 3-4.  That didn't work, but it gobbled up resources which should have been used to add talent on offense.  

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His first appearance in Buffalo regular season action. My impression was smart guy that wasn’t accurate enough. People in here still seem to knock his arm strength, but I always felt he had enough zip to do well. The accuracy was frustrating. I remember going to a game and the Bills ran some kind of play action rollout to the tight end. Tight End was wide open (missed assignment) and Fitz still missed him by a wide margin. He just seemed to miss enough throws where it becomes hard to win. If he had Orton’s arm he could have been a playoff qb.

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I’ll be the first to admit I thought we had something in him after his game against the Jags. I’ll never forget the 94-97 yard bomb he threw to Owens. I legitimately thought he could be the QB we’ve been looking for. Then after he signed his extension the real him came out. I started seeing more of the flaws including not only his noodle for an arm but the fact that he struggled reading defenses. But then there were games he would have that would make me a believer again and then he would crash back to reality. 
 

probably a horrible way to put it. But he played like a 80s slasher movie. Like you think what your seeing is new at first but then you realize it’s same old same old

7 minutes ago, Troll Toll said:

His first appearance in Buffalo regular season action. My impression was smart guy that wasn’t accurate enough. People in here still seem to knock his arm strength, but I always felt he had enough zip to do well. The accuracy was frustrating. I remember going to a game and the Bills ran some kind of play action rollout to the tight end. Tight End was wide open (missed assignment) and Fitz still missed him by a wide margin. He just seemed to miss enough throws where it becomes hard to win. If he had Orton’s arm he could have been a playoff qb.

I used to say if he had an arm like Jeff George he’d probably be a hall of famer 

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I really like Fitz. He wasn’t as bad as his reputation now is here. 
Those were some bad teams we had with very little talent. 
There’s a reason Fitz wins the job everywhere he goes. He’s not elite and that’s generally why he’s only a temp starter while teams find their hopeful elite quarterback. 
I can respect the turnovers cause at least he’ll take the chance. Gimme that over check down masters. 

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To say he wasn't any good is unfair. He's made quite the living being a QB in the NFL, starter or as a backup. I realized he wasn't a franchise QB when it was obvious he had no sustainable lasting potential. He's the classic " lighting in a bottle" type player. Plug him in and he will WOW you with gutsy gunslinger play enough to convince you he may be the answer. Bills, Jets, Bucs, Dolphins. Then the following season, usually after a contract extension the walls come crumbling down. Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Some how Fitz has everyone fooled. Gotta love the guy!

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I am not sure I can pinpoint a game with Fitz in the way I very definitely can with Tyrod where I just said "nope, this isn't our guy we need to move on." It was more of a dawning realisation in the back half of that 2011 season. That said with better talent around him I still think Fitz could have been the QB to break the drought. There are 9 win type seasons in there.  

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3 hours ago, Troll Toll said:

His first appearance in Buffalo regular season action. My impression was smart guy that wasn’t accurate enough. People in here still seem to knock his arm strength, but I always felt he had enough zip to do well. The accuracy was frustrating. I remember going to a game and the Bills ran some kind of play action rollout to the tight end. Tight End was wide open (missed assignment) and Fitz still missed him by a wide margin. He just seemed to miss enough throws where it becomes hard to win. If he had Orton’s arm he could have been a playoff qb.

I mean, Orton had Orton's arm and wasn't a playoff QB...

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5 hours ago, NoSaint said:


 

he had a 7th round qb

udfa rb

7th and 4 UDFA WRs 

7th left tackle

 

dont get me wrong, any one of those guys is fine and I loved Fred but you need actual elite playmakers somewhere to be sustainable. I doubt there was a lower drafted set of skill positions in the league the last 20 years 

So are we agreeing?  Gailey got his waterbug in the first round, btw.  
 

I really don't think the talent level mattered so much as Gailey hanging his hat on one level of original offense-making, without taking into much account that it would be quickly adopted and countered by the other teams.  

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31 minutes ago, BruceVilanch said:

It was shortly after my "Fitzmagic" shirt arrived, he then began to sh** the bed. I loved him as a competitor and love how he played the game but I'm glad we got off that roller coaster when we did.

So...got a Dolphins version of that shirt ready to go, to put the cheech on them?  ?

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7 hours ago, Jamie Nails said:

The game against the Jets after we had beaten the Skins in Toronto to go to 5-1. We got manhandled in our “white out” home game. He was pathetic and that was it. The hope had gone. We went one to lose 8 of our last 10 that year, only barely beating Tebow at  home in week 15 or 16. 

This Jets game was exactly what came to mind for me.

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The 1st game of the 2012 season comes to mind against the Jets.   I know he struggled toward the end of 2011 but it was rumored he had cracked ribs.

 

The Jets opener was supposed to be a statement game that year and he was pretty bad.  Topped off by a pick 6 to start the second half.  I kinda got pessimistic that day going forward

 

As others eluded he’s a very likeable dude and I give him credit for keep reinventing himself to have that lengthy a career.  But teams I think are foolish to think he’s a long term solution 

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6 hours ago, Troll Toll said:

His first appearance in Buffalo regular season action. My impression was smart guy that wasn’t accurate enough. People in here still seem to knock his arm strength, but I always felt he had enough zip to do well. The accuracy was frustrating. I remember going to a game and the Bills ran some kind of play action rollout to the tight end. Tight End was wide open (missed assignment) and Fitz still missed him by a wide margin. He just seemed to miss enough throws where it becomes hard to win. If he had Orton’s arm he could have been a playoff qb.


I think the arm strength and inaccuracies were often tied. Not having as many “easy throws” at his disposal meant he had to stretch outside his comfort zone more than a guy like josh that can thread a needle with a flick of the wrist instead of winding up the whole body to try

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8 hours ago, Jamie Nails said:

The game against the Jets after we had beaten the Skins in Toronto to go to 5-1. We got manhandled in our “white out” home game. He was pathetic and that was it. The hope had gone. We went one to lose 8 of our last 10 that year, only barely beating Tebow at  home in week 15 or 16. 

I was at the game in Toronto where I believe the Bills pitched a shutout.  Fitzy got blown up on a blitz (Fletcher) and hurt his ribs pretty bad.  

 

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2012/3/28/2907978/ryan-fitzpatrick-rib-injury-buffalo-bills

 

The next 3 games were losses and Bills lost big in each as Fitz was way off.

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I actually give him credit for getting that almost talentless offense to 5-2 with smoke and mirrors. Basically every defense had more physical talent than our offense so he had to be clever. But he will never truly be better than a bottom 10 starter and will lead a team to 5-7 wins.

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