Curious difference of opinions

[PromoTheRobot]

I've been reading the comments on JP Losman's performance. I'm sure no one wants to get too up or too down over a scrimmage. But it's curious to see the range of opinions.

 

There seems to be two camps: One camp saw JP make many more good plays than bad, and looked calm and in control. The other camp is focused on some bad throws and decisions by JP, but maintaining his cool. Textbook glass-half-full vs. half-empty here.

 

Frankly I am extremely excited over JP's play. This kid looked better to me than DB did since his 8-week hot streak with the Bills way back when.

 

While watching the game, I kept fantisizing the Bills D getting medieval on the Pats the way they slapped around the Packers yesterday. Sweeeeeet!

 

PTR

[BillsGuyInMalta]

Honestly, most of the reports I've seen, including the national media's take on the scrimmage, have been very positive about JP.

 

While I normally tend to distrust anything coming out of ESPN's mouth, knowing they definitely arent Bills homers and still called Losman's debut "strong" makes me believe that at least in the eyes of other observers, he did very well for a player of his age and experience level. He will build on this scrimmage, gain more experience in the meaningless preseason games, and I think be ready to roll against Houston.

 

The good thing is that with our running game and our Defense...all we need is for JP to be average. Tampa Bay and Baltimore proved that.

[BillnutinHouston]

JP looked just fine. Most importantly, he was in control. He also showed his cannon and his wheels. I agree with the Packers' Pro Personnel director when he says that the Bill OL is a bunch of maulers who are built for the running game and will have trouble with quick defensive fronts.

 

Overall, we should be in the hunt this year.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

Look at it this way. JP was really 6-10 throwing (that incompletion to Evans should have been PI), wasn't really sacked (early whistle on the play that was ruled a sack), and only made one really bad mistake with that almost INT. His decisions on his other incompletions were sound, including throwing to Reed rather than running it in, but it was a matter of misfiring/poor footwork.

[Rico]

Looks to me like the only thing JP needs is more work. The more reps he gets, the better he's gonna get, and the sky's the limit.

 

Frankly I am extremely excited over JP's play. This kid looked better to me than DB did since his 8-week hot streak with the Bills way back when.

Couldn't agree more!

[Brandon]

I think it depends upon what you were looking for. I wasn't expecting to see him have a perfect performance or to play like a veteran QB, and he didn't. I just wanted to see him look like he was comfortable on the field, make quick decisions throwing the ball, display good awareness of the rush and play within the design of the offense and within his own abilities. On those counts, I thought he did a good-to-very-good job and he looked better than I thought he would at this stage of the preseason.

 

The more technical aspects, such as reading defenses, timing with recievers, knowing when to run or throw, and his accuracy and mechanics are things that he needs to work on (and he did OK, don't get me wrong), but they're only going to come with game experience. I was more interested in seeing if he appeared to have the intangibles that you look for in a QB, and I saw quite a few positive signs in that regard.

[kegtapr]

The good thing is that with our running game and our Defense...all we need is for JP to be average.  Tampa Bay and Baltimore proved that.

400732[/snapback]

 

I think that's the key that everybody has to remember. No, JP isn't going to be a Manning or Favre this season. For all purposes, he is a rookie. As long as he doesn't make major mental errors and gets the ball in the majority of correct places this offense will excel.

 

The major issue the past couple of years has been the o-line. Pretty much everybody has been in agreement they have been holding the Bills back. It was a major problem for Bledsoe because he wasn't a scrambler. JP will at least be able to get out of the pocket and pick up a few yards if need be. Those 7 yard loses from last year will turn into a lot of 3-4 yard gains. BIG difference.

[BillnutinHouston]

One more thing - Roscoe Parrish is going to be a monster. What Wayne Chrebet used to do to us on 3rd down, that's what he's gonna do to the rest of the league.

[Kelly the Dog]

JP made that one horrible decision and pass. That cannot happen and everyone knows that. It was just luck that the guy dropped the INT. However, the other mistakes that he made did not hurt us. I worry about bad throws when the ball comes out of the QB's hands and sails over the receivers head, or he throws it up for grabs, or he throws it into tight coverage. JP's "bad" throws were low and outside, along with one too high in the back of the endzone. I can certainly live with that.

 

Plus his completions were tight spirals right on the money. His first two passes were about third and five, and third and seven, and he completed them both for first downs.

 

He can somehow throw with a lot of velocity while rolling to his left and without slowing down or stopping to turn his shoulders. That was VERY impressive to me and that extra .2-.5 or so seconds can be the difference from a guy being open and a guy being covered.

 

As far as I know, and I know this will change soon, he still hasn't thown one INT in any action anywhere since he started this training camp.

[Mike in Syracuse]

JP made that one horrible decision and pass. That cannot happen and everyone knows that. It was just luck that the guy dropped the INT. However, the other mistakes that he made did not hurt us. I worry about bad throws when the ball comes out of the QB's hands and sails over the receivers head, or he throws it up for grabs, or he throws it into tight coverage. JP's "bad" throws were low and outside, along with one too high in the back of the endzone. I can certainly live with that.

 

Plus his completions were tight spirals right on the money. His first two passes were about third and five, and third and seven, and he completed them both for first downs.

 

He can somehow throw with a lot of velocity while rolling to his left and without slowing down or stopping to turn his shoulders. That was VERY impressive to me and that extra .2-.5 or so seconds can be the difference from a guy being open and a guy being covered.

 

As far as I know, and I know this will change soon, he still hasn't thown one INT in any action anywhere since he started this training camp.

400769[/snapback]

 

I didn't see the scrimmage but I was sure of one thing when I logged on this morning. I was sure that one half of the wall would be raving about JP's performance and the other half would be ready to start Holcomb.

 

I can live with a rookie QB making the occasional horrific decision, I can't live with a 12 year veteran doing the same thing.

[Dr. Fong]

Yeah I was kind of surprised when I logged in today to see that some people felt he didn't perform well. Personally I was loving what I was seeing from Losman last night and trying my damnedest to keep reminding myself that it was just a scrimmage. I guess like you say some people just prefer to see the glass as half empty.

[Kelly the Dog]

I didn't see the scrimmage but I was sure of one thing when I logged on this morning.  I was sure that one half of the wall would be raving about JP's performance and the other half would be ready to start Holcomb.

 

I can live with a rookie QB making the occasional horrific decision, I can't live with a 12 year veteran doing the same thing.

400863[/snapback]

I was thinking something similar when i was reading the wall. Just imagine that it is 10 years from now and you're evaluating JPs performance. Wouldn't you think it shyould be more like Holcomb's? Not to mention that Holcomb was going against the second teammers, or that Shane Matthews easily looked as good and as comfortable as Holcomb was, would youike to start him? Not to mention that of all the quarterbacks, Tory Woodbury made the most out of all his plays. Should we start him?

[Fan in San Diego]

I was very happy with JP's performance. I thought the OL did a better job of Pass protection than they did opening holes for Willis.

 

Overall the team looked great for this point in the pre-season.

[mcjeff215]

Yeah I was kind of surprised when I logged in today to see that some people felt he didn't perform well.  Personally I was loving what I was seeing from Losman last night and trying my damnedest to keep reminding myself that it was just a scrimmage.  I guess like you say some people just prefer to see the glass as half empty.

400867[/snapback]

 

 

Everyone's expecting the second coming of {insert list of hall of fame QB's here} from the get go. The success of Big Ben last year further raises expectations. Not necessarily a glass half-empty thing, but an expectation thing.

[Catholic Guilt]

People, people! JP looked good. Let's cut the kid some slack and let him develop. I would rather see him make some dumb physical mistakes (i.e. not running for a TD when he threw high to Evans) than the numerous mental mistakes of one Drew Bledsoe. JP will learn from these mistakes, something Drew never could.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

As far as I know, and I know this will change soon, he still hasn't thown one INT in any action anywhere since he started this training camp.

I've heard that as well. So maybe it WASN'T "luck" that made the Packers DB drop that potential INT?

[mvbillsfan]

Some thoughts:

 

Willis was dancing too much he needs to hit the point of attack. If he is too fast to the hole maybe he needs to back up.

 

JP needs to show more leadership. He seems to put his head down when he makes a bad play. As a qb he needs to stay even kealed and possitive.

 

Our WR's and TE's looked good. No turnovers or drops.

 

Oline needs more push especially on goaline.

 

Defense looks tough except on Goal Line. Although Favre is always tough down there. Probally one of the best ever.

 

Some weakness in the way Posey drops into coverage.

 

Schobal looks small. He has some problems when tackle and Te chip block him. Thats what NE did against us last year.

 

Overall I think 10-6 looks like a lock this year. If no injuries creap up.

 

PMF

[Kelly the Dog]

I've heard that as well.  So maybe it WASN'T "luck" that made the Packers DB drop that potential INT?

400914[/snapback]

I just read in one of the Buff news articles that he threw his first INT in one of the drills against the Packers on Thursday, although it wasn't in the regular controlled scrimmage portion. Still, it is a pretty remarkable albeit meaningless stat. It does, however, IMO fit into the kinds of mistakes he is making. 90% of his misfires have been harmless misfires. If he can keep the turnovers and dumb passes and overthrows down the middle of the field down we can win a lot of games.

[John from Riverside]

I think that's the key that everybody has to remember. No, JP isn't going to be a Manning or Favre this season. For all purposes, he is a rookie. As long as he doesn't make major mental errors and gets the ball in the majority of correct places this offense will excel.

 

The major issue the past couple of years has been the o-line. Pretty much everybody has been in agreement they have been holding the Bills back. It was a major problem for Bledsoe because he wasn't a scrambler. JP will at least be able to get out of the pocket and pick up a few yards if need be. Those 7 yard loses from last year will turn into a lot of 3-4 yard gains. BIG difference.

400747[/snapback]

 

I think it is important to remember that even Manning and Farve didn't look like Manning and Farve in their first years....much less their first outings....

 

I thought JP was just fine.....did he have a great game....no....did I expect him to....no.....

 

I am just wondering if everyone would be feeling differently if Evans wouldn't have been held on that play and Evans scored.....if that had been a touchdown......would all the negative nancies be negative today?

[VABills]

I think it is important to remember that even Manning and Farve didn't look like Manning and Farve in their first years....much less their first outings....

 

I thought JP was just fine.....did he have a great game....no....did I expect him to....no.....

 

I am just wondering if everyone would be feeling differently if Evans wouldn't have been held on that play and Evans scored.....if that had been a touchdown......would all the negative nancies be negative today?

401021[/snapback]

While I agree on Manning, there were come differences. Manning started as a rookie, Favre started in his second year.

 

Favre on the other hand did look like Favre from his first day of starting. Manning in his second year was fabulous. So the answer is if you want to compare, then JP and Brett would be close in comparison.

 

Favre had an 85 rating, 18 TD's 13 INT's in his 1st year of starting.

 

http://nfl.com/players/playerpage/1028

 

Manning had a 90 rating, 26 TD's and 15 INT's.

 

http://nfl.com/players/playerpage/12531

 

However to expect that out of JP is ptting a lot on him. Those guy are playing and already elected to the HOF. Those guys are both legends in the NFL.