A Few Thoughts About The Game

[Gordio]

Gordo, your reading comprehension sucks as bad as Losman.

 

 

Nothing could suck that bad.

[dave mcbride]

The deeper route was Evans who was double covered. There was no throwing lane to Evans at any rate. There was no dump off opportunity as both Lynch and the McIntyre were getting bounced around heavily in the jailbreak pressure. Throwing there was an interception waiting to happen. Losman is hit less than 4 seconds into the rollout because Peters completely whiffs on his block. It's possible Losman felt the pressure and was trying to throw it away (inexperience there, not recognizing the situation; just fall to the ground and take the sack and tell Dick he's a moron after the victory) at the point of impact ... or maybe he's just a klutz. Fine went to the outside but may have been nothing but a blocker on the play. It appears that he wasn't covered, but he probably wasn't looking and there wasn't time or a throwing lane anyway.

 

Bottom line: this was a horribly conceived play, called against the exact wrong defense at the worst possible time in the game with a young, backup QB and executed terribly in nearly every aspect. There is just no justification for it.

Good post. What goes unmentioned in the Losman analysis is that on the very next play from scrimmage, he made an even worse play. The Bills had plenty of time and three timeouts. It was theirs for the taking still.

[KOKBILLS]

Nope. The end (Kenyon Coleman) went inside, getting stuck behind the Preston-Jenkins battle. Dockery picked up Calvin Pace long enough to take him out of the initial play. Peters missed Elam.

 

More important point, and the reason the playcall was so incomprehensible: the Jets rushed six, and the TE (Fine) released. If McIntyre was supposed to go out for a pass, that would leave Lynch to block 99 (Bryan Thomas) on the right side of the Bills formation ... right where Losman was rolling to. Thomas collided with McIntyre before getting to Lynch; if I had to bet, I'd say Losman was watching that instead of worrying about backside pressure.

 

And just as Elam catches up to Losman, McIntyre DOES get open, but by that time, Thomas is past Lynch. While some QBs would have already made the decision to either eat the ball or throw it into the third row, that was too much information for J.P.'s brain to process. Game over. Season over.

 

One thing I noticed watching the Play over and over again is just how poorly the Play Call was vs. The Defense that the Jets threw at them...Granted they should have Run the Ball anyway...But once again, The Bills have no intention of throwing the Ball to Lee Evans on the biggest Play of the Game...If You watch the replay not only does the Safety on Lee's side blitz but the CB on Lee is peeking into the Back Field right before the snap...The Jets decided to press up on the line and try to Cover Lee one on one...Now granted Peters whiffing on The Blitz was a problem here had they decided to go to #83...But Peters is also Blocking with the knowledge that JP is rolling to the opposite side...If the Play Call had been a simple go-route to Lee, all JP has to do is take 3 steps back and loft one up...

 

Anyway...I'm not saying Losman could have properly executed a Pass to Evans either...I'm just saying The Jets decided to press one CB up on our best Offensive Player and single cover him...It's a gamble by The Jets anytime You single cover Lee Evans with no help over the top and they know it all to well...But instead the Play Call was a roll-out Pass Play AWAY from Evans side, designed to throw to the FB...UGH!...If Your gonna gamble, and it seems to be the time to gamble, why not have the Play designed to get your best Offensive Player the Ball?...Had The Bills done that they would have got single Coverage with no safety Help on Lee Evans...

 

Food for thought...

[Adam]

Here are some thoughts from me about yesterday- for what they are worth.

 

The desperate wishes of fans that this is a good team that underachieves due to bad coaching- I disagree. I don't think much separates us from the Detroit Lions other than special teams and preparation. Jauron has his faults on game day, but the team is well prepared on the opponent's tendencies. Much like the lions, we have focused way to much on things other than the line off scrimmage- them on WR's us on DB's. Our offensive line is in shambles- there MUST be a common strength among the linemen and there isn't. The defensive line is in worse shape. Our defense is supposed to be built around a stout middle and small, quick DE's. Our ends have a slow first step- they are ok once they get going, but by then its too late...we aren't usually playing from ahead anyways. I agree about the Losman roll out- that one is on our coaches....they should have know he couldn't handle it.

 

I think this team needs to be blown up....keep Lynch, Evans, Edwards, Schobel.....get rid of everyone else you can without messing up the cap.

 

Now, on the the stuff I saw here yesterday. We act no different than any other group of fans....people saying it doesn't matter that Hardy got hurt because he doesn't produce, people wishing Wilson dead for the sake of a few more wins...etc.....

 

Then the ignorant comments about Wilson suffering from dementia or being in diapers. Those were truly ignorant comments. When you have to deal with that type of stuff its not so funny.

 

If Bills fans put them ahead of other fans, they should act like it

[Lori]

The deeper route was Evans who was double covered. There was no throwing lane to Evans at any rate. There was no dump off opportunity as both Lynch and the McIntyre were getting bounced around heavily in the jailbreak pressure. Throwing there was an interception waiting to happen. Losman is hit less than 4 seconds into the rollout because Peters completely whiffs on his block. It's possible Losman felt the pressure and was trying to throw it away (inexperience there, not recognizing the situation; just fall to the ground and take the sack and tell Dick he's a moron after the victory) at the point of impact ... or maybe he's just a klutz. Fine went to the outside but may have been nothing but a blocker on the play. It appears that he wasn't covered, but he probably wasn't looking and there wasn't time or a throwing lane anyway.

 

Bottom line: this was a horribly conceived play, called against the exact wrong defense at the worst possible time in the game with a young, backup QB and executed terribly in nearly every aspect. There is just no justification for it.

While noting that Fine had a clean release off the line of scrimmage, and that the play was designed to the fullback all along (making whether or not Evans was open irrelevant), I will only argue one point of your post.

 

J.P. Losman is 27 years old. He started his first game for this team almost FOUR FULL SEASONS AGO. How long does he get before we stop talking about "young" and "inexperience"?

[twist_to_open]

BTW, love me some Johnson.

?????

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

Oopsie-daisy.

great point

[Ramius]

Oh boy Bill, you;re in heaven, aren't you? The Bills lose a classic heartbreaker, and you get to dump all over JP. Early Christmas for Bill in NYC! Never mind that Peters completely whiffed in that play (something you've yet to address), or that 2 of JP's picks came in last gasp desperation with under 2 minutes to go. (the 1st pick was his fault, he threw it high)

 

It must be nice living in your world where the Bills will be super bowl contenders next season because the backup QB will be gone. Blaming that game on him, like you;ve done, shows just how myopic your football vision really is.

[dave mcbride]

Oh boy Bill, you;re in heaven, aren't you? The Bills lose a classic heartbreaker, and you get to dump all over JP. Early Christmas for Bill in NYC! Never mind that Peters completely whiffed in that play (something you've yet to address), or that 2 of JP's picks came in last gasp desperation with under 2 minutes to go. (the 1st pick was his fault, he threw it high)

 

It must be nice living in your world where the Bills will be super bowl contenders next season because the backup QB will be gone. Blaming that game on him, like you;ve done, shows just how myopic your football vision really is.

The second INT was not last-gasp desperation. The Bills had nearly two minutes and three timeouts. The weather was good, it was first down, and a TD wins the game.

[Ramius]

The second INT was not last-gasp desperation. The Bills had nearly two minutes and three timeouts. The weather was good, it was first down, and a TD wins the game.

 

My bad. All his turnovers got me confused. He looked like Edwards out there yesterday.

[dave mcbride]

My bad. All his turnovers got me confused. He looked like Edwards out there yesterday.

No problem. I got to see it in person (sitting next to a father-and-son Jets-face-painting tandem), so it'll be etched in my mind forever.

[Ramius]

No problem. I got to see it in person (sitting next to a father-and-son Jets-face-painting tandem), so it'll be etched in my mind forever.

 

I saw it in high-def (albeit it without sound, as we were putting up the christmas tree so the christmas music was on). I was still infuriated with the horrendous playcall on the fumble, given his propensity to cough up the ball when sacked. The pick right after the TD i just kinda shrugged my shoulders on, because it was par for the course for JP/the Bills.

 

The biggest disconcerting fact is that JP's bad play isn't the reason we are 6-8 and are missing the playoffs, AGAIN, and his leaving in 2 months isn't going to make everything better.

[Sisyphean Bills]

While noting that Fine had a clean release off the line of scrimmage, and that the play was designed to the fullback all along (making whether or not Evans was open irrelevant), I will only argue one point of your post.

The relevance was as to whether Losman had anywhere to go with the ball. He has to run outside of the tackle box in order to "just get rid of it" without taking a penalty. By the time he gets there, he's hit. Only Losman can say why he just didn't cover up and go down; however, this is a guy that has learned some terrible "Doug Flutie ball" QBing habits. He tries to do way too much, tries to make plays happen when they aren't there. His athleticism at Tulane let him get away with it, but in the NFL it just blows up in his face. Why he doesn't get that, who knows?

J.P. Losman is 27 years old. He started his first game for this team almost FOUR FULL SEASONS AGO. How long does he get before we stop talking about "young" and "inexperience"?

I think it is a fact that a guy that has only started 33 NFL games as a QB is not very experienced. That is barely 2 seasons of starts under 3 different OCs for a lousy team. Yes, he has been in the NFL for 5 years and you would hope that the guy would be much more developed than he is; I'm not disputing that at all. Indeed, it is shocking how little progress he has made, which suggests to me that either he is uncoachable or the coaching he has gotten has been putrid. FWIW, he doesn't have to be a genius to play the position -- Dan Marino was an all-time great but he's clearly no genius -- he just has to be drilled on the basics so that he'll stop trying to think and make plays that aren't there.

 

He wouldn't be the first QB that has struggled in this regard. Brett Favre had bad mechanics, bad habits, did too much, didn't play within the system, made lousy decisions -- until Mike Holmgren started screaming in his face day after day. Holmgren did the same thing with Hasselbeck; he just absolutely demanded that he play the position exactly as he told him to play it and to not try and do "little extras". Can anyone honestly see Dick Jauron grabbing his QB by the facemask and screaming at him at the top of his lungs?

 

So, while Losman is not very experienced and is still fairly young for an NFL QB (they used to say an NFL QB didn't start to hit his stride until he was 30), I don't want the haters to misconstrue any of the above. Losman is very, very close to simply closing out his NFL career as a bust. Whether it is that he is uncoachable or he has been piss poorly coached doesn't really matter at this point, because no coach/GM is going to tie his own job to Losman as a starter and savior for his team. He will probably get a chance as a backup somewhere, but if the change of scenery doesn't light a huge bonfire under him to get with it and correct his poor game, stick a fork in him.

[John Adams]

Oh boy Bill, you;re in heaven, aren't you? The Bills lose a classic heartbreaker, and you get to dump all over JP. Early Christmas for Bill in NYC! Never mind that Peters completely whiffed in that play (something you've yet to address), or that 2 of JP's picks came in last gasp desperation with under 2 minutes to go. (the 1st pick was his fault, he threw it high)

 

It must be nice living in your world where the Bills will be super bowl contenders next season because the backup QB will be gone. Blaming that game on him, like you;ve done, shows just how myopic your football vision really is.

 

Do you read his posts even? He is only in heaven because he likes (most) Bills fan. Like every one of us, this season is more tortuous than any in recent memory. I'm sure Bill would have loved nothing more than a huge helping of crow and for JP to lead the Bills to the playoffs.

 

I think nothing of Hardy. If he plays like Randy Moss next year, I will take every "I told you so" post and 20 kicks in the balls with a grin on my face.

 

Please let us all have our bits of dark happiness when we're right about (another) Bill sucking. It's about all we have.

[Bill from NYC]

Oh boy Bill, you;re in heaven, aren't you? The Bills lose a classic heartbreaker, and you get to dump all over JP. Early Christmas for Bill in NYC! Never mind that Peters completely whiffed in that play (something you've yet to address), or that 2 of JP's picks came in last gasp desperation with under 2 minutes to go. (the 1st pick was his fault, he threw it high)

 

It must be nice living in your world where the Bills will be super bowl contenders next season because the backup QB will be gone. Blaming that game on him, like you;ve done, shows just how myopic your football vision really is.

 

How much time do you think a decent qb would need to toss a short pass to a fullback. I know......the guy wasn't open, but JP was incapable of doing anything except losing, like he alweays does. He couldn't find someone else. He couldn't tuck in the football and run. He couldn't throw it away. He sucks, and he lost us yet another game.

 

If only JP would take Jauron with him in 2 weeks, Bills fans would have a Merry Christmas indeed, except for those still waiting for JP to "find himself."

[Ramius]

How much time do you think a decent qb would need to toss a short pass to a fullback. I know......the guy wasn't open, but JP was incapable of doing anything except losing, like he alweays does. He couldn't find someone else. He couldn't tuck in the football and run. He couldn't throw it away. He sucks, and he lost us yet another game.

 

If only JP would take Jauron with him in 2 weeks, Bills fans would have a Merry Christmas indeed, except for those still waiting for JP to "find himself."

 

On that specific play, about the only mistake he made was fumbling the ball when he got hit. It was a dumb !@#$ play call, and piss poor execution. There was no one else to throw the ball to, and Elam was up JP's ass 0.0065 seconds into the play*.

 

*Note: this was because Peters decided it was an excellent time to play matador and let a blitzer get a clean run at the QB. But i dont see you giving him any heat for his bumble!@#$ on that play.

[The Senator]

On that specific play, about the only mistake he made was fumbling the ball when he got hit. It was a dumb !@#$ play call, and piss poor execution. There was no one else to throw the ball to, and Elam was up JP's ass 0.0065 seconds into the play*.

 

*Note: this was because Peters decided it was an excellent time to play matador and let a blitzer get a clean run at the QB. But i dont see you giving him any heat for his bumble!@#$ on that play.

Don't you blaspheme! Jason Peters is the bestest, most important player on this team.

[Adam]

Don't you blaspheme! Jason Peters is the bestest, most important player on this team.

He's rad!

[Dawgg]

On that specific play, about the only mistake he made was fumbling the ball when he got hit. It was a dumb !@#$ play call, and piss poor execution. There was no one else to throw the ball to, and Elam was up JP's ass 0.0065 seconds into the play*.

 

I agree that it was a dumb play call. But a quarterback HAS to know that you must take care of the football at all costs.

 

Instead, as JP often does, he tried to make a play when nothing was there. I give him an A for effort... but when you are playing with the lead, you don't try and make a play when it's not there. The moment he sees that defender break free he should have just curled up into a fetal position and protect the ball. Instead, he held the ball out in such a way that it was ripe for the taking.

 

JP screwed that play up, that's the bottom line and he was man enough to admit it at the end of the game.

[Ramius]

I agree that it was a dumb play call. But a quarterback HAS to know that you must take care of the football at all costs.

 

Instead, as JP often does, he tried to make a play when nothing was there. I give him an A for effort... but when you are playing with the lead, you don't try and make a play when it's not there. The moment he sees that defender break free he should have just curled up into a fetal position and protect the ball. Instead, he held the ball out in such a way that it was ripe for the taking.

 

JP screwed that play up, that's the bottom line and he was man enough to admit it at the end of the game.

 

That about sums his career in a nutshell. Always trying to make a play. And more often than not, it bites him in the ass. But, you cannot forgive Peters for his whiff or Jauron for the playcall. The way we were running the ball, no reason to stop. We had 2 plays to gain 5 yards and the game would have effectively been in the bag. If you want to pass, had they called a quick slant to Evans or some type of quick hitter to a TE, sure, why not. But an outlet pass to a FB with 3 career receptions? You simply cannot place all the blame on JP for that play.