LifetimeBillsFan
11-26-2006, 03:23 AM
In leading the Bills to a last minute, come-from-behind victory over Houston last week, JP Losman passed a critical test in the development of a young QB. It was an important accomplishment, a test that Losman had to achieve to have any hope of becoming the kind of winning QB on the NFL level that the Bills need him to be if he is to be their starting QB in the future.
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As critical as passing that test was, however, IMHO there are still five other tests that JP must pass—benchmarks that he must achieve—before the Bills and their fans can be confident that he is on his way to developing into the QB that the team needs. With only six games remaining in this season, Losman may not even get the opportunity to do all of the things that he still needs to do to demonstrate that he can be the Bills’ starting QB of the future, but here are some of the benchmarks that I believe that Losman needs to achieve before the team and its fans can be confident that he has what it takes to be a winning QB in the NFL with the potential to lead the team to a title.
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1.) Having led the Bills to a come-from-behind win in the last two minutes of a game, now JP has to show that his performance against Houston was not a fluke or a one-time deal or just a product of facing poor opposition on that one occasion by doing it again. However, since the kinds of situations where he could be reasonably expected to successfully lead a last-minute comeback may not arise that often during the course of a season, there is no guarantee that Losman will have another opportunity in the six remaining games of this season to try to lead the Bills to a come-from-behind victory that late in the game. As a result, that may have to wait until next season. But, if JP were to lead the Bills to a go-ahead score after the mid-point of the fourth quarter or a game-clinching score in the last five minutes of a game, it would go a long way towards showing that he has developed the ability to move the team and put points on the board when the chips are down. Winning QBs in the NFL have to be able to do that—perhaps not every time, but with some consistency. In addition to the come-from-behind win over Houston, the Bills did score a game-clinching TD against Green Bay in the last five minutes of that game and succeeded in running out the last 1:33, so Losman has shown that he is capable of doing these things, but he still needs to show that he can be successful in these situations consistently now.
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2.) The 24 points that the Bills’ offense put up on Houston was the most points that the Bills offense has put up with Losman at QB, not counting points scored by the defense or special teams. At some point, JP is going to have to show that he can lead the Bills offense to put up 30 or more points. Given the state of the Bills’ offensive line and the coaching staff’s willingness to play conservatively and win ugly rather than to get involved in a “shoot-out” where their young QB will have to take a lot of chances and may potentially turn the ball over a lot, Losman may not get many opportunities to have a realistic shot at doing this over the course of the remainder of this season. But, at some point, JP is going to have to demonstrate that he is capable of getting the Bills offense to put up four or more touchdowns and perhaps an additional field goal or two over the course of a game. Every successful NFL QB has had to do it and has done it, but, thus far in his career, Losman has not. It does not matter particularly if it is in victory or defeat—at least not the first time around—but it is something that JP has to show that he can do for the Bills if he is going to continue to be their starting QB and lead the team to winning seasons in the near future.
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3.) Just as it is essential that Losman demonstrate that last week’s last minute, come-from-behind win over Houston was no fluke, once JP does lead the Bills offense to 30+ points, it will also be essential for JP to show that he can do that again as well. Particularly if the Bills do not win the game the first time that he does it. It’s not enough to just show that he can lead the offense to score 30 points in a game. To demonstrate that he has developed to the point where he can be a winning QB in the NFL, at some point, Losman has to show that he can lead the Bills to a win in a game where the offense scores 30 or more points. Given the quality of the defensive teams remaining on the Bills’ schedule this season and the state of their offensive line and offense in general to this point, it’s unlikely that Losman and the Bills’ offense will realistically be in a position to score that many points twice in their remaining six games this year. However, if they can do it once, it would be an accomplishment that would at least create the impression that JP has the potential to do it again at some point down the road.
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4.) At some point, Losman has to demonstrate that he can lead the Bills on a game-clinching, time-consuming drive where they run out the clock at the end of a close game with the lead in a manner similar to the drives that Tom Brady and Peyton Manning engineered against the Bills earlier this season. The Bills did manage to run out the last 1:33 of the game against Green Bay, but were not able to run out the clock in their wins against Miami and Minnesota, leaving both of those teams in a position to come back late in the fourth quarter and potentially snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Obviously, the play of the offensive line and the play-calling of the coaches has a lot to do with whether a QB can engineer such a game-clinching drive in crunch time, so, in many ways, whether JP will be able to achieve this benchmark, particularly this season, will be dependent on others around him on the team. Still, at some point reasonably soon, he is going to have to show that he can make the necessary plays and get his teammates to elevate their play to do what they need to do to make the plays that the coaches call succeed in a crunch time situation where the Bills’ offense needs to hold the ball and run out the clock to secure a victory. Winning QBs in the NFL are able to do that and, when he gets the opportunity, Losman is going to have to demonstrate that he can do it as well.
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5.) In addition to demonstrating that he is able to lead the Bills offense to put 30+ points on the scoreboard, somewhere along the line, JP Losman is going to have to lead the Bills to a blow-out win—the kind of victory where the Bills take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way, put up points throughout the course of the game, and where, having grabbed a good-sized lead early, they apply the knockout blow instead of easing off and allowing the opposition to climb back into the game. Losman had the opportunity to have such a game against Miami last season, but failed to make the play that would have been the knockout blow when the Bills were on the doorstep ready to put the game away and, ultimately, Miami came back and stole that game at the end. While the Bills did get a game-clinching score late in the fourth quarter against Green Bay this season and the defense held off KC last season with JP at the helm of the Bills offense, those games really weren’t blow-outs per se. Of course, for the Bills to put up enough points in a game for it to be a blow-out, the offense would have to perform well not only consistently, but consistently in the red zone, which is something that hasn’t happened yet this season. Some of that is not JP’s fault, but some of it is and, at some point, he is going to have to show that he can have a game where he can perform well consistently and get his teammates to perform consistently throughout the course of a game where they have a chance to score a lot of points and blow-out an opponent. The opportunity to do that may not come in the remaining six games of this season, but, for Losman to prove that he has developed to the point where he can be a winning QB in the NFL, he is going to have to have that kind of game and lead the Bills to that kind of blow-out win sometime in the near future.
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There are certain statistical benchmarks that it could be said that JP Losman has to achieve in addition to these five benchmarks that I have cited here, but I don’t think that statistics always are an accurate reflection of performance, especially in QBs at the NFL level. Passer rating, TD-to-turnover ratio, completion percentage, etc. can be useful tools to reflect improvement, especially in efficiency, but I think those things are also reflected in the ability of a QB to perform in certain key situations. In my view, whether a young QB has the ability to win and win consistently in the NFL can be seen more in how that young QB plays and gets his team to play in certain situations than in the statistics that he amasses.
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IMHO JP Losman reached a significant benchmark in his development as a young NFL QB when he led the Bills to their last-minute, come-from-behind win over Houston last week. But, I also agree with Bills’ HC Dick Jauron’s comment after the game when he said that JP still has a long way to go. That’s not to underestimate or downplay the importance of what JP did or achieved against Houston, but simply to say that he still has to show that he can perform well and do certain things in not only that situation again, but in other critical situations and with some consistency as well. In my view, the Bills and their fans won’t really know with any degree of certainty if Losman “has arrived” and can be the QB that the team needs until he does. And right now, there is no guarantee that he will or that he will be around long enough to do so—although I do believe that his performance against Houston pretty much insured that he will be with the Bills next season.
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Of course, that’s just my opinion. And, I’m pretty sure that there will be plenty of others who will disagree!
P.S.: I apologize for any mistakes in grammar and the messed up font--I wrote parts of this at different times over the course of this past week in MS Word and copy/pasted it to post it, so it may not have come out that well.
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As critical as passing that test was, however, IMHO there are still five other tests that JP must pass—benchmarks that he must achieve—before the Bills and their fans can be confident that he is on his way to developing into the QB that the team needs. With only six games remaining in this season, Losman may not even get the opportunity to do all of the things that he still needs to do to demonstrate that he can be the Bills’ starting QB of the future, but here are some of the benchmarks that I believe that Losman needs to achieve before the team and its fans can be confident that he has what it takes to be a winning QB in the NFL with the potential to lead the team to a title.
<o:p></o:p>
1.) Having led the Bills to a come-from-behind win in the last two minutes of a game, now JP has to show that his performance against Houston was not a fluke or a one-time deal or just a product of facing poor opposition on that one occasion by doing it again. However, since the kinds of situations where he could be reasonably expected to successfully lead a last-minute comeback may not arise that often during the course of a season, there is no guarantee that Losman will have another opportunity in the six remaining games of this season to try to lead the Bills to a come-from-behind victory that late in the game. As a result, that may have to wait until next season. But, if JP were to lead the Bills to a go-ahead score after the mid-point of the fourth quarter or a game-clinching score in the last five minutes of a game, it would go a long way towards showing that he has developed the ability to move the team and put points on the board when the chips are down. Winning QBs in the NFL have to be able to do that—perhaps not every time, but with some consistency. In addition to the come-from-behind win over Houston, the Bills did score a game-clinching TD against Green Bay in the last five minutes of that game and succeeded in running out the last 1:33, so Losman has shown that he is capable of doing these things, but he still needs to show that he can be successful in these situations consistently now.
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2.) The 24 points that the Bills’ offense put up on Houston was the most points that the Bills offense has put up with Losman at QB, not counting points scored by the defense or special teams. At some point, JP is going to have to show that he can lead the Bills offense to put up 30 or more points. Given the state of the Bills’ offensive line and the coaching staff’s willingness to play conservatively and win ugly rather than to get involved in a “shoot-out” where their young QB will have to take a lot of chances and may potentially turn the ball over a lot, Losman may not get many opportunities to have a realistic shot at doing this over the course of the remainder of this season. But, at some point, JP is going to have to demonstrate that he is capable of getting the Bills offense to put up four or more touchdowns and perhaps an additional field goal or two over the course of a game. Every successful NFL QB has had to do it and has done it, but, thus far in his career, Losman has not. It does not matter particularly if it is in victory or defeat—at least not the first time around—but it is something that JP has to show that he can do for the Bills if he is going to continue to be their starting QB and lead the team to winning seasons in the near future.
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3.) Just as it is essential that Losman demonstrate that last week’s last minute, come-from-behind win over Houston was no fluke, once JP does lead the Bills offense to 30+ points, it will also be essential for JP to show that he can do that again as well. Particularly if the Bills do not win the game the first time that he does it. It’s not enough to just show that he can lead the offense to score 30 points in a game. To demonstrate that he has developed to the point where he can be a winning QB in the NFL, at some point, Losman has to show that he can lead the Bills to a win in a game where the offense scores 30 or more points. Given the quality of the defensive teams remaining on the Bills’ schedule this season and the state of their offensive line and offense in general to this point, it’s unlikely that Losman and the Bills’ offense will realistically be in a position to score that many points twice in their remaining six games this year. However, if they can do it once, it would be an accomplishment that would at least create the impression that JP has the potential to do it again at some point down the road.
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4.) At some point, Losman has to demonstrate that he can lead the Bills on a game-clinching, time-consuming drive where they run out the clock at the end of a close game with the lead in a manner similar to the drives that Tom Brady and Peyton Manning engineered against the Bills earlier this season. The Bills did manage to run out the last 1:33 of the game against Green Bay, but were not able to run out the clock in their wins against Miami and Minnesota, leaving both of those teams in a position to come back late in the fourth quarter and potentially snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Obviously, the play of the offensive line and the play-calling of the coaches has a lot to do with whether a QB can engineer such a game-clinching drive in crunch time, so, in many ways, whether JP will be able to achieve this benchmark, particularly this season, will be dependent on others around him on the team. Still, at some point reasonably soon, he is going to have to show that he can make the necessary plays and get his teammates to elevate their play to do what they need to do to make the plays that the coaches call succeed in a crunch time situation where the Bills’ offense needs to hold the ball and run out the clock to secure a victory. Winning QBs in the NFL are able to do that and, when he gets the opportunity, Losman is going to have to demonstrate that he can do it as well.
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5.) In addition to demonstrating that he is able to lead the Bills offense to put 30+ points on the scoreboard, somewhere along the line, JP Losman is going to have to lead the Bills to a blow-out win—the kind of victory where the Bills take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way, put up points throughout the course of the game, and where, having grabbed a good-sized lead early, they apply the knockout blow instead of easing off and allowing the opposition to climb back into the game. Losman had the opportunity to have such a game against Miami last season, but failed to make the play that would have been the knockout blow when the Bills were on the doorstep ready to put the game away and, ultimately, Miami came back and stole that game at the end. While the Bills did get a game-clinching score late in the fourth quarter against Green Bay this season and the defense held off KC last season with JP at the helm of the Bills offense, those games really weren’t blow-outs per se. Of course, for the Bills to put up enough points in a game for it to be a blow-out, the offense would have to perform well not only consistently, but consistently in the red zone, which is something that hasn’t happened yet this season. Some of that is not JP’s fault, but some of it is and, at some point, he is going to have to show that he can have a game where he can perform well consistently and get his teammates to perform consistently throughout the course of a game where they have a chance to score a lot of points and blow-out an opponent. The opportunity to do that may not come in the remaining six games of this season, but, for Losman to prove that he has developed to the point where he can be a winning QB in the NFL, he is going to have to have that kind of game and lead the Bills to that kind of blow-out win sometime in the near future.
<o:p></o:p>
There are certain statistical benchmarks that it could be said that JP Losman has to achieve in addition to these five benchmarks that I have cited here, but I don’t think that statistics always are an accurate reflection of performance, especially in QBs at the NFL level. Passer rating, TD-to-turnover ratio, completion percentage, etc. can be useful tools to reflect improvement, especially in efficiency, but I think those things are also reflected in the ability of a QB to perform in certain key situations. In my view, whether a young QB has the ability to win and win consistently in the NFL can be seen more in how that young QB plays and gets his team to play in certain situations than in the statistics that he amasses.
<o:p></o:p>
IMHO JP Losman reached a significant benchmark in his development as a young NFL QB when he led the Bills to their last-minute, come-from-behind win over Houston last week. But, I also agree with Bills’ HC Dick Jauron’s comment after the game when he said that JP still has a long way to go. That’s not to underestimate or downplay the importance of what JP did or achieved against Houston, but simply to say that he still has to show that he can perform well and do certain things in not only that situation again, but in other critical situations and with some consistency as well. In my view, the Bills and their fans won’t really know with any degree of certainty if Losman “has arrived” and can be the QB that the team needs until he does. And right now, there is no guarantee that he will or that he will be around long enough to do so—although I do believe that his performance against Houston pretty much insured that he will be with the Bills next season.
<o:p></o:p>
Of course, that’s just my opinion. And, I’m pretty sure that there will be plenty of others who will disagree!
P.S.: I apologize for any mistakes in grammar and the messed up font--I wrote parts of this at different times over the course of this past week in MS Word and copy/pasted it to post it, so it may not have come out that well.