Article: Trust me - The kid stays in the picture

[The Answer]

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/174504.html?imw=Y

Jerry Sullivan: Trust me -- the kid stays in the picture

COMMENTARY

<!-- Begin /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_byline_and_copyright_or_creditline.comp -->By Jerry Sullivan <!-- Begin /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_copyright_with_dash.comp --><!-- Begin /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_creditline_with_dash.comp --><!-- End /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_creditline_with_dash.comp --><!-- End /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_copyright_with_dash.comp --><!-- End /PubSys/Common/Decisions/if_byline_and_copyright_or_creditline.comp -->
Updated: 10/01/07 8:11 AM


The future arrived at a little after 3 p.m. on Sunday, in the middle of the fourth quarter, when Bills coach Dick Jauron realized he had misjudged the line of scrimmage and sent his offense back onto the field to try for a huge insurance touchdown on fourth and goal from inside the Jets’ 1-yard line.


On his way back out, rookie quarterback Trent Edwards jogged over to Steve Fairchild, the offensive coordinator. Fairchild told him they were going to run a play-action pass off the same running play that had been stopped short on third down just a moment before.

Edwards nodded. No problem. He liked the show of faith, and he liked the call. He had been in similar situations in college and felt capable of pulling it off. He made his play fake, rolled to his right, and threw a perfect pass to tight end Michael Gaines for a TD to give the Bills a 17-7 lead.

It would have been a risky call under any circumstances. But asking a rookie to do it in his first NFL start showed an extraordinary level of confidence. As Gaines said, it was a powerful show of trust in a rookie QB.

“I should just say yes and leave it at that,” Jauron said. “So I’ll say yes and leave it at that.”

Jauron got a laugh out of that one. I doubt J.P. Losman was laughing. Losman’s hold on the starting job became increasingly tenuous when Edwards turned in a bravura performance, completing 22 of 28 passes for 234 yards in a 17-14 win that sent his team’s spirits soaring and ignited a full-blown QB controversy in Bills Nation.

Let’s stop kidding ourselves. I’m not sure when it’ll happen for good, but Edwards is the future at the position. Sometimes, you have to trust (there’s that word again) what you see with your own eyes. Edwards made a stronger case in one afternoon than Losman made in his two years as the starter.

Was this a good setup game for Edwards? Yes. The Jets played soft coverage and allowed Edwards to pick them apart with short, precise throws. Will he have a lot of rough moments along the way, as he did in the second half at New England? Certainly. He’s a rookie. He’s learning.

But Edwards showed the elusive “it” we’ve been waiting to see in Losman. It was a different offense Sunday. Edwards made quick reads. Suddenly, receivers seemed open. On the opening drive of the third quarter, which ended in a Marshawn Lynch TD run and a 7-0 lead, Edwards completed four straight passes — to Roscoe Parrish, Peerless Price, Lee Evans and Josh Reed.

Edwards completed his first nine throws of the second half. He used the middle of the field. He completed seven passes to the tight ends. Seven! That’s not a misprint. Fairchild called passes on nine of the first 12 plays.
They had such faith in Edwards that they considered using no-huddle, but the passing game worked so well they didn’t bother.

“You wouldn’t even know he was a rookie,” Gaines said. “He handled himself great.” ........................

~The Answer

[raphael120]

The Bills have been searching for a young franchise quarterback since Kelly left. After awhile, you almost forget what it looks like. But I think I saw it on Sunday. Maybe Jauron isn’t giving Losman any guarantees because he sees it, too.

[Mitchy moo]

TE looked great, no doubt about it. If we beat the boys & Trent has a huge day plan on him never sitting again.

[The Answer]

TE looked great, no doubt about it. If we beat the boys & Trent has a huge day plan on him never sitting again.

Even if we lose against Dallas and Edwards plays well despite the loss than Losman is finished.

~The Asnwer

[Captain gameboy]

TE looked great, no doubt about it. If we beat the boys & Trent has a huge day plan on him never sitting again.

We don't need to beat the Cowboys for this to happen.

What happened happened.

We had a kid who can get the ball to a below average receiving corps with precision.

We moved the chains and scored touchdowns in the red zone as the result of his play, and we never do that.

We convert 1st and goals into 35 yard field goals.

I like Losman, but he has not had a game that shows me what Trent Edwards showed yesterday.

Losman has had very good games, but he needs receivers who get open by a wider margin than Edwards does.
Edwards snaps the ball into tight spaces, and looks more than adequate in the longer throws.

I just want to see him run. If he can do that, at an average level, he is our guy.

[JD]

Edwards has "it" and Losman is **** really nothing else to say.

[Mitchy moo]

Edwards has "it" and Losman is sh"it", really nothing else to say.

LOl.

[deepslant]

Trent Edwards is now, thankfully, our #1 quarterback. Unless he self-destructs he will be taking every snap unless JP gets mop-up duty during a big win against the fish. The coaches gushed over his play yesterday, the entire city is talking about him around the water cooler, and the owner said he "threw 22 of 28 completions and was terrific." Has Ralph ever said that about JP? NO! Trent is good in the huddle, on the sidelines, and talking to the press, and acts like a real leader. Only Big Ben has showed the poise and conviction our rookie has shown and Trent never had first string reps (front day one) until last week. No wonder he sucked against the Pats.

Our kid is only going to get better and better each week. JP peaked last year throwing the bomb to Evans. There is nothing else JP offers and Fairchilds offense is a cerebral, complex, high precision, execution-oriented scheme that JP is unable to fathom let alone perform. JP will now only play if Trent's hurt and Nall will be let go again during the bye. You should be able to get a #5 jersey by the fins game.

[BlackMetalNinja]

Yay, Trent had one good game against a bad team, annoint him Lord and Savior immediately!

Don't get me wrong, Trent looked very good, but as big of a hurry as everybody has been in to get JP out of the picture, you all seem to be in just as big of a hurry to thrust Edwards into superstar status. Can we see if the kid can do it for more than one game first please?

[DynaPaul]

“We didn’t hold anything back,” Schonert said. “Everything we have in the game plan, we have confidence he can execute it. We even thought about going no-huddle at some times, but what we were doing was working so we stayed with it.”

This quote is from the article at http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/174507.html

I guess the coaching staff REALLY didn't trust JP like the theory goes.

[gr8slayer]

YOu know what's funny? The first game in 2005 vs. the Texans everyone was talking about Losman being the savior after he beat one very very poor team. Now we're talking about Edwards being the savior after one game against a very very poor team.

Two years from now everyone calling for Edwards to be in the HOF now is going to say "I knew he was going to suck from day one. I knew, I knew....."

[YardRat]

Jerry's good at fanning the flames, I'll give him that.

[The Answer]

YOu know what's funny? The first game in 2005 vs. the Texans everyone was talking about Losman being the savior after he beat one very very poor team. Now we're talking about Edwards being the savior after one game against a very very poor team.

Two years from now everyone calling for Edwards to be in the HOF now is going to say "I knew he was going to suck from day one. I knew, I knew....."

Not really a valid comparison - in 2005 Losman was entering his 2nd NFL season, despite missing most of 2004 with injury.

Also his play against the Texans was less than stellar, he started off strong but his play tailed off in the 2nd half of that game.

The Young Gun was stellar and on point throught his debut against a playoff team from 2006. Also he led the team to the winning score in the 4th quarter.

~The Answer

[Ebenezer]

if TE goes 9 for 31 with 4 INTs against the 'boys the fans will be calling him out too...let him just play it out.

[gr8slayer]

Not really a valid comparison - in 2005 Losman was entering his 2nd NFL season, despite missing most of 2004 with injury.

Also his play against the Texans was less than stellar, he started off strong but his play tailed off in the 2nd half of that game.

The Young Gun was stellar and on point throught his debut against a playoff team from 2006. Also he led the team to the winning score in the 4th quarter.

~The Answer
You must not hold your standards too high, he did nothing special against a very bad defense. Beat the Patriots, Cowboys, or any other dominating team and then we'll talk. Till then he's just another question mark.

[YardRat]

I'll say this...I feel more comfortable going into this game with Edwards under center than I think I would've with Losman.

[TigerJ]

I'm really not too worried about who's going to start at QB for the Bills. I figure it's going to work itself out. At the moment, I'd say the odds favor Trent Edwards becoming the official starter at some point, but if JP suddenly develops a healthy knee and shoots the lights out versus Dallas, maybe he just needed to be pushed.

[Ingtar33]

if he's nothing short of spectacular this year, i want the bills to draft brohm (if we have a shot at him).

[SABURZFAN]

Jerry's good at fanning the flames, I'll give him that.



he's no SABURZFAN or TacklingDummy though. :couch: :snicker:

[BillsFever21]

Trent had a good game. I expected a decent game out of him this weekend. Generally many QB's who are starting their first game or come of the bench have some success because the other team and the league never had much of a chance to see them and gameplan for them. Throw in the fact that the Jets defense has been terrible then it was a good opportunity for a decent game.

He did exceed my expectations some what though. He was very accurate but he far from lit it up. He played a very good game and managed the game well but it wasn't an explosing. The defense set up one of the scores also. I was very encouraged by his play though.

One other big key is that our defense didn't have us down by 2 scores in the 2nd quarter again this game. We actually got to run our offense and not have to scratch the gameplan and play into the defenses hands. I also feel the gameplan was much better too. Too bad it takes 3 long weeks and 2 blowouts before the coaches make changes to it.

Anyway, if Edwards can go out next week and keep us close with the Cowboys and have a good game like this week it may have to be thought about. Not just one game against the lousy Jets defense is enough evidence for me yet.

Also, it's not like Losman has never had any good games. With a couple guys saying Edwards just had a better game then Losman ever has. You can be optimistic but don't get stupid now. Losman was the QB that won us 5 out of 6 games during last year and had 12 TD passes in the last 7 weeks with the #11 QB rating in the league. It's not as if he hasn't won any games for us. Many was very excited about our season last year and especially our finish. But as is always the case everybody loves the backup QB especially a young one. There were some fans(don't try to say there wasn't) that was calling for Frank Reich back in the day to start over Kelly.

Lets see what happens next week before anything is even thought about. I believe the front office is pulling for Edwards over Losman though with the biggest factor being $$$$$$. 500k compared to 7 million is a big difference. If they see any(and maybe none at all) hope in Edwards at all then they he will definitely be the starter next year unless Losman looks like Tom Brady when he comes back from injury.

Unless Edwards tears it up next week and beats the Cowboys then you will see Losman after the bye week. One good game doesn't make a career and a rookie QB you want to bring along slowly. A good example of that is Derek Anderson. Does anybody think he is going to have a great career? He had game similar to Edwards against poor defenses last year and has had a couple good games this year.

Give him another game and a real test before proclaiming anything at all. The Jets do not equal the Patriots, who the kid got killed against just a week later. I don't expect some of the overreacters around here will do that though. The people who live with one game at a time.

[Carlton Bailey]

Edwards was fantastic from start to finish yesterday. You can't compare that performance to Losman's versus Houston in 2005. JP played well in the first half, then he sunk to earth in the second -- which is really how most of his good starts have gone.

Edwards' play never waned whatsoever. He was as consistent as possible throughout.

[gr8slayer]

Edwards was fantastic from start to finish yesterday. You can't compare that performance to Losman's versus Houston in 2005. JP played well in the first half, then he sunk to earth in the second -- which is really how most of his good starts have gone.

Edwards' play never waned whatsoever. He was as consistent as possible throughout.
Again, do it against a real team (Dallas, NE) and then we'll talk. Till then we're no better off with Edwards than we are with Losman.

[Yasgur's Farm]

It's a good thing to have 2 good QB'S. There's no reason to bash either 1.

But... It's a long season. Remember what Rob Johnson did in Jacksonville before he came to the Bills.

[TacklingDummy]

Yay, Trent had one good game against a bad team, annoint him Lord and Savior immediately!



Why not? The Lickers have been doing it for 2 years with Losman.

[PcA125]

You must not hold your standards too high, he did nothing special against a very bad defense. Beat the Patriots, Cowboys, or any other dominating team and then we'll talk. Till then he's just another question mark.

I guess JP is still a huge question mark then.

[mush69]

I think Trent did an excellent job on Sunday! Yes he will have to be on top of his game when we face the Dallas Cowboys, but it doesn't stop there. First and foremost in order for Trent to even have a chance I feel as though the Defense will be the key to a good performance from Trent.

In order for Edwards to put up any kind of winning numbers we have to keep Dallas' offense off the field and Trent isn't going to be able to do that when he is on the sidelines. We will need a stingy and steller performance by a banged up Defense in order for Trent and the rest of the offense to even have a chance of putting together sustained drives that eat up the game clock.

Everybody seems to think that Edwards is going to save our season, but I have to believe it all starts with our defense sucking up and producing a lot of 3 and outs!

[deepslant]

Generally many QB's who are starting their first game or come of the bench have some success because the other team and the league never had much of a chance to see them and gameplan for them.
This statement is not correct. Most true rookies do not perform during there first game.


With a couple guys saying Edwards just had a better game then Losman ever has.
It's not the result it's the way he managed the game, hit the open receiver (including TEs), and was given a much wider game plan the JP gets to perform too. Fairchild doesn't trust JP with an underneath, screens, etc. game plan.


But as is always the case everybody loves the backup QB especially a young one.
That's not correct. They are usually not trusted and take a 3rd string role unless they have extreme talents.


There were some fans(don't try to say there wasn't) that was calling for Frank Reich back in the day to start over Kelly.
2 out of a million fans, and only those that went to college with Frank, doesn't count. Nobody, including after the Oilers playoff game, was calling Frank's number.

[Turf]

I've seen Losman suck against bad teams. And I'm convinced had Losman started against the Jet's we'd see more of the same, and be 0-4.