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The 2008 season was a tough one to swallow for Bills fans. One moment the Bills were riding high, and the next moment they had crashed and burned. The season was a complete collapse, and as of yet, it hasn't produced a scapegoat. Most Bills fans feel a change was mandatory, and the higher that change happened in the hierarchy, the better. Seems the desire for change was ignored, much like the desire for wins has been for about a decade.
Many people, including myself, thought ’08 would be the year the Bills turned it around. They were coming off an encouraging season with their encouraging young talent. They added more talent in the off season. They had a number of injured players returning. They had gained experience, continuity, and comfort. Also, they had learned to play through diversity and learn to win. Or so we thought.
They went on to underachieve. Seems every player’s performance was a little lower then what was expected. A prime example is John McCargo (DT), who after being chose by a respected journalist, or two, as a “2008 break out player”, he went on to become a Bills embarrassment.
The Bills season has ended with no playoffs, as usual. Seems there is still one thing left to do; assessments. I figure I would give this staff a hand with that. Although I am not a football genius, it seems this staff could use any help it could get.
Quarterback
As the Bills QBs go, so do the Bills. This theory is supported by the fact the running game got it going during the second half of the season, but the Bills offensive scoring dropped significantly. This was a tale of two seasons for Trent, much like the Bills. He started out red hot, and was finding himself right square under some national spot light. Then Adrain Wilson happened, and he happened hard. He put Trent out of the game and Trent went from MVP candidate to shell-shocked war veteran in 2 seconds flat. After that hit there were times when he dropped back to pass and it looked like he was experiencing post traumatic stress and war flashbacks. He developed a strong case of tunnel vision and near-sidedness, prompting fans and respected journalist to ask “Trent, are you afraid to throw it?”
In addition to his seemingly problematic state-of-mind, he was abysmal performing against the 3-4 defenses. His passer rating was a 70.4 verses the 3-4, and a healthy 98.5 when playing against everything else. The Bills posted a 1-7 record verses the 3-4, with Trent going 1 for 5. The lone win came coming off the bye week.
That is a vast contrast with what seems to be a clear single denominator. This may be compelling evidence. I feel when you add how bad Losman looked against the 3-4, it is pretty clear the Bills QBs were entirely under-prepared by this staff to face this style defense. The team averaged 15.4 points verses the 3-4, and 26.6 points otherwise. I think this is good news for the Bills. Preparation and game plan can be more readily fixed, then a lack of talent.
I am hesitant to call Trent Edwards the Bills future at QB. He may have completed the season with a respectable 85.4 passer rating, but I have seen Losman do that. Further working against my belief in Trent is he looked worst as the season went on, as opposed to JP during his ‘06 campaign (85 rating) in which he looked better as the season progressed. I’m not saying he is JP losman, but the Bills have a history of repeating their bad history.
So here the Bills are again, with the QB position in a bit of a limbo. In my opinion, Trent showed enough promise at times, and the Bills have so many other glaring holes, it is a position unlikely to be upgraded this off-season. Trent will have to step it up from the encouraging promise he showed early on, and take this team with his performance to the next level.
With the pending loss of Losman, and Trent’s injury history, the Bills will have to find a suitable backup. There is a list of backup quality veteran QBs available to choose from.
Many people, including myself, thought ’08 would be the year the Bills turned it around. They were coming off an encouraging season with their encouraging young talent. They added more talent in the off season. They had a number of injured players returning. They had gained experience, continuity, and comfort. Also, they had learned to play through diversity and learn to win. Or so we thought.
They went on to underachieve. Seems every player’s performance was a little lower then what was expected. A prime example is John McCargo (DT), who after being chose by a respected journalist, or two, as a “2008 break out player”, he went on to become a Bills embarrassment.
The Bills season has ended with no playoffs, as usual. Seems there is still one thing left to do; assessments. I figure I would give this staff a hand with that. Although I am not a football genius, it seems this staff could use any help it could get.
Quarterback
As the Bills QBs go, so do the Bills. This theory is supported by the fact the running game got it going during the second half of the season, but the Bills offensive scoring dropped significantly. This was a tale of two seasons for Trent, much like the Bills. He started out red hot, and was finding himself right square under some national spot light. Then Adrain Wilson happened, and he happened hard. He put Trent out of the game and Trent went from MVP candidate to shell-shocked war veteran in 2 seconds flat. After that hit there were times when he dropped back to pass and it looked like he was experiencing post traumatic stress and war flashbacks. He developed a strong case of tunnel vision and near-sidedness, prompting fans and respected journalist to ask “Trent, are you afraid to throw it?”
In addition to his seemingly problematic state-of-mind, he was abysmal performing against the 3-4 defenses. His passer rating was a 70.4 verses the 3-4, and a healthy 98.5 when playing against everything else. The Bills posted a 1-7 record verses the 3-4, with Trent going 1 for 5. The lone win came coming off the bye week.
That is a vast contrast with what seems to be a clear single denominator. This may be compelling evidence. I feel when you add how bad Losman looked against the 3-4, it is pretty clear the Bills QBs were entirely under-prepared by this staff to face this style defense. The team averaged 15.4 points verses the 3-4, and 26.6 points otherwise. I think this is good news for the Bills. Preparation and game plan can be more readily fixed, then a lack of talent.
I am hesitant to call Trent Edwards the Bills future at QB. He may have completed the season with a respectable 85.4 passer rating, but I have seen Losman do that. Further working against my belief in Trent is he looked worst as the season went on, as opposed to JP during his ‘06 campaign (85 rating) in which he looked better as the season progressed. I’m not saying he is JP losman, but the Bills have a history of repeating their bad history.
So here the Bills are again, with the QB position in a bit of a limbo. In my opinion, Trent showed enough promise at times, and the Bills have so many other glaring holes, it is a position unlikely to be upgraded this off-season. Trent will have to step it up from the encouraging promise he showed early on, and take this team with his performance to the next level.
With the pending loss of Losman, and Trent’s injury history, the Bills will have to find a suitable backup. There is a list of backup quality veteran QBs available to choose from.
" ~ yordad
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