Fitz Not Getting Sacked, Why?

[bf1]

What's your theory?

Better playcalling?
Better o-line play?
Fitz is mobile?
A little bit of everything, which is like a snowball effect?

[baalworship]

He gets rid of the ball fast. That's it. As soon as Fitz got in last year our crappy o-line suddenly looked much better.

[Forward_Lateral]

Quick release
O-line is improving every week
The run game is stifling teams ability to blitz relentlessly
Fitz is destroying blitzes.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

He knows when to get rid of the ball, and he has adequate protection. Not Pro Bowl caliber, but adequate. At this point, though, adequate is all they need.

[TacklingDummy]

Sacks are rare in a Bills game.

The Bills themselves only have 2.

[Philagape]

Plus Fitz has excellent pocket presence. He knows when to step up, when to scramble, and can buy time with just a few timely steps.
The line is providing just enough time for him, which might not be enough for less aware QBs.

[bf1]

It's just amazing that the same group of guys can look night and day different. I think it's a little of everything, adding up.

[bf1]

Plus Fitz has excellent pocket presence. He knows when to step up, when to scramble, and can buy time with just a few timely steps.
The line is providing just enough time for him, which might not be enough for less aware QBs.
Yeah, I've notice. That was Bledsoe's demise.

[Beebe's Kid]

Maybe Buddy isn't so bumbling, and we have an o-line?

I am not sure this required scientific theory to come up with an answer.

Take Fitz and the ball when it comes through Wood's legs, subtract the amount of opposing players in the backfield divide by the number of seconds Fitzy has to throw, throw a pi in there because no equation is complet with out pi, multiply (or "times" if you're not too good at math) it by the square root of Fitzy's rushing totals for the first three games. Consider it was Leonard Euler's Day Off (Euler...Euler) take the whole thing to the power of the number of receivers we have on the field at one time and you'll be all set.

[baalworship]

We haven't had a quarterback with Fitz's pocket presence in the last decade.

Rob Johnson, Bledsoe, Edwards, Losman all had below average pocket presence. They never could move in the pocket or feel the rush. You either have this or you don't.

BTW, this is why I thought Mallett was not going to be any good in the NFL and stand by that. Newton I thought the opposite of as he made great throws in college with people in his face.

[psubills62]

Combination of lots of things. Great mix of playcalling, better than expected play from the OL, Fitz's ability to feel pressure and scramble, Fitz's reads and release. Don't think you can point to any one thing.

[Extremebillsfan247]

What's your theory?

Better playcalling?
Better o-line play?
Fitz is mobile?
A little bit of everything, which is like a snowball effect?Offensive game plan and preparation. Our primary offensive objective is to spread a defense out. It makes it tougher on a defense to blitz because it usually means leaving a receiver open when you do send one. Second reason is Fitzpatrick, and his ability to quickly read a defense. Third, Fitz gets rid of the ball pretty quick. Unless a blitzing LB or Safety gets by his blocker clean, Fitz is tough to get to. JMO

[psubills62]

It may be getting to the point where we can say the same things about Fitz as we said about Brady this past week: don't blitz him, you have to get pressure with your front 3/4 players. He can pick you apart with time.

The OL definitely deserves credit, too. Both teams have had questions about their OL - Buffalo much more so than NE - but both OL's have really stepped up in pass protection.

[BillsFanCupp38]

definately quick release and it looks like ole Buddy wasn't lying when he said he has liked our offensive line all along ;)

[imbondz]

it's a bunch of all of that combined. plus, I love that Fitz isn't afraid to scramble once in a while. he rarely does, which is great, but I also like knowing he can.

[acehole]

System is to get ball out fast.

He has good pocket presence as well.

OLINE playing for him.



What's your theory?

Better playcalling?
Better o-line play?
Fitz is mobile?
A little bit of everything, which is like a snowball effect?

[jamze132]

Gailey knows the O-line isn't where it nerds to be yet so ge is designing plays to get the ball away in 3 sec or less. It's great coaching, and it requires discipline on the WRs to run their route flawlessly. So far, so good.

[djjimkelly]

scheme and how smart fitz is .

that is the simple answer to why no sacks

when u watch replay of this game several times u can see fitz sees where the pressure is coming from and he adjusts

add in that the plays are designed by gailey to expose the coverage and so on.

people we have a legit HC finally

[NOT THE DUDE...]

from what im seeing, the tackles are playing solid but the interior is crushing people. i mean they are playing at a high high level, especially wood and levitre..

[SabreEleven]

Not as many injuries as there has been in the last couple years.

[justasportsfan]

because OP said our OL would blow and that we're desperate.

[ddaryl]

Experience on the OL is showing, coaching/gameplan, Fitz's QB cognitive ability/quick release, Players rising up making plays.

It's the perfect storm for this young team, and they still have lots of room to grow and get better

[Borosai]

New uniforms.

[Bill Cody]

because OP said our OL would blow and that we're desperate.

Apparently the bottom of the barrel isn't so bad

[Mike]

Very Simply, Good QB make everyone else look better than they are. Rogers made up for his poor o-line, Farve has made a number of WR's careers, etc...

This is where the circular argument fails: talent/ability. When you have a good QB, like Fitz, a lot of the other weaknesses will be subdued and the teammates begging to perform. You take any of our other QBs over the last decade and put them behind this line with this offense I guarantee half of us would be arguing that its the QBs fault the other half would be blaming the Line and the WRs.

Good QB make everyone around them better.

[BillsFever21]

What's your theory?

Better playcalling?
Better o-line play?
Fitz is mobile?
A little bit of everything, which is like a snowball effect?

He is a smart QB that can read the defenses and knows when and where he wants to throw the football. Not like Trent Edwards was.

[YardRat]

Fitz knows where he's going with the ball most of the time with his pre-snap read, and he's more than willing to throw and give the WR's an opportunity to make plays. With Ryan, if you're single covered you're open and you better be looking for the ball.

[Ingtar33]

What's your theory?

Better playcalling?
Better o-line play?
Fitz is mobile?
A little bit of everything, which is like a snowball effect?


none of the above.

it's mostly because he gets rid of the football fast. he's also spotting most of the blitzes before the snap, and either audibling some protection, or hitting the hot read.

I remember a few years ago during the last Colts superbowl run (the year they lost to NO) talking about Payton Manning playing the best QB play i've ever seen, because he was putting up an insane season behind what might be the worst o-line in football. Manning made that line look competent for a few seasons, now that he's down you're seeing just how terrible it is.

Fitzmagic is doing a little bit of the same right now. Those tackles still are terrible pass blockers, but it doesn't matter much because it's not in his hand long enough to hurt us. That said Bell has almost looked like a starting caliber o-linemen for long stretches this year; and him, Levitre, and Wood are dominating with their run blocking (i love how all 3 get to the 2nd level)

[tomz]

Maybe Buddy isn't so bumbling, and we have an o-line?

I am not sure this required scientific theory to come up with an answer.

Take Fitz and the ball when it comes through Wood's legs, subtract the amount of opposing players in the backfield divide by the number of seconds Fitzy has to throw, throw a pi in there because no equation is complet with out pi, multiply (or "times" if you're not too good at math) it by the square root of Fitzy's rushing totals for the first three games. Consider it was Leonard Euler's Day Off (Euler...Euler) take the whole thing to the power of the number of receivers we have on the field at one time and you'll be all set.

Saw what you are going for but it is pronounced like 'oiler.' And isn't it Leonhard? (Total nerd reply, i know.)

[tomz]

none of the above.

it's mostly because he gets rid of the football fast. he's also spotting most of the blitzes before the snap, and either audibling some protection, or hitting the hot read.

I remember a few years ago during the last Colts superbowl run (the year they lost to NO) talking about Payton Manning playing the best QB play i've ever seen, because he was putting up an insane season behind what might be the worst o-line in football. Manning made that line look competent for a few seasons, now that he's down you're seeing just how terrible it is.

Fitzmagic is doing a little bit of the same right now. Those tackles still are terrible pass blockers, but it doesn't matter much because it's not in his hand long enough to hurt us. That said Bell has almost looked like a starting caliber o-linemen for long stretches this year; and him, Levitre, and Wood are dominating with their run blocking (i love how all 3 get to the 2nd level)

Though we like to bash our tackles, take a peek at the Jets-Oakland game and look what the Raiders D-line did to the Jests. I think our O-line also is playing pretty well. And the run blocking has been not too shabby as well.

[TigerJ]

A little bit of everything.

Fitz throws a lot of quick passes anyway (it's part of the Chan Gailey scheme.

Fitz is naturally quick in his decision making. Being smart helps here.

The line is improving.

The effective running game is keeping defenses honest. Under Jauron, Buffalo had an ineffective passing offense, so opponents kept stacking the box and the Bills couldn't run either.

I think the Nix - Gailey pairing is so good, it's a shame Ralph couldn't figure it out a long time ago.

[Mr. Pink]

Most of the routes that are called are quick hitters.

Every NFL QB gets about 3 seconds to make the right read and throw the ball.

The short answer is Fitz isn't holding on to the ball and hitting receivers quickly.

[kishoph]

I think it's a little bit of everything, but you have to give a lot of credit to the O-Line, a group that even in the media was referred to as one of the worst in the league. The O-Line has played great and currently is ranked #1 in NFL's Offensive line stats, leading in both sacks allowed and rushing yard average.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=false&conference=null&role=TM&offensiveStatisticCategory=OFFENSIVE_LINE&defensiveStatisticCategory=null&season=2011&seasonType=REG&tabSeq=2&qualified=true&Submit=Go

[Night Train]

Gailey has incorporated the college spread, which is predicated on delivering the ball quickly. I guess that time at Georgia Tech was a positive for his current offensive plan. Doesn't hurt to have a bright QB running it who is locked in with his Head Coach.

This covers up many blemishes in the OL while getting the ball to the desired skill players quickly.

[mysticsoto]

none of the above.

it's mostly because he gets rid of the football fast. he's also spotting most of the blitzes before the snap, and either audibling some protection, or hitting the hot read.

I remember a few years ago during the last Colts superbowl run (the year they lost to NO) talking about Payton Manning playing the best QB play i've ever seen, because he was putting up an insane season behind what might be the worst o-line in football. Manning made that line look competent for a few seasons, now that he's down you're seeing just how terrible it is.

Fitzmagic is doing a little bit of the same right now. Those tackles still are terrible pass blockers, but it doesn't matter much because it's not in his hand long enough to hurt us. That said Bell has almost looked like a starting caliber o-linemen for long stretches this year; and him, Levitre, and Wood are dominating with their run blocking (i love how all 3 get to the 2nd level)

Ingtar is correct here. I heard on WGR yesterday how FJ was getting ready to get off the field and let Spiller in and how Fitz looked over to who the Pats had in and felt that they were going to blitz. Fitz called FJ back since he's a better blocker than Spiller. Sure enough, the blitz came, FJ picked it up adequately, and Fitz read the hot receiver quickly to beat the blitz.

I personally liked that Fitz had the capacity to read when the blitz was coming and made calls accordingly to compensate.

[justasportsfan]

none of the above.

it's mostly because he gets rid of the football fast. he's also spotting most of the blitzes before the snap, and either audibling some protection, or hitting the hot read.

I remember a few years ago during the last Colts superbowl run (the year they lost to NO) talking about Payton Manning playing the best QB play i've ever seen, because he was putting up an insane season behind what might be the worst o-line in football. Manning made that line look competent for a few seasons, now that he's down you're seeing just how terrible it is.

Fitzmagic is doing a little bit of the same right now. Those tackles still are terrible pass blockers, but it doesn't matter much because it's not in his hand long enough to hurt us. That said Bell has almost looked like a starting caliber o-linemen for long stretches this year; and him, Levitre, and Wood are dominating with their run blocking (i love how all 3 get to the 2nd level)


I agree. We will see what the OL really looks like if Thigpen ever had to come in. JUst like last year when Brohm and Brown played

[MikeInRoch]

So on this basis, how many "extra" wins do you think Buffalo gets this year because we have Fitzpatrick this year instead of one of the recent scrubs (Edwards, Losman, etc.) Certainly we lose the last two games we played. Is Fitz an eight game upgrade?