Wow - has there ever been a more prophetic post than this on CZ??

[NJCowboy]

This Post from a Bills fan - needs to be read by all. Found by Kilyin - GREAT JOB!!!!
Bingo. Hey Dallas fans, do you feel like your offensive line suddenly got 100 times worse OVERNIGHT??? It's called the Bledsoe syndrome. You're going to feel it all year long. There's no known cure at this time. Last night was a perfect microcosm of what Bledsoe brings to the table. He is slow to read defenses, has little (if any) pocket presence, and doesn't protect the football.

What Bledsoe DOES give you (on a positive note) is durability (he never seems to get injured...which might get annoying as the year goes on and his inability to lead the offense gets more and more profound), and he can still throw the deep ball, which I didn't see him do last night. He still has a pretty deep ball.

Sorry. As a Bills fan I once went through what you're all feeling now. Pats fans came to our board and told us almost verbatim what I just told you all. We didn't believe it one bit...then the season started and for about 8 games Bledsoe proved the Pats wrong. Then he came back down to reality and just hasn't been the same since.

I'm not here to talk smack, but just to lay it on the line, this is EXACTLY what you have in Drew Bledsoe:

Pros:
-Good person
-Good arm, nice deep ball
-Durable
-okay leader

Cons:
-can't play-action
-can't throw screens
-struggles to read defenses (needs no less than 4 seconds to read a standard D)
-can't throw hot routes
-little pocket presence
-doesn't protect the ball
-seems to get lazy as the year progresses
-can't improvise


What annoyed me most about Drew's tenure with the Bills is that he came in talking the same big game that he's talking for Dallas right now...about how he is motivated to win a ring yadda yadda yadda...but he just doesn't play with the same fire and enthusiasm he shows in his introductory interviews. He seems snakebitten, rattled, and dumfounded after every negative play, and ends up walking off the field with this 'deer in headlights' glaised over look. It's HORRIBLY FRUSTRATING.

[TunaFan33]

What's even more frustrating about Drew is that he DOESN'T ANTICIPATE the pressure.

When guys come into Tom Brady's face, for example, he STEPS INTO his throws. Bledsoe doesn't really do much of that.

You always have to wonder-what if we had gotten Dilfer or Holcomb in FA instead?

[Jimz31]

Ummm.....so accurate that it is scary.

[NJCowboy]

What's even more frustrating about Drew is that he DOESN'T ANTICIPATE the pressure.

When guys come into Tom Brady's face, for example, he STEPS INTO his throws. Bledsoe doesn't really do much of that.

You always have to wonder-what if we had gotten Dilfer or Holcomb in FA instead?
You mean Jake Delhomme :bang2:

[TunaFan33]

You mean Jake Delhomme :bang2:

Oh-meant this season. Dilfer and Holcomb were the only other FA QBs in 05.

Dilfer has nothing left in the tank, and Holcomb is nothing more than a journeyman. But are either really better than Drew? That's a loaded q.

[NJCowboy]

...but he just doesn't play with the same fire and enthusiasm he shows in his introductory interviews. He seems snakebitten, rattled, and dumfounded after every negative play, and ends up walking off the field with this 'deer in headlights' glaised over look :bang2: My lord ...!!! that's what I've been screaming about!! His post game interview was like he was headed to a big party in his honor....

[Sitting Bull]

That's a cute post, but somebody should track that guy down and ask him if it felt any better being eliminated from playoff contention by Week 6 with J. Kelly Loscomb at quarterback. Sounds like a more bleak prognosis than his previous syndrome.

I've been frustrated/concerned about Bledsoe's lack of mobility all year. But I've also been impressed many times by his willingness to hang tough and find that late-breaking receiver in the face of heavy pressure. This is a chicken/egg thing: Bledsoe's struggles have coincided with rapidly deteriorating O-line play.

If we had the same health/depth on the OL as we enjoy on the DL, I think we'd have pulled out the last two games. Fantasy trade scenarios aside, it will be a lot easier to upgrade our OL than our QB.

[Kilyin]

There is no team in the league with a perfect offensive line. Some are damn close, but even the best give up a sack, allow some pressure. Our OL can play better than they did against the Giants, but Bledsoe has to play better too. He panics and runs into a sack.

The first thing Bledsoe needs to do is learn how to sidestep. Seriously, I can't ever remember Bledsoe sidestepping. He's either moving up into pressure or moving backwards into it. I don't think he even sees it coming half the time, which leads to more fumbles.

I'm also convinced, as some others, that whatever they did to correct Bledsoe's fumbled snaps is how other teams are anticipating the snap and getting into the backfield so quickly. Someone tell Bledsoe about the hard count.

[Zman5]

People forget how bad Aikman played when our OL sucked around 97-2000 seasons. He had bad case of happy feet. Most QB would with Clay Shiver at center getting punked immediately after the snap.

Well our current centers aren't doing any better.

[Hostile]

"Ty Law will be our FS, book it!" comes to mind.

I don't know why?

[REDVOLUTION]

Dilfer has nothing left in the tank

Dilfer once had a tank? or he tanked? LMAO

[Smith22]

When you can't run the ball consistently due to poor run blocking, teams just start teeing off on the passing game. Having young, inexperienced guys like Tucker and Rob playing out at tackle only complicates matters even more, not to mention the poor play from both Gurode and Johnson. I honestly don't see how any other QB could have done that much better considering, but maybe that's just me......

[Zaxor]

This Post from a Bills fan - needs to be read by all. Found by Kilyin - GREAT JOB!!!!

I said the same thing so did Mike and Juke and LTN and a host of other people.... Bledsoe imho will never get it done if he has to be counted on...by that I mean if he is just a bit or role player he may be ok but if you need him to win more than a game or two forget it...He might make a good back up but not for an extended period of time 2-3 games max... I expect I will get roasted for this post but when it is all said and done see if I and many others weren't right about Bledsoe

[TunaFan33]

I said the same thing so did Mike and Juke and LTN and a host of other people.... Bledsoe imho will never get it done if he has to be counted on...by that I mean if he is just a bit or role player he may be ok but if you need him to win more than a game or two forget it...He might make a good back up but not for an extended period of time 2-3 games max... I expect I will get roasted for this post but when it is all said and done see if I and many others weren't right about Bledsoe

I'm with you too.

However-I hope we're wrong 'cuz our good buddy Skip Bayless has been ROOTING for Bledsoe to be Parcells' undoing in Big D since Jan.

Well-at least Bayless was wrong about Henson. :)

[ddh33]

Fair enough. We all knew Bledsoe wasn't perfect. He was still the best available option for this team, and he still is. We need to put him in a position to succeed now.

[Sarge]

Morning Winky - wherever you are.

;)


:D

[Martice]

This Post from a Bills fan - needs to be read by all. Found by Kilyin - GREAT JOB!!!!

The funny thing is if I told you that I was describing Chad Hutchinson with the above post I'd get hardly a rebuttal.

[JohnsKey19]

Well the Bills fan is 100% correct unfortunately. And anyone who has followed the NFL should've known these things about Bledsoe the day he signed with the Cowboys. It happens, but very rarely does a player re-invent himself 10+ years already in the league.

Now this doesn't mean Bledoes is terrible. He can still be a good QB at times. But the fact remains that you have to hold your breath when you know he as the QB is going into a hostile enviroment playing against a team that can bring pressure. I don't care how good/bad your O-Line may be, you're going to have to face and defeat pressure if you plan to be a succesful QB on a playoff team. I dont think Bledsoe can get that done.

[Grevus]

Bledsoe has made some bad plays, but I can't blame him completely. The OL is playing like crap. Losing Adams for the season is the real killer. Prior to losing him, the Cowboys were moving the ball well, they still didn't run very well, but the passing game was on. Since then, the Cowboys can't run or pass. With Flozel in there, you only needed a TE or RB to help the RT, now with Tucker, you need to help both the RT and LT. This limits the number of plays you can run. Max protect.

Let's add another equation to this, the WR position isn't doing it's job either. Bledsoe made some bad throws, but I didn't see too many wide open recievers either.

The Giants this weekend didn't blitz a lot. They played a lot more 2 deep zones. In a 2 deep zone, the middle of the field is usually open, this is were the TE or RB is needed, but we don't have this since we run max protect.

Bottom line, Bledsoe isn't playing well, but neither is the OL. I expect in the off-season to see the Cowboys go heavy on OL similiar to what they did this year on DL.

[Martice]

When you can't run the ball consistently due to poor run blocking, teams just start teeing off on the passing game. Having young, inexperienced guys like Tucker and Rob playing out at tackle only complicates matters even more, not to mention the poor play from both Gurode and Johnson. I honestly don't see how any other QB could have done that much better considering, but maybe that's just me......


Hi Smith. I totally agree to a point. The problem is that when Drew does have time to throw the ball he is still feeling the effects of the last pressure. The fact that he is being pressured relentlessly is not in question. The point some are making (like me) is that Drew seems to be affected and responds to the pressure like a rookie and that is strange for a guy with his experience. You cannot put that on the 'O' line.

Standing tall in the pocket and waiting for Terry to get open is not his only job. The 'O' line is getting beat. Drew knows this. The question is when will Drew learn to make adjustments to the pressure so that he can give his (?) offense a second or two longer life? He doesn't step into his passes. He doesn't know what a side step is and he can't throw on the run. He throws short passes like a rookie. I don't get it guys. I just don't get it.

People say that Witten's numbers have gone down because he has been blocking for Drew more these days. This is partly true. If you look at the beginning of the year, I remember Witten getting upset that he wasn't being thrown too the amount of times he should be. With him being a Pro Bowl TE and all. The only argument is that Drew still needed to learn the offense so I give him a pass on this criticism. Somehow we need to get Witten back up the field and off the line and the coaching staff needs to get more creative getting our weapons up the field. All it willl take is a couple of good passes and (like some have said) a few more delayed draws. But the key is for Drew to make a couple of quick passes to cool off the pressure. Unfortunately, he's struggling with 3 step drops and I've seen faster drop backs in pop warner. His delivery is too slow as well.

Drew doesn't look good reading defenses. He seems to have his mind up where he is going to go when he does get a good pass off and usually it's to TG. When he does have to make his reads, he's panicked and erratic. For the last few weeks we have all been seeing those 'what was that' kind of passes coming from Drew. You know, the kind that rolls to the receiver, the kind that comes too hard, the kind goes behind, the kind that goes too high for the running back to catch on a simple screen that makes the RB have to stretch to catch. If this were Hutch playing like this we would be cruxifying him right now. Then again, some here still defend Hutch and his promise with his big arm and all. Funny though, he couldn't feel the rush either, just like Drew.

I'm stopping now. I am growing frustrated thinking about this guy. It is all on him to get us going. BP has said that we have done everything possible to keep this guy off of his back. The question is, WHAT CAN DREW DO TO HELP US, HELP HIM?

Sorry for the rant. I'm sure I'll feel better and differently by tomorrow.

[Martice]

Oops! Double post.

[Zaxor]

Fair enough. We all knew Bledsoe wasn't perfect. He was still the best available option for this team, and he still is. We need to put him in a position to succeed now.

I'm not sure about that friend.... I think the best option would have been to go with somebody that has an upside...that pass on Thanksgiving that Bledsoe threw for a int and a TD was the same one that got Henson pulled on Thanksgiving last year...Bledsoe will never learn.. and while there was not alot of choices to be had in the offseason would we have not been better served having played Henson or Romo or some other up and commer instead or the year before that with Testy...from what you have seen do you really believe that Bledsoe is the QB that can carry a team to the SB or is he just along for the ride...

Its great fun for us fans to play coach or gm...but me if I was either I would have never hitched my wagon to Bledsoe...not even as a stop gap

[Zaxor]

Well the Bills fan is 100% correct unfortunately. And anyone who has followed the NFL should've known these things about Bledsoe the day he signed with the Cowboys. It happens, but very rarely does a player re-invent himself 10+ years already in the league.

Now this doesn't mean Bledoes is terrible. He can still be a good QB at times. But the fact remains that you have to hold your breath when you know he as the QB is going into a hostile enviroment playing against a team that can bring pressure. I don't care how good/bad your O-Line may be, you're going to have to face and defeat pressure if you plan to be a succesful QB on a playoff team. I dont think Bledsoe can get that done.

He never has consistenly <sic> before... I think Troy Hambrick has a better chance of turning into Barry Sanders...or Randal (stone hands) Willams has of turning into Jerry Rice...

[Yakuza Rich]

Okay, I'm not a huge Bledsoe fan. In fact, my friends that are not Cowboys fans actually like the guy and ask me why I'm not thrilled and I just say "I don't trust him in the end." But, I'll give Bledsoe some credit for playing pretty well so far and in reality, he's not the root of the problem outside of the Seattle and Oakland games. That being said, he had rain in the Seattle game and a strong wind in the Oakland that hurt his play.

Bingo. Hey Dallas fans, do you feel like your offensive line suddenly got 100 times worse OVERNIGHT??? It's called the Bledsoe syndrome.

No, it's called Marco Rivera got hurt and hasn't been very good. Then Jacob Rogers was basically put on I-R (and released) and they were forced to move a 6th round rookie from backup LT to starting RT (a position he never played before). It's called your Pro Bowl left tackle got hurt. It's called teams have figured out that you can blitz hard up the middle against Al Johnson (who also is hurt) and Marco Rivera.....thus when Bledsoe takes a 5 step drop, he's got a defender pushing back his center and/or right guard 4 steps.

Oh yeah, let's not forget losing Patrick Crayton who was a valuable 3rd down WR.


You're going to feel it all year long.

Not true, didn't really start feeling it until the Seattle game and it didn't become full blown until the Philly game. Even still, he was only sacked twice by Philly and then by Denver.

There's no known cure at this time.

Sure there is. Have a good O-Line. Have good receivers. Max protect on occasion. Call good plays.


Last night was a perfect microcosm of what Bledsoe brings to the table. He is slow to read defenses, has little (if any) pocket presence, and doesn't protect the football.

Of course this was after the first preseason game, which is beyond meaningless.

Cons:
-can't play-action

Not true. He's been effective on play action for the most part all year long.

-can't throw screens

True, although Dallas has stunk at the screen for about 10 years.

-struggles to read defenses (needs no less than 4 seconds to read a standard D)

Not true.

-can't throw hot routes

When Dallas' O-Line wasn't injured and they had Crayton healthy, they were killing blitzing teams. In fact, Bledsoe's QB rating against the blitz is over 100.

-little pocket presence

Sort of true. I think he lacks good footwork. I mean Chad Hutchinson had little pocket presence. Drew seems to know the defender(s) are coming, he just can't avoid them.

-doesn't protect the ball

He isn't great at it. But he doesn't make impulse throws either.

-seems to get lazy as the year progresses

Remains to be seen.

-can't improvise

I'm guessing he means about when a play breaks down. Drew has been a decent audibler and was effective against the blitz early on in the season.


Again, I'm not a Bledsoe fanboy but unless Dallas has a Brady or Peyton Manning, they'd have major issues regardless on offense. Tends to happen when you have injuries and some players not playing up to expectations.

Rich..........

[cobra]

At one point this year, there was an argument over whether Bledsoe makes the Hall of Fame as one of the top passers of all time.

Now, after a bad game, we get the same knee-jerk (with emphasis on the jerk) posts about how awful he is and can't do anything correctly. Bledsoe can't read a defense? One struggles to wonder how a quarterback who struggles to read defenses has put up the numbers that Bledsoe has. That must be an easy position if a person can be crappy at reading defenses and still be one of the top 10 of all-time at the position.

It is sheer, unadulterated stupidity.

I have nothing but venomness contempt for posters like this; nothing is worse or more revolting than fickle fans.

[Ashwynn]

Bledsoes still better then Losman, so what do I care. We both have sucky QB. Yea!!!!

[Zaxor]

At one point this year, there was an argument over whether Bledsoe makes the Hall of Fame as one of the top passers of all time.

Now, after a bad game, we get the same knee-jerk (with emphasis on the jerk) posts about how awful he is and can't do anything correctly. Bledsoe can't read a defense? One struggles to wonder how a quarterback who struggles to read defenses has put up the numbers that Bledsoe has. That must be an easy position if a person can be crappy at reading defenses and still be one of the top 10 of all-time at the position.

It is sheer, unadulterated stupidity.

I have nothing but venomness contempt for posters like this; nothing is worse or more revolting than fickle fans.


And again for the simple minded (with emphasis on simple) who post or quote or draw reference to stoopid stats without taking anything but the end numbers into consideration... If Bledsoe is not the main cog and you do not need to rely on him he will do okay but that is it "okay"...when he went to the SB with Parcells he had...

on Offense

Curtis Martin, Ben Coates, Terry Glenn, Dave Meggett, Keith Byars, Sam Gash, Shawn Jefferson, Troy Brown, Adam Vinatieri...plus a very good o-line

on Defense

Lawyer Milloy, Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest, Tom Tupa, Ted Johnson, Ty Law, Chris Slade, Willie Clay, Otis Smith, Mike Jones just to name a few...

and they still lost the SB to GB

Passing New England Att. Comp. Yds. TD Int.
Bledsoe 48 25 253 2 4

now notice the Attempts 48... notice the Ints 4

Bledsoe has gotten or gets the opportunity to throw the ball quite abit

Career

attempts 6423
completions 3678 YUCK
% 57.3 YUCK
Yardage 42511YPA 6.62
TD 238
INT 192 YUCK
Sacked 430/2909 YUCK YUCK
Rate77.3

Testy's

attempts 6519
completions 3688
% 56.6
Yardage 45189
YPA 6.93
TD 268
INT 261
Sacked 408/2946
Rate 75.1

like it has been said before they are almost the same guy...except no one wants to put Testy in the HOF or even wants him Qbing the Cowboys..but they are almost the same guy...

You can call it however you wish but those who complain about Bledsoe have a well documented and legitment reasons to...

see there are those that come on here and spit venom at fans and than make no sense what so ever while doing it


It is sheer, unadulterated stupidity.

I have nothing but venomness contempt for posters like that; nothing is worse or more revolting than fans like that wouldn't you agree.

[CowboyExpress]

It all really started when Flozell went down and Tucker couldn't sub-in at center more often to give us that size cause he was needed elsewhere. Right around that time our running game snuffed itself out and inturn we had no play-action, which is our bread 'n butter as far as the passing game is concerned. People like to look outward towards that rookie or Torrin at the Tackles, but really it's Al Johnson in the center of the line where most of our trouble on the line is coming from, even with the injuries outside. The tee off point, as I like to call him. Or better yet, the split second jump defenses are being allowed to get to BEAT our rb's into the ground play after play. Killing our running game in it's tracks, killing any chance of play-action.

Now lets examine why that is? Why we rely so heavily on this "play-action" to succeed in our passing game. Better yet, lets go back and remember what Irvin said earlier this year...........we don't have a number 1 reciever.

But wait, our guys are putting up numbers like they are a number 1...at times. They are also walking around like they're number 1's, knowing all the right things to say it and when to say it. But here's a thought, neither, not even one of them, is close to being that true #1. Number 2's, yes. Guys you would love to have lined up opposite of that true honest to god game breaking on any play, number 1. Someone's whose age isn't going to be a determining blatently obvious factor come mid-season.

What we have now are two number two, whom if you combined their talents, would be that number 1. In Keyshawn you have the one who can catch the tough catch in single or double coverage, but he can't do very much afterwards and the big breaking plays seem to be missing from his playbook. Opposite him you have Terry Glenn who if in single coverage and able to get a jump on his guy, is, possibly one of the very best............just don't ever toss to him underneath or double team him.

Every year since Parcells has come here it's been the same story each season; our aging wide recievers are highly touted towards the beginning, but come around November time, their production greatly falls off. With the one exception of Keyshawn who just does what he does, nothing more nothing less- a very dependable possesion number 2 reciever, as he is, exactly as the back of the cerial box said.

Summed up; Our oline can't block, inturn taking away the running game, inturn allowing defenses to expose our number 2 WRs cause we have no playaction the very thing they rely on to survive, inturn leaving Bledsoe back there as a sitting duck.

Rehaul on Offense in the same vein as Defense last year is needed this upcoming year. And I say we go all for broke; Draft entirely OLine and use our money to sign a true lead running back and a true number 1 reciever out of FA.

As to the original post from this bill's fan. Just sour grapes. I seem to remember the exact opposite happening. I remember them starting off really bad and our hopes high for the top 10 number 1 pick they were going to graciously plop in our laps. Only that dang Bledsoe, so "crappy", had to play hero and lead them back through the season to a respectible record. And we sure as all heck lost that top 10 pick, which turned into a 20 by the time Bledsoe was finished talking.

And that's how I see it. lol