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He Made the Difference
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Hold off on the Losman watch?
(November 30, 2004) — Sal: The argument for turning the reins over to rookie quarterback J.P. Losman has always been that as soon as the Bills are out of the playoff chase, make the move. Well, to their credit the Bills refuse to bag the season. Their chances of making the playoffs still are slim, but there's no denying that they're still in the hunt and that means coach Mike Mularkey has to stay with Drew Bledsoe.
Leo: Boy, three victories in his last 17 road games and you're ready to jump on the Bledsoe bandwagon? I was impressed with his play in Seattle because for the first time in a long time he overcame adversity.
But he threw three interceptions and it could have been five.
Sal: Look, Bledsoe's bandwagon is still pretty empty and rightly so. I'm not jumping on because I know if I do he'll do something crazy at Miami to send me careening back off. I'm just saying he has surprised me. I gave him up for a corpse a month ago when he had the abysmal day in Baltimore, and it looked like he threw another backhoe full of dirt on his grave with the New England debacle.
But I have to give him credit, he has played well the last couple of weeks against two pretty decent teams. This still has to be his team.
Leo: And I agree with that. The Bills' playoff odds are still low, but they are still breathing in the thick of a crazy AFC race. I give credit to Mularkey. It took more than half a season, but he's got Bledsoe running the type of physical yet creative offense that he spoke about when he came here from Pittsburgh. Bledsoe's three picks aside, that was an entertaining brand of football against the Seahawks.
Sal: You bring up one of the key reasons why I think Bledsoe needs to remain the starter. Mularkey seems to finally have this team on the right track and it would be foolish to make a switch at the most important position, quarterback.
Bledsoe still has many warts, but everyone on the offense is playing better right now and they are gaining faith in their statue-like leader.
Leo: It starts up front. The offensive line has played much more consistently since Ross Tucker took over at left guard for Lawrence Smith. It's incredible he wasn't a starter coming out of training camp. He's provided the front five with an attitude that was sorely lacking.
Toss in the emergence of young stars Willis McGahee and Lee Evans and Bledsoe suddenly has some serious help. The Seahawks looked helpless at times.
Sal: Every successful quarterback needs a productive horse of a running back, and now Bledsoe has one in McGahee.
I'm sorry, Travis Henry was a good player for the Bills and he has undeniable heart, but can anyone argue that this offense isn't completely different with McGahee as the primary ball carrier? He has five 100-yard games in six career starts and the Bills are 5-1 in those games.
Leo: Yeah, McGahee is the real deal and you can just see how excited Mularkey and offensive coordinator Tom Clements are over having his talents at their disposal. The fake quarterback sneak and lateral pass to McGahee made all the highlight shows.
Of course, it was nice that Bledsoe executed some trickery without tripping over his own feet. How many trick plays have we seen botched? Again, it was only one game. That was the message all the players sent us, too.
Sal: There is no question that Losman is the quarterback of the future, and that future is coming soon. Even if Bledsoe were to finish with a Joe Montana-like stretch at the end of the year, I believe this has to be his last season as the starter because Losman, a first-round pick, is the player who must become this team's leader.
Until the Bills are officially eliminated from the playoff race, Bledsoe is the man. Once they're out, I say give the ball to Losman and start getting him ready for 2005.
Leo: If Bledsoe can maintain his effective play the rest of this season and the Bills get to nine or 10 victories, this should still be his team heading into 2005.
Sal: Wait a minute. Now who's jumping on the bandwagon?
Leo: No I'm not. But if he plays lights out, and that's a big 'if,' then yes, it should still be his team. It wouldn't hurt Losman to sit for another entire season since he missed half of this one with his broken leg.
Furthermore, this is a Bills team with some aging players on defense and there must be a win now attitude before that defense gets too old. That may mean staying with Bledsoe rather than suffer through the pains of a rookie growing season.
Sal: I think you're nuts. I like Drew and I'm glad he is playing better lately, but I'm not ready to sign on for another season of Bledsoe when there's a first-round gunslinger sitting on the bench ready to get his career under way.
Leo: Listen, I've been drinking coffee around the clock out here in Seattle and I have my wits about me. Bledsoe has to play lights out the rest of this year or all bets are off. We'll see.
LROTH@DemocratandChronicle.com
SMAIORAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
________________________________________________________
The Five W's
WHO were those guys in Seattle? That was not the same Buffalo team we saw during the first half of the season. Coach Mike Mularkey had the Bills on the upswing heading into Seattle, but they needed to win a road game to verify their revival. Consider them revived. It was the most complete victory of the year.
WHAT will it take for the Bills to make the playoffs? A miracle. Despite the recent optimism, the fact remains that the Bills are tied for ninth in the AFC and only six teams make it. The Bills need to win out and still get help from other teams collapsing in order to get into the postseason. It's not a realistic scenario.
WHERE will Travis Henry be in 2005? Hopefully in a better situation than he's been in this season. It was really a tough break for Henry that, after rushing for nearly 2,800 yards the last two seasons, he was relegated to bench warmer. But it's so obvious that the offense is better off with Willis McGahee on the field. Henry deserves to be a starter, and hopefully he'll get that opportunity somewhere in the league.
WHEN was Aaron Schobel's last sack? He had two at Baltimore on Oct. 24. Schobel signed a huge contract extension before the season, but he has not had a very productive year. He had no sacks the first three games, got hot and registered 5.5 in the next three games, but has gone sackless in the past five.
WHY did Mularkey use that terrific sneak pass to Willis McGahee in the fourth quarter of a game he was leading by three touchdowns? It's hard to fault anything the Bills did Sunday, but it didn't make a lot of sense to unveil that play in that situation. Why not save that play for a situation in a close game that is still in doubt? Now opposing defenses know about it and it will be hard to spring it on them.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com...?AID=/20041130/SPORTS03/411300320/1007/SPORTS
(November 30, 2004) — Sal: The argument for turning the reins over to rookie quarterback J.P. Losman has always been that as soon as the Bills are out of the playoff chase, make the move. Well, to their credit the Bills refuse to bag the season. Their chances of making the playoffs still are slim, but there's no denying that they're still in the hunt and that means coach Mike Mularkey has to stay with Drew Bledsoe.
Leo: Boy, three victories in his last 17 road games and you're ready to jump on the Bledsoe bandwagon? I was impressed with his play in Seattle because for the first time in a long time he overcame adversity.
But he threw three interceptions and it could have been five.
Sal: Look, Bledsoe's bandwagon is still pretty empty and rightly so. I'm not jumping on because I know if I do he'll do something crazy at Miami to send me careening back off. I'm just saying he has surprised me. I gave him up for a corpse a month ago when he had the abysmal day in Baltimore, and it looked like he threw another backhoe full of dirt on his grave with the New England debacle.
But I have to give him credit, he has played well the last couple of weeks against two pretty decent teams. This still has to be his team.
Leo: And I agree with that. The Bills' playoff odds are still low, but they are still breathing in the thick of a crazy AFC race. I give credit to Mularkey. It took more than half a season, but he's got Bledsoe running the type of physical yet creative offense that he spoke about when he came here from Pittsburgh. Bledsoe's three picks aside, that was an entertaining brand of football against the Seahawks.
Sal: You bring up one of the key reasons why I think Bledsoe needs to remain the starter. Mularkey seems to finally have this team on the right track and it would be foolish to make a switch at the most important position, quarterback.
Bledsoe still has many warts, but everyone on the offense is playing better right now and they are gaining faith in their statue-like leader.
Leo: It starts up front. The offensive line has played much more consistently since Ross Tucker took over at left guard for Lawrence Smith. It's incredible he wasn't a starter coming out of training camp. He's provided the front five with an attitude that was sorely lacking.
Toss in the emergence of young stars Willis McGahee and Lee Evans and Bledsoe suddenly has some serious help. The Seahawks looked helpless at times.
Sal: Every successful quarterback needs a productive horse of a running back, and now Bledsoe has one in McGahee.
I'm sorry, Travis Henry was a good player for the Bills and he has undeniable heart, but can anyone argue that this offense isn't completely different with McGahee as the primary ball carrier? He has five 100-yard games in six career starts and the Bills are 5-1 in those games.
Leo: Yeah, McGahee is the real deal and you can just see how excited Mularkey and offensive coordinator Tom Clements are over having his talents at their disposal. The fake quarterback sneak and lateral pass to McGahee made all the highlight shows.
Of course, it was nice that Bledsoe executed some trickery without tripping over his own feet. How many trick plays have we seen botched? Again, it was only one game. That was the message all the players sent us, too.
Sal: There is no question that Losman is the quarterback of the future, and that future is coming soon. Even if Bledsoe were to finish with a Joe Montana-like stretch at the end of the year, I believe this has to be his last season as the starter because Losman, a first-round pick, is the player who must become this team's leader.
Until the Bills are officially eliminated from the playoff race, Bledsoe is the man. Once they're out, I say give the ball to Losman and start getting him ready for 2005.
Leo: If Bledsoe can maintain his effective play the rest of this season and the Bills get to nine or 10 victories, this should still be his team heading into 2005.
Sal: Wait a minute. Now who's jumping on the bandwagon?
Leo: No I'm not. But if he plays lights out, and that's a big 'if,' then yes, it should still be his team. It wouldn't hurt Losman to sit for another entire season since he missed half of this one with his broken leg.
Furthermore, this is a Bills team with some aging players on defense and there must be a win now attitude before that defense gets too old. That may mean staying with Bledsoe rather than suffer through the pains of a rookie growing season.
Sal: I think you're nuts. I like Drew and I'm glad he is playing better lately, but I'm not ready to sign on for another season of Bledsoe when there's a first-round gunslinger sitting on the bench ready to get his career under way.
Leo: Listen, I've been drinking coffee around the clock out here in Seattle and I have my wits about me. Bledsoe has to play lights out the rest of this year or all bets are off. We'll see.
LROTH@DemocratandChronicle.com
SMAIORAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
________________________________________________________
The Five W's
WHO were those guys in Seattle? That was not the same Buffalo team we saw during the first half of the season. Coach Mike Mularkey had the Bills on the upswing heading into Seattle, but they needed to win a road game to verify their revival. Consider them revived. It was the most complete victory of the year.
WHAT will it take for the Bills to make the playoffs? A miracle. Despite the recent optimism, the fact remains that the Bills are tied for ninth in the AFC and only six teams make it. The Bills need to win out and still get help from other teams collapsing in order to get into the postseason. It's not a realistic scenario.
WHERE will Travis Henry be in 2005? Hopefully in a better situation than he's been in this season. It was really a tough break for Henry that, after rushing for nearly 2,800 yards the last two seasons, he was relegated to bench warmer. But it's so obvious that the offense is better off with Willis McGahee on the field. Henry deserves to be a starter, and hopefully he'll get that opportunity somewhere in the league.
WHEN was Aaron Schobel's last sack? He had two at Baltimore on Oct. 24. Schobel signed a huge contract extension before the season, but he has not had a very productive year. He had no sacks the first three games, got hot and registered 5.5 in the next three games, but has gone sackless in the past five.
WHY did Mularkey use that terrific sneak pass to Willis McGahee in the fourth quarter of a game he was leading by three touchdowns? It's hard to fault anything the Bills did Sunday, but it didn't make a lot of sense to unveil that play in that situation. Why not save that play for a situation in a close game that is still in doubt? Now opposing defenses know about it and it will be hard to spring it on them.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com...?AID=/20041130/SPORTS03/411300320/1007/SPORTS