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If Henson not ready again
In BP's scheme he would excel. JMO
Bledsoe's true grit leaving no doubt that this is his team
The Associated Press
Drew Bledsoe has weathered plenty of criticism in Buffalo, making his rejuvenation even more impressive.
[Day in Photos]
Leo Roth
Democrat and Chronicle columnist
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(December 6, 2004) — MIAMI — It was just like old times at Pro Player Stadium on Sunday for a Bills-Dolphins game.
Seven touchdown passes. Seventy-four points. Two good defenses brought to their knees.
Only instead of Jim Kelly flinging passes with Dan Marino in the south Florida sunshine, this game pitted Drew Bledsoe against A.J. Feeley. And just when his team needed him the most, Bledsoe came through, topping Feeley's three TDs and five interceptions with four scores and no turnovers in Buffalo's heart-pounding 42-32 victory.
We may never know why Bledsoe played so poorly for the better part of 30 games as a Bill, coming to the brink of losing his job and very likely ending his illustrious NFL career.
Whether it was the offensive line, or his lack of a consistent running game, or his own creeping self-doubt.
What we do know is that Bledsoe's personal comeback after one of his worst performances in a 29-6 loss at New England on Nov. 14 has put on display the heart and character of one of the NFL's all-time greats (we forget sometimes that the league's 10th all-time passer is in our midst).
We do know that the Bills and coach Mike Mularkey are being rewarded in spades for sticking with their veteran signal caller, when it would've been easy to turn the reigns over to first-round pick J.P. Losman three weeks ago.
The Bills are 3-0 since the Patriots debacle and 6-2 overall since their 0-4 start, giving the AFC frontrunners for the six playoff berths a blast of hot air on their necks.
The New York Giants (5-7) are 0-3 since turning to rookie Eli Manning. What's more to debate?
Finally, what we do know is that by shaking off last week's three picks in Seattle, after winning at division rival Miami and overcoming a 10-point deficit, carrying the team on his big right arm when the upset-minded Dolphins (2-10) made stopping running back Willis McGahee their chief duty, Bledsoe has given the team's brass all it needs to see in keeping him their starter in 2005.
In other words, by out-dueling A.J., Bledsoe kept J.P. in mothballs.
"He's been here what, three years?" strong safety Lawyer Milloy said of Bledsoe, his former Patriots teammate. "Whatever you want to say, if we end up in the playoffs, it's his team. We win out but don't make the playoffs, it's still his team. Drew's our quarterback, and we have rallied behind him."
That is undeniable.
With nearly 700 yards rushing in his seven starts, McGahee has been a catalyst for major change in Buffalo's offense. Bledsoe has been sacked just eight times with McGahee starting, compared with 22 when he didn't start and teams could tee off on Bledsoe's tree-like frame.
But McGahee aside, without Bledsoe's mental toughness in fending off his critics — even his staunchest supporters put the final shovel of dirt on him after his 14.3 rating at New England — where would Buffalo be?
The Bills, who scored 51 points in their first four losses, have erupted for 197 in their six victories, including totals of 37, 38, and 42 the past three games. Feeding off the offense, the defense and special teams are joining in the fun, each scoring once on Sunday.
In the team's six wins, Bledsoe has 12 touchdowns and just four interceptions and with 17 TDs on the year he has already bettered last year's 11-TD output.
And the team? It has matched last year's win total with three more winnable games to come: Cleveland (3-9), Cincinnati (6-6), San Francisco (1-11).
Milloy has always had faith in Bledsoe, and now that he's getting help from an improved line, the emergence of receiver Lee Evans as a bona-fide star, and an opportunistic defense and special teams, Bledsoe's no longer the shell-shocked old vet who looked incoherent not long ago.
Bledsoe's perfect 69-yard TD play to Evans vs. the NFL's No. 1 pass defense was not the work of a washed up 32-year-old. He looked 23 again.
"We all needed to bounce back from that game," Milloy said of the Patriots game. "We all played bad. But Drew is definitely our horse. He's the guy with the ball every snap. I've seen him in New England handle adversity ... and he's always handled it like a champ."
Watching Bledsoe come around like this will generate a flood of mixed feelings in Bills Nation. Kind of like the Paul Pasqualoni debate in Syracuse.
Is it good the Orange made a bowl game if it saves Pasqualoni's job? Is it good Bledsoe plays well down the stretch if it means the Bills keep him as their starter in 2005?
The fact of the matter is that it would not hurt Losman in the least to sit and watch one or even two more years, providing Bledsoe can maintain this present standard.
For a Bills team finally discovering confidence and chemistry, Sunday's win could be as big as Buffalo's victory in Miami in the 1989 season opener on Kelly's TD dive in the closing seconds. It left no doubt that this is Bledsoe's team until further notice.
In BP's scheme he would excel. JMO
Bledsoe's true grit leaving no doubt that this is his team
The Associated Press
Drew Bledsoe has weathered plenty of criticism in Buffalo, making his rejuvenation even more impressive.
[Day in Photos]
Leo Roth
Democrat and Chronicle columnist
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(December 6, 2004) — MIAMI — It was just like old times at Pro Player Stadium on Sunday for a Bills-Dolphins game.
Seven touchdown passes. Seventy-four points. Two good defenses brought to their knees.
Only instead of Jim Kelly flinging passes with Dan Marino in the south Florida sunshine, this game pitted Drew Bledsoe against A.J. Feeley. And just when his team needed him the most, Bledsoe came through, topping Feeley's three TDs and five interceptions with four scores and no turnovers in Buffalo's heart-pounding 42-32 victory.
We may never know why Bledsoe played so poorly for the better part of 30 games as a Bill, coming to the brink of losing his job and very likely ending his illustrious NFL career.
Whether it was the offensive line, or his lack of a consistent running game, or his own creeping self-doubt.
What we do know is that Bledsoe's personal comeback after one of his worst performances in a 29-6 loss at New England on Nov. 14 has put on display the heart and character of one of the NFL's all-time greats (we forget sometimes that the league's 10th all-time passer is in our midst).
We do know that the Bills and coach Mike Mularkey are being rewarded in spades for sticking with their veteran signal caller, when it would've been easy to turn the reigns over to first-round pick J.P. Losman three weeks ago.
The Bills are 3-0 since the Patriots debacle and 6-2 overall since their 0-4 start, giving the AFC frontrunners for the six playoff berths a blast of hot air on their necks.
The New York Giants (5-7) are 0-3 since turning to rookie Eli Manning. What's more to debate?
Finally, what we do know is that by shaking off last week's three picks in Seattle, after winning at division rival Miami and overcoming a 10-point deficit, carrying the team on his big right arm when the upset-minded Dolphins (2-10) made stopping running back Willis McGahee their chief duty, Bledsoe has given the team's brass all it needs to see in keeping him their starter in 2005.
In other words, by out-dueling A.J., Bledsoe kept J.P. in mothballs.
"He's been here what, three years?" strong safety Lawyer Milloy said of Bledsoe, his former Patriots teammate. "Whatever you want to say, if we end up in the playoffs, it's his team. We win out but don't make the playoffs, it's still his team. Drew's our quarterback, and we have rallied behind him."
That is undeniable.
With nearly 700 yards rushing in his seven starts, McGahee has been a catalyst for major change in Buffalo's offense. Bledsoe has been sacked just eight times with McGahee starting, compared with 22 when he didn't start and teams could tee off on Bledsoe's tree-like frame.
But McGahee aside, without Bledsoe's mental toughness in fending off his critics — even his staunchest supporters put the final shovel of dirt on him after his 14.3 rating at New England — where would Buffalo be?
The Bills, who scored 51 points in their first four losses, have erupted for 197 in their six victories, including totals of 37, 38, and 42 the past three games. Feeding off the offense, the defense and special teams are joining in the fun, each scoring once on Sunday.
In the team's six wins, Bledsoe has 12 touchdowns and just four interceptions and with 17 TDs on the year he has already bettered last year's 11-TD output.
And the team? It has matched last year's win total with three more winnable games to come: Cleveland (3-9), Cincinnati (6-6), San Francisco (1-11).
Milloy has always had faith in Bledsoe, and now that he's getting help from an improved line, the emergence of receiver Lee Evans as a bona-fide star, and an opportunistic defense and special teams, Bledsoe's no longer the shell-shocked old vet who looked incoherent not long ago.
Bledsoe's perfect 69-yard TD play to Evans vs. the NFL's No. 1 pass defense was not the work of a washed up 32-year-old. He looked 23 again.
"We all needed to bounce back from that game," Milloy said of the Patriots game. "We all played bad. But Drew is definitely our horse. He's the guy with the ball every snap. I've seen him in New England handle adversity ... and he's always handled it like a champ."
Watching Bledsoe come around like this will generate a flood of mixed feelings in Bills Nation. Kind of like the Paul Pasqualoni debate in Syracuse.
Is it good the Orange made a bowl game if it saves Pasqualoni's job? Is it good Bledsoe plays well down the stretch if it means the Bills keep him as their starter in 2005?
The fact of the matter is that it would not hurt Losman in the least to sit and watch one or even two more years, providing Bledsoe can maintain this present standard.
For a Bills team finally discovering confidence and chemistry, Sunday's win could be as big as Buffalo's victory in Miami in the 1989 season opener on Kelly's TD dive in the closing seconds. It left no doubt that this is Bledsoe's team until further notice.