For Lowly Bills, Fitzpatrick Must Be The Answer

It was a typical Sunday from a Buffalo Bills' fan's perspective. A Trent Edwards' check-down, short and ineffective passing, the 5 second drop backs, and on and on. But as I watched during the beginning of the second quarter, there was a SICKENING tackle, which should have been an "un-necessary roughness" on the Jets' Marquee Douglas and/or David Harris. Trent Edwards, already well sacked and practically begging the play to be over, was bent over backwards with his feet apparently stuck under Jets' defenders. And to add insult to injury, literally, Jets defenders piled on as if they were auditioning for a role in "The Comebackers." Of course, this somehow led to the second concussion of his brief NFL career, leading many to believe he will be out for next week and beyond. And yet, there are many Bills' fans who couldn't be happier about it!

I will admit, watching the game I felt sorry for Edwards, but I was also very eager to see what Ryan Fitzpatrick would do in relief. The result was leading his team to victory with 166 yards passing, with one TD and a pick. His 51.4 passer rating was not important, as it was the first action he saw all season, coming off the bench cold. His performance hardly mattered though, as Mark Sanchez showed he is still a rookie, having an atrocious day with 5 picks, 119 yards, and a woeful 8.3 passer rating. During the game the commentators mentioned how Sanchez never played a football game below 50 degrees in his life, and it certainly showed on Sunday! Then again, if Trent Edwards were still manning the ship, Bills fans might have not guessed him to be much better against his fellow Californian! But with the win, it gives Bills fans hope for the season, as Fitzpatrick was willing to take chances and throw deep to T.O. and Evans, something Edwards has been nervous to do all season against the 3-4 defenses. And Fitzpatrick almost capped it off with an unbelievable 29 yard pass to Evans in OT, although Evans, possibly due to not being used to contributing to team performances, juggled the ball before he went out of bounds. But Lindell made no mistake after his previous wide right, nailing a 47 yarder to cap off an improbable win. Most fans will probably be ho-hum after this game. The Bills offense was not riveting, but for the first time, it did enough. The underrated defense continued to work hard, and despite giving up 318 on the ground, allowed only one touchdown to come of it. Obviously, Sanchez' 5 picks had alot to do with that, but it is an encouraging sign for a defense that limited Drew Brees and Tom Brady to 2 touchdowns combined!

Ryan Fitzpatrick, for the sake of Dick Jauron, Ralph Wilson, the Buffalo economy, and so on, must be given a chance, similar to the way Edwards was given a chance 2 years ago after an injury to J.P. Losman. The Bills QB situation has been disasterous since the days of Jim Kelly, and Ryan Fitzpatrick probably isn't the long-term answer, but neither is Trent Edwards. And if Fitzpatrick leads the Bills to a win next week, they will have their first winning streak of the season, a far cry from having to hear an Edwards' sound byte of crying about the receivers and throwing the offensive line under the bus. But wait, wasn't that last year?