Sunday, October 10, 2010

What could have been...


As I write this the Bills are slipping into ice baths that won't wash away the stink of failure, even if they do soothe some of the day's boo-boos (Editor's note: I hang out with a 1-year-old for a lot of the day; cut me some slack, here). 

Ryan Fitzpatrick surely isn't the only thing holding the Bills back, but most certainly the Bills' Long Search ( © Chandler Gailey Enterprises, 2010) for a QB makes Moses' 40 years in the wilderness sound like a hike worth taking.  I mean, those dudes at least got milk and honey at the end, right?

So, I could talk about today's game, but as Brendan notes, I think we're all looking for something that'll make us feel better.

Witness the performance of Todd Collins, the wayward heir to Jim Kelly supplanted by today's superquarterback, RobJohnsonDougFlutieBillyJoeHobertAlexVanPeltDrewBledsoeTravisBrownJPLosmanShaneMatthewsKellyHolcombCraigNallTrentEdwardsRyanFitzpatrick.   Those QBs may have not led the Bills to glory (unless I missed something there), but Collins has been able to hold the clipboard with an artist's assistant's touch.  This has led to a long and not needlessly productive career, plenty of jack in the back pocket, and few risky situations since he halfheartedly rode out of Buffalo. 

Today, Collins got his first chance to start a game since a serviceable campaign with the Redskins a couple years ago.  Ladies and gentlemen, the numbers:  6/16, 32 yds, 4 INTS.  AAAACK! Of course, Caleb "My name suggests I am a third stringer" Hanie took over and was asked to not do anything stupid, a meager task that he achieved with a limit of 3 pass attempts.  The Bears got the win, because Jimmy Clausen (whom I didn't want the Bills to draft) and Matt Moore (whom I wanted the Bills to make a run at in trade or restricted free agency this past summer) were just as bad.

I know that Collins is a backup returning from a likely concussion of his own suffered in mop-up duty, after an atrocious offensive line nearly got Jay Cutler killed.  Look around the league, though, and very few teams have elite players at the position, much less great depth.  Even one of today's more promising young quarterbacks, Sam Bradford, just had his ass handed to him by the Detroit Lions.  Those Lions are not far removed from being worse than our Bills.

The moral of the story is that quarterback play is really poor-to-inconsistent-at-best across the NFL.  Everyone's looking for a savior, and you can still win if you do enough things right in the game - or if your opponent is worse.  The Bills happen to be that opponent that's worse for a lot of undeserving victors right now, but that's bound to change sometime, right?

That's hope for ya.  The long search continues with a bye week and the Baltimore Ravens on the other side.  Best of luck to Fitzy and co.














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