Ryan Fitzpatrick: My Take on His First Year As Starter

I was asked this question today.  What is your take on Ryan Fitzpatrick?  I would like to go over his stats for this season so far.  Then I will give you all what I think of the job that some people were calling Fitzmagic early on.

Remember back in September when the Buffalo Bills defeated the Chiefs, Patriots, Raiders and the Eagles.  On their way to to a surprising 4-1 record.  The only loss long this way was to the Bengals.  It seems that Buffalo Bills took the NFL world by storm and were heading into a territory that they haven't been to in a decade.  But, wait lets fast forward to today.  The Buffalo Bills are a disappointing 5-8.  They have dropped six straight games and not one fan would have thought that this could happen.  The Buffalo Bills were officially eliminated from post season play.  Now lets get to Ryan Fitzpatricks stats over the span of 13 games.

In the first 8 games.

170-260 passing (65.4%), 1,930 yards, 15 TDs, 9 INTs, 92.3 rating, 18 plays of 25-yards plus.

Last 5 games.

108-189 passing (57.1%), 1,083 yards, 5 TDs, 7 INTs, 67 rating, 7 plays of 25-yards plus.

What this shows is that his production has dropped off.  Now there could be a lot of factors in this.  First they lost Fred Jackson.  That left them relying on CJ Spiller who has been nothing but disappointing at the running back position.  I beg the Bills to use him at WR and see what he can do for them.

Now there are no excuses to be made here.  The Buffalo Bills took a bunch of steps backwards and they are nothing like they were in the beginning of the season.  Fitz is not playing at the level he was and they have a whopping 15 players on injured reserve. But that is not an excuse in my eyes.  Champions over come obstacles and Bills have not done so.

So, my take on Ryan Fitzpatrick is that the 6 game skid is not entirely his fault.  But, when he over throws or under throws a receiver, its all on him.  Yes the play calling has to change.  Maybe its time to get an offensive coordinator and let him design the plays.  Chan Gailey is doing an okay job, but being a head coach and offense coordinator might be too much for him to handle.  This seasons ending will be blamed completely on the entire team.  Yes, we can point fingers at the QB and Coaches.  Or even blame the amount of injuries.  But, in the end here is what the Buffalo Bills need to do. 

• Fire George Edwards
• Hire an Offensive Coordinator
• Draft a QB to take over after Fitz fails again
• Improve the Depth at all positions
• Get a new strength and conditioning team.  There are way too many injuries for the second season in a row.  

If they do not make the playoffs next season.  Its time to pay for a quality coach and players.  Lets put a winning team on the field and start enjoying being a Bills fan again. 

Sixty Catches: Stevie Johnson First Bills Since Eric Moulds

While surfing the web this morning I decided to check out Twitter.  On a daily basis I visit BillsMafia Twitter and see whats happening in the world of Buffalo Bills fans.  I ran across this post.

Just read that @StevieJohnson13 is the first #Bills WR to post back-to-back 60+ catch seasons since Eric Moulds. #goodcompany #BillsMafia

This is quite an accomplishment so I thought that I would dig a bit deeper into this subject.  It would be nice to know how Stevie Johnson stands up against some of the Bills great wide receivers.  So here are few of the stats that I was able to come across.



Andre Reed has 951 receptions for a total of 13,198 yards.  He played 15 years in Buffalo and 1 in Washington.  Reed is eligible for the Hall of Fame.  Just not sure when he will be inducted but it is my opinion that a few of the on field fits that he threw might keep him out another year or two.  But, it wont be long before he joins his teammates Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly.  The interesting part of his career is that he had 5 years in a row of 60 or more catches.  Possibly the best receiver in Bills history.

James Lofton ranks up there among the best Bills receivers.  Here are some of his stats. He finished his career in Buffalo with 151 catches.  Not one of the years he was in B-Lo did he record a 60 plus year season.  But, lets not take that away from what he did for this team.  He played with some of the best players in Bills history and was part of the team that went to four straight Super Bowls.

Eric Moulds was a great player.  He played for Buffalo for 10 years.  The most notable being 2002 where he recorded 100 catches.  He had 60 plus yards in a total of 8 straight seasons.  A great stretch of great years for him.  Moulds will always be remembered as one of the best receivers in Buffalo history for what he did while he played here.  He finished his career after spending 1 year playing for the Texans and 1 year for the Titans.

Jerry Butler played his entire career in Buffalo.  He recorded 278 catches for 4301 yards.  I do not know much about him as a player except for what I have read.  I do however know that he played in only 1 pro-bowl.  He is considered one of the top 50 receivers of all time.  So, I had to include him in the post. Also not one 60 plus yard season.

So there you have it.  Stevie Johnson's 60 plus receptions for back to back seasons.  First time since Eric Moulds and only the 4th time in Buffalo history.  The interesting fact is that not one Buffalo Bills receiver ever recorded back to back 1000 yard seasons.  It will be interesting to see if Stevie Johnson will be able to complete that feat next.  Only time will tell.