Mea culpa. It was a Raider who put Tommy Maddox out for most if not all of the 2004 season, which put Roethlisberger into the starting lineup for Pitt. Well, then, Jets fans have nobody to blame for the Pats dynasty but their own team!
A lot of Jets fans are seriously underrating Fitzpatrick. He's always been a solid QB on absolutely awful teams; it's not surprising to see him hit his groove now that he doesn't have to sprint for his life on every play. The numbers don't lie: Fitzpatrick has been better than Sanchez this year. He's got a significantly higher completion rate, he averages more yards per throw, he turns the ball over less, and he's more of a threat to tuck and run. That doesn't mean that I'd take Fitzpatrick over Sanchez going forward, but this year he (and the entire Buffalo offense) has been very impressive. Also, were you guys aware that he went to Harvard?
Fitzpatrick is in his 6th season in the NFL. He's in his 4th year as a starter. I'd expect him to be a bit more polished than Sanchez this season. He's also had three different NFL staffs working with him in St Louis, Cincinnati and Buffalo. A smart guy can learn a lot when he gets a lot of input from different coaches, even when some of them are bad. Especially when some of them are bad.
You are blaming the "former regime" for not noticing Jackson? The current regime thought so highly of Jackson that they drafted Spiller in the first round.
QB's can either handle a Rex Ryan defensive scheme or they can't. Fitzpatrick has been very shaky against Ryan defenses the last couple of seasons. He was shaky against Baltimore in 2008. I don't think Fitzpatrick is where the Bills hope lies in this matchup. Fred Jackson is the guy who could win it for them. Edit: Fitzpatrick has not thrown very many int's against Ryan defenses but he hasn't completed very many passes either. He averages about 4.5 yards a pass and that's why his teams have had trouble scoring points against Ryan.
Sanchez started about 15 games in college, Ben had 40. There is no comparison, Sanchez came into the NFL very inexperenced, something that Pete Carroll pointed out at the time.
So, who's fault is that except Sanchez's for leaving school early and the Jets' FO for trading up to get him at #5? The fact is that while Sanchez improved on his rookie season, he does NOT seem to have made a lot of progress from where he was last season. He seems to have a lot of the same problems and bad habits. Moreover, it's really a stretch to blame a lack of experience in college on a QB's failure to step up when he's been the starting QB in three TCs and has 42 starts under his belt.
I'd agree, only Sanchez has stepped up, keeps improving and it's obvious if you watch him play and don't rely on stats sheets and highlight/lowlight reels.
Lets not get carried away here; Fitz has done nothing, zero, zilch in the NFL. Has he appeared in a playoff game? Has he won anything? Other than beating the Chiefs (208 yards), Raiders at home (264 passing yards), Yes I give them the NE game (369), Cinci (199), and Eagles (193) he has been a beneficiary of an opportunistic defense and a solid running game. The numbers don’t lie; in 23 NFL starts he holds a 8-14-1 record and 21-27 TD to INT ratio….lets not forget the past and historical data is the best prediction of the future… Lets look at Mark. Oh, He HAS won in the playoffs, on the road in his first two years. Has he has a running game, yes. A defense, yes. 21-14 Career record including 4-2 in the playoffs, again all on the road! We rank teams and QB’s based on W-L records in the NFL. Conversation over.
I'm pretty sure the Jets don't mind. The only people that seem to care are the ones that use his first year stats as a talking point when Jets fans and staff knew not to expect too much out of Sanchez in a growing period. Sanchez has improved, season 1, to season 2, to season 3. You're not looking at the numbers and evidence first and then forming an argument. What you're doing is forming an argument and then cherry picking numbers to back it up. Just get over your hate.
Point 1 - Eagles CBs are not playing to their strengths - I don't know if thats the coaches or the schemes but Aso is a man to man player and they have him in coverage (cover 2, 3) more than not. Point 2 - Could Mark handle throwing 40 times a game? I think he could.,...if Cotch and Edwards were both still here and in good health. He had chemistry with both and the WR corps was a complete turn-style except for Holmes. So I think Mark would have better fantasy numbers if the other 2 guys were here with Holmes. But its a hypothetical that none of us could ever answer. We are not underrating FitzHarvard. He was with Cincy behind Palmer. in 07 & 08. If he was so good, why didn't he supplant Carson in 08? That also means he couldn't beat our Andy Dalton & Bruce Gradkowski while Palmer was on IR in 07. That should tell you something about the team. And they had 85 and TJ Housh so they had a decent core of receivers. Not to mention a decent running game at the time.
1) Carson Palmer was the Bengals franchise player, they weren't going to bench him for an unproven 7th round pick. 2) '08 was the year that Palmer was hurt, and Fitzpatrick started 12 games that year. He played pretty well, too--too many INTs, but that's to be expected from a 7th round pick in his first starting action. 3) Andy Dalton was in high school in '07. That should tell you something about how little you know what you're talking about.
Ummm ... pesky things, facts. Palmer's last good year was 2007. He might have gone to the Pro Bowl that year. After Palmer suffered a season ending injury in 2008, Fitz started the last 10 games for the Bengals in 2008, and the 2008 team was pretty crappy even with Palmer under center. If Gradkowski was on the Bengals at that time, then Fitz did beat him out. Fitz signed with the Bills as a FA in 2009. Andy Dalton is a 2011 NFL rookie. :smile: Try again, Skippy.
