Bills should go with Losman

Some Bill's news folks.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/don_banks/11/13/snap.judgments/index.html

From CNNSI

CHARLOTTE -- This time will be different, goes the thinking, slash, hope, in Buffalo.

This time, after spending four weeks of reflection on the bench, J.P. Losman will be up to the task if the Bills give him back his starting job.

It's very early to know if he'll have a second act, but some observers in Buffalo believe if the Bills go that direction, they'll get a calmer, less scattered version of the quarterback who went 1-3 and looked lost as a starter earlier this season.

Losman, who replaced the injured Kelly Holcomb late in the second quarter against Kansas City, gave Buffalo a spark with two quick touchdown passes to receiver Lee Evans (33 and 29 yards) in the Bills' 14-3 defeat of the Chiefs. Losman finished an efficient 9-of-16 for 137 yards, two TDs and no interceptions.

"He'll let the game come to him more this time,'' said a Bills team source. "He's a kid who tries so hard to make something happen that it works against him. But he'll do better with this chance. He'll be more effective. He's ready for this.''

Then again, he can't do a lot worse, can he? Holcomb completed just 47.9 percent of his passes in the season's first four weeks, with a 55.9 quarterback rating, one touchdown, two interceptions and just two completions of 20 yards or more. In his last three starts, Losman threw for 113, 75 and 75 yards, and his number of completions decreased in each of his four starts.

Go for it, Mike Mularkey. Your Bills are 4-5, a game behind first-place New England (5-4) in the AFC, and Holcomb can take you only so far to begin with. It's time to find out what you have in the confident kid you drafted out of Tulane in the first round in 2004. Give Losman the ball back and don't look back.

 

Even being just one game out of first, the Bills need to go with Losman. I don't see how Holcomb can possibly give them a better chance and Losman is the future of the franchise. They are going to have some bad games, might as well get them over with now and not prolong it anymore.

 

I was hoping Mularkey would have started him in the other games just to get game experience, but MM wanted to "win now" with a team that has not improved enough to win at command. Holcomb may have beaten Miami, but they had a mother load of penalties that gave us the game.

I'm all for JP not only to get experience, but to think about next season - he's the future QB and not Holcomb. I sure do not want to go through this again next year with who Mularkey is going to start at any week. Win or lose, stick with JP.

 

The point is somehwat moot this week, as I doubt Holcomb will be able to play. And if the Bills lose and Pats win, being 2 games out at this point makes the division title highly unlikely.

 

I agree, JP finally looked comfortable in the pocket last week vs Kansas City. He took a lick, and several times wisely tossed the ball out of bounds rather than forcing a bad pass. Plus he has the ability to scramble. The thing he needs to do is learn when scrambling will help and when he should merely step up in the pocket and throw a short dink pass to pick up a few yards. A win, or even a good performance in SDO- we lost but because the Chargers drove down the ball on the last series and booted a 40 yard field goal- will help in the development of this kid. If he plays solidly I actually like our chances. Holcomb is not the future but JP is.

 

Unfortunately, they (Mularkey and team veterans) wanted to 'win now' instead of thinking about the future QB and next season. Holcomb is good, but not good enough to be a starter.

I hope JP is able to show more improvements each week until the end of the season. The next several games should be quite challenging tests for JP and the team. At least I feel he is more intense to watch than Holcomb and that makes for more entertaining football.