Inside The Bills

Fitz shaves!

It took until a day after the season ended, but Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is a clean shaven man. Here’s the proof.

Fitz had been growing a beard since the last preseason game in August and was looking a lot like Grizzly Adams. No word on whether the beard will be grown again for 2012.

Where Fitz ranks best

Heading into Sunday’s season finale Ryan Fitzpatrick still ranks pretty high in several statistical categories for quarterbacks.

Admittedly Fitz had a rough stretch during Buffalo’s seven-game losing streak and is tied for the league lead in interceptions with 19, but here are some other areas where Buffalo’s signal caller is among the top 10 QBs in the game.

Fitz ranks seventh in pass attempts, which doesn’t sound like a worthwhile stat category to measure a quarterback until you look at completion percentage. Fitz has the ninth-best completion percentage in the league (62%). Naturally the more passes a quarterback throws, the harder it is to maintain a high completion percentage, but he’s done it behind only QBs like Brees, Rodgers, Brady, Romo, Stafford and Roethlisberger.

He’s also ninth in the league in completions per game (21.6), which speaks more to a quarterback’s consistency, something that Fitz struggled with during the seven-game losing streak. Knowing he had some rough stretches it’s impressive that near season’s end he still ranks in the top 10.

Fitz is also 10^th in touchdown passes this season entering the final regular season game with 22. Had the offense not fallen into the tailspin it did through the back half of the schedule one could argue that Fitzpatrick would be flirting with a 30-touchdown season instead of 25.

Fitz not opposed to upping tempo

With their offense in a rut for the better part of the team’s seven-game losing streak, the idea has been raised by outside observers to speed up the tempo of the offense. Some of Buffalo’s greatest success as an offense has been in an up tempo style this season, even at times going no huddle. While one can argue that a two-minute offense often sees softer coverage from an opposing defense at the end of halves and games and that’s why there’s more success sustaining drives, Ryan Fitzpatrick, eager to do just about anything to give the offense a spark, is not against the idea.

“We’ve done a decent job this year when we’ve been in hurry up mode and even not hurrying up, but calling plays at the line and seeing what the defense si giving us and changing the play, that kind of thing,” said Fitzpatrick. ”We’ve been successful at that. At times some of it is because of what the score is, some of it is they’re hanging back trying not to give up the big play. Sometimes we work better as an offense at a higher pace. That’s something we’ll continue to look at and something that maybe has some merit. We’re running out of games here obviously but it’s something we’ve been decent at this year.”

The reason that head coach Chan Gailey has probably not gone up tempo more often this season on offense is probably due to the porous play of his defense, which ranks 26th overall, 29th against the run and 27th in points allowed. A hurry up attack if unsuccessful gives the ball back to the opposition that much quicker, something that they probably would prefer to avoid.

Still, knowing the offense needs to rediscover some of its mojo before the season is over, it might be an option worthy of the risks involved.

Fitz not worried about QB drafted

If the Bills were to draft a quarterback this coming spring, it’s not something that Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to worry about.

When posed the question Tuesday Fitz said his only focus is improving his own play because what the Bills do in the draft is beyond his control.

“It’s just something I can’t worry about,” said Fitzpatrick. ”Just like last year I wasn’t worried about hem drafting a quarterback. I’ve sat down with Chan. I’ve talked to Buddy. We’re trying to get this thing going in the right direction right now. It’s a lot of different things. But the thing I can control right now is me playing better. It’s something I have to do, it’s thru practice, it’s through the communication with the guys in the film room and just going out there and doing it.

“For me my main focus and the thing I’ve learned since I’ve been in the NFL is you have to be able to put all your thought into what you can control. I can’t control any of that, all I can control is making sure my guys are where I want them to be, making sure I’m putting the ball where I want to put it and making sure everybody’s comfortable with whats going on. For me it’s been a process this year. I think I’ve learned a lot and grown a lot and hopefully these last two games we can end it on a good note.”

Talk Bills with Fitz

Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will be on the air live with The Bull, Rich Gaenzler on 103.3 The Edge tonight live on location at Zebb’s on Southwestern Blvd. in Orchard Park at 7 pm.

Fans can join the Bull and Fitz on location.

Bills hang close in Pro Bowl votes

A handful of Buffalo Bills are hanging close in the fan voting portion of Pro Bowl balloting. Here’s where some of Buffalo’s players stand entering the last five days of voting.

George Wilson stands 2nd among AFC strong safeties.

Nick Barnett is 3rd among AFC ILBs

Ryan Fitzpatrick ranks 4th among AFC QBs

And Jairus Byrd has cracked the top 5 at free safety standing 5th among AFC free safeties.

Voting goes through Dec. 19th so there’s still time for you to cast your ballot.

Question on drafting QB early

As the 2011 season winds down for the Bills the media is already begin to focus more attention on the 2012 NFL draft. Head coach Chan Gailey had a pretty pointed response when asked if the team would consider drafting a quarterback in the first round.

“You can talk to (Bills GM) Buddy (Nix) about that kind of stuff,” said Gailey. ”But I don’t believe that’s anywhere in the thought process.”

Now it’s unclear whether Gailey meant it’s not part of the thought process because there are three games still left in the regular season or it’s not part of the thought process in terms of an early draft need. I would tend to believe it’s the former. Either way based on Gailey’s comment on Monday that he has no questions about Ryan Fitzpatrick as his quarterback, that is probably a more telling answer.

Fitz believes he’ll bounce back

Ryan Fitzpatrick had his lowest completion percentage of the season on Sunday. He did not sugar coat his performance in the least, but is resolute in his belief that he and the offense will bounce back.

“It was a very poor performance for me,” he said Monday after reviewing game film. ”That was obvious. There was no consistency there in terms of throwing it and getting it to the guy that was open, and when they were getting open making the throws. It was a long day through all of that for me.

“Now it’s a matter of putting it behind me and going forward. I know these guys still have confidence in me. It’s not the first bad game I’ve ever had and I’m sure there’s going to be more, but I’ve had plenty of good ones and I’ve rebounded from poor performances and that’s what I’m looking to do this week.”

Fitz admitted that he has fallen into the trap of trying to make something happen when they’ve been down on the scoreboard or have trouble staying on the field.

“Yeah I do and I’ve fallen victim to that a few times this year,” he said. ”It’s something that as a quarterback that has been around and played it something that you can’t do. A lot of time it’s not a good result when you force stuff. You have to take what they give you even when you fall behind you’ve got to still be able to make the smart decision.”

Gailey backs Fitz

Bills head coach Chan Gailey was direct in admitting that his quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has had his share of struggles of late, but he was also quick to back his starting signal caller 100 percent.

When asked if he had any questions about Fitzpatrick moving forward Gailey said pretty emphatically that he did not.

“No, none, zero,” said Gailey. ”We’ve all seen him do it. We know he can do it. I think as soon as we continue to work on getting everybody on the same page I think Fitz would be fine. If that was my biggest problem I don’t think I’d have any problems.”

As far as Gailey is concerned the offensive issues particularly in the passing game stretch beyond just the quarterback.

“He had a rough couple of weeks a few weeks back, then I thought he started to play better two weeks prior to this last week,” said Gailey. ”He missed a couple that he normally hits, but he made some great throws. I talked with the whole team about consistency and that’s where we are. Everybody has got to be consistent. I have to help Ryan make sure we’re all on the same page and getting the receivers to do the things that he thinks they need to do and get it back to the way it was earlier in the season.”

Fitz 1st vs. 2nd half

It is not yet a full body of work in the second half of the season for Ryan Fitzpatrick, but for the fans that have been incessant in asking for these figures, here’s how his numbers through the first 8 games compare to his second half of the season thus far.

1st 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.

Fan Friday 12-9

Alright Bills fans, four games to go and playoffs are unfortunately looking to be off the table as I’ll explain below. The offseason questions I’ve been putting off the past month or so are now free to be submitted to AskChris@bills.nfl.net since we’ll be dealing with those issues sooner than any of us had hoped.

1 - Hey Chris,

I’m just wondering if the Bills win some these games do you think they can get back in the hunt?

Thanks,
Kori

CB: Unfortunately it’s pretty unlikely. The AFC East division title is a lost cause with New England at 9-3. At 5-7 the Bills are not mathematically eliminated, but three teams ahead of them for the Wild Card, Jets (7-5), Titans (7-5) and Bengals (7-5) are all teams that beat the Bills in head-to-head matchups. So were they somehow able to pull even with any of those teams they would lose out on tiebreaker. It’s really a shame how this all unfolded after Week 8.

2 - Chris,

Can you break down Justin’s development during the season? People liked him in the draft and now he is starting to play. His size to be an issue, but in the long term could he ever start? McGee was also small. He has looked good in the nickel and has gotten time over Corner and Leodis. Could he “bulk” up and be a starting corner or is he boxed in being a situational DB.  

Thanks, 
Josh 

CB: Rogers is an athletic, speedy, quick cutting cornerback that is best suited for work in the slot. Ideally he’ll play at 190 pounds and retain that weight through the season, something he’s had trouble doing this season. All rookies struggle with that.

McGee isn’t tall, but he was thickly built (208 lbs), which enabled him to be physical with receivers and in run support. Rogers isn’t afraid to get in on the action, but he’s admitted he has to get stronger.

He’s a smart, heady player that anticipates well and recognizes time and score in games. Secondary coach George Catavolos thought he could be the surprise of the draft class. I think there’s another level or two for Rogers to reach. As he fills out and gets stronger in his first NFL offseason of training he’ll be better equipped to muscle up on receivers when necessary, but I hesitate to say he can be a full time boundary corner. I think we all need to see more.

3 - Hi Chris,
With Fred Jackson on IR what happens to his contract negotiations? Assuming he fully recovers from his injury, it would be good to go into next season with that issue settled.

Also, any update on Steve Johnson’s contract? I would think that his value may have dropped after the Jets game.

Again thanks.
Bob Hammond

CB: I suppose Jackson’s injury could impact contract negotiations in terms of length of a new deal. NFL clubs are always leery of handing a long term deal to running backs that are 30-years old or older. Fred is 30 now. The big money handed to Shaun Alexander in Seattle, only to see his production plummet gives every NFL team pause when it comes to re-signing a back to a long term deal. What seems to be understood is that Jackson has outperformed his contract and needs to be more properly compensated.

As for Stevie Johnson it sounds as if the two sides will address the issue in the offseason. I’m not so sure that the Jets game hurt his value. Yes, the touchdown antics were a sign of immaturity, but no other NFL receiver has scored a TD on Darrelle Revis and no other receiver has eight catches on him. 11 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown in two games on Darrelle Revis is production you’d like to have on your team knowing you’re facing the Jets twice a season. I don’t know who else on Buffalo’s roster or in the league for that matter is capable of doing that.

4 - With George out, Merriman, Kyle, Wood, Lindell & Freddy on IR, Who are the leaders in the locker room. It looks to me that it is Barnett on Defense and David Nelson on O

Steve in Corning

CB: On defense you’ve got it, it’s Barnett, but with George back he’ll certainly help in that area. On offense it’s Fitz all the way.

5 - Chris,

I think this season turned around 180 degrees after the first Jets game. Rex Ryan’s “D” seemed to provide the blueprint for defending the Bills timing-pass attack, and Buffalo has yet to rebound. My beef is this: the Jets had the benefit of the bye week to prepare for Buffalo.

Chris, divisional games are far too important for a division rival to have an extra week of preparation for us. Remember when the Patriots recently had a streak of 4 or 5 seasons where they had their bye to prepare for the Bills? That’s just not a level playing field. Is this something that the NFL Competition Committee could look at changing down the road? Have you ever heard of coaches or GMs agreeing with me on this? I just really feel that teams should not have their bye week scheduled before a divisional contest ( unless BOTH teams involved have the bye that week ).

CB: I think your point is very valid. Division games are too important to saddle one team with a bye week edge over the other. Knowing they cluster teams during a span of eight weeks they could certainly bye an entire division in a given week and then match the four of them up in a pair of division games coming off the bye. That would seem to be the simplest solution. Even if the schedule would not allow a pair of division matchups coming off the bye just make sure no one faces a division opponent off an extra week of rest.

I haven’t heard of coaches or GMs discussing it much, but I’ll bring it up to Buddy Nix and see what his thoughts are on it. Those games are too important and any coach would tell you the extra week of prep helps.

Fitz out to improve accuracy

Ryan Fitzpatrick a couple of weeks ago talked about each guy looking in the mirror to see what they could do to help stem the tide and end Buffalo’s losing streak. That’s why he’s out to improve his passing accuracy.

“I think consistency is probably the biggest one,” he said of the things he’s trying to do with his game specifically. ”Going out there and being efficient. Sometimes it’s a throw away. Sometimes it’s taking a sack rather than throwing it away or forcing a throw, just being able to be consistent.

“I missed Brad (Smith) on a couple of the deep throws, being able to hit the plays when they’re there. That’s something that I’ve got to focus on and the way you do that is you practice and you get reps with these guys. You start to feel more comfortable then you start to hit them. That’s something that I definitely need to work on.

Fitz ties team record

Ryan Fitzpatrick tied a team mark Sunday by hitting 10 different receivers with passes in the game against the Titans.

It was just the fourth time that’s happened in team history and the first time since Sept. 8, 1985 when Vince Ferragamo used 10 receivers in a game against San Diego.

Joe Ferguson did it in 1984 against the Jets and Johnny Green and Tommy O’Connell teams up to do it against the L.A. Chargers in 1960.

Fitz also became the third QB in team history to have back-to-back seasons of 20 touchdown passes joining Jim Kelly (1989-92, 1994-95) and Joe Ferguson (1980-81).

Fitz on the radio

Be sure to tune into the weekly edition of the Ryan Fitzpatrick show on the Bills Radio Network.

Fitz appears every Friday morning on 97 Rock at 7:45 am, where the Bills QB talks about the upcoming game and also plays ‘Match Wits with Fitz’ with callers. Listen online.

3 Bills high in Pro Bowl voting

We’re in the home stretch for fan ballots to be cast for the Pro Bowl and three Bills are still among the leaders at their respective positions.

Ryan Fitzpatrick ranks third among AFC quarterbacks with almost 343 thousand votes, trailing only Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady.

George Wilson is second among strong safeties in the AFC with close to 120 thousand votes behind just Troy Polamalu.

And Nick Barnett is third among AFC inside linebackers, but Houston’s Brian Cushing is hot on his heels in fan voting, so be sure to get your votes in. Fans can cast as many ballots as they like right at Buffalobills.com.

As a side note, Fred Jackson, who was among the top 10 vote getters as of three weeks ago, had a vote total that would still place him among the top 5 at the RB position for the AFC even though he’s been removed from the ballot since going on I-R.

Chan on Dareus pre-game speech

Ryan Fitzpatrick made mention of the fact that Marcell Dareus helped to create a livelier and more positive vibe among the players with an impromptu pre-game speech to his teammates. Head coach Chan Gailey did not hear the speech, but heard about the rookie stepping forward and felt it was a good sign.

“It doesn’t surprise me in one way because he is a strong guy in the locker room,” said Gailey. ”He’s a strong person. He’s a competitor. But for a rookie to do it it does surprise you a little bit. I didn’t hear it. I wasn’t around it. Every now and then different people have to step to the forefront. It’s good.”

“Some of the young guys are starting to realize they’re the next man up and they can’t wait on anybody else anymore,” said Fitzpatrick. ”They’ve got to go and come into their role and bring that excitement level up. It was there pre-game in the locker room. It’s something we need to continue to be better at. There was more optimism and spirit.”

Pro Bowl talk for Fitz, Levitre

The stat crunchers and film reviewers at Pro Football Focus have put together their cheat sheet for who is the most likely to go to the Pro Bowl this year for the AFC and NFC, and two Bills players are firmly in the running at their positions.

Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andy Levitre are listed at quarterback and guard respectively. They’re particularly high on Levitre writing the following about him.

Guards: Andy Levitre, LG (BUF), Marshall Yanda RG, (BAL) & Brian Waters, RG (NE)

Levitre may not still be at the top of our guard rankings but I’m calling foul. Up until last week, when he returned to his normal position, he’d started three games at tackle and another at center. I’m not saying he was great at either but he was better than a lot of the usual starting players across the league in those positions. Join me in ensuring he at least gets his reward of a Pro Bowl berth.

Be sure to vote for Fitz and Levitre on your Pro Bowl ballots.

Winning physical battles the key

The Bills have not been consistent enough winning the physical battles at the line of scrimmage since they first met up with the Jets. They know they have to win more of them than they lose if they’re going to beat the Jets in their building.

“They’ve got there guys that are hard to move in the middle there,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick. ”When they’re getting either pushed back or the stalemate at the line it makes it tough for us. It will be an emphasis for us, to get some movement on the line which will be a hard thing to do. They’ve got good corners and they’re physical up front.  They’re hard to run on because of how physical they are because sometimes they’ll have an extra guy in the box and they’re hard to throw on because their corners and DB’s are so good.

“It’s going to get real physical up front and we’ve got to do a better job with being physical, winning the one-on-ones and completing the throws. With the Jets it’s going to be a tough game for us, it always is. They’re a great defense and they’ve showed it all year long.”

“I think the last couple weeks I think physically at the point of attack we haven’t been as sharp as we were at the beginning of the season,” said C.J. Spiller.  ”There’s always that thought that we need to get back to being sharp and being physical at the point of attack and putting hats on guys and doing our assignments.  There will definitely be more attention to detail these next six weeks because it’s pretty much everything is on the line from here on out.”

Losses have chipped at confidence

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said the last three games have been very humbling and didn’t deny that blowout losses can chip away at a team’s confidence.

When asked specifically if the team’s confidence has been affected by the lopsided games Fitz said the following.

“It’s definitely been drained a little bit the last few weeks, especially the way that we’ve lost and falling behind early and not having that sense of ‘oh, we can still do this. Let’s go out there and series-by-series take it down and score,’” he said. ”Unfortunately, that hasn’t been there the last few weeks. The way to regain that is to go out there, play and perform and start doing things well out there. Start staying on the field on third-downs, start putting the ball in the end zone and that’s the only way you can do it.”

Buffalo is keeping it simple this week. On their grease board in the locker room there were three words written. ‘Beat the Jets.’

Fitz on the radio

Ryan Fitzpatrick’s radio show on 97 Rock has a new time slot for Thanksgiving week.

Due to the holiday week, Fitz will appear on Norton in the Morning on 97 Rock at 7:45 am on Tuesday instead of the normal Friday mornings due to the holiday. So tune in or listen online.