Losman To Start: Email to Jerry Sullivan (Written prior to QB Decision)

Jerry, First off, I love reading your columns, they are always interesting and informative.

Now about the quarterback. I am so sick and tired of people backing Trent Edwards and saying that he should be the starting quarterback. In a recent column, you mentioned that Jauron is correct in that he should be hesitant to put Losman back in, implying that the Bills have a better chance to win with Trent in there. People keep pointing at the record, 3-1 as a starter. What about these numbers? 2 wins over the Jets and a win over Kyle Boller and a banged up defense at home. How about 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions. Two of these interceptions came in crucial situations in the fourth quarter which effectively refutes any statement that Edwards is smart with the ball, and doesn’t make big mistakes. He made huge mistakes in 2 of his 4 starts. How about the 9.8 offensive points per game we have averaged with Trent Edwards at quarterback? This number is inflated because of a touchdown in the first meeting against the Jets by Greer in the red zone and another field goal set up off a turnover against the Ravens. How about 3 points through 3 quarters against one of the worst defenses in the NFL? Why are fans so sheltered by the fact that we won three games against 3 bad teams? People are so quick to point to weeks one and two in which JP and the entire offense struggled. The game plan in the opener was terrible. Week two, again another game with terrible play calling, was in Pittsburgh in their home opener. Further, the Bills defense wasn’t playing nearly as inspired defense in those two games as they are now which forced Jauron into a close to the vest try and keep the other teams offense off the field type of game plan. No quarterback in this league, except maybe with the exception of Brady, Favre and Manning would be able to produce in that type of situation. Also, why are people so eager to forget about the improvement we saw last year? JP in the 2nd half of the year showed signs that he could be a good and even great quarterback. He led us to two fourth quarter comeback wins in the last second. He won 5 of 7 games and should have been 6 of 8 if Robert Royal could get his feet down and he also could have had another fourth quarter comeback in that game against the Titans if it wasn’t for another coaching lapse in the final moments. JP Losman has 25 NFL starts. That is less than 2 seasons of NFL action and his first 7 starts under Mularkey may have done him more bad than good. The more I analyze Trent Edwards, the more he reminds me of a young Kelly Holcombe. Either the coaches don’t have confidence to throw the ball downfield and open up the offense with him in there (which leads to the fact that the decision to play him is indeed financial) or Trent just doesn’t take any chances down the field. Say what you want about the 85 yard touchdown pass, but Losman threw the ball to his best player down the field to give him a chance to make a play in a game where we still needed to score. And it was a breath of fresh air to see something exciting. Finally, JP has come to Buffalo and cherished the city. How many players that come here can you say that about? He has taken strides to clean the city and made his permanent residence here. It is hard not to feel bad for the guy who has worked so hard and done all the right things (except take us to the playoffs in his ONLY year as a starter) only to get screwed over worse than anyone I have seen in this league.

Edwards has done nothing to win this job except beat 2 bad teams at home when the defense played over their heads. Trent was rewarded with 3 non offensive touchdowns against Dallas. All he needed to do was produce 5 offensive points in that game. He couldn’t do it. Our offense has been bad under Edwards, plain and simple and the lack of a downfield attack is hurting Marshawn Lynch and our running game. Losman proved last season that he deserved a chance this year so earn the extension. He did not do anything to warrant losing the job this year except take a cheap shot from that scum bag Vince Wilfork.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and any response would be appreciated greatly.

Michael J. Costanza

(PS: My fellow blogger is apparently a huge Trent Edwards fan and hates Losman. Well, how about we hear some concrete reasons why Edwards should be playing other than Losman besides pointing at JP's 7-9 record last year and 0-2 start. I would like to hear one good quality of Trent Edwards please other than he beat 2 bad teams at home. C'mon give me a break. JP is starting Sunday and he will put up numbers that won't allow him to be benched again. This game is for his job that is 99 percent gone already. Losman knows he is going to have to absolutely light it up every game he plays the rest of the season and he must take this team to the playoffs to stay around here long term. Will he do it? I think he will...he loves Buffalo and he knows he has to perform at an extremely high level to stay here.)