Turmoil in Buffalo

Its happening again at a time that we (I refer to all Buffalo Bills Fans) least needed it, a quarterback controversy. This week it will be the Bills third round draft pick from Stanford that will take the reins of the struggling team and sadly franchise. Trent Edwards was named the starter Monday (11/26) by head coach Dick Jauron during a press conference.

This move comes after a sputtering offensive performance in Jacksonville that resulted in a 36-14 loss. The loss isn’t what pushed Jauron over the edge to make the change as much as Losman’s individual struggles. In his latest game Losman committed three turnovers, two interceptions and a fumble. The second interception proved costly as it came midway through the fourth quarter with Buffalo driving into Jaguars territory while down only 22-14. At this point the Bills were still in it and the turnover gave the game away.

"In terms of our quarterbacks, we'll make the switch and Trent will be our starter," said Jauron. "We fully understand that it's not only J.P.. That's not the only reason we've lost these couple of games in a row, but it is the focal point of the offense and we do need a lot of consistency from that position."

Edwards will get back on the field after a 5 week layoff mainly due to a wrist injury suffered during a 13-3 win against the New York Jets on Oct. 28th.

"I'm excited and anxious to get the opportunity again to get back out there and help this team win," said Edwards, whose hand has fully healed. "I hope I can use the experience I had at the start of the season and hopefully take that and run with it."

This change will hopefully help the Bills in their waning playoff hopes. The Bills are currently 5-6 and have lost two straight which and are now two games back of the 2nd wildcard spot in the AFC.

The move to bench Losman is surprising at first but when you look at his numbers it is more that understandable. Losman sputtered in his past three games, including a 13-10 win at Miami, by going a combined 54-of-89 for 541 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. The lone bright spot for the 2004 first round draft pick came against Cincinnati in a 33-21 win. In this game Losman helped the Bills produce season highs in points, passing yards and total offense.

Since his rookie year Losman has gone 10-21 as a starter. He has had his time to mature and produce and he just can’t seem to get over the hump. In this pivotal AFC game against Jacksonville fans watched as Losman bounced passes and sailed passes over wide receivers heads. Event the most loyal J.P. fans have to admit that he has had his chance in his 31 games as a starter.

I am glad that Dick Jauron came to his senses and made the switch back to Trent Edwards on Monday. I am not going to pretend to know that Trent Edwards is the future, but the Bills need to find out as soon as possible. I am willing to ride the season out with Edwards, to see if he can provide some hope heading into the off-season. If not at least we will know that the Bills have to find a new guy to play the position.

The toughest thing about benching Losman is that he is nothing but a class act and is hard not to root for. My favorite Losman moment came this summer after the 2007 NFL Draft. Losman took the new Bills rookies and showed them around the city of Buffalo a place that he now calls home as he lives in a Buffalo suburb. He helped ease players into the area and let them know that it is a great place to live and work. This surprisingly became the tour for the man that now replaces him, Trent Edwards. His move of leadership made him a fan favorite in Buffalo, but as badly as we all want him to do well it doesn’t change his performance.

However, this move proves that the Bills aren’t going to throw in the towel on our season yet. Its time that we move on and stop waiting for Losman to become an average NFL quarterback. Instead let’s put our faith into a rookie quarterback and let him prove whether or not he can lead us to the promise land. I don’t know if Edwards is the right man for the job but Losman has had his chance.

Controversy and Scandal… Good or Bad for Sports?

A few weeks ago, I’m sitting in the UC and the group of people next to me is reliving the two 53 yard field goals made by Nick Folk (the first one negated by a last second Bills timeout) during the Cowboys- Bills game (October 8, 2007). The controversial attempt at “freezing out” Folk generated a lot of talk about fairness and what attracts people to watching sports. Back to me sitting in the UC; one of the people said sports today is all about controversy, not the actual game and people get tired of it. Someone else in the group disagreed, saying sport fans thrive off controversy. It occurs to me that both people are right.

First, it is important to differentiate between controversy and scandal. Controversy usually refers to plays or calls during a game while scandal usually refers to events outside the game. For example, the last second timeout during the Cowboys- Bills game or the late Browns field goal that bounced off the uprights and then fell over the crossbar are controversial. Situations like Spygate, Isiah Washington, Pacman Jones, and Dennis Franchione are all scandals.

Controversy and scandal have both drawbacks and positives. When one team is constantly surronded by controversial calls, the average fan begins to think about things like conspiracy theories. Unless they are true die hards, they may become discouraged and lose interest in the team. For someone not devoted to the particular team, there may be increased interest to see what interesting things happen in the next game. Some people say that controversy causes people to lose interest in the game because they just want to watch for the love of the game. I think controversy makes the game more interesting and challenging. It gives people something to talk about and a chance to commiserate or celebrate. Scandals, depending on what they are tend to turn off fans but when they motivate players (like the Patriots this season) it makes for spectacular games. Also, minus a select few, I think the majority of athletes do it because they love the game and competing.

To me, it's part of the game and watching teams overcome negativity makes it worthwhile-- as a consumer and a marketer. I watch because I love sports; controversy and scandal ups the ante, attracting attention therefore ultimately they are good for sports. So the next time I'm sitting in the UC and I overhear someone talking about how sport is all about controversy and not about the game, I can tell them controversy helps sport.