Jeff Kayer - The ball was snapped on a November afternoon at Orchard Park in an overtime clash between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Having rallied his team from 13 points down and extending his touchdown streak to 12 games, the longest such streak by a Bills quarterback since Doug Flutie in 1999, Ryan Fitzpatrick took the snap from his center and immediately saw something.
New standout receiver Steve Johnson had made a break on his opponent and was wide open going for the endzone. Fitzpatrick threw a perfect 40-yard pass to his streaking receiver who was about to extend the Bills winning streak to three games and get a clutch victory against one of the NFL's best teams.
But as Fitzpatrick had his arms already extended in victory, Johnson, a normally sure handed receiver, inexplicably dropped the ball. The Steelers went on to win the game 19-16.
While this was one of the low points of a 4-12 season for the Bills, it did prove one thing to many people—Ryan Fitzpatrick has game.
The Bills are currently at an all too familiar spot as they approach the draft—an early draft position after another failed campaign. The Bills have not been in the post season since 1999 in which they lost in spectacular fashion to the Music City Miracle.
Since then the team has gone through a long line of coaches, each bringing different philosophies and game plans and, simply put, none of it has worked. As any fan can attest to, it takes time for a new coach to implement his system, especially when he lacks talent. When you see that the team has had six coaches since 2000, it shouldn't surprise many the team has struggled.
That is where we are now with the Bills who pick third in the draft. Though the team is in need of fresh talent in almost every position, many analysts believe the Bills are looking to draft a quarterback, most notably Auburn's Cam Newton or Missouri's Blaine Gabbert.
While both quarterbacks have a chance to become a very strong foundation for a team, the Bills should realize they already have their man for 2011 in Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The Bills did go 4-12 last year but Fitzpatrick guided an offense that showed a ton of promise. Though the Bills ranked 24th in the NFL with 197 passing yards per game, one has to understand that Trent Edwards started the first two games with 139 and 102 yards passing respectively with Brian Brohm starting for an injured Fitzpatrick in week 17, in which he threw for a blistering 106 yards.
Despite not starting three games, Fitzpatrick was tied for 13th in the league with a very respectable 23 passing touchdowns, tying him with Jay Cutler and David Garrard. He threw for 3000 yards with an average of 231 yards per game, ranking him ahead of players like Joe Flacco, Cutler, Josh Freeman, Matt Cassell and Mark Sanchez. He also helped stretch the field with 269 rushing yards.
Is Ryan Fitzpatrick the next Tom Brady? Absolutely not, though neither is Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert.
The Bills have a quarterback who has the talent to throw for over 300 yards per game, which he accomplished that feat on several occasions, the best coming against the Baltimore Ravens in which he torched a top defense for 382 yards and four touchdowns.
We've talked a lot about why Fitzpatrick has proven his worth. Let's now look at other components of the Bills team.
Consider the fact they had the worst rushing defense in the league, giving up nearly 170 yards per game. They gave up the fifth most points in the NFL, had the fourth fewest sacks and tied for the third fewest interceptions.
On offense the team was marginally good rushing the ball at 18th in the league and was 18th at sacks allowed. Their receiving corps got a large boost with the emergence of Stevie Johnson to compliment Lee Evans and Roscoe Parish.
Looking at the stats, it's abundantly clear this team needs to focus on the defensive side of the ball. When you can't stop the run, put pressure on the opponent's quarterback or scare him with quality cornerbacks, you're not going to win games, no matter who your quarterback is.
This why the Bills need to target players like linebacker Von Miller or cornerback Patrick Peterson.
No one is going to argue that Ryan Fitzpatrick is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But for 13 games, he put up numbers that were more than adequate and if it wasn't for some bad breaks—and failures by other parts his team—the Bills could have won eight games, as they lost four games to 2010 playoff teams by a combined 12 points, two of which in overtime.
Drafting Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert may attract some headlines, which some may argue is even more important for this struggling franchise than actually drafting someone at a bigger need. But for the long term and short term success of the Bills, they need to let Fitzpatrick and the hopeful return of his beard to lead this team next season.
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