Chan's Quest For Quarterback Competence

Despite all claims to the contrary, Chan Gailey has a quarterback controversy with which to deal, with two weeks remaining before the regular season opener.

The question, unfortunately, is not which of Buffalo’s three quarterbacks should start in New Jersey on Sept. 9. Based on their performances through the first three weeks of the preseason, particularly Saturday’s 38-7 exhibition loss to Pittsburgh, Gailey’s real quandary is whether any of them belong on a National Football League roster.

Ryan Fitzpatrick’s most extensive outing of the practice-game schedule yielded execrable numbers -- 7-of-18, 89 yards with no touchdowns and, to his credit, no interceptions. The aesthetics weren’t much better, with his scattershot tosses looking like what you would expect from, say, a Cincinnati Bengals backup.

As for Vince Young, who Fitzpatrick skeptics hoped might create a more productive quandary for Gailey, I cannot comment on much of his second-half performance. In the interest of full disclosure, my son Jackson and I left his first Bills game at the beginning of the Steelers’ tie-breaking 98-yard touchdown drive late in the second quarter. Upon returning home, though, I turned on the television just in time to see his generous lob to Pittsburgh’s Robert Golden, who gratefully returned it to Buffalo’s 8-yard line.

To Young’s credit, he ran down Golden and saved himself the embarrassment of a pick-six. So he’s got that going for him.

Two plays later, Steelers backup Byron Leftwich threw his second touchdown pass of the night and it was 28-7.

Young finished 12-of-26 for 103 yards. So he and Fitzpatrick were a combined 19-of-44, covering a per-attempt average of 4.36 yards per throw. Thankfully, Gailey kept Tyler Thigpen out of public view, or the stats might have been even uglier.

No, it did not help that Buffalo’s receivers caught the ball roughly as well and Fitzpatrick and Young threw it, letting at least a half-dozen balls slip through or bounce off of their hands.

But when you find yourself enviously eyeing Byron Leftwich, you have a problem, Chan.

--Buffalo’s newly expensive defense looked like it might be worth the money early on, forcing the Steelers to go three-and-out on their first two series and keeping them off the scoreboard until C.J. Spiller’s fumble set up a point-blank scoring drive to Pittsburgh’s first touchdown.

Mario Williams, the best-compensated player the Bills have ever had, led an impressive pass rush with two sacks and Spencer Johnson combined with Nick Barnett to stuff on third-and-1 early in the second quarter, ending the fifth of Pittsburgh’s five scoreless possessions to open the game.

A little more resistance after Spiller’s fumble would have been nice, and it is impossible to rationalize giving up a 98-yard scoring march under any circumstances. Still, Buffalo’s starting defenders provided more basis for hope than their offensive counterparts.

--Not going to provide any further mention of the second half, when Pittsburgh ran off 24 straight points to get to 38-7, because:

A) Didn’t see it; and

B) Don’t care.

Neither should you.

--Jackson made it through the experience without any apparent trauma. Walking around the parking lot beforehand, I explained to him the importance of watching where he was walking, because there were going to be plenty of people who were not.

The warning proved as unnecessary as my mild pre-game concern, as most of the crowd seemed pretty well-behaved and decently balanced, regardless of the colors they wore. Good to see that no one took the game, or the tailgating, more seriously than absolutely necessary.

He did learn a few things, including a crude understanding of down and distance, the incredibly long odds of seeing yourself on the Jumbotron and the importance of never, ever, never setting a beef-on-weck, even one wrapped in foil, on the floor of a stadium men’s room.

Also, while waiting for nachos at the concession stand moments before the opening kickoff, a group of blue-and-red clad thirty-somethings paraded behind us, singing the “hey-hey-hey-hey” portion of “Shout!” quite loudly.

“I think they’re drunk,” he said, nodding his head seriously.

“Not as drunk as they’re going to be,” I reassured him.

We had good seats, 26 rows up behind the Bills bench at about the 40-yard line on the stadium’s tunnel end. He got into the spirit when the crowd got loud before key defensive plays and especially when Fred Jackson ripped off a 15-yard run, helping set up his own 1-yard touchdown run for Buffalo’s only points.

And he paid attention most of the way, saying his favorite moment was when David Nelson lunged for the end zone, ball outstretched, only to be ruled just short on the play before Fred Jackson’s touchdown. As a souvenir, he selected Cleatus, the Transformer-esque mascot of Fox's NFL coverage.

In order to ensure time for an ice-cream stop, we left with the score 7-7, the Bills having gotten the better of things on both sides of the ball. His pre-game loyalties had been somewhat in question, since his Uncle Adam is that rarest of creatures – a passionate, yet reasonable, Steelers fan.

“So, who were you rooting for?” I asked him on the ride home.

“The Buffalo Bills,” he said without hesitation.

Good thing we left when we did.