Much of the criticism of Doug Flutie comes from the sports editor of the Buffalo News, a dork by the name of Larry Felser. This moron has never said a good thing about Flutie in the three years he has been there. His attitude which is reflected in his writing has consistently been that "Flutie should be benched, despite his winning record, because Johnson should gain experience for the future. It's ok to sacrifice the season so that Johnson can play".
Personally, I think this guy Felser has a thing for Johnson. Maybe it's the colorful bandana Johnson wears.
buffalonews.com
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Flutie's days in Buffalo should be numbered . . . no matter what
By LARRY FELSER
10/24/00
For the sake of argument, let's construct a scenario where Doug Flutie keeps playing quarterback as
effectively as he did Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
Let's say he pulls the Buffalo Bills out of their current losing ways and somehow they make the
playoffs. As they say on TV's "West Wing," "What Next?"
Realistically, where could they go from qualifying for the playoffs? They would play nothing but
top-of-the-line teams. The Bills themselves are still seriously flawed. They would be out of the
playoffs in a flash.
They are a team that's too young in too many places with an undependable offensive line and one
of the weakest special teams in the league. Even their fine defense has some serious holes in its
pass coverage. In other words they are not good enough right now, just as they weren't good enough
to beat the Vikings Sunday.
All Flutie would get at the end of such a season, playoffs or not, would be a fond farewell.
Doug turned 38 Monday. He's too old for this team. It needs time to grow and he doesn't have that
sort of time left to watch them grow. Beyond that Rob Johnson needs to play in order to develop. He
hasn't had enough starts to constitute an entire season. He needs to be allowed to make mistakes, to
see every situation a couple of times, gain the experience necessary to operate as Flutie did
Sunday.
As Flutie, a 16-year-pro, said after Sunday's game, playing quarterback "is like riding a bike. You just
hop on and do it." You just hop on and do it after you've done it for a long time.
The only thing Flutie will be next year is 39. Johnson is the future. An NFL team without a good
quarterback is dead. A cadaver. A sailboat without a sail. The Bills are lucky to have a young
quarterback with Johnson's skills. About 20 NFL teams don't.
Take a look at Tampa Bay, a Super Bowl-quality team floundering without a top quarterback. Or
Baltimore, a great defensive team with a fine young runner in Jamal Lewis but a team unable to
score touchdowns because the best it has is a third-rate quarterback.
In the final analysis, Buffalo's only chance to rise above the level of "pretty good" is to allow
Johnson and the rest of its kids to gain the experience they need so badly.
The Bills have had almost nothing but winning teams for 12 seasons, which means they've drafted
in the lower third of the league. There aren't many superstars available there. A losing season, even
a 6-10 season, might not be so bad if it was part of the valuable learning process. As the Bills are
constituted right now, there is just one man on their offensive unit who scares opposing defenses.
That's Eric Moulds, of whom the Vikings' Randy Moss - a man sparing in his praise of other players -
said, "In the first half Eric Moulds came out and showed that he's a real all-pro with his catches."
The Bills can't get by on Moulds alone. They are making small improvement. Their kid runners are
improving. Shawn Bryson is starting to run like a natural tailback. Sammy Morris is a playmaker. But
they have to repair their offensive line and even then there is no 1,200-yard rusher on their roster.
You don't improve by paying your backup quarterback $5 million a year in the salary-cap age. Lop
that money off your cap and you might be able to sign a couple of helpful experienced linemen
and a dangerous return man.
There is another reason why this in all likelihood is Flutie's last year as a Bill. With him still on the
roster the atmosphere in Buffalo is poisonous for Johnson. Flutie has a legion of fans and most of
them are fanatical. That's why there was a big cheer in Ralph Wilson Stadium when Johnson
suffered his separated shoulder against San Diego. That's why Johnson gets booed by the home
fans despite his high ranking among NFL passers and all his promise.
It's not in Flutie's makeup to be anyone's mentor. He'll always be competing for the job. Before the
Minnesota game he told a national television reporter about his lingering bitterness over losing his
starting job before last year's playoffs. It's an unhealthy situation and it will stay unhealthy as long as
Flutie remains a Bill. |
