Edwards takes step toward stealing Bills’ No. 1 QB job

By Connor Byrne  |   Monday, October 01, 2007  |  Comments( 51 )

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After an 0-3 start to the regular season, the Buffalo Bills entered Sunday's game against the 1-2 New York Jets, an AFC East rival, in a must-win situation. The Bills, led by an efficient offense and gutty defense, ultimately took the victory at Ralph Wilson Stadium, 17-14, and they might have found their quarterback of the present and future in the process.

Making his first-ever NFL start, Trent Edwards, a third-round prodigy from Stanford, completed 22 of 28 passes for 234 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The poised, accurate Edwards finally got the Bills' offense, ranked 32nd in the league going into the game, on track. The 22-year-old sustained lengthy drives regularly, kept the injury-riddled defense off the field for 32 out of 60 minutes, and helped the 'O' amass 304 net total yards. That may not seem like a lot, but keep in mind that Buffalo was averaging a meager 200 per week in its first three games.

From start to finish, Edwards was nothing shy of outstanding and consistent.

He began the game 11 of 12 for 116 yards, with the only incompletion coming on a dropped pass from wide receiver Lee Evans, who finally got involved in the offense (six catches for 72 yards).

Edwards' worst moment of the afternoon, a second-quarter interception, never seemed to faze him. Usually, young QBs tend to lose confidence in times of trouble. Edwards, as he showed throughout the summer (75 percent preseason completion rate), seems to be a special breed.

On the play, Edwards, standing at the Jets' 38-yard line, flung a deep pass to the end zone, but it was slightly underthrown and grabbed by New York cornerback Andre Dyson. Frankly, it was a ball Evans probably should have stopped Dyson from picking off. Nevertheless, although Evans is slightly to blame for the turnover, it was a mistake by Edwards -- who had a man wide open to his right -- to take an unnecessary risk in a scoreless game.

Nevertheless, he rebounded and went on to complete 10 straight throws for 94 yards after the interception.

Then, in the fourth quarter -- with the game in the balance -- the 6-foot-4, 231-pounder took advantage of an INT by teammate Jabari Greer, who set the Bills up at the Jets' 25.

After Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch couldn't find the end zone on three straight handoffs inside New York's 10, the Bills, trusting their young signal-caller, decided to attempt a fourth-and-goal from the 1. Edwards, under pressure, rolled out after a play-action fake and found tight end Michael Gaines for a touchdown, putting Buffalo up by 10 in a game it ended up winning by three. Had the Edwards-led Bills missed their fourth-down attempt, they'd have continued leading only 10-7 and probably would have lost the game, thus dropping to 0-4.

Instead, though, Edwards stepped up in a big way and kept the season afloat. He woke up a listless aerial attack, completing passes to six different targets, including slot WR Josh Reed (four catches, 64 yards) as well as formerly nonexistent TEs Robert Royal and Michael Gaines seven times for 51 yards, which is something the Bills' injured No. 1 QB, J.P. Losman, has never done consistently.

Losman will miss next Monday's nighttime showdown with the Dallas Cowboys because of an ailing knee. If Edwards continues to perform well (he won't go 22 of 28 every week, obviously), chances are the hit Losman took from the New England Patriots' Vince Wilfork in Week 3 will ultimately be the final snap of his starting career in Buffalo.

"I've always said, nobody's job is secure," said Bills head coach Dick Jauron, who was noncommittal about the 26-year-old Losman's future after the win.

Edwards, like his coach, wasn't ready to discuss whether he grabbed the job from Losman.

"All I'm worried about is winning," he said.

At 1-3, Edwards and the Bills have to follow the old cliché and take things one game at a time. If their first-year QB continues helming lengthy drives and making big throws during key moments, Buffalo just might jump back into relevance sooner than later.

E-mail: cbyrne@realfootball365.com.

RealFootball365.com: Five days a week, we're the place for strong opinions on the Buffalo Bills.
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CommentsComments: 51  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Ron		09:26 AM
10/01/2007
Connor, the TD pass was *slightly* underthrown and, yes, Evans should have contested the INT. You forgot to mention that Edwards...
No.2
rich		09:27 AM
10/01/2007
(Just a correction conner, the INT was underthrown) Well, well, well. what do we have here? Another QB controversy in B-town? I...
No.3
MattyDubbs		09:50 AM
10/01/2007
look, I know it was one game against a Jets D that was just about as bad as ours statistically, but Edwards looked very...
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