Bills’ head coach is full of Mularkey

By Connor Byrne | Wednesday, November 16, 2005 | ( 0 )

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As usual, the head coach of the Buffalo Bills has been the epicenter of confusion down at One Bills Drive. After the team's 14-3 victory on Sunday, Mike Mularkey didn't want to commit to J.P. Losman being the starting quarterback from this point on. He kept going with the typical coach speak and claimed that he was more worried about the health of quarterback Kelly Holcomb. Understandable. You would expect a head coach to say something like that after the game.

Since the game, Mularkey has continued beating around the bush and not committing to a starting quarterback for this football team. This is not a new thing for this team. Earlier in the season, after a week four loss to the New Orleans Saints, Mularkey spent an entire week trying to make everyone guess whether Losman or Holcomb would start. Finally, everyone got word late in the week that it would be Holcomb. Buffalo would end up winning that game and Mularkey would certainly like to think that he gave his team a competitive edge against their opponent, the Miami Dolphins. However, everyone in their right mind knows it didn't matter.

Now, with four days remaining until the Buffalo Bills play the San Diego Chargers, Mularkey is searching for what he thinks is the same advantage. By not naming Losman or Holcomb as the starter, Mularkey thinks he is confusing head coach Marty Schottenheimer, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, and the rest of the Chargers' defense. Let's be honest, the only person Mularkey is fooling is himself. Not naming a starting quarterback is not going to earn you victories; it will alienate your team's fans and make you into a league-wide joke.

Last year, after Bills' running back Travis Henry sustained an injury early in the season, the team went into a game at 0-4 against the Dolphins. Buffalo's backup, Willis McGahee, started the game and rushed for 111 yards and Buffalo earned their first victory. The next week, Mularkey went right back to Henry against the Ravens and the team got no running game established and got shellacked. This situation with Holcomb and Losman could end up being identical to that situation.

For Sunday's game, if Mularkey doesn't start Losman, he will be the one with egg on his face. How can you possibly not start Losman after he guided your team to victory over a solid Kansas City Chiefs team? When Holcomb started, he was 2-2 but clearly demonstrated why he has been a backup in this league for a decade. Holcomb simply doesn't have what it takes to be a special NFL quarterback. Losman has far greater arm strength and far greater mobility than Holcomb.

After returning from his benching, it seems like Losman just doesn't care anymore. He's going to go out there and win and lose on his own terms. He's not the same quarterback as Ben Roethlisberger so why try to make him into that? Buffalo's biggest mistake was trying to make him into a game manager. Losman is more of a gunslinger like Brett Favre. He'll run around out there and make some great plays and a couple other ones that make you want to pull the hair out of your head. Hey, if it has worked for Favre, why not let Losman try?

It seems to me that Mularkey is afraid that Losman will prove that he had a poor gameplan in the beginning of the season. This team would have been a lot better off if Losman could have taken chances back in September.

Any comments? Send an email to cbyrne@realfootball365.com

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