Dec 14th 2008 7:15PM by Josh Alper (author feed)
Filed under: Bills, Jets, AFC East
Right after J.P. Losman fumbled away a Bills win with just over two minutes left in a game they were winning 27-24, FanHouser Shane Bacon emailed to remind that a cardinal rule of quarterbacking was to throw the ball away when you’ve got nothing.
It was a sound point. Losman was scrambling when Abram Elam hit him from behind, causing a fumble that Shaun Ellis returned for a touchdown, but there was another rule that loomed large. Somewhere in the big book of coaching rules, it states that one shall not let J.P. Losman try to win a game unless there’s absolutely no other hope.
Dick Jauron will likely have plenty of time to review that rule when the Bills fire him in a couple of weeks. His team finally showed up to play, no small thing given their recent efforts, on Sunday, but Jauron removed all hope of a win by calling for a pass. It was second-and-five, the two minute warning would follow the play and the Jets had just two timeouts. And the Bills had run for 187 yards to that point in the game!
To his credit, Jauron took full responsibility after the game.
“Clearly the responsibility for the last call, the play-action pass, that was mine,” Jauron said. “That goes right on me. It backfired clearly and caused us to lose the game.”
It’s nice to hear that honesty. We’ll see if it’s enough to quiet the swirling rumors about the status of his job.Continue Reading
