It's all about the quarterback.

I could use some flowery language and pretend there was some sort of stage set for the start of something special, but the truth is far from it. The Buffalo Bills are a subpar football team ravaged by injury that's in great need of leaders and a quarterback, especially the latter. There was only one skill player on the entire field who did anything worthwhile, and he's thinking of retiring. Not only that, but Perry Fewell may one day be an NFL head coach. It shouldn't be here and now, though.

Sadly, let's break it down...

-- Fewell's a pretty decent coach, but he hasn't done a good enough to job to stop the major overhaul that is needed in many departments of One Bills Drive. Fans can put up with the garbage they've seen in certain scenarios because of injuries and poor personnel, but no one wants to see Fewell hide in a shell of Dick Jauron conservatism. Nothing is going to get done with weak punt calls on fourth-and-shorts in the opponents territory in a game you need to win to have a shot at the Buffalo head coaching job. It was unacceptable.

-- If there is anyone out there thinking that Brian Brohm is either brilliant or awful, please inform them they are trying too hard. To be fair, it may be impossible to judge the performances of any of the Bills signal callers this year, save for saying they aren't good enough to be No. 1 quarterbacks in the National Football League. Should Brohm start Week 17? Absolutely. The sad thing is, Brohm's 146 yards passing isn't even in the bottom of third of the Bills quarterbacks this year.

Fitzpatrick, 297 yards in Wk11
Fitzpatrick, 246 yards in Wk12
Edwards, 230 yards in Wk2
Edwards, 212 yards in Wk1
Edwards, 192 yards in Wk4
Edwards, 185 yards in Wk10
Fitzpatrick, 178 yards in Wk15
Edwards, 156 yards in Wk3
Edwards, 152 yards in Wk5
Brohm, 146 yards in Wk16
Fitzpatrick, 123 yards in Wk7
Fitzpatrick, 117 yards in Wk8
Fitzpatrick, 116 yards in Wk6
Fitzpatrick, 98 yards in Wk14
Fitzpatrick, 86 yards in Wk 13

-- The extra sad thing is Brohm may have been only one play away from having a stat line that looked a lot like Matt Ryan's Week 16 performance. Brohm tried to hit Terrell Owens on a deep ball that Owens looked less-than-interested in breaking up. No, it wasn't a good throw, but Owens gave his critics something to pick at on that play.

-- I do want to say this for the quarterbacks. Edwards won the job out of camp, and the quarterbacks numbers have declined week-by-week. Why is that? No, it's not Alex Van Pelt. The Bills lost Brad Butler in Week Two, and linemen were lost for the season bi-weekly afterwards. Even Jamon Meredith, who wasn't miserable, was absent from some contests with injury. Believe it or not, this offensive line doesn't need a major fix. It needs depth and a left tackle. Andy Levitre, Geoff Hangartner and Butler will be back and starting, and hopefully Eric Wood will heal correctly as well. If Richie Incognito wants to stick around as an extra linemen, that's probably okay, too.

-- If you're one of the folks thinking the dismissal of Langston Walker cost the Bills their season, you'll be happy to learn he doesn't even start for the 5-10 Raiders. Ahead of him on the depth chart at right tackle? Undrafted free agent Cornell Green out of the offensive line powerhouse than is the University of Central Florida.

-- Also, for those who want to argue that Turk Schonert would've done a better job than Alex Van Pelt, please go back and look at the games Schonert directed the Bills offense and then proceed to be quiet.

-- If Aaron Schobel wants to retire because he's an honorable guy who doesn't want to show up his organization by asking for a trade to a decent team, that's a shame. Schobel's three sacks give him 10 for the year and move him into the Top Ten amongst defensive ends, ahead of Mario Williams and Osi Umeniyora, one half-sack behind Julius Peppers. Schobel is also in the Top Five for tackles amongst ends. His recovery from a broken foot that hampered him throughout of 2008 is one of the only bright spots on the 2009 Bills. I sincerely hope he doesn't call it quits.

-- The defense can only take so much. Losing Jairus Byrd and Terrence McGee really lit the Bills secondary on fire. Drayton Florence is a fine No. 2 corner, but he doesn't work at No. 1. Donte Whitner shouldn't be a starting safety in the National Football League. I've given him every opportunity, maybe more than most because of the unfair label given to him for being the No. 8 overall pick. He's just not good enough to start.

-- Honestly, do you want the Bills to be a playoff team? All it takes is a quarterback to rectify most woes. Yes, even with a line this bad you can win games! Look at the difference in the AFC North. With Carson Palmer instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bengals have clinched the division, while the Steelers are fighting for their lives. Why? Well, Ben Roethlisberger missed one game against Baltimore this year, and Pittsburgh still only lost by three. They are 0-2 when he doesn't play the entire competitive portion of a game, as they lost in overtime to Kansas City when he was knocked out with a concussion (A game in which he threw for 398 yards).

-- There are other examples. Why were the Falcons a disappointing 7-7 before destroying the Bills on Sunday? Well, they were 0-2 without franchise quarterback Matt Ryan.

-- By the way, Bills fans, Charlie bleeping Frye threw for 333 yards on Sunday.

-- I'm cutting this short by saying it's all about the quarterback. All, and Brohm better start next Sunday, unless you plan on giving Gibran Hamdan a feel-good start.

Stat line I enjoyed:
Schobel, four tackles, three sacks
-- If he's leaving, Buffalo's in trouble. End should not be a Day One need next season, and the "for-sale signs on his yard" talk was unplanned.

Stat line I didn't enjoy:
Fred Jackson, 13 carries, 40 yards
-- Again, I love his story, but I'm not convinced he's a single feature back in this league. This team needs two of him.

Game ball:
Schobel

Lastly...
I got nothing.

Next Week:
Hot rumour is this game will be flexed to night. Sounds really cold. Indianapolis 31, Buffalo 11.

Email: nick@wgr550.com