When a team is on a four-game winning streak you want to do as little as possible to disrupt continuity. Bills head coach Dick Jauron took that approach to heart as he named J.P. Losman his starting quarterback for Sunday night's game against New England.
"We will continue with J.P. Losman as our starting quarterback for our game with New England this Sunday," said Jauron in a team statement.
Following a stellar performance against Cincinnati two weeks ago, Losman and the offense struggled through the first three quarters of their game last Sunday at Miami. At halftime Losman was 4-11 passing for 62 yards an interception and a passer rating of 18.
However, in the fourth quarter, with assistance from Marshawn Lynch, Losman led the team on two scoring drives making a handful of critical throws to gain first downs and helped put Buffalo in scoring territory late in the come from behind win.
"He missed some throws and in the end he made some too," said Jauron after the game Sunday. "He made some plays for us. The quarterback sneak was big."
Down 10-2 early in the fourth Losman went over his left tackle on a 4th-and-1 at the Miami 24-yard line to get just enough for the first down and keep a drive alive that had to result in a touchdown.
Losman was 8-12 passing in the second half of the game for 95 yards.
It's ironic that continuity is now a factor in keeping Losman in the lineup now that Trent Edwards is healthy. Jauron also pointed to continuity in keeping Trent Edwards as his starter a few weeks ago when Losman was healthy again as the team was experiencing some success at that time as well.
Buffalo has taken a similar approach on defense with starting personnel based on the team's current win streak. George Wilson started at free safety again last week, despite the fact that previous starter Jim Leonhard was back to full health coming off his calf injury.
