At some point I'm sure I predicted that Chan Gailey would take whatever quarterback he had in Chicago and turn them into a quarterback that's good enough (or better). He helped do it with Tyler Thigpen in 2008 which was a surprise to a lot of us. No, Thigpen wasn't an All-Pro but I think Gailey was able to get the most out of him (and that's one of the reasons I wouldn't have minded a Gailey-led team). Gailey has also done it with most of the QBs he's worked with throughout his career.
Over the last month Gailey has had quite a turnaround project in QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Other than the completion percentage -- which is actually pretty good -- these are very Thigpen-like numbers for Fitzpatrick this year:
- 20-of-28, 247 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
- 12-of-27, 128 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
- 20-of-30, 220 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
- 29-of-43, 374 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
Thigpen was definitely more athletic but you can't discount a 74-yard rushing day from your QB like Fitzpatrick had against the Jets. We'll see if Fitzpatrick gets the Thigpen treatment getting shipped out of town at the end of the year. I'm not sure Fitzpatrick is being given much of a chance. If the Bills have a top pick in the draft, I think they'd have to go with a QB, as the Chiefs would probably should have been planning on doing before the Cassel trade.
If Fitzpatrick is actually like Thigpen was in 2008, then the Chiefs should feel pretty good by the end of the game because he didn't win many games in KC.