Archives for September 2014

‘After serving a year as Northeastern’s offensive line coach Doug Marrone landed a job as the Director of Football Operations at Georgia Tech under new head coach George O’Leary in 1995 (O’Leary is currently the head coach at Central Florida). O’Leary knew Marrone as a player at Syracuse where O’Leary had served as defensive line and assistant head coach during Marrone’s tenure as a player.’

‘”Scott’s made some plays,” the coach said Monday. “He played a lot yesterday. He did some really good things and he has been doing some good things in the passing game and even in the running game.”‘

‘Statistics alone would place Manuel in the NFL’s bottom third, which sounds about right. He wasn’t expected to be in the Top 10, anyway, so the Bills can take comfort in their 2-1 record and share of the lead in the AFC East. It puts them on pace for a record between 9-7 and 11-5, enough to remain in playoff contention.’

‘But just how bad was Manuel? The numbers say he was terrible. He completed 59 percent of his passes for 238 yards and one touchdown. He was just 7 for 21 when passing to wide receivers for 49 yards, and 72 of his 238 passing yards came on the final drive when San Diego already had the 12-point win well in hand.’

‘”You talk about guys who sacrifice most of their Tuesdays for charity work or nightly hospital visits that never make it to the paper,” Wood said. “That’s not why the guys do it, to get good publicity. But at the same point, if all the guys are going to talk about is the four bad guys in the NFL and everyone’s going to get labeled, why don’t we all pumped up our teammates when they do something good?”‘

‘He is almost entirely ineffective on the move. The Chargers were able to pressure Manuel up the middle, through the interior of the line in hopes of either sacking him, pressuring him, or getting him to move.’

‘It was rare that the second-year quarterback had a lot of time to operate in the pocket, and that was exactly by design. The Chargers wanted to push Manuel to see how he would react to the pressure, and as they probably thought, the young player struggled to respond in a positive way.’

Buffalo does not have a Phillip Rivers on the team, nor is EJ Manuel likely to become one this year or next. What we should all look forward to is the ability to show improvement and improved consistency on the field. Who knows, if Buffalo can find a billionaire with strong ties to the community to save the Bills from failure it’s not too much of a stretch to think EJ Manuel could one day develop into a solid NFL quarterback.

‘It is a play that is very difficult for referees to recognize because they are usually disguised as incidental contact by a receiver just running his route. And even on film, it often looks like the cornerback was beat and much of the criticism falls to him.’

‘”You always want to see former teammates and guys that you’re close to do well, but when you play against them they’re on the other team so you want to kick their butts just like anybody else,” said Fred Jackson, who says he’s been texting Fitzpatrick about this game for months. “It will be for bragging rights.”‘

‘Through three games, it appears his message is getting across. The Bills are allowing an average of 17.3 points per game. Only three NFL teams have given up fewer points so far this year.’

‘”We’re slowing the game down and trying to do a little bit more to put us in situations where we can go in and substitute and get the best players in with the young guys and start using more of their talent,” Bills coach Doug Marrone said. “We still have it. There are times where we can go in and do it, but right now we’re just trying to play the game and use our players with the best talent and get them the football.”‘

‘Marrone had two choices: He could take the offsides, giving the Bills a fourth-and-1 at the opposing 43; or he could take the holding call on the return, giving the Chargers the ball at their own 9-yard line.’

‘The Bills’ running game is overrated. They gain yards because they run it just about more than any team in the NFL. But when you break it down, the runs aren’t all that effective.’

‘On Sunday, Manuel threw the ball 39 times and completed only 59 percent of his passes. He was also 7-for-21 for 49 yards when throwing to wide receivers. Once the offense became more one dimensional, Manuel wasn’t able to carry the offense.’