Sisyphean Bills

Might be a good week to "play" Wilson in fantasy leagues or something.

PS: People are always going to be comparing Watkins to Beckham. People need to get their big boy pants on. It's going to continue to happen for years. PPS: Schadenfreude? Mike Evans isn't blossoming with Jameis Winston as his #1 overall QB.

At Clemson, I considered him a guy who excelled in playing in space. (Sort of like another speedster the Bills picked in the first round from the same school.) Watkins was an accomplished runner with the ball. The quandary is how it comes about that a guy like Dabo Swinney can coach to these guys strengths and sell the Bills personnel department on the game tape and then, once drafted, the Bills "don't use 'em right" as someone put it up-thread.

OTOH, people are talking about DeAndre Hopkins and he doesn't have a Manning throwing him any balls. Circus catches are highlight reel stuff on the merits of the catch. Not the throw. Somehow, this doesn't cheer me.

I think that conflates several things. OBJ's circus catches are not because of "great throws". That's clearly absurd. But those catches do show that OBJ is vastly more than a Chris Hogan type of WR. No one ever said Manning isn't a veteran QB or that he doesn't understand his offense. He is an upper echelon QB, who, when he is really hot, is capable of beating anyone. Still, he's not perfect on every throw. Let's also give kudos to the coaching staff for having and keeping Eli in an offense he can play at a high level in. (And by extension, management and ownership for hiring the right people, makes the trade, and giving Manning and the coaches the time and space to develop.) Nor is the Giants offense very talented this year. You got Manning and OBJ playing catch and very little else. As a team, they've struggled. I agree that it's apples and oranges to compare the Bills offense to the Giants in 2015. In truth, it only makes trading up to take a WR when they don't have a QB all that much more of a head scratcher.

I don't get crediting Manning for Beckham's insane circus catches. "Great throws" don't produce superhuman grabs. OBJ is, quite simply, a great player who makes catches no one else can.

The franchise reeks of dysfunction. Who knows? But I doubt it would've changed much of anything in the bottom line.

Can't agree with the Super Bowl comment. Vick was more talented than Steve Young. The difference between them is between the earlobes. Steve Young totally dedicated himself to mastery of his craft and transcended from an enormously gifted athlete at the QB position to a field general who could analyze, dissect, and beat defenses consistently no matter what they showed him and by putting his teammates in positions to excel.

RG3. Tim Tebow. There are many "greats". Great athletes. Very successful in college and with loyal legions of fans. Manziel has that too. On the other hand What he doesn't have is a proven track record in the NFL on the field. In an age when coaches get on the radio and preach non-stop about "good, quick decision making, especially at the QB position", Manziel has swirled in controversy. Why isn't he playing? Some might say he's shown a real lack of good decision making. A lack of commitment. On the third hand But play him anyway! The good news for the "play him" proponents is that the Browns are going to play him. Get your popcorn ready.

Agree that this team has Rex's fingerprints on it. Disagree that anyone is going to look to replace Rex Ryan as the defensive coach on Rex Ryan's team. Not going to happen unless they fire the entire coaching staff.

"Semi-proven" in what way? He has taken a mediocre team and transformed them into a mediocre team on the scoreboard to date.

It's never been the only thing. A QB can cover some of the flaws on an otherwise good team, but no single player can fix a team that is mostly flawed. Taking Drew Brees: the guy is an amazing QB and fun as hell to watch, but that Saints team is horribly flawed. Their defense is unsound, undisciplined, and plays stupid. Watching a Saints game, I was convinced the secondary either had no idea what they were doing, all got lobotomies before the game, or were drunk and stoned. The Saints defense is pure garbage.

Exactly. Do you remember Billy Joe Hobert? I don't recall anyone forcing Marv Levy to play him or even keep a QB who self-admittedly didn't want to work on his craft on the roster. As I recall, Marv was gobknobbed for running BJH out of town on a rail.

Todd Collins.

Herm gets himself fired up. He has a point in the abstract. I don't think you find any players in New England putting their own agendas out front, for example. (And that is not a judgment on anyone else.)

I don't agree with this narrative. What coach wants to lose? Did losing a lot of games work out for, oh let's say, Dick Jauron (who is one of the most losing head coaches in NFL history)? Like I said earlier, I think another explanation is that the coaching staff thinks Manziel is completely unprofessional and unreliable. They wanted to place their trust & confidence in the hands of Austin Davis. Precisely because they want to win. It is inaccurate to equate Manziel with winning. He has a 1-4 record as a starter and a 78 QB rating. (Austin Davis is no great shakes at 3-6 and 85, but those are actually better numbers.) JM has looked rancid on the field at times. It is anything BUT clear cut that he gives the Browns the best chance to win. It is clear however that there is internal disagreement on Manziel. Some don't want him to play and some do. And that shouldn't be unfamiliar to anyone who was around during the Flutie/Johnson years. Wasn't that a case where the owner told the coach who would play? At any rate, I'm not a Browns fan, but I have a feeling it is going to be entertaining watching this dumpster fire. PS: Most any NFL exec leaves the game day decisions on who to play and not play in the hands of the coaches. (I had this thought: can you imagine if Bob Kraft or one of the suits for the Patriots burst into Belichick's office and demanded that he play some player? )

Media circus?

Did you say showcase?

True enough. And like most transitions, he'll arguably have improved the team in year one.

Sort of emphasizes the need for a new regime to hit the ground running—and even then there are going to be the lunatic fringe bemoaning the improvements. A regime change for anything less, the status quo, a stumble, or a flat out face plant, is not going to be received well.

Are you suggesting that bringing some extra "arms" to camp and giving a handful of never-were journeymen QBs a backup gig is really balls-to-the-wall effort to find a franchise leader and winner? Someone who elevates the entire franchise? Dusty Roads Vaughan and Jeff Tuel Time? I don't find a list of names like that very compelling. There are really two significant names on that list. Ryan Fitzpicks, who was declared a "franchise QB" by a GM who talked tough and didn't deliver. RF quickly failed to live up to that label. And EJ Manuel, who was drafted in the first-round of one of the weakest QB pools ever by many analysts' takes. EJM hasn't been able to beat out anybody for the job. Neither of these guys is a Hall-of-Fame slam-dunk QB. One approach is that until you have that great QB, you keep looking. Another is that making bold moves that don't exactly pan out gets executives fired quicker. Soft-pedaling the "woe is us" and "we're trying" and waiting for the QB to reach out to you in the slurpy line at 7-11...

Agreed. I don't think he takes it seriously on the field either. Gil Brandt said, after scouting him a bit, that he really didn't understand what Manziel was doing a lot of the time. He was curious what JM was even thinking on many plays. His crazy, unpredictable freelancing got him a Heisman, but it's not exactly the backbone of consistency that NFL coaching staffs crave.

Lake Erie is the bottom of the NFL. That was a great ending. Not sure what the Lions were doing. Maybe Caldwell can come coach the Bills...

One explanation is that Pettine is stupid. Another is that someone else pulled the string and told Pettine to play Manziel. When Manziel immediately screwed up, it might have given Pettine the out to renege. "Sorry boss, I told you so." Or maybe Pettine figured out he'd a dead man walking and decided he'd rather go out on his own terms. The idea that embarrassing Manziel is going to "fix him" is mindbogglingly absurd.