FireChan

Because he was worse. It's okay to admit it. Manuel has always been worse. More importantly, Manuel's best games don't hold a candle to Tanny's. And Manuel's worst games were worse than Tanny's. I hate when someone tries to argue I'm conveniently misconstruing things, then posts just passe ratings. A 16/24 for 194 yards game is not as impressive as 23/34 for 319. Here's a fun stat. In games where Manuel had to throw +30 times, he was 1-6. You know what that tells me? He couldn't win games without a strong run game and defense. Look at Tanny, in 2013, he was 7-7 in games he had to throw +30 times. Do you have confidence that EJ could go 7-7 in 2014 having to throw 30-40 times a game? EJ was afforded time to develop. His play and injuries cut that time short. IMO, he needed to come out in the second year and play well enough to inspire some of his teammates and he didn't. It was sink or swim.

Who cares about their first year stats? The only reason EJ didn't play 16 games his first year was his injuries. He was handed the job in 2014, put up Tim Tebow numbers, and got yanked. Tanny won his first 3 games in his second season by playing well and putting up good numbers. Manuel was given the same opportunity and was bad. Had Tanny played as bad as EJ, he would've been yanked.

Why?

The perfect plan for the Bills is to get Manning and use two QB sets. Manning lines up, reads the defense/audibles. Hikes the ball. If he sees single coverage way down field, he hands the ball to EJ who throws it as hard as he can with his eyes closed. If there are two deep safeties, Manning throws one of his 5 yard ducks. Championship.

KC has sucked for like 5 years in a row. They improved because they hired a decent staff and traded for a QB. Houston improved because JJ Watt scored like 8 TD's, and had a historic defensive season. I expect both teams to hover anywhere from 9-7 to 7-9 this upcoming year and the year after. Maybe one playoff berth, but bounced in the first round. And fine. I can understand how the salary muddles things a little bit. All things being equal in contracts, Winston and Mariota don't get sniffed until those other guys are gone. And personally, I'd rather the Bills have Cutler than EJ +Iupati. But that's just me.

Now you're talking out of both sides. Houston/KC has turned a corner? They're exactly what you just argued against. Scraping out a one and done or middle of the pack record. It's the worst spot to be in. They aren't contending, they're just floating around. I think the disconnect comes from one thing. I believe that if you held a draft today of every current player in the NFL, as well as the 2015 draft class, Dalton, Cutler, Tanny etc. all go before Mariota and Winston. That's just the numbers. Do you disagree?

Would you rather be the Bengals tied to Dalton for 6 years at $19M a year or TB with the chance to pick Jameis or Mariota on a rookie deal? To me the answer is the unknown is better than someone that I don't believe can win a title. The Bengals. Every time. Like you said, Mariota and Jameis are unknowns, and just playing the number, have little chance of even playing to Dalton's level, let alone a SB level. Do they have a miniscule chance to be greats? Sure. But, if you were a betting man, you don't take them over Dalton. Ever. It happens all of the time on sports (especially basketball). You are much better off being really bad than as a borderline playoff team. It is hard to get out of that spot. You are never bad enough to acquire franchise type players (Dareus & Sammy) and not good enough to overcome the elite teams. That's the way that sports work. The teams in the middle forever are in the middle. I would say basketball is apples to oranges, mainly because of the lottery, and the impact an individual player can have. But I'll play along. In the last decade or so, you have not been proven to be better off "being really bad," in either sport. The Lakers have stunk for three years and aren't proving to be better. Teams like the Wolves, the Bucks, the Magic have sucked for years in the NBA and aren't getting better with their picks. Sure, you have years where the Heat go from one awful year to a great year, but that's more rare than teams dwelling in the cellar. Same with the NFL. The Raiders and Browns of the NFL have sucked for an entire decade, if not more. Constantly picking in the top 5. And they constantly suck. Indy is a team that rebounded quick, but there's one Indy for every 3-4 other garbage team that stays garbage. Flacco is a bit of an anomaly because he is statistically one of the greatest playoff QBs of all-time. He has proven to be worth it. He won a Super Bowl prior to getting his big deal. It's apples and oranges a little bit. But prior to Flacco winning the Superbowl and having his historic run, would you have continued to look elsewhere? That was my point. Many believe that a guy won't ever win a Superbowl until they do it. Would you have looked elsewhere from Kelly after our third trip? To the Bengals point this is where we differ. I see the Bengals as having no chance of winning as long as Dalton is there. If he is there another 5 years than I believe that the Bills have a better chance. Until we know who the guy is under center for the Bills the answer is that we dont know if they can win. If it is EJ I would say that neither team can win a Super Bowl as currently constructed. If it is Bradford for example than I think that the Bills have a better shot. The last 4 years, the Bills have had a 0% chance to win a Superbowl. Dalton has had more than that. I don't understand what you're basing this off of, besides fandom.

That's a crazy argument to me. You have to make the playoffs to have a chance to win the Super Bowl. Did the Bengals or the Bills have a better chance to win the Super Bowl last year? Should the Ravens have been looking for a guy to replace Flacco his first 4 years? He didn't reach the "goal." He just won a few playoff games, lost a few. Didn't reach the end goal. Should they have tossed him? Were they worse off competing in the postseason with Flacco than the Bills were with Trent under center? I'm sorry, but I see your argument as a contrived way to be able to say, "I'm happy with an incompetent QB and/or not making the postseason because, in some convoluted way, we have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl."

Incognito has had two unnecessary roughness penalties since 2010. Who is the one condemning someone for the rest of his life? And no, a mistake is not a mistake. A fender bender and a DUI are not equal.

How can you say that? He just had his third year, and it was a good one. It's not like he's 29. He could go out next season and throw 40 TD's. I wouldn't be surprised. What are you searching for with a stopgap like Orton? In reality, your odds of getting an average QB are the highest over a franchise guy or a HoFer. I'd like to see the numbers on how successful constantly "searching" is. Would you rather be the Bengals or the Raiders? Build a D around them and make a run. Tanny on the Bills last season and we make it to at least the first round of the playoffs.

It's probably because a hit and run is different from name-calling.

Seattle's O-line is not good.

I have friends who have said things comparable to what RI said. I don't consider it bullying, just locker room culture.

And one game going the other way makes us even. Either way, it's far from "domination," especially considering the Dolphins' issues.

How? 2012 - 1-1 2013 - 2-0 2014 - 1-1 If the Fins win one more, the Bills have to have lost one more. Two game swing, but one game going the other way makes us even.

Tilted, yeah. By one game.

Wide margin? We won one of those on a last second strip sack. Don't have the expectations you do for our "new offense." Some of those responsible are still on this team.

We split with them.

I would bet that most, if not all, locker rooms are very similar. You take a bunch of guys who never really had to grow up, they're gonna make fun of each other and question each other's manhood.

I get that's your point. That's just that market forces at work. A QB's price is what some team is willing to pay. Cutler got the same thing. So did Kaep and Dalton. Be adequate and you're worth your weight in gold. Tanny is good though. I like him as a QB.

He's already had a better year than Alex Smith has ever had. And he's a third year player. What makes you think his ceiling is a lesser QB?

That's the best way to keep folks in the dark and make money off of vaccines. Intern them.

You posted a "fear rant" about "fear ranting." The same doctor screaming about faulty research is using anecdotal, "look at the patients I've seen this one time," to support her claims. I sincerely hope it comes out that this letter was a Jimmy Kimmel prank. That'd be almost poetic.

He was taken at #10, that's why.

He's very talented at polarizing.