PolishDave

I agree with your opinion. And another thing, there are people running around this board saying what a beautiful deep ball EJ Manuel throws, which I personally think is humorous. If you are going to base your assessment of the quarterbacks based on deep ball throws then Jeff Tuel should be your number one guy followed by Thad Lewis with EJ being the worst of the three. Checkout the longest pass stat here - http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/longPassing/qualified/false Jeff Tuel has the longest completion for a Buffalo QB this year at 59 yards. Thad Lewis has the second longest completion at 57. EJ Manuel comes in last place at a whopping 45 yarder. And look at how many attempts each QB has had. Those rankings should be reversed if EJ had a good deep ball and was a legitimate deep threat. Now I am not a huge stat guy because I know that stats can easily be twisted to prove a point. But based on live game performance - Jeff Tuel wins the best deep ball argument. Do I think Jeff Tuel should be the starting quarterback of the Buffalo Bills at this point in time? Hell no. I am just saying I believe Jeff Tuel got more criticism than he deserved just because he was undrafted. But hey Jack, that is how fans treat players. Fans are enamored with high draft picks because some NFL GM decided to take that player earlier than someone else even though draft picks are proven wrong time and time and time again year after year after year. It is really funny how much faith fans put into something so inaccurate.

C'mon man.... Is urine really that pleasing?...lol So you are admitting you are a slave to viewpoint of the one single person in each draft that is most optimistic about each player. Wow. That is a hell of an admission. Think about that. All a player's draft position is reflective of is the one person's opinion who was most optimistic about that player. Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking you for it. A lot of people won't admit they are biased. I am just surprised you openly admit it. I have a feeling that most people won't especially the ones that normally base their arguments on draft position of players. (Which by the way seems to happen a lot on this forum)

It's not a preseason game. Play your best guys and get everything you can out of them. This is the team to beat in the AFC East. Go beat them. Any given Sunday.

This question goes for those of you who like him and those of you who don’t like him as the Bills’ starting quarterback. What if EJ had been taken by the Bills in the second round instead of the first? What if he had gone in the third or later? I think most people’s opinions are highly tainted because he was a first round pick, just as their opinions are tainted about Jeff Tuel being an UDFA and Thad Lewis being a practice squad guy. Thad Lewis and Jeff Tuel lose respect because they were essentially NFL throwaways just about. When I read opinions of what other people are saying about all 3 of these quarterbacks, I can’t help but notice their bias because of the “perceptions” created by a player’s draft placement. Human nature is a funny thing. Humans are emotional animals more so than they are logical decision makers. Personally I think you should disregard where he was drafted and look at his play more objectively. Then decide whether he is good enough for you or not based on that. Same goes for Thad and Tuel. What do you think? How much different would you feel about EJ if he was a later round pick? How much different would people here look at him if he had a different draft round associated with him?

The whole signing of Kolb was a joke because Kolb wasn't even as good as Fitzpatrick who we all know wasn't taking the Bills to a Superbowl. Fitzpatrick walks and the Bills replace him with a less talented, highly injury prone quarterback (Kolb) claiming that it is an open competition. Signing Kolb was the same as signing a back up quarterback and calling it an open competition for starting. There is no way anyone in that front office believed Kolb was good enough to take the Bills to the playoffs. They aren't that stupid. Kolb was a proven bad commodity. He sucked beyond imagination the year before when he played for the Cardinals. I am sure they did intend to have Kolb start fully well expecting him to fail 1/2 way or 3/4 of the way through the season. Then they could sprinkle in EJ maybe very late in the season. Then next year would be his "rookie" year. Instead, look where we are at. Major FUBAR by front office in my opinion coming into this season with Kolb as the "supposed" starter.

That is why you have a legit veteran on your team to start until you have a better guy to replace him with. You don't start a "project" qb in his first year unless he is obviously outplaying your starter. If you draft a Peyton Manning that most football experts agree is going to be a franchise qb right away, then you start him sooner. If you start a "project" guy too early, you wreck him.

It is only foolish if you don't mind throwing away 2 or 3 seasons only to determine that he isn't a franchise caliber player. That is where I differ with a lot of the "let's keep playing EJ no matter how good or bad he looks guys" on this board. I am not willing to throw away more than one season questioning whether he might or might not be the guy. He should be on the bench until he can be expected to play at NFL starter level. I don't think he is NFL starter level yet. Other people here obviously do think he is. I would rather have him learning behind a legit starter for a year or two or three so that most of his "faults" are corrected before he is the starter. I don't think NFL fans "especially the sick of losing fans here in Buffalo" are willing to let EJ start for 3 or 4 years playing like he is playing. They will run him out of here long before that along with the coach who tries to do that. So who does that benefit? The staff? No The players? No The fans? no The organization? No. It just continues the revolving door of coaching/gm staffs that have come and gone over the years as fans are an angry mob sick of supporting a losing team year after year.

This game is meaningless to the Bills record this season; true. However, in the larger picture sense, in determining whether EJ is going to be good enough to be a franchise QB, this game is very, very important, arguably the most important game yet. It is entirely possible, and somewhat likely based on what I have seen coming out of the coaching staff, that they already have their mind made up about EJ. Meaning EJ is intended to be the starter next year and that they don't intend to do anything to question that at all meaning they don't draft a qb and they don't bring in a meaningful veteran competition. That might be the case. And if that is the case, then I suspect that Marrone is thinking "Oh ****! If EJ plays against the Pats and looks horrible (which is a real possibility if he had played) then the Bills will create additional negative animosity in the fan base." And he would rather save whatever hope there still is for EJ until next year where he will either live or die as a coach according to how well EJ plays. Just like how Chan lived and died with Fitzpatrick.

If that was the case then I don't think Marrone would have gone out of his way to talk (in his comments about EJ missing this game) about how good it is going to be to have their quarterback get this offseason to rest, get healthy and to come back next year. We shall see.

Could be true. I don't know and I certainly am not going to waste time looking it up across the NFL. But didn't Wade Philips get the HC job for the Bills after being a defensive coordinator here?

I like this one......good hot seat question...... Can you imagine? um....oh....uh.....um....we have got to coach better.....he would be sweating bullets if asked that question....and the reporter would not be very well liked thereafter...

I'm going out on a limb and saying the Bills sack Brady 3 times in the first half, one of which looks bad, so Belichick pulls Brady for second half. Bills win 20-17 with Thad Lewis setting a new rushing record for Bills quarterbacks in games against the Patriots. Wait...scratch that....who am I kidding......Patriots win on last drive due to a questionable pass interference call in the endzone placing the ball at the one for the go ahead touchdown....... Yep that is more like it.

Come on Thad! Win us this game and you will be the Hero of the town for the next six months!

He would be a substantial upgrade at QB from what we have now which does make this team better. EJ could probably learn a lot from him too. But, I doubt the Bills will pay the price he would command. And I am not sure he would be worth that much either. And his style of QB is different than what Hackett wants to run. So the Bills would probably need to do some redesign there too. For those reasons, I doubt he ever gets serious consideration here even if he does hit the market. But yes, he would be a big upgrade over what we have now. And yes the Bills would be much more likely to make a playoff run in my opinion.

Questions: "Coach, if you could wind back the clock and do it all over again, do you still want your team to take EJ Manuel in the first round last year?" His obvious answer - "Yes, I think it was the right move at the time." His truthful underlying thoughts -"No. I should have followed my instincts that told me this was too big of a project (too risky) for this team at this point in time."

I assumed part of his decision to come to Buffalo was based on the chance that Marrone doesn't work out as a head coach on this team. And if that ends up being the case, then he would be first in line for the job as he is both competent and well respected by the fans. If the Bills don't make the playoffs in the next 2 years and the defense is still as impressive as it was this year, then you can bet he will get his shot right here.

If Fitz had stayed on this team, he would have won the starting job easily because even with his interception stats and accuracy issues, he is still head and shoulders above the current Qb talent on the roster. And with Fitz's intelligence he would have made an excellent mentor for EJ. And Fitz is tough as nails durable. Then maybe in a couple years EJ would have began outplaying Fitz in practice and could have become the starter. Instead, EJ gets thrown to the wolves as a raw rookie and runs a real risk of getting booed out of Ralph Wilson Stadium next year if he strings a couple "Tampa Bay" like games together. The Bills ultimately screwed up when they signed Fitz to that huge contract and overpaid him. Then they screwed up again when they brought in Kolb as a supposed replacement for Fitz. Anyone who followed Kolb at all knew that signing was a mistake and a joke. Kolb is as brittle as QB's come and played like absolute crap in Arizona before coming here. There is no way EJ should have been put in a situation where he would be starting any games this year. He had to start because the other QB talent on this team was even worse. The front office screwed that up big time.

When the starters are all healthy, there is no doubt that this defense is exceptionally good. I feel this defense is strong enough right now to take a team to a championship. Unfortunately, you also need good play from the offense and special teams too. I hope this defense gets even better next year, but there are so many variables to deal with year to year, especially injuries, that you never know. I hope like hell that they find a way to upgrade this offense (two steps forward) going into next season. Then we will have a truly enjoyable season with an exciting playoff game or two or?

@dave mcbride I agree with your assessment of Thad Lewis. I thought he played an incredible game with one major exception - accuracy. If he was an accurate thrower, those field goals would have been touchdowns. The fins would have been even more embarrassed than they already were. One thing that got overlooked in that game were his audibles. I recall a couple of audibles where the play that Thad checked to ended up going for first downs. That really impressed me. That tells me that he knows how this offense is supposed to work and he is able to read the defense accurately. Both huge assets for a QB. If only he was more accurate. Accuracy aside, he has shown other faults in other games with the fumbles. I doubt he will ever be a superstar. But yes, he feels like a solid Alex Van Pelt to me. Its hard not to cheer for a guy who is obviously giving you everything he has got. Glad to have him on the team. But we need better starting QB play than that if you expect the Bills to be a contender.

Awww man dude.....and here I thought you painstakingly went and dug each of those games out and spent like an hour and a half of your precious time digging up good info just for the sake of your fell Bills fans here on this board.....lol...let down....

Thanks for that in depth research Yolo...but you just gut punched the hope I had for our defense right out of my stomach. Anyone care to muster up any good reasons to be confident? I'm at a loss. We played them close in the first game but that was in our house.....

I think I remember that game. I believe it was in Orchard Park. If that is the game I am thinking of, it was raining friggin sideways with horrendous winds. It was freezing rain too. It might not have been the coldest weather for a game, but coupled with the freezing rain, I think that was the coldest I ever got watching a game. We were holding up blankets to block the wind and rain leaving just enough room to peek over the blanket with our eyes. I think we spent a part of that game standing in the tunnels trying to avoid the weather while still trying to catch a glimpse of the action. Can't believe I stayed till the end for that one. Or maybe I am thinking about the wrong game?

Dad.. Whaddaya say you dig us out a couple of those little whiskey jiggers you taped to my leg before we came in here? Its kinda nice to be able to throw one back with ya without mom being here to nag us about drinkin too much.

I guess you must not have yet lost a parent you were close with. Anyone who has lost a parent they were close with would never post such a thing. It is one of the most terrible things that will happen to you as a person in your entire life and it is a life changing event for the person who lost their parent. No Bills' official or Bills' coach is ever going to try to make a player play a week after losing a parent. If they ever tried they should be fired even if the upcoming game is the friggin Superbowl. Your assumption that this might reveal something about the Bills' opinion of Johnson is 100% wrong in my opinion.

Nope. Not the guys I was talking about. Yeah I know what you mean. The first time you sit in the club level seats you are like "woe...these fans never stand up and get rowdy" Club seats are generally for the more subdued fan who wants to just sit and watch the game. Lower bowl, especially close to the field and near the endzones is for people who want to stand the whole game and scream their heads off. The rest of the seats are for fans somewhere in between those two extremes. A lot of people around us get grumpy when other fans stand and cheer all the time. Personally I am totally fine with fans who stand and go ape nuts. I figure if you want to just sit the whole game you should sit up a little higher, move to a more mellow part of the stadium or stay home in a comfy recliner. I follow the "guy in front of me" and "third down" rule. If the guy in front of me is standing, I am going to stand too. And if it is 3rd down and the other team has the ball, then standing, hollering and other ape like actions are permitted anywhere in the stands.