Webster Guy

After that perfect ball to Goodwin (great job looking off the safety), i was lighting one of those myself.

EJ didn't have two full training camps he was out for the 2nd half of camp last year.

Who would have thought that Mario Williams would be the weakest player in our front 4. Stafford had no time back there today. They rattled him enough to force some bad throws and it meant the difference in the game. Charles is a player too, and even though he was quiet, Wynn can play ball too. Hughes just somehow keeps getting better, I'm still in shock that he wasn't good enough to keep for Indy. What the hell were they thinking?

It was a HUGE play, gave them the first down and cost us a lot of time. I have never seen a professional football player do something like that. I could possibly understand a rookie making that mistake, who is used to the college rule of being down automatically when you hit the ground. For a veteran pro NFL linebacker to sit there and do nothing was unbelievable. Apparently some earlier posts seem to think that didn't change the game at all because we got the ball back anyway which is a ridiculous assumption. We could have used the run more or some middle of the field routes with more time on the clock.

I know this much about the guy, he throws to the middle of the field well which EJ just hasn't been able to do. He has over 15,000 NFL passing yards, over 80 TD's and a career qb rating of 80. He can play in nasty weather too. We will be better off with him in there for the short term. Missing all of training camp does not help this situation, that's probably the biggest thing he's up against right now as it will limit the playbook considerably on sunday.

It's the fact that he's such a great kid that pushed him up to an artificially high draft pick. The guy has everything except for the ONE thing he can't ever attain no matter how hard he works: being a natural passer with acceptable NFL level accuracy. When your coaches take away scrambling ability from a guy that is good at it and has used it his whole life, it really spotlights your passing weaknesses/strengths, in the same way switching QB's will expose Hackett.

last game Orton played he was a little rusty but threw for 350, 2 td's 2 picks. he has a nice 20 yard touch, and is known for being good at the short stuff. i havent seen many long balls from the guy.

The good news about all of this is that we'll actually know at some point this season whether or not the decision to change qb's is a good move or not. So many things discussed here are tough or impossible to quantify, but this one we'll see who is right and who isn't. The upside for the Orton decision is if he plays well then our team gets better. That's the ONLY goal, to get better as a team and win enough games to get in the playoffs. If Orton doesn't play better than EJ, then it will give Manuel confidence that he was on the right track and not a bust, and it will also help us to evaluate what else we have wrong on the offense. Maybe Hackett IS a good OC but his qb isn't talented enough to make it in the NFL (I have my doubts there, but hey this is what a qb change uncovers). I see this as a win win scenario. Orton has been streaky throughout his career but he's played some awesome football at times, so hopefully he shakes off the rust and grooves that offense for us.

agreed. Whaley is the bright spot here. Marrone might have made it as a HC if he hadn't brought in an OC with zero NFL experience. on the road, playing a weak run defense, inaccurate qb, horrible pass protection with 2 rooks in a loud environment and 2 stud runners in our backfield, our boy Hackett calls 44 pass plays. Freddy only gets SEVEN rushes all game. Joke.

EJ's college scouting report paraphrased: Weaknesses: Not a natural passer Decision-making Field vision Struggles to work through progressions Runs too quickly Spotty accuracy Can panic at times Didn't play as well against good defenses Hmmmmm The biggest thing with EJ is he's such a nice hardworking kid and has EVERY intangible in the book. Unfortunately, his weaknesses will preclude him from making it in the NFL. He can still be a backup and roam the league, make a few mil$ a year and have a 10 year NFL career.

Any decent coach would have pulled EJ in the middle of the 3rd quarter for at least a series or two. We needed a change but everybody is so freaked out about EJ's psyche they're afraid to make an obvious and much needed qb change. If Orton moves the ball well it helps the team. THE TEAM. If Orton can't provide a spark it lets EJ know it's not all his fault (which may give him more confidence), and reminds him that nobody's job is safe on our squad.

Yeah that was baffling to me. Sloppy coaching. Time outs can win you a ball game in certain situations. We burn them far too often. Giving FJ only 7 carries all day against a weak run team like the Texans is a freakin joke. SEVEN rushes. He should have had that many in the 1st quarter. I never pile on the OC after a bad game because it's too easy to do, and not always fair, but our offensive gameplan was weak.

When he came back last year for us, he didn't make much of a difference if any. Take away his INT's rookie year and look at his body of work since then. I give front office credit for refusing to overpay for the guy. Wish they had overpaid for Levitre, but that's another story.

My brothers and I used to call him the sheepdog because on screen plays he would sort of herd everyone together and then slide in for the tackle. I wouldnt say he was the best cover guy we've ever had but as far as tackling there was never anybody better. what a joy to watch him wrap up and drop nfl runners like it was easy. glad to hear he was nice to a fellow Bills fan. not surprised.

CJ had one of the highest ypc averages in nfl history 2 years ago. He and AP stood alone that season. and Chan WAS really good at getting Spiller in space. its not even up for debate, the bills screen plays were deadly under Chan. every game its all the announcers and opponents talked about.

We tried hard in FA and the draft to improve our Oline. Its tough to judge a qb or running back behind a weak line. The best way to assess EJ is to give him another half dozen games, and if the film shows a lack of reasonable progress you put in Orton for a few starts and see how a proven average NFL guy runs the offense. If he doesn't elevate the team you go back to EJ who at least has upside potential. As far as Geno Smith being a better quarterback I disagree. He lost the game for the Jets on some horrible throws monday night, as he's done many times for them. The one thing Geno has going for him is that Rex Ryan lets him play full throttle. He runs and takes hits, gets in the flow of the college type game where he thrived. Our coaches don't let EJ do anything like that because they're so paranoid about another injury. The quarterback scramble for a first down is a staple of most teams that move the ball. Peyton and Brady don't do it, but Rodgers, Brees, Cutler, Rivers, wilson, Kap, Cam-- all of those guys keep their offense of drives alive with their legs when necessary. we've taken that away from our quarterback but he's not good enough yet for that kind of restriction. I think he's being over coached.

Gotta have an answer to the Chargers gameplan against us. If I am houston I do the exact same thing. Bills O line cant handle stunts. At all. Haven't played together as a unit very much, in fact not at all until the first game. Texans will test how well we've shored that up. If not, we lose. Bills D is built to stop the run. Preston Brown and Spikes are slow. When both are on the field, Texans will exploit with play action like Rivers did. Can create mismatches quickly with those two on the field. Fitz will throw 40 balls. Never thought I would say this but Searcy being healthy and in the game would help. Duke had a rough outing last week out there. This week we see how good our coaching really is. Schwartz earns his money this week. If I'm Marrone I don't spend one minute with the defense. Every day all day I work with the Oline and the receivers to recognize stunts and blitzes and how to contain Watt. And for god's sake let EJ throw some freaking long balls Hackett you old lady.

so whats your solution at RB? sounds like spiller is no good, freddy's 33, we're we are mediocre at best at run blocking. who's the savior

amen. i can understand how he's gun shy when he scrambles, two injuries last year and the coaches drilling him on not taking the hits. but you're right on about slinging the ball. the kid needs to zip that thing like he means it and stop with these floaters. i understand on the fade patterns and long balls where you want the soft trajectory, but the intermediate stuff has to be zipped low and accurate, stepping into the throw like Jimbo was saying in the booth w tasker on sunday.

Top 10 playoff teams last year had the following qb's: P. Manning Brady Kapernick Wilson Brees Rodgers Luck Foles (119 passer rating last year) Cam Rivers So the league is all about coaching? I'll bet you my Barry Switzer Superbowl Ring Replica that it has WAY more to do with the QB than coaching.

Yeah like on the Seymour trade, letting milloy and welker leave in their prime. No Talib is hurting them this year too. But hey at least he's used the draft to give his HOF qb some solid receivers to throw to these past few years. He's a regular personnel genius.

we have to assume marrone likes Pears better than urbik at RG, which tells us how well urbik must be playing. i agree with beginning to rotate the rookie in asap. maybe just start with short yardage running plays or simple stuff but lets get that boy out there we really need guard help!

to me it doesn't matter if it was provoked or not. his lack of control shows immaturity and the opposite of what a team player is about. of course NFL linemen are going to provoke you and push the limits of what is legal, but every other guy on the field yesterday had the restraint and professionalism to hold back from retailiating except one. very uncool. marrone and schwartz need to get this guy under control before he hurts the team again.

I disagree. Last year we had very few series where we only rushed 4 despite down and distance, our corners played up more and tons more nickel it seems, and the biggest change is we don't have any 2 gap nose tackle in there which let Kiko to roam free. This is a single gap defense and Schwartz 'Wide 9' is totally different for coverage, which was killing us today. Pettine used to play Lawson off the ball quite a bit, especially in nickel and dime sets, and he played the second coverage LB next to Kiko. Manny is fast and long and did very well dropping and running. We are built to stop the run this year, but in the process we've slowed down a bit. I thought it was a drastic and noticeable difference from last year.