Mr_Blizzard Posted September 21, 2013 Posted September 21, 2013 Defense is looking better, at least QB pressure. We still need to improve run defense.
starrymessenger Posted September 22, 2013 Posted September 22, 2013 However EJ was holding the ball way too low, a bad habit that he's had since college. Had he been holding the ball properly it's quite possible that he wouldn't have had it stripped. Good point. Was my thought as well.
Bufcomments Posted September 22, 2013 Posted September 22, 2013 is that he is demonstrating special ability (compared to other young QBs I have seen over the years or even so far by Geno Smith so far this year) to recognize defenses and how plays are developing. An interesting raw # to me is that Manuel has only suffered 1 sack in two games so far while QBs like Smith have suffered far more. Perhaps this is because the Bills OL is that much better than the Jets or others (the fact we have done pretty well rushing the ball points toward the blocking being generally solid). However, my sense is that while our young OB has been adequate or better, another factor in the low sack # is that Manuel is doing a substantively good job at recognizing where the D is rushing from, analyzing the match-up between the opponents' rushers and the Bills assigned to protect and shown fairly good pocket sense (one of the bad fumbles against the Panthers though was on Manuel for failing too sense the passrush was not gonna sack him but was close enough he needed to protect the ball better and he did not. This mistake however strikes me as the exception to him looking good at directing the offense. Another good sign I have seen has been a few almost ridiculously easy TDs. The final throw to SJ for a TD last week came after a blown coverage by the Panthers and the usually great route running by SJ left him virtually alone in the endzone. In the first game Mauel lofted an easy strike to Woods for a TD. Yep, the Bills made it look easy (for example compared to a great loft of a throw for a TD to SJ last week which showed extraordinart\y timing between these two players and great touch in making the throw. Yet, it is just these types of "easy" throws that Bills QBs of the recent past (post Jimbo) the team often seemed to blow with lousy play calls, lousy QB throws, poor fight for catches et al. Manuel has a long way to go before anyone credibly dubs him good to go (or even a consistent winner as one win does not even adequacy make). However, one does not have to look very far to be very impressed with Manuel after two games and a mere one win (in fact I much prefer and give credit to posters who overclaim greatness from this rookie over the poor analysis shown so far by some on the board who sre not impressed by Manuel so far. He is no where near great yet and arguably not even considered adequate at QB until he actually accomplishes something like leading the team to the playoffs, however, so far so good and in the real world his play so far has been very impressive admitted warts and all! I agree with everything you said. What impresses me most about E.J. you can tell he is WAY more mature than his age. It shows up in the big moments. Like in the 2 minute drive at Indy in the preseason at the end of the first half. I said to myself, we FINALLY got a QB. I think Doug Whaley said this stage doesn't seen to big for him. It sure seems that way so far. If he stays healthy this year there is a strong chance he maybe Rookie of the Year. Just wait until he learns how to throw deep at the Ralph, it think the winds have been effecting his long ball but that is certainly fixable. The biggest things he has going for him to me is both C.J and Freddie. not only in the run game but the pass game as well. They can both catch very well and can make people miss to get first downs. EJ has some serious talent around him. All he has to do is spread the ball around to everybody and move those chains. This team might not have anybody that's gonna have huge stats. But they are talented enough on offense to make teams nervous about playing the Bills because you cannot focus on taking one guy out. If they can be better against the run on D they are going to be in most if not all games this year. and if E.J. can continue to pull them out like last week... we maybe on to a season that surprises everybody.
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