A Few Thoughts About The Game, in no particular order.....

[Fingon]

I'm very excited to see the defense next season. If Marcell has a good game next week, we could have four guys with at least 10 sacks. Also, I'm not surprised Kyle Williams is playing so well his surgery takes at least a year and a half before you are up to speed, and he's getting closer to that date.

 

I don't think anyone has mentioned Nigel Bradham yet, he (like a lot of Bills) played very well yesterday. The announcers were saying Brad-Ham every time he made a play.

[JohnnyBuffalo]

I haven't read all the posts so if this was mentioned already I apologize....to all those folks on another thread asked for Fred Jackson to be replaced at the end of this season....have your mental faculties checked by a professional. Fred is a stud and always seems to fall forward. I don't know how he does it.

[CodeMonkey]

Why that game was so important for me was after that game you knew the Bills were headed in the right direction, along with finally having the right people running the team. The Bills could finish this season 7-9 just like they did in 87, and we all know what happened after that for the next 6 years.

I think we are all very ready for a repeat of that!

[Hazed and Amuzed]

1) Once again, the Bills need to call the agent of Alan Branch and lock him up to a contract TONIGHT. Did anyone else notice that on the first series, Branch was on the field and Dareus was on the sidelines? I was afraid that MD was hurt. Branch kicked ass yet again.

 

 

Wish granted. Good call.

[JoeF]

Wish granted. Good call.

 

If we start drafting all OL we will know that Doug Whaley is truly a robot being controlled by Bill. Nice call Bill.

[BADOLBILZ]

1) Once again, the Bills need to call the agent of Alan Branch and lock him up to a contract TONIGHT. Did anyone else notice that on the first series, Branch was on the field and Dareus was on the sidelines? I was afraid that MD was hurt. Branch kicked ass yet again.

 

2) Gilmore was OK today. He dropped a sure, easy pick and gave up a long pass, but his coverage was good. No complaints here.

 

3) Kiko is amazing. Seriously, I don't know how he does it. He plays like a seasoned veteran, and there is NO quit in this kid. And btw, he looks like a skinny twig. I repeat, I don't know how he does it.

 

4) Robey was an out and out monster today! Seriously, how much better could a corner play? What a totally amazing pickup he was!!! A player in his situation might be easy to retain, especially when the cap space is there.

 

5) Hate me, call me a crusader, block me.....it's all cool. But CJ Spiller proved at the end of the first half that he is, and never will be anything more than a situational player. His run out of bounds at the end of the half was one of the dumbest displays I have ever seen. Plays such as this can easily lead to a loss. Imagine if we lost a playoff game due to something this unthinkable? And btw I blame Marrone too for even having him in there in that situation. Would Fred Jackson do something THAT stupid?

 

6) Mario Williams really hurts opposing offenses. Tannehill had nowhere to go on the first sack of the game. If he didn't step into Kyle Williams, Mario was going to crush him. My man MW earns every last penny of his contract!

 

7) One long party from front to end,

Tune to the whistle coming round the bend.

No big hurry; what do you say?

Might as well travel the elegant way.

 

8) OK.....here it goes: At this point, and I am only talking about RIGHT NOW, I am more comfortable with Lewis at qb than I am with Manuel. He did make mistakes and yes, he was aided by one of the best defensive performances I have ever seen by the Bills. I will even go a step further and praise the play calling, but he looks more poised than EJ. And he is a better runner, if for no other reason he takes off earlier and gets a much quicker start. This board is going to ROCK in the offseason. Btw, his best pass imo was the one to Lee Smith. Could Manuel do this? I hope the answer is yes.

 

9) Once again, I am going to praise Searcy. I SO much appreciate his effort. He has made many key and clutch plays this season. I would take him on my roster any freaking day!!!!!

 

10) This game proved what many of us already knew.....there is a TON of talent on this roster. When the qb and yes coaching issues are settled, this football team has more than enough talent to make and advance in the playoffs. Yes, I said this and I mean it.

 

11) Kyle Williams was sick today. The way he was using his hands was incredible. Seriously, he was just out of control on virtually every play.

 

12) Gotta give kudos to Leonhard as well. The Bills pitched a shutout sans Aaron Williams, who has been a key defender this season and didn't miss a beat.

 

13) I respect the "lose out for the draft choice" sentiment. I do, and I admit that I have felt this way in some seasons. That said, this was a statement game, at home. Trade up or trade down. Or stay put and draft right. But again, this was a statement game, one which I would NOT trade for a few slots.

 

14) My man Woods should not have lost his cool, but he sure can play football.

 

15) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

16) Once again: GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Can't disagree with anything on there.

 

Basicallly the Bills dominanted the LOS on both sides of the ball.

 

The Bills defense was great, but the Dolphins should have moved the ball quite a bit more. They dropped a lot of passes. The two teams were more evenly matched than the score indicated.........which is still saying something for the Bills because they are still playing with one hand tied behind their back at the QB position. Tannehill had a very bad day statistically yesterday, but he has had some huge ones too. I don't think he will become elite.......he reminds me a lot of a quicker footed and slightly less strong armed Drew Bledsoe.....and Drew always seemed a notch below competitive enough. You could rough him up and send him into a tailspin. I see Tannehill similarly, but all things considered, he passes the eye test of being worthwhile to invest time in. EJ and Thad......not so much.

 

As for the overall talent on the roster.......they defenitely have one of the better starting 21's in the AFC.

 

But parity changes that in short order.

 

For that reason you can't sustain a winning organtization without an exceptional NFL QB at the helm. If for no other reason......that is why you keep trying to find an eilte QB prospect to take over your team rather than settle on one who at best looks like a potential game manager.

 

Frankly, if I am a Pats/Fish/Jets fan I am not concerned in the least about having to play EJ twice per year for the next few years. Losing every year may help you temporarily build a superior roster......and that may result in short term losses to a talented roster like the Bills currently have.......but on the whole I LIKE having a rival who has a Chad Pennington, Jay Fielder, or Mark Sanchez entrenched as their franchise QB. You always have a chance against those guys. The top QB's in the league have the opposite effect........you can have the better 46 on most days and still lose regularly to those guys.

[Fan in Chicago]

1) Once again, the Bills need to call the agent of Alan Branch and lock him up to a contract TONIGHT. Did anyone else notice that on the first series, Branch was on the field and Dareus was on the sidelines? I was afraid that MD was hurt. Branch kicked ass yet again.

 

 

Terrific.

[Rockinon]

After watching this game, I may have to reassess my opinion that the OL is a wreck. They did pretty good this game...at least in the run game. Thad still took some pretty brutal hits even though he was only sacked once. Still, that is a huge improvement. Has me scratching my head because I haven't seen the pass protection and run blocking all year. Maybe the OL figured something out? Maybe the OL needed someone to point the finger at them and now they are playing lights out? Urbik seems to have taken it to heart having a practice squad guy come in and take reps away from him? Hard to figure out.

 

How does this OL look so good against Miami but just horrible against the likes of Tampa and Atlanta? Weird. Maybe they are just now getting it.

[IDBillzFan]

Good point, I watched on the game on Sunday ticket and never remember Wake even talked about.

 

Not once that I can remember as well, and Wake has been mostly responsible for the Fish's late wins.

 

As a side note, I've noticed a couple of people referring to yesterday being the best Bills defensive effort. While it was one of the best I've seen in a long time, do not forget the game vs. Cleveland where the Bills held them to something like 17 yards. (Note: Game was in 2005, Luke McCown was Cleveland's QB. Defense included Sam Adams, Pat Williams, Schobel, Kelsay, Fletcher, Spikes...)

[dave mcbride]

Not once that I can remember as well, and Wake has been mostly responsible for the Fish's late wins.

 

As a side note, I've noticed a couple of people referring to yesterday being the best Bills defensive effort. While it was one of the best I've seen in a long time, do not forget the game vs. Cleveland where the Bills held them to something like 17 yards. (Note: Game was in 2005, Luke McCown was Cleveland's QB. Defense included Sam Adams, Pat Williams, Schobel, Kelsay, Fletcher, Spikes...)

The Browns had -3 passing yards in that game:

 

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200412120buf.htm

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

1) Once again, the Bills need to call the agent of Alan Branch and lock him up to a contract TONIGHT. Did anyone else notice that on the first series, Branch was on the field and Dareus was on the sidelines? I was afraid that MD was hurt. Branch kicked ass yet again.

 

Is this morning good enough for you?

[Realist]

With regards to the post about Thad/EJ. I think I must have seen a different game because I thought Thad looked mediocre. He managed the game well and let FJ/CJ do all the work. He had some absolutely horrible throws that had me scratching my head. Sure, he connected on a nice throw to Woods and a nice throw to Smith. That was it. He left a lot of plays on the field and this isn't anything different from when he was previously playing this season.

 

If EJ had put played the same type of game, people would be beating the drum that he sucks, etc. Not that this is any different from the Kelly/Reich era when certain fans wanted Reich out there instead of Kelly. Oh well.

 

Very well said. This is exactly what I saw. I was generally unimpressed with Lewis as I have been in all his games. He'll make a fine backup, but I would never want him as a starting QB. Right now there is a lot more upside in EJ, I've seen some really good things out of EJ this year and, yes, a couple of absolutely horrible games, but as a rookie project, and that was what he was drafted for, a project, he's doing pretty well. If you replace Thad with EJ in that game playing exactly the same way, EJ gets crucified on this board.

[FireChan]

Very well said. This is exactly what I saw. I was generally unimpressed with Lewis as I have been in all his games. He'll make a fine backup, but I would never want him as a starting QB. Right now there is a lot more upside in EJ, I've seen some really good things out of EJ this year and, yes, a couple of absolutely horrible games, but as a rookie project, and that was what he was drafted for, a project, he's doing pretty well. If you replace Thad with EJ in that game playing exactly the same way, EJ gets crucified on this board.

 

Why is there more upside to EJ? Because of his height and draft position?

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

 

 

Why is there more upside to EJ? Because of his height and draft position?

No, because he played at a far higher level in the 2nd Jets game than Thad has done.

[1billsfan]

Why is there more upside to EJ? Because of his height and draft position?

 

Lewis is a 26 year old, three year veteran who had no pressure to perform in any of his starts since no one thought he was any good to begin with.

 

Manuel is a 23 year old rookie who actually had real pressure to perform as the Bills' 1st round franchise QB in waiting. He produced an average season for a rookie starting QB while still showing upside with his performances against the Falcons, Jets and Panthers.

 

As long as he stays healthy, it's logical to think that Manuel at 26 will be a QB who's several levels better than what Lewis is today.

Edited December 23, 2013 by 1billsfan

[FireChan]

Lewis is a 26 year old, three year veteran who had no pressure to perform in any of his starts since no one thought he was any good to begin with.

 

Manuel is a 23 year old rookie who actually had real pressure to perform as the Bills' 1st round franchise QB in waiting. He produced an average season for a rookie starting QB while still showing upside with his performances against the Falcons, Jets and Panthers.

 

As long as he stays healthy, it's logical to think that Manuel at 26 will be a QB who's several levels better than what Lewis is today.

 

No pressure except trying to be a good QB and keep his job? Seriously?

[Alaska Darin]

No pressure except trying to be a good QB and keep his job? Seriously?

Right?

[fansince88]

Thad played a good game against a team he had seen before, but he also showed why he is not the answer at QB. EJ might be, but he might not. We'll know next season.

So tell us what did he show.... I was getting excited that you would reveal what he showed to make us all realize he is not the answer at QB.

[1billsfan]

No pressure except trying to be a good QB and keep his job? Seriously?

 

Yes, seriously. The difference between being a starting NFL QB who's being counted on to perform well enough to get his team into the playoffs and that of a 3 year journeyman QB who's coming off the bench with literally no expectations of playing well from fans is an enormous difference.

 

I like Thad and I think he'll be a very good backup to EJ, but Thad's pressure of earning a backup job on an NFL team is no where near the heightened amount of pressure on EJ Manuel.

 

Even if Thad has to start this next game it's all gravy for him. If Lewis plays bad then it's completely ok because he's Thad Lewis "backup QB" playing on the road against Tom Brady and the Pats. However, if EJ Manuel starts and plays bad he's not going to get any slack at all because that's how it works in the NFL. Having pointed this difference out, Manuel will either deal with the pressure well or he won't and he'll be gone in a couple of years like former FSU QB Christian Ponder.

Edited December 23, 2013 by 1billsfan

[Rockinon]

And if Thad plays next week and the Bills crush NE? Then what?