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

[Thunderstealer]

With Rodriguez and Easley in the game early, it appeared like the tank was on for a higher draft pick. The Dareus suspension plays to this theory as well.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Thunderstealer

[BADOLBILZ]

Is he 110% sure of that?

 

 

Sums it up.

[Dan]

The fact that there's even discussion about who's better.. the first round, "franchise" pick or the the undrafted, practice squad QB.. says all you need to know about this Bills' team. And it's why the season ended, for me, with no optimism for the future.

 

Coming into the season, I didn't expect much. With an all roookie coaching staff, rookie QB, and young players everywhere a winning record was a pipe dream. But what I did hope for was improvement throughout the course of the season. What I saw... a team that ended the year with no improvement at all from the team that was fielded in September. In fact, you could argue we saw regression in several areas; hence, we're debating the abilities of Thad.

 

In the end, this team, the players, the coaches, everthing looks like the same old Bills.

 

Now, we get the off season. We'll bring in a few new, shiny players. There will be all sorts of feel good stories about EJ learning and getting better. But, come next September, will this Coaching staff be any better prepared to compete with the Patriots and the other playoff teams of the conference? Unfortunately, everything I've seen from Marrone and crew gives me reason to believe they'll just give us more mediocrity.

[Braedenstearns]

Who were the back to back unsportsmen like conduct penalties on?

[Thunderstealer]

 

 

In the end, this team, the players, the coaches, everthing looks like the same old Bills.

 

 

 

I don't believe that. This feels different than after Gregg's, Mularky's, or Chan's first season. Can't argue the results are the same, but there's a sense these guys--coaches and Whaley at least, belong in the future of the NFL.

[Dan]

I don't believe that. This feels different than after Gregg's, Mularky's, or Chan's first season. Can't argue the results are the same, but there's a sense these guys--coaches and Whaley at least, belong in the future of the NFL.

I genuinely hope you're right. I want you to be right. But, my feeling is this is more of the same mediocrity, failure, and mis-placed blame that we've seen in ever regime since Marv's.

[DC Greg]

Touchdown pass to Graham... you nailed it. What a sight to see a Bills QB handling receivers not being open right away, scrambling, directing the route on the run, then delivering the TD pass. Sure do miss that.

[Bill from NYC]

 

 

I can only assume that anyone who says Thad is better than EJ is simply a troll who loves to drum up responses to their posts (and the view count of this thread certainly supports that it works!). Thad was quite simply awful yesterday against NE. Probably less than 10% of his throws are on target, with them often being horribly behind the receiver or too high/low even though he is staring down the receiver. I don't think he has made a throw into a tight window on the year, and yet people celebrate his deep throws to wide open receivers like it is the best thing of all time (here's a hint, any high school qb can make that throw too). I would be interested to see what people view as Thad's good game; last week against Miami with an average yards per attempt of 7.7 and yards per rush of 1.6 to go along with a pick and no TDs and going 1 for 4 in red zone opportunites?

 

Thad is a fine backup QB, but this talk that he is better than EJ right now or ever in is life is ludacris. I can tell you that this offseason, the BIlls will be cutting Tuel and bringing in an older backup to serve in the mentor roll to EJ (or they will just keep Kolb around who they thought was going to fullfill that role this yr). So the depth chart next yr will be EJ/Kolb or another Vet/Thad.

 

Thank you for your response, despite the fact that you are an idiot. Yeah, let's keep Kolb, and even place him above Lewis on the depth chart. Fantastic. And you, after posting something this outrageous, refer to me as a troll? Great. I contend that you are either a troll, a nitwit, or both.

I am leaning heavily toward both.

But again, thanks for stopping in.

[Solomon Grundy]

1) As we all know, the kickoff team was disgraceful today. Absolutely sickening.

 

2) I think that I have been negligent wrt my praise of Fred Jackson this year. Look, he isn't a superstar, but he is a fighter. I have tons of respect for this man. And to his credit, Spiller continued to fight for yardage too, even with the season being over.

 

3) Dareus disappointed me today big time. The dumb offsides play was bad enough, but we needed him to help stop the run, and apparently he keeps screwing up.

 

4) We simply are not a good enough team to withstand drops like the one Chandler had at the end of the 1st Quarter. He played well after this, and I understand that the weather sucked. But he has formed a very disturbing pattern.

 

5) There is NO doubt in my mind that Lewis is a better QB than EJ RIGHT NOW. Seriously, if the Superbowl was tomorrow and the Bills were playing, which one would you want to start? I am not talking about floors, ceilings, missed time in camp, missed time due to injuries, etc. I am talking about NOW!!! This tells me that:

a) We will have a very interesting off season.

b) The entire situation isn't pretty.

That said, Lewis played well enough today to have beat NE on the road. The loss was not his fault.

 

6) I sent a letter to a man I know,

it said, "one for the money, two for the show."

I waited all summer for his reply,

He said, "three to get ready and four to fly!"

 

7) The TD pass to Graham was one of the finest plays by the Bills in 2013.

 

8) I had no issues with Marrone going for it on the 4th and 1 in the second quarter. It was the right move.

 

9) Pears of all people looked strong today. But the OL didn't have one of their better games in terms of pass protection.

 

10) I make no secret of the fact that I have not been terribly impressed by Marrone. That said, this team was fighting back the entire game, and he deserves credit for this. Bellichick smelled blood wrt our rushing defense without Dareus. It was a tough situation and the team could have laid down but they did not. Yes, Coach Marrone can be praised for this.

 

11) Is Thad a UFA now? If he is, it might cost more to keep him than Manuel is paid, or close to it. I hope that he stays in town and is given a shot to earn the job in camp, along with a high draft pick.

 

12) Listen, my sincere thanks to all of you for responding to, or just reading my rants. And yes, this fully includes those who get angry with some of my comments. I don't know when but some day we will be rewarded for our loyalty. I believe this. I won't give up. I can't.

 

13) Happy New Year my fellow Bills Fans to you and your loved ones!

 

14) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

How'd you miss how horribly Jim Leonhard played? He was scared to tackle!

 

1) As we all know, the kickoff team was disgraceful today. Absolutely sickening.

 

2) I think that I have been negligent wrt my praise of Fred Jackson this year. Look, he isn't a superstar, but he is a fighter. I have tons of respect for this man. And to his credit, Spiller continued to fight for yardage too, even with the season being over.

 

3) Dareus disappointed me today big time. The dumb offsides play was bad enough, but we needed him to help stop the run, and apparently he keeps screwing up.

 

4) We simply are not a good enough team to withstand drops like the one Chandler had at the end of the 1st Quarter. He played well after this, and I understand that the weather sucked. But he has formed a very disturbing pattern.

 

5) There is NO doubt in my mind that Lewis is a better QB than EJ RIGHT NOW. Seriously, if the Superbowl was tomorrow and the Bills were playing, which one would you want to start? I am not talking about floors, ceilings, missed time in camp, missed time due to injuries, etc. I am talking about NOW!!! This tells me that:

a) We will have a very interesting off season.

b) The entire situation isn't pretty.

That said, Lewis played well enough today to have beat NE on the road. The loss was not his fault.

 

6) I sent a letter to a man I know,

it said, "one for the money, two for the show."

I waited all summer for his reply,

He said, "three to get ready and four to fly!"

 

7) The TD pass to Graham was one of the finest plays by the Bills in 2013.

 

8) I had no issues with Marrone going for it on the 4th and 1 in the second quarter. It was the right move.

 

9) Pears of all people looked strong today. But the OL didn't have one of their better games in terms of pass protection.

 

10) I make no secret of the fact that I have not been terribly impressed by Marrone. That said, this team was fighting back the entire game, and he deserves credit for this. Bellichick smelled blood wrt our rushing defense without Dareus. It was a tough situation and the team could have laid down but they did not. Yes, Coach Marrone can be praised for this.

 

11) Is Thad a UFA now? If he is, it might cost more to keep him than Manuel is paid, or close to it. I hope that he stays in town and is given a shot to earn the job in camp, along with a high draft pick.

 

12) Listen, my sincere thanks to all of you for responding to, or just reading my rants. And yes, this fully includes those who get angry with some of my comments. I don't know when but some day we will be rewarded for our loyalty. I believe this. I won't give up. I can't.

 

13) Happy New Year my fellow Bills Fans to you and your loved ones!

 

14) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Also with a better defensive/special teams effort the Bills would have won that game. Let's not forget that the Bills offense was moving up and down the field on the Pats. Forget the "big receiver" crap and get me a "big butt" guy who's gonna stop teams from running the football on us!

[Dibs]

Yes, he did:

.....

Fair enough. I was referring to the post directly before your one where he didn't......and I didn't realize the change. My apologies.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Is he 110% sure of that?

 

No idea. But, if he is, he really should keep his stuff in the cardboard boxes.

[boyst]

Who were the back to back unsportsmen like conduct penalties on?

those were bull

[3rdand12]

those were bull

the second and crazy one was foul mouthing the official , by Jerry Hughes.

The first one was Branch retaliating from being shoved after the whistle. Neither were bull J .

They were undisciplined play by pissed off Bills players.

But the Bills were getting held all over the line. often . That part was weighted to the patriots

 

SkyCap.. Jim Leonhard is no A Williams. not even close

I said he would be sorely missed.

[boyst]

the second and crazy one was foul mouthing the official , by Jerry Hughes.

The first one was Branch retaliating from being shoved after the whistle. Neither were bull J .

They were undisciplined play by pissed off Bills players.

But the Bills were getting held all over the line. often . That part was weighted to the patriots

 

SkyCap.. Jim Leonhard is no A Williams. not even close

I said he would be sorely missed.

the push back penalty was crap. Warn both players in the case where it was so evident. It was right in front of the official. Hocculi is a little B word and tries to control the game. No joke, he has had such amazing calls that make a W or L and are so subtle that you forget it.

 

In this case the D was going hard and quickly Hocculi and bull **** put some dampers on it. The KO was HOF RB Blount.

[thebandit27]

 

Fair enough. I was referring to the post directly before your one where he didn't......and I didn't realize the change. My apologies.

 

No sweat dibs; posted it for clarification...don't want anyone to think I put words in other posters' mouths is all.

[3rdand12]

the push back penalty was crap. Warn both players in the case where it was so evident. It was right in front of the official. Hocculi is a little B word and tries to control the game. No joke, he has had such amazing calls that make a W or L and are so subtle that you forget it.

 

In this case the D was going hard and quickly Hocculi and bull **** put some dampers on it. The KO was HOF RB Blount.

well maybe except Branch had the last poke.

The Hughes thing we may never know.

We can only hope he called them pantie wearing nincompoops

 

Thats a penalty i can get behind against the Patriots

[boyst]

well maybe except Branch had the last poke.

The Hughes thing we may never know.

We can only hope he called them pantie wearing nincompoops

 

Thats a penalty i can get behind against the Patriots

only if forced

[3rdand12]

only if forced

They had it coming really

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Thanks for doing this Bill. One of the few posts worth reading on a weekly basis.

 

That said, I think you are off base on EJ vs. Thad. Lewis played descent enough yesterday, but clearly not good enough to win. As others have pointed out, I do not see his indecision in the pocket or occasional lapses in ball security getting much better. His arm is just OK. I think he has shown enough to be a decent backup option. To my eyes, he has done nothing Manuel has not been able to to do, and lacks Manuel's poise, arm strength, and presence. I am frankly not sure how anyone can watch Lewis's performance and think he is a better option, even now. The loss was clearly on the special teams and run defense, not the QB, but there were certainly a number of plays Lewis failed to make, especially in the first half.

 

If he improves Chad has the chance to become a decent backup QB.

 

Early in the season the Bills were playing as well as any of the teams that ultimately competed for the wildcard........and during that time the guard play was a key factor in some early season defeats that changed the course of their season.

 

After the Chiefs loss it's really hard to narrow down just one area the same way it was early in the season because at that point the team in general began giving variable effort.

 

This team has one of the better starting lineups in the AFC........the best in the AFC East. They don't really NEED anything but vastly improved QB play.

 

To the bolded, the Bills have lots of talent on defense.

 

On offense they have some nice building blocks in Cordy Glenn, Eric Wood, and EJ Manuel.

 

Unfortunately the Bills wide receiving corps is woeful, they have average tight ends, a slightly better than average offensive line, and your props to Hackett notwithstanding, an unproven and inexperienced OC who may or may not be up to the job.

 

For anyone who is accustomed to watching and evaluating rookie QBs (apparently very few people on this board) EJ Manuel is the least of the Bills problems.

[mead107]

:to a better 2014. Edited December 31, 2013 by mead107