Gerry Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Now that the season is over and there is a basis for an informed opinion, how much faith (not just hope) do you have that Marrone and Manuel will get the Bills over .500 and into the playoffs in the next two years? Here are my thoughts: like Gailey and Fitz, they are joined at the hip and will either rise or fall together. Manuel-a question mark regarding both ability and durability. Even though he only played 10 games, I expected more flashes of brilliance to convince me that he is the guy moving forward. He was a mixed bag-looked good in some games and lost in others. Regardless of what you think of Thad, it is troubling to me that an undrafted, UFA with little experience and no camp/preseason can come in during the year and play at the level of EJ (better QB rating, same W/L%), a first round pick and the first QB taken. EJ needs to have a great camp and preseason, then step it up in the first half of the season next year and demonstrate with his play that he is the guy. Stop talking about his upside, let's see it on the field. Marrone-color me skeptical; I am not sold on this guy. Too much talk from the initial press conference to the last one and not enough to back it up. Particularly troubling was that the team did not seem to be buying off on his approach in the second half of the season-he did not have the Bills ready to play a poor TB team and talked a lot about the importance of winning the last game, only to be outcoached by BB and the team whipped again by the Pats. In my view, having EJ for that game would not have made a bit of difference. Antics by Stevie and Dareus demonstrated that he was not getting through to all players as the season wore on. Needs to make better use of offensive personnel and get guys like Goodwin into the game plans. Must find a way to get defense to show up every game, especially on the road where next year there are 4 games outside of EST zone. Needs to solve special team issues-does he have the guts to get rid of Crossman? I think not, he dumped Hilliard just to show that he can get rid of an assistant. Summary-based on this year's performance, I have little faith that M & M will get the Bills above .500 and into the playoffs during the next two years. The honeymoon is over, the talk needs to be backed up by the walk starting next year, with no excuses.
Hazed and Amuzed Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Well here's a fresh topic... Yep, I'm longing for the days of threads about blue pants.
26CornerBlitz Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Yep, I'm longing for the days of threads about blue pants. Is it that bad?
Sig1Hunter Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 ....Antics by Stevie... What "antics" are you speaking of? Not playing the last two games because his mother died?
PearlHowardman Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Marrone + Manuel does not = short or long term success. Marrone - Inexperienced and in over his head. Manuel - Injury prone/skills-challenged.
dubs Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 I think they have a 62.7% chance of getting us in the playoffs. This offseason is going to be critical. I think there was enough good signs in year 1 for optimism, but obviously not enough to do it the same way and expect better results.
Doug Flutie Band Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 I have very little faith in Marrone and Manuel - in fact those are probably the two biggest question marks for this franchise. However, there is hope - and whereas we KNEW guys like Fitzpatrick or Jauron were terrible, we still don't know for sure that Marrone and Manuel are failures. There's a chance!
Gerry Posted January 2, 2014 Author Posted January 2, 2014 What "antics" are you speaking of? Not playing the last two games because his mother died? I'm speaking of his locker room comment about a crucial dropped pass in the first half of one of the recent games, something like "it really didn't matter, it was early in the game." I seem to recall that he did a few dumb things early in the season as well. Is this what you expect out of a veteran receiver who is supposed to be setting an example for the younger guys? Obviously, he had to miss time because of his mother's passing, but two games? Even if he took 10 days off, he still had time to get back and suit up for NE.
Mr. WEO Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 I think they have a 62.7% chance of getting us in the playoffs. This offseason is going to be critical. I think there was enough good signs in year 1 for optimism, but obviously not enough to do it the same way and expect better results. Wasn't it only 2 years ago when we "won the offseason"? Dang, seems like an eternity...
zow2 Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Marrone has a lot better chance to be a success imo. I don't see anything special in EJ. Kinda' like Tannehill to me or Jason Campbell version 2.0. Marrone has been around a successful NFL team and QB (Saints). He knows what "success" looks like from the inside and what kind of players and schemes you need to win. People that say Marrone is too inexperienced or in over his head is such a copout for sound reasoning. That's assuming guys like Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, John Fox, Bill Belichek, etc..NEVER make mistakes during a game. Let me tell you, all NFL coaches make mistakes. I think Marrone gets it and will be a good NFL coach.
CodeMonkey Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 For me the jury is still out on both. I see nothing to give me a great deal of hope. But I also don't see anything that makes me long for them to be kicked to the curb either.
bobobonators Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 50% Complete coinflip at this point. There are a couple of things about Marrone that bothered me a little bit this season. EJ too.
NewEra Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 I think Marrone has a shot as long as he gets rid of unproductive assistants like he got rid of unproductive players.....minus tj graham. Crossman needs to go. He's been bad everywhere he's been. He's bad now. Fire him ASAP Marrone. Hackett isn't going anywhere after 1 year. He needs to step it up. I like marrones mentality from what I've seen. He's got a shot if he gets some good QB play and if he selects the right DC when Pettine leaves after a year or 2. Ej......eh. Wanna love him. Try to love him. Can't embrace the thought of not trying to upgrade our QB situation. I think Ej needs to get pushed. I'm all for drafting a QB or adding someone like mccown. Thad is better served as a 3rd stringer IMO. The one thing that REALLY bothers me about Ej is that fact that he had 3 knee injuries in one year. Will he ever play a full 16 game season and not get hurt. I know its only one year and the sample size is minimum, but he just seems fragile to me. If there's one thing that can stunt a raw young QBs growth, its injuries.
SBUffalo Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Marrone: I'm at 51% confidence on him. Manuel: I'm at about 5.1%.
NewEra Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 50% Complete coinflip at this point. There are a couple of things about Marrone that bothered me a little bit this season. EJ too. Your offseason would be amazing, but landing amaro and Matthews in the 2nd will be near impossible.
Jerry Jabber Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 (edited) Not much in either. Should have hired Lovie Smith as he will have the Bucs in the playoffs before the Bills. While I'm not upset that the Bills drafted Manuel last year, l feel they should draft another QB in the early rounds this year. I don't feel confident that Manuel will become a Top 10 QB in the league, which is exactly what the Bills need with playing against Brady/Belichek twice a year. Edited January 2, 2014 by Jerry Jabber
Maury Ballstein Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Marrone 60% Manuel 45%. Showed some flashes.....also showed long stretches of nothing.
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