EJ looked calm and in control..

[SlamnSam]

Why are there so many excuse for this guy? People come up with so many reason why EJ sucks, period. Flush this dude he is terrible and 100 years of playing wont do him any good. Gee how many games did kapersnachie need to play good, or even wllson. Face it, no mater what the excuse for manuel he will never be good.

Edited August 4, 2014 by SlamnSam

[zow2]

I didn't think EJ looked the part of an up and coming great (or very good) QB. One thing that bothers me about EJ is he never seems to gun the ball 15-20 yards down the middle of the field. He either dumps it off, throws a short WR screen, or lobs a high ball timing pattern down the sidelines and hope the receiver comes down with it. Is it just me? I see Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Luck, etc.. throwing darts down the middle of the field all the time! How come our big QB, big big hands and a big arm never does it?

[Coach Tuesday]

My concern is whether the "slow eyes" issue contributed to the batted passes. The defenders seemed to have an easy time reading EJ's eyes last night.

 

Also, I remain concerned about the design of Hackett's offense. It still looks like a college offense to me. In my book you throw it deep when you have a read that suggests that it might succeed, but Hackett seems to coach his QBs to wing it down the sideline no matter what. Maybe I'm not describing it right, I don't know. Something just looks off on those fly patterns that the Bills run - they never seem to have any chance of succeeding.

[zow2]

My concern is whether the "slow eyes" issue contributed to the batted passes. The defenders seemed to have an easy time reading EJ's eyes last night.

 

Also, I remain concerned about the design of Hackett's offense. It still looks like a college offense to me. In my book you throw it deep when you have a read that suggests that it might succeed, but Hackett seems to coach his QBs to wing it down the sideline no matter what. Maybe I'm not describing it right, I don't know. Something just looks off on those fly patterns that the Bills run - they never seem to have any chance of succeeding.

 

Hence it was nice to hear the game analyst mention how Tuel was about to throw the deep sideline, saw it wasn't there, pulled it down and threw to his 2nd or 3rd option for a a 1st down. EJ just stands back and throws. Doesn't matter if the guy is covered well or not.

[buffaloaggie]

EJ is likely going to be the weakest link in the Bills offense. If he can't master not staring down a receiver, this offense will go nowhere. The play where the Giants LB stepped in front of his stare down was pathetic, and we should expect more from an experienced college QB with a few NFL games and training camp under his belt. I'll be happy when we don't have to make excuses for this guy, but he has not progressed much from when scouts complained he doesn't step into his throws and forces throws. That coupled with his habit of staring down his receivers will result in a big ole bust.

[BackInDaDay]

Also, I remain concerned about the design of Hackett's offense.

 

some of last season's all-22 perspectives exposed some shoddy schematics in the passing game - which Hilliard took the hit for - so hopefully these issues aren't lingering

[paupmvp1995]

I feel the frustration in what a lot of you are saying after watching EJ last nite. This team looks like they have a lot of talent at pretty much every position, except QB. (Our TE's are certainly not dominant, but have some playmaking ability when healthy) EJ doesn't do anything that would lead us to believe he has any special ability or upside to his game. Sure it is only the first preseason game, but he doesn't carry himself w any swagger. He doesn't look confident and comfortable with his game. The throw down the sideline to Sammy had no chance of being caught. And to have 3 balls batted down within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage should never happen. On the second one, he threw it right into the defenders body. He has to have better vision than that. I think he needs to play the first half of the next 3 preseason games against Carolina, Pittsburg and Tampa. The next two are against tough defenses on the road. It will be a good test for him to show leadership, ability and improvement. (especially after playing so poorly in Pittsburg last year) We have excellent receivers and RB's. And except for Kuanjiou, the Oline looked solid last nite. They can't have EJ hold the team back. And the team needs to have confidence that their QB can make plays, and lead them to victory. A confident positive mindset is huge for this team.

 

As for the backups, Tuel has some moxie to his game. Not physical dominant by any stretch, but he has a little swag and a lot more confidence in what he is doing this year. You can see he is developing. How much upside remains to be seen. But don't count him out as being someone who can lead a team to some wins. (Throwing to TJ Graham has got to be terrible-the guy is brutal. Has no idea how to play receiver, and get any separation or position on his defender. At least Elliott has a big body and some potential.) He definitely has a feel for what the offense is trying to accomplish. As for Thad, all I can say is Ugh! Why the regression is his game from last year is hard to explain. The interception in the end zone was brutally underthrown. Easley was wide open and gets an easy catch if that throw is towards the back of the endzone. He needs to find his game quick, otherwise time to move on. I think the Bills made a big mistake not drafting Murray McCarron or Mettenberger in the later rounds. Its a lot easier molding someone into an NFL QB who has some underlying talent. And the talent on our team at the position right now is unbelievably marginal.

[Nanker]

Why isn't anyone talking about the 73 yard touchdown that won the game for the Jints? 47 Michael Carter got burned for that and 40 Jajuan Harley was no help. How come our 4th team Corner and 3rd team Safety didn't get the job done?

Or the runs off the left side of their Oline. The Bills D looked like a sieve.

 

ISFDWTT and its not even the real preseason yet!

[RuntheDamnBall]

Why isn't anyone talking about the 73 yard touchdown that won the game for the Jints? 47 Michael Carter got burned for that and 40 Jajuan Harley was no help. How come our 4th team Corner and 3rd team Safety didn't get the job done?

Or the runs off the left side of their Oline. The Bills D looked like a sieve.

 

ISFDWTT and its not even the real preseason yet!

 

Cut every one of those fourth-string defenders, I say!

[RCOHEN13]

As they say, after the first hit you remember it's just a football game and settle in. Unfortunately, EJ has a tendency to watch the rest of the game from the bench with ice on his knee. I love the guy and hope he gets it going. A better timed jump and this has a totally different feeling. Really stared down some throws though.

 

He's very lucky that on the red zone telegraphed pass on 3rd down where he just stared at Sammy and route was slow to develop and NY LB got his hands up to break it up wasnt a pick 6... a slant is supposed to be a "quick hitter" especially inside the 5 like that... If Sammy does get a quick release, he should at the VERY LEAST have glanced to option B and if that wasnt open, check down to RB or run it in. Obviously its pre season and him running in a crowded red zone situation is by FAR the last thing he should do, but he still seems very slow with his reads.

 

Hopefully the extra pre season game as well as more time in practice and he can speed things up. The arm strength is there, but the poise and "it factor" are not.

 

On another note, best play of game on O, was when Tuel went zone read and kept the ball and if was regular season would have turned up field where he could have picked up at least another 10-15 yards. If that were EJ, that could have been a TD.

 

I REALLY hope we do more or this. Even with EJ's knee issues last yr, if he is gonna be an above average QB in this league, He MUST use his legs. It's a valuable aspect of his game and if he does this, it opens up more running lanes for our RB's and keeps D's thinking and will have to respect him pulling ball ball and jaunting untouched downfield for 1st downs.

 

The read option is NOT the wild cat, it most certainly has a place in this league especially with so many athletic QB's. And if done correctly, like the Tuel's run, QB doesnt even have to get hit and at least can minimize the blow and if running it out wide like that, a 6'5 EJ running over a CB would be nice to see!

[yall]

I was sharing similar concerns with many other posters regarding EJ so I went back and watched him more closely this morning. I must say I'm a little less concerned than I was last night.

 

One thing that stood out was that only on one play did he lock onto a receiver, which was the final play on 3rd and 11. On every other play he made pretty quick decisions and throws.

 

The first two batted passes were more the fault of the o-line, in particular the first as the Giants defender blew past the LT and would have probably sacked EJ. The 3rd one was definitely on him as he locked on to Watkins. Granted he was coming open and if that pass gets through its most likely going in for the score.

 

I'm not saying it doesn't fall upon the QB, but reasonably speaking he wasn't nearly as bad as a lot of people are making it seem.

[Wayne Cubed]

I was sharing similar concerns with many other posters regarding EJ so I went back and watched him more closely this morning. I must say I'm a little less concerned than I was last night.

 

One thing that stood out was that only on one play did he lock onto a receiver, which was the final play on 3rd and 11. On every other play he made pretty quick decisions and throws.

 

The first two batted passes were more the fault of the o-line, in particular the first as the Giants defender blew past the LT and would have probably sacked EJ. The 3rd one was definitely on him as he locked on to Watkins. Granted he was coming open and if that pass gets through its most likely going in for the score.

 

I'm not saying it doesn't fall upon the QB, but reasonably speaking he wasn't nearly as bad as a lot of people are making it seem.

 

Ah, the voice of reason. I also re-watched and made the same assessment.

[buffalopdc]

He played two series and next game he will probably play about the same amount of reps. Also, he is in year two of his playing career with a total of 10 games under his belt. While I 100% agree with many that he is no Jim Kelly (as there is only one), to already give up on EJ is short sighted as QB's take time to develop and figure out if they have the "it" factor.. Kelly had 36 starts in the USFL before he even got to Buffalo and his first year stats in Buffalo were similar percentage wise to EJ, except that he played a full 16 game season. If we give up on every QB 10 games into a career will will continue to be perennial losers AND...it is preseason.

[The Big Cat]

Did anyone else notice that all ten of EJ's snaps came from under center? I found that interesting.

 

I noticed. A lot of two back, two wide, power I stuff.

 

If EJ can't succeed running the most boring plays available on Madden, then this team is !@#$ing screwed.

 

He looked fine. If Mike Williams waits one half second longer before he jumps for that ball in endzone, the board will be flooded with "EJ has arrived" threads. Instead, they ran two more plays, a batted ball and a forced pass to Sammy.

 

Gee, shocking.

 

Sammy and EJ had 10 plays together, some of them runs, and people here don't understand why he stared-down and forced the ball to his new toy.

 

I'm also shocked with how many body language experts we have on this board, guys whose athletic careers probably fizzled out shortly after JV ball but know a guy who has 'it' when they see him.

 

And for that matter, rue the day the term "slow eyes" slipped its way into to the TSW critique-machine. Jeebus.

[eball]

I was sharing similar concerns with many other posters regarding EJ so I went back and watched him more closely this morning. I must say I'm a little less concerned than I was last night.

 

One thing that stood out was that only on one play did he lock onto a receiver, which was the final play on 3rd and 11. On every other play he made pretty quick decisions and throws.

 

The first two batted passes were more the fault of the o-line, in particular the first as the Giants defender blew past the LT and would have probably sacked EJ. The 3rd one was definitely on him as he locked on to Watkins. Granted he was coming open and if that pass gets through its most likely going in for the score.

 

I'm not saying it doesn't fall upon the QB, but reasonably speaking he wasn't nearly as bad as a lot of people are making it seem.

 

Marrone said the batted balls were an OL issue, not a QB issue. As you noted, EJ only threw one ill-advised pass. Mike Williams also mis-timed his jump or the first pass after the fumble recovery would have been for six, and this thread wouldn't exist because EJ would have finished his night 2-4 with a TD.

[RCOHEN13]

Which is why I was curious as to why they pulled him so early. Eli, a more established vet and two time Super Bowl winner stayed in for three.

 

For those worried about EJ's performance on the first two drives, I would like to take a look at Manning's against our starting defense: a three and out, followed by a strip sack fumble on the third play. EJ's arm strength looked fine. I do think he's at least partly to blame for missing the Sammy bomb, but Mike Williams really ought to have had that catch in the end zone, and that's usually what he's good at.

 

We have a month to go folks.

 

I was very surprised too that they only gave him 2 series and the 2nd one basically started in red zone after the sack, strip, fumble recovery. He only had 1 regular drive...

[RuntheDamnBall]

I noticed. A lot of two back, two wide, power I stuff.

 

If EJ can't succeed running the most boring plays available on Madden, then this team is !@#$ing screwed.

 

He looked fine. If Mike Williams waits one half second longer before he jumps for that ball in endzone, the board will be flooded with "EJ has arrived" threads. Instead, they ran two more plays, a batted ball and a forced pass to Sammy.

 

Gee, shocking.

 

Sammy and EJ had 10 plays together, some of them runs, and people here don't understand why he stared-down and forced the ball to his new toy.

 

I'm also shocked with how many body language experts we have on this board, guys whose athletic careers probably fizzled out shortly after JV ball but know a guy who has 'it' when they see him.

 

And for that matter, rue the day the term "slow eyes" slipped its way into to the TSW critique-machine. Jeebus.

Rue the day anyone gets their inspiration from Todd !@#$ing McShay for their analytical buzzwords.

 

I'm reasonably certain if you drew a Venn diagram of the body language experts and the people who still think that bringing in Tebow would be a good option, there'd be a big overlap. So there's that...

[The Big Cat]

Marrone said the batted balls were an OL issue, not a QB issue. As you noted, EJ only threw one ill-advised pass. Mike Williams also mis-timed his jump or the first pass after the fumble recovery would have been for six, and this thread wouldn't exist because EJ would have finished his night 2-4 with a TD.

 

Is there an echo in here echo in here echo in here echo in here?

[eball]

Is there an echo in here echo in here echo in here echo in here?

 

LOL sorry brother; couldn't stand to read through everything first.

[The Big Cat]

Which is why I was curious as to why they pulled him so early. Eli, a more established vet and two time Super Bowl winner stayed in for three.

 

For those worried about EJ's performance on the first two drives, I would like to take a look at Manning's against our starting defense: a three and out, followed by a strip sack fumble on the third play. EJ's arm strength looked fine. I do think he's at least partly to blame for missing the Sammy bomb, but Mike Williams really ought to have had that catch in the end zone, and that's usually what he's good at.

 

We have a month to go folks.

 

Keep in mind, Eli's learning a new offensive scheme for (I believe) only the second time in his 11 year career.

 

LOL sorry brother; couldn't stand to read through everything first.

 

It's cool. Timing is everything.