We don't have so much a QB problem as an O-line problem.

[NoSaint]

My man, coming around to my point of view with the line troubles! It was the first time for those four to start at those positions. Glenn, Richardson, Wood, Pears, Henderson. So they still have two weeks to get it together.

 

Like someone else stated the OG position is downright scary, and I doubt it gets better with Williams playing.

 

And like another mentioned the playbook was very limited, and no Sammy.

 

To put another perspective on it, EJ didn't trip over his own feet, he didn't fail to open holes, hold blocks or get so many penalties.

 

Lets just hope they improve for the Bears game.

 

How they've handled the guard position has been baffling. Even if they didn't keep levitre there have literally been about a dozen guys id circle in free agency the last two years. That Williams is the guy were counting on is worrisome at best. We will see if it can gel. Glenn and wood playing strong could help a lot still but it hasn't shown to solve the problems in the past.

Edited August 24, 2014 by NoSaint

[What a Tuel]

Agreed. Sitting with people watching the game, and all they focus on is the QB throwing and if it is incomplete or not. All I hear is "come on Manuel! Jesus!" They seemingly ignore the 1, 2 sometimes 3 defensive players bum rushing Manuel.

[thebandit27]

There were open targets and time to throw, the QB had tunnel vision in the first half.

 

The OL wasn't great, but I was there, and this was a QB problem. He needs to let the ball go; he's not doing it.

[What a Tuel]

There were a few times that the Tampa D got to Manuel untouched, and on top of that there were more than that where they had their arms up runnings towards Manuel which made him rush his passes.

 

At one point we had 5 (6 if you count Jackson staying back before going out as the safety valve) blocking 3, and a fourth one sacked Manuel untouched off the edge.

 

O Line needs to be better. When it was better, he made some nice passes, when he had people in his face, he threw crappy inaccurate passes. That's not to say his non-rushed passes were perfect, but we have to give him time, and allow him to not have to look over his shoulder half a second after he gets the ball.

Edited August 24, 2014 by What a Tuel

[MarkAF43]

There were open targets and time to throw, the QB had tunnel vision in the first half.

 

The OL wasn't great, but I was there, and this was a QB problem. He needs to let the ball go; he's not doing it.

 

I'd call myself a pretty big fan of EJ who wants to see him do well but he definitely looked bad yesterday. I'm bowing to some of the expertise on this board because I saw someone else comment on how he looks very mechanical. Is it possible that the play calling and design of plays by Hackett doesn't allow for EJ to be more instinctual? I was never a qb so I won't pretend I know. Is it something where Hackett says this play goes here no matter what? In my viewing of Ej at FSU, he seemed to be better when he could just play and not be a robot. Just my two cents but if anyone can shed a little light on my question I'd appreciate it.

[machine gun kelly]

He wasn't very accurate at FSU. FSU is on almost every week here in FL. I've wanted EJ to succeed, but even though the line could be better, he was worse.We're not going to win anything with that kind of play.

 

The really sad point was the defensive line. The Bucs line is terrible, and they held up our front four for most of the first half.

[Maury Ballstein]

 

Amazing that so-called football fans can't see the connection.

 

Just gotta write half them off, like the ones canceling their nfl ticket over preseason results.

 

A fickle bunch, we talking bout practice.

[Coach Tuesday]

God, his own coach is publicly calling EJ out for trying to "pinpoint" the ball on every play and not make a mistake, instead of just letting it fly. And Marrone is also publicly calling out all three backup QBs too. No one is blaming the offensive line except PTR and his usual band of apologists.

 

There was a play before the TD, I think it was 2nd and 10, EJ scrambled to his left and, instead of throwing it away, ran out of bounds for a four yard sack-loss. It was the kind of play that only a raw rookie makes - it displayed zero situational awareness. It made me sick to my stomach.

 

Not saying EJ is a bust. But he is not ready, and they stubbornly refused to put in a veteran compliment to him as a safety net. It's incredibly frustrating.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Coach Tuesday

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

Matt Ryan

Andrew Luck

Matt Stafford

Aaron Rodgers

 

All those QBs play behind below average to bad OLs IMO. Green Bay's has been especially atrocious over the past few years, same with ATL.

Big Ben's line sucks also...

 

God, his own coach is publicly calling EJ out for trying to "pinpoint" the ball on every play and not make a mistake, instead of just letting it fly. And Marrone is also publicly calling out all three backup QBs too. No one is blaming the offensive line except PTR and his usual band of apologists.

 

There was a play before the TD, I think it was 2nd and 10, EJ scrambled to his left and, instead of throwing it away, ran out of bounds for a four yard sack-loss. It was the kind of play that only a raw rookie makes - it displayed zero situational awareness. It made me sick to my stomach.

 

Not saying EJ is a bust. But he is not ready, and they stubbornly refused to put in a veteran compliment to him as a safety net. It's incredibly frustrating.

No veteran backup means no QB war with fans/media calling for backup...makes things easy for EJ...

[Buffalo_Stampede]

I must say, even though Tampa's starters were out, that 3rd quarter looked like EJ said F this, just throw it. Best throws he has made IMO.

[Nervous Guy]

He wasn't very accurate at FSU.

 

 

why does everyone keep repeating this? He is the one of the most accurate QB’s in FSU history with a 66.1 completion percentage.

[26CornerBlitz]

why does everyone keep repeating this? He is the one of the most accurate QB’s in FSU history with a 66.1 completion percentage.

 

You can't just look to statistics to understand the complete picture. If you watch EJ play, it's obvious he struggles with accuracy on some of his throws. Because of that he leaves some plays out on the field that end up being missed opportunities with stalled drives.

[John Cocktosten]

Anyone who watches EJ and thinks he's a legit starting NFL QB is blinded by desperation. It's as simple as that.

[GA BILLS FAN]

 

 

I'd call myself a pretty big fan of EJ who wants to see him do well but he definitely looked bad yesterday. I'm bowing to some of the expertise on this board because I saw someone else comment on how he looks very mechanical. Is it possible that the play calling and design of plays by Hackett doesn't allow for EJ to be more instinctual? I was never a qb so I won't pretend I know. Is it something where Hackett says this play goes here no matter what? In my viewing of Ej at FSU, he seemed to be better when he could just play and not be a robot. Just my two cents but if anyone can shed a little light on my question I'd appreciate it.

I'm not an expert either, but what you are seeing is a lack of natural instincts for the position. Again, if you compare EJ to Doug Flutie, for example, you will see the difference between a QB that isn't very gifted physically (Flutie), but extracts every ounce of what he has because he has a "feel" for the position. With EJ, he doesn't have that feel. I don't know if it can be taught or learned (I never played the position at a high enough level to know from personal experience). I've spoken with friends who are still in football and they said they doubt it can. Does that mean EJ is doomed to fail ? Not necessarily, what it means is that his ceiling is lower. However, if you couple that with his accuracy issues as was pointed out earlier and the difficulty reading, reacting to defenses (that' what Bandit saw at the game), and there are several warning flags on this guy that he won't make it.

 

The worst part is that this Front Office (Brandon-Whaley and Marrone) went all in this year and next on the guy. So there is no Plan B !

Edited August 24, 2014 by TXBILLSFAN

[ALF]

It's going to take this season to get everyone in sync. I think the talent is there ,just not ready for above .500

 

A better QB and OL coaches would help though.

[MarkAF43]

I'm not an expert either, but what you are seeing is a lack of natural instincts for the position. Again, if you compare EJ to Doug Flutie, for example, you will see the difference between a QB that isn't very gifted physically (Flutie), but extracts every ounce of what he has because he has a "feel" for the position. With EJ, he doesn't have that feel. I don't know if it can be taught or learned (I never played the position at a high enough level to know from personal experience). I've spoken with friends who are still in football and they said they doubt it can. Does that mean EJ is doomed to fail ? Not necessarily, what it means is that his ceiling is lower. However, if you couple that with his accuracy issues as was pointed out earlier and the difficulty reading, reacting to defenses (that' what Bandit saw at the game), and there are several warning flags on this guy that he won't make it.

 

The worst part is that this Front Office (Brandon-Whaley and Marrone) went all in this year and next on the guy. So there is no Plan B !

 

Thanks for the explanation. As a follow up, is it possible that some Qb's are unable to play well in a particular system? It appears so far Hackett wants to run something that resembles a west coast type offense, so is it completely out of scope to say someone like Ej can't work well in that but could work better and be more successful in a run and gun kind of deal? I guess my thing is before we throw out the baby with the bath water, is it something where players need a different system or no?

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

This is the first year in 4 or 5 years where I do not think we can finish .500.

 

No offense, here hoping your track record of getting that wrong will continue.....

[GA BILLS FAN]

 

 

Thanks for the explanation. As a follow up, is it possible that some Qb's are unable to play well in a particular system? It appears so far Hackett wants to run something that resembles a west coast type offense, so is it completely out of scope to say someone like Ej can't work well in that but could work better and be more successful in a run and gun kind of deal? I guess my thing is before we throw out the baby with the bath water, is it something where players need a different system or no?

I'm not sure. To be honest, it's hard to tell what system Hackett is running. Last year it seemed so scattered. The bottom line, is a great QB will be great in almost any system. I think you can compensate for limitations by limiting the playbook, the number of reads/progressions etc., however, when you do that it's much easier for the defense to game plan to stop you.

 

My thought with EJ is to get him rolling out and throwing on the run, he has the arm strength to do it and he seems more at ease and more natural. It also helps to compensate for poor line play and simplifies his reads/progressions. I'm not sure if that's within Hackett's system or not.

Edited August 24, 2014 by TXBILLSFAN

[Rivermont Mike]

 

 

The it's preseason excuse, don't know which is worse that or the vanilla offense BS

 

What's worse is hearing "we've got to get better" over and over again. First runner-up: EJ's assertion (paraphrasing) that the more touchdowns they score, the more games they'll win. That was Losmanian in its stunning simplicity.

[thewildrabbit]

Matt Ryan

Andrew Luck

Matt Stafford

Aaron Rodgers

 

All those QBs play behind below average to bad OLs IMO. Green Bay's has been especially atrocious over the past few years, same with ATL.

The Colts worked to improve their line as Luck was sacked way to often, and they knew it. A better line, and that team goes further in the playoffs. Still, we are not talking about comparing the Colts line to the poop the Bills fielded last year in replacing Levitre.

 

Matt Ryan was healthy all last year, although the same can't be said for his line or receiver corps. Taking away those two factors shows how important having a good line, WR corps can be to a team. A proven playoff QB went* into the crapper with sub par players. I have no idea why others don't ever notice stuff like this.

 

Matt Stafford went into a funk late last season because his line failed to protect him. The result of that got his HC fired...Schwartz is now the Bills DC! Stafford is a QB that for 4650 yards, has the very best WR in the game. a top RB. So why aren't they in the playoffs every year?

 

Both Aaron Rodgers & Big Ben miss time because of their bad lines, and both have suffered numerous concussions. How long will they remain being good QB's if that continues to happen? It makes me wonder would those teams (GB, Pitt, Atl, Indy) have become a dynasties like the Patriots with a better O lines?

 

 

You simply can't compare what the Bills fielded to other team because the Bills OG's were among some of the very worst in the league, as was the RT. Thus the reason why Whaley signed a FA OG for 5.5 mill, and drafted three new O linemen.

Edited August 24, 2014 by FeartheLosing