To all of the EJ bashers

[BuffaloBillsForever]

EJ was really terrible today. Even the most ardent EJ supporter has to admit that. 7 for 21 on passes to receivers? He needs a good road outing next week to keep the critics at bay. I am pulling for the kid, but he needs to grab victories instead of avoiding defeats. There is a difference.

 

You mentioned his physical abilities, but the mental aspect in reading defenses was awful as well. He missed A LOT of reads to WR's that were wide open all game. Also his situational awareness in the endzone with the safety was alarming

Edited September 22, 2014 by BuffaloBillsForever

[RuntheDamnBall]

After three games, here are EJ's projected season stats:

 

CMP ATT YDS  CMP%  AVG TD LNG INT RAT
293 464 3,269 63.2 7.05 16  37  5 90.8

 

So... Dooooomed?

 

Bills got the ball with about 1:45 down 2 scores. Improbable to pull out a victory from there? YES. Impossible? NO. They dinked and dunked it down the field padding EJ's completiton and yardage stats and finally took a shot at the end zone with under 10 seconds. What does this tell you about the coaches confidence in EJ pushing the ball down field and what message does it send to future oppenents as they game plan? No confidence whatsoever is the message.

That's called taking what's there. You think the chances are better with an INT off of a ball forced downfield? SMH.

[papazoid]

 

 

Let me see if i have the mental capacity to lay this out.

 

The Chargers had a single high safety most of the game with 8 in the box. This effectively neutralized the running game. The way to beat this tactic is to have your QUARTERBACK make some plays down the field to move the extra defenders away from the line of scrimmage effectively keeping the defense honest. Cover 1 typically can be attacked with intermediate throws which when executed can roll the other safety back out of the box opening up the run game.

 

The quarterback is the one position that can single handedly bail out other elements of the game that are underperforming.

 

If you can only win a game when all three phases of the team are clicking, then I will say you don't have a QB.

 

For 3 games we have seen a conservative, remedial offense designed to hide the play of the Quarterback. You can't always scheme guys open, sometimes you need your QB to make a big time professional read and throw.

 

 

bingo.

 

 

they took away the run and EJ showed he's not good enough.

[Boolay]

 

 

So... Dooooomed?

 

 

That's called taking what's there. You think the chances are better with an INT off of a ball forced downfield? SMH.

 

Chances of winning with using the entire clock when needing 2 scores? ZERO POINT ZERO.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Boolay

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

2 decent games, 1 poor. for guy with under 16 starts ..... I'm not disgusted by the game. the Chargers D is very good.

Edited September 22, 2014 by BillsFan-4-Ever

[Beerball]

So... Dooooomed?

Only one stat matters, but you know this.

[BuffaloBaumer]

Yesterday should not come as a shock at all. The Bills lost to a better team with a MUCH better QB. I don't think we knew anything more about EJ after the first two games as we did yesterday. I still have no idea what to make of EJ. I know he's not terrible and I know he's not the answer yet. The major concern I have right now is that without turnovers, I don't think EJ is good enough to beat a really good D and he's also not good enough to keep up with a really good offense like San Diego. If that continues to be the case, the Bills will most likely never hit that 10 win playoff mark.

[Gabe Northern]

1. His athleticism is vastly overrated. For a guy with a size similar to Cam, he doesnt have 25% of the athletic ability of Cam, Kap or Wilson. Watch those guys, especially Wilson, he usually decides to run very quickly, there isnt any hesitation, he see's the D is giving him the run and he takes it. The other 2 can use the read option to make up for what they lack as passers. They bring 500-800 yards rushing, but with EJ we have to be worried about him getting hurt as if he's some 38 year old Bledsoe not a 240lb, 24 year old. We have an inside handoff with no read or option.

 

This, to me. is the main issue that posters seem to overlook. EJ with questionable accuracy + 40 yards per game on the ground is a hell of a lot different than EJ with questionable accuracy + 3 yard scrambles out of bounds to protect himself.

 

Read the quotes when he was drafted. He was a dual threat. Nope.

 

If he's going to make it in the NFL, he is going to have to pull it down and run. Period.

[5 Wide]

Maybe I am just disenfranchised with EJ, but I just don't see the proverbial "it" with him. I think it mostly has to do with how I perceive his awareness on the field. I know he was hurt last year and was told to get down when possible, but is jogging out of bounds two yards short of the sticks acceptable? Is throwing widowmaker balls to his receivers acceptable? (Yes i know other QB's get their wideouts killed) but it seems more frequent with EJ. Intentional grounding in the endzone? I also never see him uncork the alleged big arm he has. I just see a whole lot of Losman in the guy.

[Big Gun]

Let me see if i have the mental capacity to lay this out.

 

The Chargers had a single high safety most of the game with 8 in the box. This effectively neutralized the running game. The way to beat this tactic is to have your QUARTERBACK make some plays down the field to move the extra defenders away from the line of scrimmage effectively keeping the defense honest. Cover 1 typically can be attacked with intermediate throws which when executed can roll the other safety back out of the box opening up the run game.

 

The quarterback is the one position that can single handedly bail out other elements of the game that are underperforming.

 

If you can only win a game when all three phases of the team are clicking, then I will say you don't have a QB.

 

For 3 games we have seen a conservative, remedial offense designed to hide the play of the Quarterback. You can't always scheme guys open, sometimes you need your QB to make a big time professional read and throw.

 

Hmmm.... nice to see someone else who "gets it". To me this is basic average QBing 101. So far EJ is failing the test, question is how many questions are on the test? Of the 13 questions so far, how many has he got right? 3-4, not good enough, he is holding this team back IMHO.

Edited September 22, 2014 by old school

[CountDorkula]

Hmmm.... nice to see someone else who "gets it". To me this is basic average QBing 101. So far EJ is failing the test, question is how many questions are on the test? Of the 13 questions so far, how many has he got right? 3-4, not good enough, he is holding this team up IMHO.

 

Funny to say after a loss but you were nowhere to be found after the first 2 weeks... just like everyone else here. The entire team played bad yesterday.

[GG]

A good point.

 

Prior to the season, the Bills declared--by word and action--that they were going all in on EJ. I felt (and feel) that that was the wrong approach. But whether the Bills made the right or wrong decision is beside the point--at least for the present. Right now, the Bills have no young QB on the roster--no one to evaluate--except for EJ. The Bills know, or should know, what they have in Kyle Orton. Orton isn't the long-term answer. They should use the remainder of the season to gather more data on Manuel. They gain nothing by allowing Manuel/Orton to turn into another Losman/Holcomb situation.

 

Manuel should remain the starter for the rest of the season. Then in the offseason, the Bills should look at the data, and realistically assess what they have or don't have in Manuel. If their degree of confidence in him is low, they should make it a high priority to bring in some other QB of the future. (Even if there's still some chance of Manuel panning out.) They should also bear in mind that it's better to wait a year or two for the right prospect, than it is to jump at the first guy who seems halfway credible.

 

But--again--none of this should be decided until the offseason. That will give Manuel plenty of chances to show whether the Chargers game was an anomaly or the real deal.

 

Which would be fine & dandy if this was his rookie year, the GM didn't trade away last year's first rounder & didn't set playoffs as the goal for this season. If this was year 0 of the rebuilding project, then it's a very sound strategy. But Bills can't have it both ways. They can't stack the roster with good players, all expecting to win, and then fall back on "we need to wait on our QB to mature next year" excuse.

 

You're right, there's nothing that can be done for this year, but without a first rounder next year, there may not be much to do next year either.

[RuntheDamnBall]

Which would be fine & dandy if this was his rookie year, the GM didn't trade away last year's first rounder & didn't set playoffs as the goal for this season. If this was year 0 of the rebuilding project, then it's a very sound strategy. But Bills can't have it both ways. They can't stack the roster with good players, all expecting to win, and then fall back on "we need to wait on our QB to mature next year" excuse.

 

You're right, there's nothing that can be done for this year, but without a first rounder next year, there may not be much to do next year either.

They're 2-1 right now, same as the Chargers, Broncos, and every team in our division - one of whom the Bills have beaten already. There is a lot of time to figure this out, and playoffs are still very much in the picture. I think a lot will be determined by how they look against NE, an opponent EJ has seen a few times now, and one that has seen him.

 

In any case, it ain't as great as it looked last week or as bad as it looked this week.

[GG]

They're 2-1 right now, same as the Chargers, Broncos, and every team in our division - one of whom the Bills have beaten already. There is a lot of time to figure this out, and playoffs are still very much in the picture. I think a lot will be determined by how they look against NE, an opponent EJ has seen a few times now, and one that has seen him.

 

In any case, it ain't as great as it looked last week or as bad as it looked this week.

 

I didn't watch the game and only listened to the radio, but my hunch is that Chargers ran the exact defense many thought they would. Crowd the line, take away the 10-15 middle zone and force EJ to beat the coverage.

 

I'm not going to call the 2-0 start a fluke, but I am confident that if Miami wasn't on its 4th string LB, their defense would have played a much different game. The middle of the field was wide open last Sunday, and that's not the defense you call against EJ. Let's get through next week first.

[1billsfan]

bingo.

 

 

they took away the run and EJ showed he's not good enough.

 

 

EJ had a bad day. But that's exactly what "growing pains" looks like in terms of a still raw and a bit unsure QB like Manuel. I think he'll eventually get it, but time will only tell.

 

I do think that this offense needs to be changed though. This team can't survive with Spiller up the middle anymore. Also, we don't have the guards for a consistent inside running game. They need to become more of a basketball offense by stretching the field and putting pressure on the defense to cover the width of the field. I think the Bills really should use Watkins and Spiller as flankers close to the line of scrimmage with Jackson, Dixon (occasionally Spiller) as our RBs. Williams and Woods as the wideouts. They also need to call a few runs for EJ that would be easy 8-10 yards gains and make the defense less likely to know where the ball is going. This is what the Eagles do and they do it very successfully. The Bills need to shake it up because it's clear that this offense is extremely predictable and it's simply not going to work because of this fact. They aren't built for smash mouth because the middle of the line sucks and can seem to provide holes when the defense is keying on the run. Marrone and Hackett need to adjust to their offensive personnel.

Edited September 22, 2014 by 1billsfan

[Mr. WEO]

 

No, not at all. Apart from the concept that I am a big believer in using the best words for communicative purposes, the only place I have come across the term "apologist" is here on the board.

 

That doesn't mean to say that you are wrong, as it may well be used all over the place in that context. It means that I personally have not come across it in the manner you speak of.....and I would very much appreciate the benefit of doubt in future before you jump to conclusions and call me disingenuous.

 

Interesting. It has been used in this way for at least a hundred years. But if you say you have never heard the word used in this sense until you saw it here, I will have to go with what you tell us on that one.

[thebandit27]

They're 2-1 right now, same as the Chargers, Broncos, and every team in our division - one of whom the Bills have beaten already. There is a lot of time to figure this out, and playoffs are still very much in the picture. I think a lot will be determined by how they look against NE, an opponent EJ has seen a few times now, and one that has seen him.

 

In any case, it ain't as great as it looked last week or as bad as it looked this week.

 

Miami is 1-2, and the Jets need to beat the Bears to get to 2-1...we could easily be 2-1 and tied for the division lead over 2 other teams.

[Big Gun]

Funny to say after a loss but you were nowhere to be found after the first 2 weeks... just like everyone else here. The entire team played bad yesterday.

 

Oh, I was around, CountDORKula!

[CountDorkula]

Oh, I was around, CountDORKula!

 

I don't know what is worse. The Bills performance AS A TEAM yesterday, or Bills fans after a loss.

[Maury Ballstein]

Bills fans after a loss. All these foolish crybabies. Painful to be 2-1 and lose to a team that just beat the unstoppable force known as the Seahawks the week before.

 

Cancel those Sunday tickets now !