Should Orton start next week?

[The Frankish Reich]

Listening to Beuerlein giving EJ some tough love on the broadcast today, it occurred to me that Orton is Beuerlein 2.0. Which kind of sucks since Beuerlein's best season as a starter was 1999 when he "led" Carolina to an 8-8 record. So it is with next to no enthusiasm that I say "start Kyle next week." Manuel just plain looks scared -- scared to fit the ball into tight coverage, scared to throw long, scared to pull it down and run for a first down when there's an open field in front of him, whether that's because the coaches have told him not to or because he doesn't trust his knees. He looks like ... Trent Edwards, except he threatens to run whereas Trent just stood there, but the threat is becoming an idle threat that defenses don't need to fear. He's not horrible, but if Orton had started today and played like Kyle Orton (or Steve Beuerlein) we would've been right in this game. As it was, we weren't. The score made it look closer than it was.

[LeGOATski]

Prevent offense.

 

Nice.

 

I thought the D adjusted well to the short passing game. They were beat by a couple nice long passes and bad coverage. It helped that San Diego had the wind at their backs, but those plays could've been prevented. San Diego had great 3rd down conversion % coming into this game, so I wasn't totally surprised by their efficiency early on. When they're on top of their game, they're hard to stop.

 

Overall, it was a solid outing by the D. Schwartz didn't need to blitz more. The line was getting pressure, but Rivers beat it often enough. Blitzing more may have actually made the situation worse.

Edited September 21, 2014 by LeGOATski

[Taro T]

It was 13-3 at the half

 

They moved the ball well but they certainly didn't score at will . The fact is that they knew that once they got up a couple of scores that a qb of EJ's ability would not be able to bring us back without the help of turnovers or special teams

San Diego scored 2 td's, 2 fg's, and moved the ball from about their 10 to midfield pinning the Bills back around their 10 on the only drive of their 1st 5 they didn't score on. In those drives they had 4 - 20+ yard plays. Scoring on 4 of 5 drives, each starting inside their 25 indicates they were hitting on nearly all cylinders.

 

Little reason to believe the Chargers couldn't have scored more if they didn't go ultra conservative w/ the 17 (subsequently reduced to 10) point lead. Even if EJ had picked it up, penalties, lack of stopping SD on 3rd down, and giving up huge plays would have likely still given SD the win today.

[Rob's House]

I voted for Manwel b/c I wouldn't pull a young QBover 1 bad game, but I'd have him on a short leash. The next really good game EJ has will be his first.

[K-9]

San Diego scored 2 td's, 2 fg's, and moved the ball from about their 10 to midfield pinning the Bills back around their 10 on the only drive of their 1st 5 they didn't score on. In those drives they had 4 - 20+ yard plays. Scoring on 4 of 5 drives, each starting inside their 25 indicates they were hitting on nearly all cylinders.

 

Little reason to believe the Chargers couldn't have scored more if they didn't go ultra conservative w/ the 17 (subsequently reduced to 10) point lead. Even if EJ had picked it up, penalties, lack of stopping SD on 3rd down, and giving up huge plays would have likely still given SD the win today.

 

Looks like you and I watched the same game. Our D did precious little until AFTER the Chargers came out and used half the 3rd quarter before scoring a TD to make it 20-3. Couldn't get off the field to save themselves until the 4th quarter. D was not good today, either.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Bufcomments]

They gonna give EJ the whole season barring injury.

 

So stop this.

[Augie]

 

 

What percentage of the idiocy do we associate with PUI (posting under the influence)? It is game day, after all.

 

I say 72.5%

I think I'll have another beer and ponder this for a split second before I say something stupid... Oh wait, I've probably been doing that all day... But how would I know?

[truth on hold]

no

[Ohiostyle]

I'm obviously not going to be able to come back to this board until after the next win.

[r00tabaga]

The goal is to win. New ownership. Marrone might make the switch. Did anyone see his face after some of those horrible plays??? He was visible upset, ESPECIALLY after the sack on 3rd down where he fumbled.

I would be upset to be a WR. When they were open he was locked on someone else. And he just left Marquise out to dry! He throws floaty and that ain't gonna work in our elements. He really struggles against 3-4. I can go on and on.

 

HE NEEDS TO SIT AND LEARN. I STILL LIKE HIM.

[K-9]

I'm obviously not going to be able to come back to this board until after the next win.

 

It's a piece of work, isn't it? But yeah, that might be the safe bet to wait until after the next win. But even then, it depends on how we win. Piece of work indeed.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Formerly Allan in MD]

EJ has progressed in certain areas, such as leadership, but you can't teach a quarterback accuracy. EJ will likely thus continue to be, way too often, the EJ we saw today. That being said, Orton in not the answer. We don't have one at this time and very likely won't next season even if we choose to go in a different direction. Keep playing EJ and hope for a miracle.

[K-9]

The goal is to win. New ownership. Marrone might make the switch. Did anyone see his face after some of those horrible plays??? He was visible upset, ESPECIALLY after the sack on 3rd down where he fumbled.

I would be upset to be a WR. When they were open he was locked on someone else. And he just left Marquise out to dry! He throws floaty and that ain't gonna work in our elements. He really struggles against 3-4. I can go on and on.

 

HE NEEDS TO SIT AND LEARN. I STILL LIKE HIM.

 

The "sit and learn" ship has sailed. Too bad we didn't have Orton last year. For the short term, you need to give your starter a chance to play through a rough game. The single most important aspect of a QB's development is how well he handles adversity on a play to play, series to series, and game to game basis. If he gives the staff absolutely no reason to play him as a result, then you make the move to the backup. Not before.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[LeGOATski]

One good thing about this thread: It's better than a "Should Tuel start next week?" thread.

[BobDVA]

Maybe it is the fact that San Diego is a damn good football team. If you were told at the beginning of the season we would be 2-1 after 3 games, how many people would have said they would not take that? I will be completely stoked if we are 3-2 going into the New England game!

[Augie]

One good thing about this thread: It's better than a "Should Tuel start next week?" thread.

That may be the ONLY good thing about this thread, but it's a very good thing indeed!

[r00tabaga]

I would've been happy with 2-1 yes, but we are really close I believe to being solid. Its not about EJ playing bad today. Its fundamental parts of his game that lost this game. Teams are gonna eat him up. They put 1 on 1 coverage in secondary & he just is too afraid to give his guys a shot.

 

I had hoped he turned the corner but he just cant win us games. Game manager wont get us in playoffs. We have playmakers that deserve better. 1st two games other groups bailed him out. Today we got down by 10 and I saw bad things.

[San-O]

Too soon. It'll take a few more weeks of something similar for the coaches to pull the plug.

 

EJ. stinks up the place a couple more times, and they will make the change during the bye week, or risk losing the season and the team.

[Rico]

Maybe it is the fact that San Diego is a damn good football team. If you were told at the beginning of the season we would be 2-1 after 3 games, how many people would have said they would not take that? I will be completely stoked if we are 3-2 going into the New England game!

No doubt the better team won. Chargers were very impressive.

[The Frankish Reich]

Two quarterbacks almost certainly going to the playoffs this year -- Dalton and Wilson -- actually caught passes today. Dalton for a touchdown. Yet we're so scared of losing EJ that he won't run? That's why Orton is here. Let EJ play all out. He's either gonna make it or fail as a running QB. He will definitely NOT make it as a non-running QB.