A Few Thoughts About The Game, in no particular order.....

[A Dog Named Kelso]

Just that I imagine any club drafting a younger/bigger/faster quarterback is probably assuming that QB mobility will increase, not decrease.

Ah well I think they have coached his mobility out of him. They have basically told him not to run which is evident by the yards he leaves on the field when running the option. He never really keeps it even though there is a ton of room for him.

[BuffaninATL]

I get the offense was bad. Especially frustrating because we could have won by running more. But, hypothetically here, say PI is called on EJ's pick at the end of the game, like it should have been. Hypothetically, say he throws a TD to win the game one play later. That's one play different than what we saw. By all accounts, still a horrible game for EJ. However, we wouldn't have nearly as much pessimism, because of the win. The missed receivers, tipped passes, late throws, etc. would be an afterthought.

 

EJ is a young QB. Our coaches are a young staff. Both need to improve drastically. That being said, it does the franchise no good firing coaches or benching our 1st round QB at this point. EJ has potential. Our cches have potential tooa be great. They need the opportunity to learn from mistakes and take that next step.

 

Don't get me wrong. I would love to win now. Orton could maybe provide this. Maybe not. I'm more interested in finding consistency to win for years. EJ needs to play so we can determine if he is part of the future.

 

Also, we'll make the playoffs this year.

 

sorry, I'm calling BS on the bolded parts....the NFL is a win now league (in our case, now = 14 years of no playoffs). You don't put a young coaching staff together so that we can hope they " can learn from their mistakes. " This is NOT the way successful NFL franchises are built. And EJ's potential is easily questioned when you see his remarkably poor fundamentals, inaccuracy, and very poor visibility."Learning from mistakes" is something you do with a high school team, not an NFL team.

[IronyAbounds]

sorry, I'm calling BS on the bolded parts....the NFL is a win now league (in our case, now = 14 years of no playoffs). You don't put a young coaching staff together so that we can hope they " can learn from their mistakes. " This is NOT the way successful NFL franchises are built. And EJ's potential is easily questioned when you see his remarkably poor fundamentals, inaccuracy, and very poor visibility."Learning from mistakes" is something you do with a high school team, not an NFL team.

 

The NFL is a win now league, but even more importantly, you have to minimize your mistakes with personnel decisions, and the Bills have had a plethora of questionable personnel decisions for quite some time. Look at their No. 1 picks from recent years: Manuel (jury out, but to date CLEARLY not a 1st round caliber QB), Gilmore (jury out to some extent, but again, CLEARLY not a 1st round CB), Dareus (probably the best 1st round pick in a long time, but I don't think he has played to the level of the 3rd pick of the draft), Spiller (flashes of great talent, but CLEARLY has not provided 1st round results for the Bills), Maybin (OMFG, what could they have been smoking before that pick), McKelvin (a very serviceable player for the Bills, but again, CLEARLY not a 1st round CB), and Wood (a decent 1st round pick at #28, not great but certainly not a bust). When you consider that the Bills for the most part have drafted in the upper third of the draft, you'd expect better results if the front office had a clue. It was good for the Bills to trade down in 2013, but the benefits of doing that are kinda lost if you trade down and take a player you could have gotten at a minimum one round later and perhaps even 2 rounds later. One constant problem with the Bills is the OL, so it is rather startling that the Bills haven't used their first pick in the draft for an offensive lineman since Mike Williams in 2002. I guess they were so traumatized by that crapfest they choose not to repeat it.

[Dragonborn10]

the Big Difference is that Watt lines up all over the D Line so its extremely difficult to key in on a game plan for him...The Man is unreal, Right now he is the best player in football, You watch he is changing the way the Defensive Line position is played the same way Lawrence Taylor did the linebacker position. Organizations will be looking for versatile players that can create havoc no matter where they are lined up at.

Smells and looks like steroids to me...just a matter of time before he gets busted if they bother to test

 

Fantastic post, BuffaninATL ... I would add only this: EJ was drafted because he was going to be a mobile quarterback. He showed today that he is less mobile than even Fitz. Longest run this year? 8 yards. I don't know if he's hurting, if he's scared he'll get hurt, or if he's simply been overcoached/cautioned into paralysis, but I do know you can't win when you're that tentative.

Maybe he is looking downfield to make a throw. I can only remember a few times where he could have run and didn't. He could have run on the 80 yard TD pass. Accuracy is his issue not his running.

[Jim in Anchorage]

Smells and looks like steroids to me...just a matter of time before he gets busted if they bother to test

 

 

Maybe he is looking downfield to make a throw. I can only remember a few times where he could have run and didn't. He could have run on the 80 yard TD pass. Accuracy is his issue not his running.

I think they do test. Regular.

[bbb]

Strange that our running quarterback can't catch a huge lineman.

[Jim in Anchorage]

Strange that our running quarterback can't catch a huge lineman.

Well Watts on steroids [or so they say] so that explains that. I found it more puzzling that he could not see him 5 feet in front of his face.

[Bill from NYC]

The time management...if can call it that...at the end of the first half was awful Me and my friend watching were screaming for EJ to spike the ball, Ray Charles could have seen that that was the right play. Bills lost at least two additional plays because of that blunder.

 

And this came immediately after 2 timeouts on 3 plays.

 

The truth is this is not new to Marrone. Last season he threw away several chances to score before the half.

 

We have Brandon to thank.

[John Adams]

EJ got beat by ryan pickspatrick who is absolute trash. Who we rightly discarded.

 

Flag on the play. Fitz was a leader of men. He plays and played while here with absolute and total guts. He threw the ball hard and ran a smart offense. He had no touch and could not throw downfield, but absolute garbage he was not. He would have died to have Manuel's weapons. He just wasn't the future of the Bills.

 

In the land of Lillipution QBs since Kelly, he's second only to Bledsoe.

 

Strange that our running quarterback can't catch a huge lineman.

 

A huge incredibly fast lineman who was moving in the direction of the end zone when he caught the ball? Of all the things to criticize, this is what you chose to pick?

Edited September 29, 2014 by John Adams

[bbb]

No, I got a lot more than that.

[BuffaloBill]

This game hurt to watch.

 

This sums up the situation nicely.

[thewildrabbit]

If I had to choose between Manuel and Trent Edwards, I'd take Edwards. Neither quarterback is going to throw the ball more than 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. (Except on extremely rare occasions.) But at least Edwards' 0 - 5 yard passes are going to be more accurate than Manuel's.

While I would choose a "brand new" Edwards who was very accurate with his down field passes, and was more NFL ready when drafted. I sure wouldn't take the brain scrambled mess that he is now after so many concussions from playing on Jaron the morons teams.

 

Edwards was more the victim of the crappy scheme, crappy line, crappy offense that jauron ran more then anything else. The kid played in a west coast offense in college, and Skeletor ran a version of the Mike Martz get your QB killed offense that wanted him to take 3-5 step drop backs when he never had anywhere near that much time to throw. Of course he was always going to check it down because the pass plays took far to long to develop, and his receiver corps mostly stunk.

 

The Bills coaches ruined Edwards, and while this coaching staff hasn't ruined EJ just yet... Its only a matter of time. What kind of mental midgets come in with a game plan to have the 2nd year QB throw 44 times, against the #27 ranked run defense?

Edited September 29, 2014 by FeartheLosing

[birdog1960]

Can't believe anyone is surprised by the use of a sports psychologist. They are common and I don't know of too many major programs that don't employ them at one time or another. I get that people are going to pick up anything handy to bust EJ over the head with, but this strikes me as narrow minded. Especially when there is no shortage of other things to bust on him about.

 

GO BILLS!!!

is that your criteria for validity? lot's of athletes wore magnets and copper bracelets. i'll bet lots watch dr oz as well.

[Gordio]

ok my point of view.

we blew a 10 point lead and never scored again until a fluke play in the 4th. EJ over looked open receivers, and threw inaccurate almost the whole game. The defense was on the field too often after 7 scoreless possessions. Yet, happened to stop the run and force the texans to throw WITH Fitzpatrick at QB. JJ Watt was the only notable force that our offense couldnt stop. Between him and EJ we had no chance to win. We burn 2 1st half timeouts with in 2 or 3 plays?? Our redzone offense was sh*t yet again. The WRs have no trust in Manuel and I feel the defense is tired of having no support on offense. Goodwin is hurt because of EJ staring down our receivers. Plenty of opportunities to win this game. I almost hated the fact that Mike Williams caught a 80 TD because I didnt have faith that EJ could march us down to score again for the win on the next possession. I am now officially done giving EJ "time" to mature. He has shown little improvement and little confidence. I am now on EJs Bash wagon.

 

On the way to work today Joe B who was at the game said there were receivers open all afternoon long & Manuel refuse to pull the trigger & when he does he usaully sails it 10 yards over their heads. The pick was a reach when we made it, this guy is not an NFL QB. The problem is though marrone/Whaley are married to him because they picked him. If he fails they are probably out this year & they know it. It is a shame. I honestly think the Bills have one of the best WR groups in the league. That talent is being wasted.

[JPS]

I'm getting that feeling too Captain, but the Oline still can't handle line stunts!

Nor can they tackle!

[Canadian Bills Fan]

1) Was it me, or did McKelvin call a fair catch on a couple of punts that it looked like he could have returned?

 

2) Please excuse me, I am going to be less delicate and more scathing today.

 

3) Carpenter's successful field goal was probably a contributing factor to the blood pressure of the average Bills Fan. I actually thought that he missed it.

 

4) Let's see....we are near midfield with 30 something seconds before the half, and no timeouts. Do you spike the ball and set up a few plays? No? OK, let's line up and throw an inbounds 3 yard pass. Marrone and Hackett are not up to the task. They are sub-par coaches who are WAY over their heads. So is Brandon who hired these Syracuse cronies. Hopefully, they will all be fired, and they can take Whaley with them.

 

5) EJ completed 21 passes today. My contention is that most of his completions even sucked. He was not leading his receivers and was throwing late. The TD pass to Sammy should have been an easy play. It wasn't. Much more to come on EJ.

 

6)Broken heart don't feel so bad,

Ain't got half a what you thought you had.

Rock your baby to and fro,

Not too fast and not too slow.

And I say row, Jimmy, row

Gonna get there?

I don't know.

Seems a common, way to go

Get down, row, row, row,

row, row.

 

7) Manuel had many opportunities to run. It looked to me as if he didn't have the balls to do so.

 

8) Kyle Williams was clearly double covered when he blocked that pass in the 3rd qtr. He is as fundamentally sound as any player we will see. I hope his knee is OK, and the same applies to Bradham, who looks very good.

 

9) The interception by McKelvin was so off the charts great that its hard to describe. It was the best play of his career, and I have a hard time picturing him ever making a better play. That was a great play for Deion Sanders or Mel Blount. He not only muscled the ball from the receiver, but he went up a mile high. What a freaking play!!!!!

 

10) If Marrone has a hair on his ass he would bench EJ vs. the Lions. Orton may not be that good, but he is a professional quarterback. And I am guessing that if Orton makes a good play, he won't feel the need to stare up into the screen. That said, Marrone probably will not do this. He and Whaley are clinging to their last shred of hope. It's sickening.

 

11) Once again, my man Searcy is making pays. The truth is that even Gilmore didn't hurt us today.

 

12) What did you people think about the Bills time management in the first half? Does this look like a professional coaching staff? I am going to call it disgraceful.

 

13) Yeah, this game was on EJ. He was no better than Thad Lewis today or even Tuel. I am calling for him to be immediately benched. If you disagree, please tell me how much time you care to give him, ok?

 

14) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Please tell me EJ didn't do that...

 

 

CBF

Edited September 29, 2014 by Canadian Bills Fan

[bigK14094]

I am hoping that Pegula doesn't give the current administration a Reiger esk pass on their performance and allow them to stay into next year. Need a new GM and coach......Whaley may get to stay though.....if he can put the EJ fiasco on Marrone and Nix.

 

As for the lead comments, mostly correct. McKelvin played the best of the CB;s in Houston. Bradham was good, and Brown is actually making some plays.

Edited September 29, 2014 by bigK14094

[SoulMan]

Bills snatched defeat from victory.

 

The lesser of two less than average qb's, abysmal play calling and receiver drops.

 

Catch the damn ball!!

[KD in CA]

4) Let's see....we are near midfield with 30 something seconds before the half, and no timeouts. Do you spike the ball and set up a few plays? No? OK, let's line up and throw an inbounds 3 yard pass. Marrone and Hackett are not up to the task. They are sub-par coaches who are WAY over their heads. So is Brandon who hired these Syracuse cronies. Hopefully, they will all be fired, and they can take Whaley with them.!

 

I see this happen all the time. Why is a WR only two yards downfield at that point in the play, in a position to do nothing but kill the drive?

 

I remember one game years ago where the Bills had a 4th and 6 on their final drive and JP threw to a WR one yard downfield. Tackle, ballgame.

 

Some things never change. Maddening.

[Storm Front]

I'm so glad I didn't waste a beautiful day watching this crappy game. The Bills aren't going to be any good until they get a real QB. Orton is better than EJ or Fitz for that matter. Marrone might as well play him sooner than later.