JPS Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 A decent QB makes this whole conversation go away. Whaley has failed miserably at addressing the most important position on the team. They did an exhaustive, no stone unturned, examination and vowed to get a QB. So he turns a 3rd rounder into a 1st rounder and scrambles to cover for his mistake. This faith in EJ cost him a chance at a decent QB next year. I dunno. On the plus side, he's completely fixed the defensive front 7. The negatives- No QB, a questionable offensive line, no TE and Questions at RB. Yet, you know they'll take WRs and CBs next year. I wouldn't be crushed if they brought in a team with a cohesive vision.
dave mcbride Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 Is Marrone wrong to think that the Bills have a better chance to win with Orton? Does anyone who does not populate a Bills board or who is not Doug Whaley think Manuel will be good?
Snorom Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 Agreed. No one can touch Orton's ability to fall to the ground to avoid hits; turn the ball over; and struggle to score a td. Actually EJ does a damn good job of being a much worse QB than Orton. That is clear as day. Say what you will but the Bills would be much worse off if EJ kept playing
26CornerBlitz Posted December 11, 2014 Author Posted December 11, 2014 (edited) That is what I was working up to and hope others chime in. Early on I seem to remember some conflict in Pittsburgh between Tomlin and the FO. Eventually, it seemed to get on track as the OC and others were weeded out and replaced a few times. I would like to see Whaley stay with the Bills as GM and hire his own coach with no involvement from Russ Brandon. Edited December 11, 2014 by 26CornerBlitz
dave mcbride Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 I thought this piece on Whaley was somewhat revealing: http://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2014/11/doug_whaley_discusses_ej_manuel_kyle_orton_and_the_future_of_the_buffalo_bills_q.html
boyst Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 I would like to see Whaley stay with the Bills as GM and hire his own coach with no involvement from Russ Brandon. I thought Whaley did a lot of hiring wrt Marrone? That it was as much a group pick with group think as it was anything? That all voices leaned toward Marrone after Chip Kelly pulled his crap? I have a bitter taste with Chip Kelly. He attempts to stay at Oregon until his team faces some major sanctions then bolts out of town as soon as they look troubling. Takes the Phili job and has since struggled greatly. They're going to be hurting next year. I really thought Kelly was after the Dallas job, tbh.
thewildrabbit Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 Clearly Marrone knows he is coaching for his job, and he thinks the Bills still have a chance to make the playoffs. Dunno why he would revert back to EJ at this point. If Whaley survives the off-season and stays as GM I think he fires Marrone. I almost think they both survive and its Hackett that gets the ax. Clearly tho, Whaley needs some help distinguishing offensive talent.
GG Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 Is Marrone wrong to think that the Bills have a better chance to win with Orton? Does anyone who does not populate a Bills board or who is not Doug Whaley think Manuel will be good? He's absolutely correct in thinking Orton gives them the best chance to win. But from an organizational standpoint, if the Bills lose this weekend, you want to see in real game time what EJ learned on the sidelines. You don't want to be hoping/guessing the QB situation this offseason.
Kelly the Dog Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 He's absolutely correct in thinking Orton gives them the best chance to win. But from an organizational standpoint, if the Bills lose this weekend, you want to see in real game time what EJ learned on the sidelines. You don't want to be hoping/guessing the QB situation this offseason. This just occurred to me. Orton has a player option for 5+m. Maybe they have seen enough of him to know he is not THE answer. If they start EJ in the last two games, maybe Orton doesnt take that option. And the team can decide whether or not they want to pay him/play him. He wants to play.
boyst Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 This just occurred to me. Orton has a player option for 5+m. Maybe they have seen enough of him to know he is not THE answer. If they start EJ in the last two games, maybe Orton doesnt take that option. And the team can decide whether or not they want to pay him/play him. He wants to play. I don't know if I want to go in to a 2015 season without Orton and a wildcard EJ anymore or less then I want to go in to 2015 with Orton and wildcard EJ. Orton is the best horse we can hitch up to at this point and likely next year, as well. Wish we'd have kept Fitz. Bit the bullet and kept him. We'd be better off.
leh-nerd skin-erd Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 Where is the conflict? The Bills are in playoff race. If they win Sunday they're in great shape to potentially be 9-6 going into season finale. If they are 7-8 and out if it, it would make sense to evaluate EJ further from a FO perspective and he knows that. Yet as the coach, he would like to still give the team the best chance to win and at this point in time he believes Orton is that guy. I don't see the issue with what he said. Agreed. I don't know if it's just that football boils down to success in a matter os 16 hours of play time or what, but it seems that people are often looking to create a back story for pretty much anything said or done. We know, since Orton will be starting, that Marrone thinks he offers the best chance for a victory. What more really needs to be said?
YoloinOhio Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 He's absolutely correct in thinking Orton gives them the best chance to win. But from an organizational standpoint, if the Bills lose this weekend, you want to see in real game time what EJ learned on the sidelines. You don't want to be hoping/guessing the QB situation this offseason. while 1 or 2 more games this year is better than 0 when it comes to evaluation material, I don't know how much less hoping/guessing in the offseason at the QB position there would be as a result. Marrone said he'd reevaluate if they get to 7-8. Would a game v Patriots at Gillette do much for EJ? Fan confidence? FO confidence?
mrags Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 did you miss the "unless someone else makes me make the change" part of it? if he said "we are in a playoff race and im going to play the guy i think gives us the best shot, end of story" it wouldve been the end of the story. that he tagged on extra is the weird part. i haven't read this entire thread so I'm sure somebody has commented on this. But if not... The problem with your take is that we can all Monday morning QB this thing. We can all look back at what Marrone said in an interview/press conference. We can all look at things after they were said and try and find what it really meant. Maybe, just maybe, Maronne didn't say something about the potential for still being in the playoff race becaise he assumed everyone already knew that. Maybe he just meant his comment as being what it really is. Right now, Kyle Orton gives us the best chance to win, and until we lose, we won't be changing who plays QB unless someone who makes more money than I do tells me different.
26CornerBlitz Posted December 11, 2014 Author Posted December 11, 2014 Agreed. I don't know if it's just that football boils down to success in a matter os 16 hours of play time or what, but it seems that people are often looking to create a back story for pretty much anything said or done. We know, since Orton will be starting, that Marrone thinks he offers the best chance for a victory. What more really needs to be said? That's the entire point of this thread and the subsequent discussion. He went beyond what was necessary.
bananathumb Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 Pistols at 100 yards for the Dougs. Of course, both would miss.
thewildrabbit Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 Actually EJ does a damn good job of being a much worse QB than Orton. That is clear as day. Say what you will but the Bills would be much worse off if EJ kept playing I don't believe EJ is as bad as his last game showed him to be. Lets not forget that Richardson was playing LG at that time, and EJ had no pocket to step up into, as the interior was so weak. As inaccurate as he was he still went 21 of 44 for 2 TD's, 2 INT's. 5 of 16 3rd downs. 12 first downs passing. Which was better then Fitz.
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 I think he may eoither outright fire him, or give him too many conditions to accept to keeping his job like fire Hackert, fire the OL coach, etc. Marrone doesn't react quick enough so he gets fired. In Marrone's defense if he did agree to get a new OC, he may have trouble finding someone unless Marrone himself gets extended else he's a lamb duck coach looking to hire a new OC If Whaley survives the off-season and stays as GM I think he fires Marrone.
K-9 Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 (edited) He's absolutely correct in thinking Orton gives them the best chance to win. But from an organizational standpoint, if the Bills lose this weekend, you want to see in real game time what EJ learned on the sidelines. You don't want to be hoping/guessing the QB situation this offseason. I just disagree that run for the bus games are "real game time." It's glorified preseason. There are many things to consider from an organizational standpoint. One of which is, owing to the HUGE question of QB for next season and the even more HUGE fan hysteria surrounding it, if Manuel goes out and absolutely schits the bed, then I've just compounded the problem. If he goes out and does great, does that really convince anyone he's the long term answer because he had a couple decent outings in mop up time? No. Run for the bus games make it too easy for his teammates to let up, lose focus, and not execute. There's a palatable letdown in the lockerroom when you've busted your ass all season and finally get eliminated from contention. It's human nature. For EJ to have the best opportunity to succeed, he needs his supporting cast to be all in, OLmen to finish blocks, receivers to be precise. He needs meaningful games played by teammates with meaningful expectations. I've seen too many letdowns over the years in end of the season run for the bus games. GO BILLS!!! Edited December 11, 2014 by K-9
mrags Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 I don't believe EJ is as bad as his last game showed him to be. Lets not forget that Richardson was playing LG at that time, and EJ had no pocket to step up into, as the interior was so weak. As inaccurate as he was he still went 21 of 44 for 2 TD's, 2 INT's. 5 of 16 3rd downs. 12 first downs passing. Which was better then Fitz. we forget that part. The OLine and much of the team wasn't together yet and firing on all cylinders. Not that it is any better now, but it is more experienced to say the least. Orton isn't the answer long term with this team. I was hoping I was wrong before an he could be. But this year has proved what Orton is. No different from when we signed him. A career .500 QB. He has some good days. Some bad. In the end, it pretty much evens out. With that said, right now he probably gives is the best chance to win games and maybe he gets on one of his 3-4 game streaks like earlier in the year where he played well and it takes is into the playoffs and further. Regardless, until were eliminated, he's probably our best option.
Captain Hindsight Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 I think there's a lot of assumptions in this thread about how certain people think/feel. All i know is if Marrone gets the Bills to .500 or better i don't think he's being fired (especially if they beat GB and/or NE). Around the league i bet it's a conclusion drawn by many NFL insiders that you cannot win in Buffalo. Maybe going forward this will change under Pegula, but to get a winning record here is a pretty major accomplishment. Getting to 8-8 here is an accomplishment. We've had one winning season this entire century. Marrone has this team playing hard. If he had a QB, we'd all feel a lot different about Doug. I dont care if he's a nice guy or not. Belicheck and Harbaugh are dicks and people want them here
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