EJ Maneul stinks out loud.

[FireChan]

EJ's been getting a lot of criticism regarding missing wide open receivers. While I will wait for the all 22 to get a better grasp of how many and in what game situations, the one most mentioned seems to be when he had Woods wide open for a first down on the play he threw the INT. That may be true, but EJ showed some good judgement, imo; he just made a bad throw. He saw something he liked pre-snap and audibled to that play. And it was there as Hogan was open. A better pass and Hogan is waltzing into the endzone.

 

Here's the thing though; if EJ had hit Woods for the first down, we would be ripping him for not seeing Hogan running open downfield on that play.

 

I'm glad the kid saw something and took a shot. Their guy made play on a poorly thrown ball. In contrast, Gilmore just couldn't make a similar play on a perfectly thrown ball by Dalton later on.

 

Football is a damned fickle game sometimes.

 

GO BILLS!!!

I have harped on EJ letting the defense dictate what he throws too much. I'm glad he took a shot downfield. Not glad about it being a badly thrown ball, but that's the risk you take with high-reward plays. We weren't winning that game playing conservatively.

 

However, to me, it looked like he resorted to a conservative style in the second half. I hated that. I'd have rather had him throw another pick pushing the ball downfield.

Edited October 20, 2015 by FireChan

[Augie]

EJ will never be a Franchise QB (in my opinion), but he's not nearly as horrible as the haters want to make him out to be. Come on, Todd Collins lasted 15 years in the league. EJ will be around a while.

Edited October 20, 2015 by Augie

[K-9]

I have harped on EJ letting the defense dictate what he throws too much. I'm glad he took a shot downfield. Not glad about it being a badly thrown ball, but that's the risk you take with high-reward plays. We weren't winning that game playing conservatively.

 

However, to me, it looked like he resorted to a conservative style in the second half. I hated that. I'd have rather had him throw another pick pushing the ball downfield.

Let's look at that second half more closely. The game hinged on our initial possession of the second half immediately after Cinci crammed it down our throats to take a ten point lead. On first down, McCoy scampers for seven but thanks to Woods' second holding penalty of the game, we have a first and 20 inside our fifteen yard line. That is a tall order, especially given the receivers at our disposal at the time and I would have erred on the side of caution at that point in the game as well as Roman did. Play it safe, nope your D can get the ball back, and live to fight another series. Needless to say, by the time we got the ball back, we were down 17 with a little over a quarter to play. Game over. Cinci just sat back and kept it all in front of them at that point.

 

Few QBs can pull off a comeback like that with what we had to catch the ball at that point.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[FireChan]

Let's look at that second half more closely. The game hinged on our initial possession of the second half immediately after Cinci crammed it down our throats to take a ten point lead. On first down, McCoy scampers for seven but thanks to Woods' second holding penalty of the game, we have a first and 20 inside our fifteen yard line. That is a tall order, especially given the receivers at our disposal at the time and I would have erred on the side of caution at that point in the game as well as Roman did. Play it safe, nope your D can get the ball back, and live to fight another series. Needless to say, by the time we got the ball back, we were down 17 with a little over a quarter to play. Game over. Cinci just sat back and kept it all in front of them at that point.

 

Few QBs can pull off a comeback like that with what we had to catch the ball at that point.

 

GO BILLS!!!

We had a 1st and 20, but we got it to 3rd and 11. Tall order? Sure. Throwing the dump to Gragg for 6 yards? That's not even giving yourself an honest shot.

 

The defense couldn't stop them. The whole game was a tall order. Did you see what the Colts did playing against a Pats team that is next to unstoppable? They took chances. Yes, they took one too many, but when you're facing a superior opponent, it's better to go big and play risky. A L is still an L, whether it's by 14 or 21.

[K-9]

We had a 1st and 20, but we got it to 3rd and 11. Tall order? Sure. Throwing the dump to Gragg for 6 yards? That's not even giving yourself an honest shot.

 

The defense couldn't stop them. The whole game was a tall order. Did you see what the Colts did playing against a Pats team that is next to unstoppable? They took chances. Yes, they took one too many, but when you're facing a superior opponent, it's better to go big and play risky. A L is still an L, whether it's by 14 or 21.

 

It is a matter of playing the odds at certain points of the game in certain situations. I guarantee Roman got in his ear about being safe with that field position. I can fully understand as it is only a two possession game at that point.

 

Be honest though, if EJ had gone for broke and turned it over, would you still be OK with it at that point in the game? I seriously doubt that. It would be all about why he forced it when it was still a close game.

 

Our offense had one realistic chance to make it a game in the second half and it was derailed by another holding penalty and poor field position.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[FireChan]

It is a matter of playing the odds at certain points of the game in certain situations. I guarantee Roman got in his ear about being safe with that field position. I can fully understand as it is only a two possession game at that point.

 

Be honest though, if EJ had gone for broke and turned it over, would you still be OK with it at that point in the game? I seriously doubt that. It would be all about why he forced it when it was still a close game.

 

Our offense had one realistic chance to make it a game in the second half and it was derailed by another holding penalty and poor field position.

 

GO BILLS!!!

If we were honest, I might still be annoyed at the TO. But I'd respect him taking the shot.

 

I suppose I'm using a little bit of hindsight. I know that the defense couldn't do anything to stop them in the second half, but not until after the game.

[reddogblitz]

Gilmore just couldn't make a similar play on a perfectly thrown ball by Dalton later on.

GO BILLS!!!

Gilmore can't catch the football with a bushel basket.

[Hanoverbills]

Defense was exhausted due to poor QB play.

Yea, just like the other two home games. I think at halftime against the Bengals we had more TIP. The Bengals receive the ball first in the second half and scored, What was the score at halftime against the patriots and what was our starting QB stats against both NE and Giants in the first half of those games.Maybe thats why our defense played bad in those games. This is Manuel first start this year and playing a pretty good defensive team. How did Andrew Luck look in his first game this year? And Luck was starting against a over rated defense, run by a over rated defensive minded headcoach.

Edited October 20, 2015 by Hanoverbills

[hondo in seattle]

Anyone who thinks EJ played really well, or really badly, yesterday obviously went into the game wearing tinted glasses.

 

His 87.7 passer rating would put him in the middle of the 2015 QB rankings if he had enough attempts to qualify.

 

If you prefer the ESPN rating method, EJ's QBR of 56.9 is about average for a starting NFL QB.

 

And my eyes - after watching football for 45 years - saw an average performance.

 

We scored 21 points and this was supposed to be a team that was built to win when scoring over 20.

 

Considering Rex is supposed to be a defensive guru and we have one of the highest paid defensive units in the league and our D is reasonably healthy (compared to our O), I just don't see how anyone lay the blame for this game at EJ's feet.

 

During the second half, I kept muttering "We need a new defensive coordinator... Rex needs to try something different... What's up with our defensive line?... What the eff is wrong with our D?!?!"

[Augie]

Anyone who thinks EJ played really well, or really badly, yesterday obviously went into the game wearing tinted glasses.

 

His 87.7 passer rating would put him in the middle of the 2015 QB rankings if he had enough attempts to qualify.

 

If you prefer the ESPN rating method, EJ's QBR of 56.9 is about average for a starting NFL QB.

 

And my eyes - after watching football for 45 years - saw an average performance.

 

We scored 21 points and this was supposed to be a team that was built to win when scoring over 20.

 

Considering Rex is supposed to be a defensive guru and we have one of the highest paid defensive units in the league and our D is reasonably healthy (compared to our O), I just don't see how anyone lay the blame for this game at EJ's feet.

 

During the second half, I kept muttering "We need a new defensive coordinator... Rex needs to try something different... What's up with our defensive line?... What the eff is wrong with our D?!?!"

Well said, and a nice balance between the two extremes. Silly people with agendas insist upon proving their point, regardless of the reality.

[BADOLBILZ]

Anyone who thinks EJ played really well, or really badly, yesterday obviously went into the game wearing tinted glasses.

 

His 87.7 passer rating would put him in the middle of the 2015 QB rankings if he had enough attempts to qualify.

 

If you prefer the ESPN rating method, EJ's QBR of 56.9 is about average for a starting NFL QB.

 

And my eyes - after watching football for 45 years - saw an average performance.

 

We scored 21 points and this was supposed to be a team that was built to win when scoring over 20.

 

Considering Rex is supposed to be a defensive guru and we have one of the highest paid defensive units in the league and our D is reasonably healthy (compared to our O), I just don't see how anyone lay the blame for this game at EJ's feet.

 

During the second half, I kept muttering "We need a new defensive coordinator... Rex needs to try something different... What's up with our defensive line?... What the eff is wrong with our D?!?!"

 

Well put....it's that simple.

[DC Tom]

Gilmore can't catch the football with a bushel basket.

 

It always amazes me when people complain that defensive backs don't have enough interceptions. If they could reliably catch the ball, they'd be receivers. DBs are WRs with stone hands.

[Augie]

Gilmore can't catch the football with a bushel basket.

Didn't he have a long play where he THOUGHT he could catch it and had a brain fart? He was to the inside down the middle. If he had been content with just batting it down we could have taken some Bengal points off the board?

[reddogblitz]

It always amazes me when people complain that defensive backs don't have enough interceptions. If they could reliably catch the ball, they'd be receivers. DBs are WRs with stone hands.

True to a degree. Some DBs can catch, like Byrd or Darby for example. Gilmore is probably THE worst DB at catching the football I've ever seen. Pretty good in coverage when he's not getting flagged for playing grab ass, but flat out cannot catch the football.

[NOVABillsFan]

EJM scored 1 TD with Sammy, one on his own, and one down 20 poins with 3 minutes to go.

Sorry I don't see what your point is?

 

Any scores late in the game when you are down don't count?

 

edit

The Bills scored 3 TD's and people are not happy with that?

Edited October 20, 2015 by NOVABillsFan

[BuffaloHokie13]

Anyone who thinks EJ played really well, or really badly, yesterday obviously went into the game wearing tinted glasses.

 

His 87.7 passer rating would put him in the middle of the 2015 QB rankings if he had enough attempts to qualify.

 

If you prefer the ESPN rating method, EJ's QBR of 56.9 is about average for a starting NFL QB.

 

And my eyes - after watching football for 45 years - saw an average performance.

 

We scored 21 points and this was supposed to be a team that was built to win when scoring over 20.

 

Considering Rex is supposed to be a defensive guru and we have one of the highest paid defensive units in the league and our D is reasonably healthy (compared to our O), I just don't see how anyone lay the blame for this game at EJ's feet.

 

During the second half, I kept muttering "We need a new defensive coordinator... Rex needs to try something different... What's up with our defensive line?... What the eff is wrong with our D?!?!"

Not that it changes the sentiment whatsoever, but his passer rating was 81.7. Nonetheless I wholeheartedly agree with this post.

[VABills]

Not that it changes the sentiment whatsoever, but his passer rating was 81.7. Nonetheless I wholeheartedly agree with this post.

The 81.7 puts it at about the #24 Qb for the league in 2015. That's not average. That's below average. Not horrible, but also not good enough to be even an average starter. EJ is where he belongs, on the bench. He didn't lose the game, but he did nothing to win it, even though he's had more weapons than the starter. On top of that he played one of the worst defensive teams in the league.

[Nanker]

Anyone who thinks EJ played really well, or really badly, yesterday obviously went into the game wearing tinted glasses.

 

His 87.7 passer rating would put him in the middle of the 2015 QB rankings if he had enough attempts to qualify.

 

If you prefer the ESPN rating method, EJ's QBR of 56.9 is about average for a starting NFL QB.

 

And my eyes - after watching football for 45 years - saw an average performance.

 

We scored 21 points and this was supposed to be a team that was built to win when scoring over 20.

 

Considering Rex is supposed to be a defensive guru and we have one of the highest paid defensive units in the league and our D is reasonably healthy (compared to our O), I just don't see how anyone lay the blame for this game at EJ's feet.

 

During the second half, I kept muttering "We need a new defensive coordinator... Rex needs to try something different... What's up with our defensive line?... What the eff is wrong with our D?!?!"

Well for one, they're not generally rushing 4. So the OLine starts with a 5-3 advantage in man power. If they keep a TE and/or a RB in for protection, that gives Rex's scheme a 6-3 or 7-3 disadvantage to overcome. Every one of the three rushing linemen can be double covered. Add to that mix a QB with brains and a quick release and it adds up to no QB pressures and very few sacks.

 

I'm not so sure Rex and Company are the defensive geniuses they're made out to be.

[boyst]

 

and how exactly is this not on Manuel?

he's not why we lost.

[The Big Cat]

I keep reading about how a holding penalty on the first drive of the second half is what lost us the game.

 

Okay.

 

Well, there was more than one half of football played prior to that.

 

And, in spite of four consecutive three and outs and consistently gracious field position for the Bengals throughout the first half, we were still only trailing by three points to one of the most potent offenses in the league.

 

The game was not lost on the first three drives of the second half.

 

The game was lost when the Bengals were sufficiently slowed in the FIRST half but our offense had no ability to provide a buffer.

 

Touchdown on the opening drive followed by a three and out for the Bengals, that's when the boot heal should go into the throat. Instead, four straight three and outs, and the Bengals have the opportunity to claw their way back in with the help of gift-wrapped opportunities.

 

Sorry, but we lost this game because EJ Manuel couldn't effectively move the ball with a seven point lead. Once our lead was surrendered, it was hopeless.

 

We lost this game because EJ was lousy. Period.