Flashback EJ manual comeback drive

[Einstein]

I was in the corner endzone where Stevie scored. My friend, a Panthers fan, was kicked in the head right after Stevie caught the ball. Hurt him pretty good. As we are leaving the game he turned to me and said “I wonder what would have happened to me had the Panthers won!”.

 

Rewatching that drive makes me question what we were all thinking when we thought EJ Manuel had arrived. He had one good play that drive and was bailed out three times. Once by Fred dropping the ball and another time by the ref. He also threw a pass behind Spilled that was deflected and almost INT’ed.

[BuffaloMatt]

Winston won the national championship with essentially the same FSU team once EJ left. Hate Whaley, Hate Brandon, Hate Manuel, Marrone and Hackett . . . . .thanks for the walk down crappy football, coaching and managment lane!

[boyst]

55 minutes ago, Capco said:

You seem like foruming comes before football 😂

Watching the game that day was rather dull until the end and it was fun to watch their reactions counter to the Bills reactions. 

[hondo in seattle]

16 hours ago, mikemac2001 said:

9/15/2013 bills vs panthers 

 

i was at the game but then was thinking who was coaching there and realized the DC was McDermott and thought it was interesting 

 

This drive looked sluggish and unimpressive... until it won the game.  

[mannc]

All set up by Ron Rivera deciding to kick a field goal on 4th and 1 to put the Panthers ahead by 6 with less than a minute left.

[WotAGuy]

6 minutes ago, mannc said:

All set up by Ron Rivera deciding to kick a field goal on 4th and 1 to put the Panthers ahead by 6 with less than a minute left.

OMG - if you were to substitute Sean McDermott name for Ron River’s, it would….still……be……

[Capco]

48 minutes ago, boyst said:

Watching the game that day was rather dull until the end and it was fun to watch their reactions counter to the Bills reactions. 

That's fair.  When the games lack entertainment, the internet provides other forms.

[ColoradoBills]

Was at the game with 2 of my brothers.  Best seats I ever had at the stadium.  50-yard line, Section 134, Row 20.

It was a lot of fun, but nothing compared to now.

[RoscoeParrish]

3 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Yeah, not sure he makes it elsewhere either...but just saying he was for sure not going to here.  We provided the worst case scenario for him, not sure I have ever seen a drafted QB as mishandled and managed as he was here.  

Josh has a case?

 

Drafted to sit, but starts second half of week 1.

 

Backup is known bad QB Nate Peterman (who is not an NFL vet)

 

One of the least talented team in the franchises’ history

 

Pairing him with an OC with a not great track record at best

 

Scrambling to pull an actual NFL vet off the couch in October in Derek Anderson

[JerseyBills]

16 hours ago, Rad Likes The Bills said:

We have Josh Allen. Time to let him go 🙏🏾

Thank God!!!!

[prissythecat]

The EJ love on this board remains strong .  He was terrible .  No amount of coaching would have changed his headless chicken running style and extreme lack of pocket presence. 

[Mister Defense]

I remember getting very excited in some of his later games, telling people, "Look how much better he is getting!  The balls are now in the vicinity of the receivers! This means soon he may be able to get it even closer!"

 

Nope.

 

Homer, rose colored glasses, yup.

[strive_for_five_guy]

17 hours ago, holla83 said:

I was at this game too. I was gifted the tickets at about 8:00 the night before. I scrambled around to find someone to go with. I ended up taking a very attractive former classmate. It was her first NFL game. What a finish!

12 hours ago, Another Fan said:

In real time I still remember thinking that call was BS but relieved and happy at the same moment 

For one day, we felt like Chief fans.

[Mr. Wonderful]

Whaley...Doug Friggin' Whaley.

[machine gun kelly]

I’d rather forget all drought memories except maybe the Fitz win over the Cheats with TB’s four picks.

[Bookie Man]

Rodgers had himself a DAY!

 

34/42 480 4 TD's.

[RobbRiddicksTDLeap]

I know EJ wasn’t the guy, but I always wondered what he could have been if Chan Gailey would have had a chance with him instead of Marrone. Probably not any better, but, the kid just had so much physical potential. It’s hard to believe he sucked as much as he did, and that an ACTUAL coach could have gotten more out of him. 

[holla83]

6 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

I’d rather forget all drought memories except maybe the Fitz win over the Cheats with TB’s four picks.

There is a "50 Greatest Drought Moments" video on YouTube. Of course the drought was brutal. But the video is kind of a fun watch. It was fun remembering where I was for some of the moments and what ones I was there for in person.

[JohnNord]

On 9/20/2024 at 7:08 AM, dgrochester55 said:

 

 

Buffalo put themselves in that position by never drafting at QB until they absolutely had to. Granted, 2010 to 2015 was a rough stretch for QB draft classes, with 2012 being the only decent year, but by 2012, it was clear that Fitz was average at best. We could have drafted Russell Wilson or Kirk Cousins in the mid-rounds, but instead, we traded up for T.J. Graham, who was nowhere close to being an NFL-caliber WR.

By the time 2013 came around, there was no QB on the roster after we moved on from Fitz, and we pretty much had to draft a QB. It did not help that the 2013 QB class may be one of the worst ever. Your best options that year were Geno Smith, who was seen as a bust until he resurrected his career two years ago, and Matt Barkley, who we all love but was never more than a backup.

Buffalo definitely could have got a QB later, but their strategy was sound. They traded down once, and the rest of that draft was one of their better ones in the drought era. That year, Robert Woods, Kiko Alonso(Got us LeSean McCoy), Marquise Goodwin, and Dustin Hopkins were also picked. I never blamed EJ Manuel, it was just the the perfect storm of bad timing and terrible decision making in previous years.

Buddy Nix was a really bad GM. Every GM has hits and misses with the draft.  What determines a GM’s success is what they do at the most important position on their roster - QB1… and he was completely clueless.  
 

He killed any leverage he had but telling the world he was drafting a QB both in interviews and in the famous leaked phone call. 
 

The selection of EJ was a complete reach in a very weak QB draft class.  He probably was a 3rd-4th round talent with 1st round expectations and that was part of the problem.   Still knowing this, Buffalo should have had a better option for a start than injury mid QB Kevin Kolb.   Fitz had his issues but provably would have been a better option both as start or mentor.  But that bridge was burned.  
 

To be completely fair though, we’ll never know if this was a Nix or a Whaley selection - as Buddy “retired” right after this draft.  

Edited September 21 by JohnNord

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

As terrible as he turned out, you can’t take this drive away from him. A very memorable one that most Bills fans can recall. That qb scramble to the 2 yard line was future flash of Josh Allen.