OldTimer1960

Not really, couldn't stop 3rd down. Need to really step up now.

I will say that I'd rather see him throw it out of bounds than to a defender. Young QBs (even the supposed great ones) struggle. Check Andrew Luck's stats the last several games including 17-32 for 200 yds and 0 TDs.

Can't just run Goodwin deep no matter how fast he is. Defenders that are slower can cover him (anyone) deep if that is the only route that he runs. Where are the shorter routes that he ran against the Jets?

Pretty damn good punt, how long was that?

Finally, good defense. Need to move the ball and score on O.

Come on Defense. Stop this anemic Falcons O.

Tell me what I am missing after 45 years. I am looking for some hope, but I am seeing a very poor effort against a visiting team that is looking for a reason to quit. The Bills have failed to give them a reason to quit.

Awesome home field advantage. It couldn't be quieter for Atl to adjust their plays at the line of scrimmage.

Run D is not good.

Even bother with what? I've been watching and rooting for this team since the late 60s. Other than the Kelly years, they have not had a chance the minute that they walk on the field. To be clear, I see some progress. Manuel has been decent for a rookie who has missed a lot of time. Woods and Goodwin look as though they may contribute in years to come. But on D, there is lots of talent (and most of it has experience) and they are on pace to give up 31 plus points to a bad offense.

FG position in 15 yards. The offense did not do a good job, but it is the defense that is really letting them down.

Fantastic - 3rd and 8 from their own 4. Behind within 2:00 minutes.

An incomplete pass - that was open for a 1st down with a good throw.

Awesome! 98 yard drive - wait, they haven't had a drive in 2 quarters.

Pettine's D is not stopping the anemic Falcon's O. Will be trailing again soon.

Folks are definitely right - better worry about losing Pettine as DC to a HC job. The Falcons haven't managed to score against anybody, but yet the supposed great DC with lots of talent can't stop the Falcons at ALL. BTW, I have been a Spiller defender, but the guy is an absolute zero in the passing game and his running skills are not worth what they'll have to pay him. That was a pretty weak effort by SJ also.

I haven't started reading any draft related articles yet, but Oliver looks very draftable in my opinion. Of course that is in the absence of comparing him to other backs coming out of college this year, but I think he is very good.

That leadership from the veterans is not an accident either. The front office and coaches constructed the roster with the personality types that would lead to that. They did not bring in talented, but underachieving guys.

At this point Geno has 8 TDs and 16 INTs. I don't know if he will be a good NFL starter, but that is an inauspicious start... EJ Manuel has what, 8 TDs and 4 INTs? Again, I don't know which, either or both will be good long-term starting NFL QBs, but I can tell you who has better stats right now...

OK, no problem. I was bummed last week, too, but EJ is a rookie who will have good and bad games. Geno Smith was FAR worse today than EJ was last week. What was Geno's stat line? Something like 3 INTs and 2 fumbles?

20-28 with a 20 point victory isn't good? If EJ's stats "sucked" then your expectations are WAY off, man.

He deserves to get paid (as Levitre did, but how much?) - the question is how much to match the impact. Byrd has stated a compelling case for a big pay-day.

With the Bills for all practical matters out of playoff contention, the remainder of this season is focused on player growth and evaluation (as it really was from the beginning). As we watch and discuss the players throughout this, I hope that people will notice that no player's performance is divorced from those who are playing with him and those playing against him. RBs depend on their OL to open holes for them, but those holes are much more difficult to open if the passing game doesn't provide a credible threat. Likewise, the passing game is affected if the running game isn't working well. The passing game is dependent on the QB making good decisions and passing accurately, the receivers getting open and making catches and none of that happens unless the OL provides enough time for the pass routes to develop and the QB to make his reads and get accurate passes off. Further, the quality of the opposition certainly has an impact on the success of the offense. Coaching schemes, penalties, game situations, turnovers etc, all have effects on how well an individual player appears to perform. The above can also be turned around and is true for the defense and the individual players on that side of the ball. One other consideration is that very few players come into the NFL as rookies ready to excel immediately. It is easy to get frustrated as fans watching young players who are "trying to figure it out", but those players need to learn by experience. Of course, that isn't to say that you can't get a sense for whether a given player will grow into a good player or not, but it isn't always obvious who will and who won't. At any rate, as we watch the remainder of the season and focus on EJ Manuel's (and other's) play, try to consider that he is a rookie who missed a significant amount of training camp with injury, missed 4 regular season games with injury has only 1 experienced good (not great) veteran WR, an solid but not spectacular TE and a decent to above average OL that he is playing with.

How about these two stat lines from last week for two far more experienced QBs whom everyone would salivate over having: 1 TD, 3 INTs, 1 Fumble Lost, 9 8 total points scored by offense - Andrew Luck ((has started 26 games, EJ what 5?) 11-22 91 total yards, team offensive output 9 points in loss - Colin Kaepernick (I think this is his 3rd year and he's started something like 18 games right?) Not saying EJ is or is not as good as either of these guys. I AM saying that young QBs have their ups and downs. EJ has started very few games, missed half the preseason and has for the most part rookie WRs. I don't know if he will be great, good, mediocre or horrible, but nobody will have enough information for a year or two to know that.

I respectfully disagree. How would you feel going to work and busting your butt every day while a co-worker didn't put in effort and take the job seriously? Most people can't ignore that and it eventually creates bad feelings with the rest of the workers. Some (many?) will eventually figure they can reduce their effort if the boss isn't making the other guy work or getting rid of the other guy.