OldTimer1960

My God, maybe this IS a different team? Very impressed that they've hung in there after the start that they had.

Well, there goes hope for another season already. Awful, just awful.

Optimism slipping away, must try to hold on...

The little that I saw of Scott in the preseason (one half), he looked better than I expected. I don't know what his preseason stats were, though (for as little as preseason stats are worth).

Could Tebow be any worse? He will be available Saturday pm. They should NOT subject Manuel to this at all this year - his confidence will be shattered.

Will New England score 100 next week?

Can they just decline to play the 2013 regular season and come back next year? No fight even from the defense - really discouraging..

Is there an opening in Conference USA? Might be competitive there.

I am thinking Pats 48 bills 0 - at half time...

Pettine in line for next Head coaching job!

How fat do you suppose Alex Van Pelt is right now? He couldn't be worse than these QBs could he?

Will be hard to find 30 that should be in the NFL.

Is there a mercy rule? BTW - how silly do the earlier worries about losing Pettine to a head coaching job look about now? Defense doesn't seem any better than under Wannestadt...

I'd like to believe that, but they just suck.

Trying to remain optimistic, but a very weak WR may have just gotten worse. Continuesd inept play be defense. Can't blame Bills for not being 3 deep at QB, but if Tuel may start week 1, how is it possible that he isn't playing to get more experience?

I understand that Coach Marrone is VERY worried that he already has "strike one" in eball's view.

My statement was obviously meant as sarcasm that you didn't pick up on. However, I saw nobody on the bottom end of the roster step forward to say "Hey, I deserve to be in the NFL". Who did you see that deserves a roster spot?

There are issues at: DB - secondary was worse than terrible. It doesn't matter who Tom Brady has to throw to, game 1 will be awful from a Bills' perspective. LB - I thought that the first DL played reasonably well, but runners that were pinned in, still managed to wiggle free after having the play strung out well to the sideline. Lack of pass rush and did I mention the DBs were toasted? OL failed to open any running lanes I really would like EJ to be able to sit and learn for at least the 1st half of the season, but Kolb (and Tuel) pooped their pants today. The young WRs (besides Robert Woods) were unimpressive. What happened to Marcus Easley? He had played so well and then disappeared. No other WR made a case to be kept either.

At least the roster cuts should not be difficult at all. They might cut to 53 tomorrow rather than just down to the required 75. There HAVE to be better bottom-of-the-roster players that will be cut on first cutdown day than many of the Bills' 2nd stringers. Trying to keep in perspective that the preseason doesn't mean much, but I know that the Bills were trying harder to win this game than the Skins and the Skins kicked there a*s in every way - with their 3rd and 4th string QBs playing....

Extremely disappointing effort. Doesn't appear to be any major injuries, but really bad game all-around. None of the young WRs made a case to make the team beyond the top 4. Defense was abysmal - 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams. Secondary was particularly awful. Run defense very much a concern. Jeff Tuel is no lock to make the roster. He has pretty much played poorly enough to more than offset his very good first game. Kevin Kolb cannot stay healthy. They may look for another veteran QB who gets cut to replace Kolb. He was not impressive before yet another injury. The optimistic buzz from the first two games has been pretty much negated.

I don't think anyone said Spiller was a HOFer at this point (or ever). However, there is BIG difference between saying he is a bust/not a bust and saying he is a HOFer. There are plenty of guys who didn't explode on the scene and went on to having good to very good to great careers. I don't believe that Eric Moulds did much of anything his first two years in the league, yet he is one of the better players that the Bills have ever had - certainly not one that would be considered a first round bust.

Hopefully, by the end of this season, Dorkington actually contributes to this board... which up until now, he really hasn't. Really easy sitting on an internet board being a blowhard, dissing people that are actually putting in effort to achieve something. Not aimed directly at you, Dorkington. Rather at the ease and frequency with which many here are extremely critical of extremely fine athletes trying to make their dreams reality. Not that it is exclusively the domain of the internet board poster... There are many "media" members who make a living doing the same or worse. Completely shameful for them... A draft can't be judged without the context of who was available in that draft. Have a look at the 2010 draft and, without cherry picking one standout pick per round, tell me who did much better. Not every draft is equal. BTW, the BRILLIANT SF 49ers just traded their 1st round pick last year for a very disappointing Jon Baldwin in a desperate attempt to get something for that selection. The draft is an inexact science. Everyone makes mistakes....

I respectfully submit that he (Manuel) is farther away than we hoped. He isn't Andrew Luck or RG III coming in and in spite of what those two and Russell Wilson did as rookies, it is still true that MOST rookie QBs struggle a lot. You are right, the experience of starting regular season games will be lost, but he can still have valuable class-room learning with the coaches during game planning and film reviews. While it isn't the same as playing, I think it will help.

I am not sure. I do think that the team overall is better this year, but I don't think quite ready to compete (seriously) for the playoffs. Given that, I'd just as soon have Manuel continue coming up to speed in practices and meetings and watching and learning as the backup in the games. If Kolb stuggles and the team starts slowly, they can turn to EJ and he'll be the "hero to the rescue" and fans will have a bit more patience with him than if he starts week one and bombs because the best defensive coach in history confuses the heck out of him and the very young receiving corp. Let the veteran take that on and the heat from the fans. If Kolb plays well, then great. If not, Manuel should get patience from the fans.

With this injury, my opinion is that Kevin Kolb should be the starting QB for the season or until he is ineffective enough to be pulled. Manuel needed all of the preseason snaps and practices that he could get to have any hope of being properly prepared for NFL defenses (that are game planning). 3 good quarters in the preseason (2 of which were against 2nd and 3rd stringers) doesn't mean that Manuel is ready for when the bullets really fly in the regular season. The investment in EJ is so big and his potential high enough that they should be sure that he is as fully prepared as possible before putting him on the field in the regular season. Of course, he has to be fully healthy too, but from the sounds of the downplayed surgery I think the biggest issue is that he will miss extremely valuable playing time in preseason games and he will miss important practice time. I'd rather watch Kolb - even if he struggles, than see EJ put in too soon, really struggle and have the fan base turn on him early. I like everything that Manuel has shown so far, but the pent-up frustrations of a fan base that wants immediate success after such a long losing streak could cave Manuel's confidence. I really don't want to see that.