msw2112

msw2112, on 12 Jan 2015 - 1:18 PM, said: In response: 1) Your comment is valid, as all QB's get yards that pad their stats. That said, QB's who play from behind more (prevent D's) and who throw more short passes to RB's, etc. are more likely to have their stats padded (completion % and RAC) than those who throw the ball down the field in contested game situations. In my opinion, for these reasons, Manuel's stats seem to reflect better than his actual play. I was at the Denver game, and Orton's stats were also HIGHLY inflated for these same reasons. 2) I'm not sure why this is relevant to my comments. If you are saying that Orton's stats are also inflated for these same reasons, I totally agree with you. That said, this thread was about EJ Manuel, so that's who my comments pertained to. In addition: 3) Let me restate that I would be overjoyed if Manuel were to take to new coaches and develop into a successful QB. I'm not an EJ basher. I'm just commenting on what I have seen to date from his play (and commenting on how his stats don't paint an accurate picture of his poor play). For some young QB's the light eventually comes on (see Alex Smith under Greg Roman's tutelage - maybe there's hope) and for many more, it does not (see JP Losman, Brady Quinn, Jimmy Clausen, Tim Couch, Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, Health Shuler, Ryan Leaf, and so on). As Bills fans, I hope we can all agree that we hope that EJ will be more the exception than the rule.

The Bills had a great defense last year and they failed to make the playoffs. I agree that a strong defense is vital and you have to start somewhere, but it appears to be a QB-driven league and that's what we lack. Seattle has an amazing defense. If Tavaris Jackson (who I believe is back on their roster), EJ Manuel or Kyle Orton was their starting QB, would they have won the SB last year? Would they be the 1st seed in the NFC this year? Where would the Patriots be without Brady, the Colts without Luck and the Packers without Rodgers? That's why I'm not particularly fond of the Ryan hiring. With Schwartz and the D we have already in place, we needed an offensive minded HC. Marrone was supposed to be that, but obviously, that did not prove to be the case. If Roman can do that as OC, we'll be fine, but that remains to be seen. Our team is similar to many that Ryan has coached and he had some early success, but ultimately was not good enough to get to the Super Bowl, and the Jests have been between average and horrible the last few seasons. Idzik was a terrible GM, no doubt, but Ryan certainly was not able to make it work.

While QB is probably the highest priority, I'm not sure there is any available talent out there. Thus, I think that signing a guard (such as Iupati) would be the highest priority.

Murray has been fantastic this year, and despite his injury history, I'd love to have him on the roster, but the Bills need to spend their money on offensive linemen, particularly guards. Mike Iupati, for example, would be (in my opinion) a better investment. While T-Pegs' willingness to spend is great, there is still a salary cap to be concerned about. We can't sign everybody.

I'm not here to bash EJ, and nobody would be happier than me to see him turn his career around and be successful for the Bills. That said, I have watched every game he has played and when I see his stats after the game, I almost always say to myself (or to whoever else is in the room) that his statistics do not tell the true story about how he played. Invariably, his statistics look much better than his actual play was. How does one explain this? Some of it is garbage time - many of his stats are inflated in garbage time and/or against prevent defenses. Others may be a screen pass or a 2 yard dump off to a guy like Fred Jackson who turns it into a 20 yard gain. Looks great for the QB's stats, but wasn't really the result of the QB having done anything spectacular. Also, as one poster mentioned above, his completion percentage tends to be high due to the high number of dump offs (bringing back bad memories of Trentative Edwards). Finally, not all incompletions are created equal. If he misses a wide open received on 3rd and 8, it simply goes in the books as an incompletion, statistically the same as if he threw the ball out of bounds on 2nd and 3 because he was looking downfield and everyone was covered. While both are statistically an incomplete pass, one has a much greater impact on the game. Statistics can be very misleading and comparing two or three players based on statistics alone doesn't mean much.

I just don't see how anyone can see a signing like this as an indication of who our head coach will be next year or what our blocking scheme will be. This guy is purely a depth signing and he's probably just a body for training camp. Hey, I hope he works out and is a player for us, but c'mon, folks, let's be realistic.

I have said this before - a poor performing team in an open-air stadium in a cold climate with a poor economy led to a lot of empty seats in November and December games in recent years. That combined with some of the league's lowest ticket prices and fewest amount of luxury boxes created a team that was among the lowest on the revenue scale and was ripe to be moved to another market after Ralph's passing. Each year we missed the playoffs, I worried more and more that the downward spiral would contine and ultimately result the team leaving WNY. Thank you Ralph for the lease deal and thank you Terry Pegula for stepping up to the plate and saving the Bills! I can live with (yet) another poor season with no playoffs knowing that the team will remain in Buffalo and have hope for the future. Happy Holidays to the Wilson and Pegula families!

I agree with the negative posters that CJ has not had a good couple of years in Marrone's system and was piss poor this year, other than the one 50+ yard play on which he was injured. That said, the line has been run blocking a little bit better of late and it seems to me that, in recent weeks, they are calling some plays that are a little bit more creative and varied - screen passes, quick slants and other ways to get Bryce Brown into space. Spiller is a more talented version of Brown and could bring something to the offense if they run some of those types of plays for him. I am not a huge Hackett fan by any means, but he has called a much more diverse set of plays in the last few weeks and Orton is basically just stinking up the joint. The run (up the middle), run (up the middle), pass, punt offense of earlier this year has been updated. Now it is more like pass (incomplete) first down, run for small gain second down, pass short of the sticks on third down, punt. But at least they vary it a bit. Sometimes it is run for 6 yards on first down, pass (incomplete) on 2nd down, 3 yard pass short of the sticks on third down, punt. I guess my point is that they are TRYING to be more creative and varied, and if they can somehow get the ball into Spiller's hands in space, he has the potential to be dangerous.

I agree. I think that his brother's lack of success in the NFL hurt Carr's draft stock. Not only are they brothers, but they both played at the same college (Fresno State) and for 3 of Derek's 5 years at Fresno State, played in the same system for the same coach as his brother. A poster above also astutely points out that the other previous highly drafted QB from Fresno State, Trent Dilfer, while doing well at ESPN and the holder of a Super Bowl ring, did not perform at the level of his high draft status. In watching the pre-draft coverage, I thought that Carr was the best of this year's rookie class and was hoping there was a way he might end up a Bill. If the Raiders can turn things around, I think he'll be a good one. They have a "franchise" player on both sides of the ball - Mack on defense and Carr on offense. Despite their bright future, I believe that the Bills' D will be too much for a rookie QB and the Bills will win the game on Sunday. I was in Denver and saw the impressive performance of the defense there, and watched every snap of the Green Bay game on TV and saw how they stifled Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers talked about having a bad game and his timing being off, but a big reason for this was his desire to get rid of the ball early to avoid the Buffalo pass rush. The crowd noise also didn't help, although I think the fear of the pass rush was the bigger factor.

The guy who owns Leonardi's used to work at Bocce's in the 60's and early 70's before opening his own shop. Apparently, his pizza is closer to the old Bocce's recipe than the current Bocce's recipe is. I agree that it is the best pizza in a town filled with great pizza. That said, I still enjoy Bocce's too when I visit Buffalo. To the OP, my company has roots in Milwaukee, so I work with Packer fans every day and I have been to a Bills game in Green Bay. No question that they are great fans and great people who share a lot in common with Bills fans. I also lived in Chicago for a long time and while it is a great city with great people, Bears fans are arrogant and obnoxious. I could never bring myself to adopt the Bears as my 2nd team. Packers fans have much more class than Bears fans, and obviously have a better football team. It's great that Buffalo also has a better football team for the first time in while.

I remember this guy from watching some Big 10 games while he was at Minnesota. I recall him being a very athletic QB and a "gamer." It looks like he has put a few pounds of muscle in since his college days and could be a useful athlete on an offense with a creative OC. I'm sure the posters on TBD will have fun with the last part of that comment!

The guy who took the ball from the woman is an ass. No doubt. The Bengals player clearly intended to toss the ball to the Bengals fan, and a grown man should now be physically wresting something away from a woman or child. That said, I agree with a poster above that the racist comments on YouTube are horrific. The fact that the guy is a douche has nothing to do with the color of his skin. I don't know what is worse, having those kinds of racist beliefs, or having the gall to post them on a public message board. I have been to several games in New Orleans and one of the most impressive things about the Superdome crowd is how integrated the crowd is. The diversity of the crowd in New Orleans is much greater than any other NFL stadium I have been to (which includes Buffalo [of course], New Orleans, Arizona, Chicago, San Diego, Green Bay, Minnesota and Indianapolis). It makes for a really fun atmosphere and it's a great place to party and see and NFL game.

I am disappointed about our last two losses, but the OP's comments have some merit. The Bills are not a great team. We can all agree on that. The Bills are not a bad team. Some of us can agree on that, some of us perhaps not. Are they a good team? I don't know, but probably not. Are they an average team? Yes. They have a very good defense, a poor offense and OK special teams. That adds up to average, middle of the pack, 8-8, etc. And guess what? We are 5-5 right now. We SHOULD beat the Jests at home, Cleveland at home and Oakland on the road, and lose to Denver, Green Bay and New England. Where does that leave us? 8-8, average, middle of the pack. That said, the "any given Sunday" theme applies and perhaps we lose one of the games we are supposed to win and win one of the games we are supposed to lose. Where does that leave us? 8-8. Could we be better than this with better coaching (maybe) or better QB play (definitely), but in the immortal words of Dennis Green - "We are who we thought we were!"

I agree wholeheartedly with the original post. In recent past seasons, I always felt that if the team continued to perform poorly that the fans would tune out (by Buffalo standards), the November and December non-sellouts would continue, and that, combined with the smaller market, lack of luxury boxes, old stadium, lowest ticket prices in the league (meaning less revenue per ticket) would lead to the team being moved after Wilson's death. Buffalo has an amazing fan base and has historically sold as many tickets as anyone, but when your team is out of the race and you are facing WNY weather in November and December, there will be empty seats. Regardless of the Pegulas' record with the Sabres or their deep pockets as Bills owners, the fact is that I can take another season without the playoffs and potentially ANOTHER rebuild, because I know that the team will remain in Buffalo. Thus, as disappointed as I am about this season going into the tank (and given our December schedule, it is time to put a fork in it), I am not nearly as distraught as I have been in the past. There is hope and opportunity for the future. As a side note, I agree that Pegula had a terrible start with the Sabres, mainly because he held onto Reiger too long, but I do think that the Sabres have a plan to rebuild through the draft like Pittsburgh and Chicago have done, this season's tank is part of the plan, and they have a promising future. I think that the present Bills roster has enough talent that a Sabres-like tank/full rebuild is not necessary. Last time I checked, there is not an Andrew Luck/Connor McDavid/Jack Eichel caliber player in next year's NFL draft anyway. With proper coaching and a guard or two, the Bills will be fine. This coaching staff may not be up to the task, but with the team remaining in Buffalo for the long run, there is time to find the right coach. A "franchise QB" would also be nice, but I believe that with our defense and proper coaching, this team could be a playoff caliber team. QB's like Alex Smith and Nick Foles have led teams to the playoffs with good coaching. The franchise QB is the next piece - the one that takes the team from a playoff level team to a true Super Bowl contender. One step at a time.

Consider it done! I also live in AZ, but I am here in WNY and am getting ready to head to the Ralph for a few hours of tailgating before the game. The atmosphere has been electric here the last few days! A good suggestion for Bills fans who live away from Buffalo - a trip to Buffalo in the fall (when the Bills just HAPPEN to have a home game) is the PERFECT time to schedule a visit with family and friends! I have had great luck with this strategy in the past. My wife is not from Buffalo, but she enjoys it here and early fall is a great time weather-wise to come to WNY. I have also done weekends later in the fall when the Sabres have a Friday night game and the Bills are at home on Sunday, but this year it worked out best for September and this is the game I wanted to see anyway. Next year, after the Sabres draft McEichel, I'll probably come a little later in the season for the double header. For those on the board who will be at the Ralph, see you shortly. Go Bills!

I grew up in Buffalo, but moved to Chicago after college. Before I lived there, I was never a huge Bears fan, but kind of liked the team based on their history, blue collar image, and some great players like Dick Butkus, Gayle Sayers, Walter Payton, Mike Singletery, etc. After living there a few years, I grew to despise the Bears. Their fans are extremely arrogant and obnoxious, and their local radio broadcasters are terrible homers. I was completely done when the Bills were in town and I took a ton of abuse at Soldier Field for the entire 3 hours while the Bears stomped all over JP Losman and crew. I pretty much sat quietly and minded my own business (I certainly had nothing to cheer about), but was wearing a Bills t-shirt and hat and that was all it took. I frequently turned down free Bears tickets so I could watch the Bills on TV. One note about Chicago - it has a great ex-Buffalo community and I highly recommend watching a game with my old crew at Delilah's, if you ever get the opportunity. One more thing about Chicago - it is not as great a sports town as people think. Today, everyone is a Blackhawks fan. A few years ago, before Pat Kane and Towes arrived and turned it around, the arena was empty for Blackhawks games. I remember some lean years and smaller crowds in Buffalo too, but nothing like it was in Chicago, which has an Original Six franchise in a metropolitan area of 6 - 10 million people to draw from. Now I live in Phoenix and am pretty apathetic to the Cardinals. I have a good buddy who is a season ticket holder, so I am happy for him when they win and the average fan here is much less obnoxious than the average Bears fan, so I am OK if they do well. I also am pretty neutral to the D-Backs and Suns. The fans here are extremely fair weather, so it is good when they suck, because you can get tickets to these games for a song, which is nice if you are a big sports fan like me. I'm also good when they do well, as it makes the city a little more fun when people get excited about sports. The one team I have kind of adopted is the Coyotes. They will always be second to the Sabres, but their core fan base is small (REALLY small) and die-hard. Coyotes fans live in fear of losing the franchise much like we feel in Buffalo with Ralph's passing. I love NHL hockey and really don't want Arizona to lose the team, so I support them. Growing up in Buffalo, I played hockey and had Sabres season tickets in the family, so it is great to still be able to enjoy the NHL. I was fortunate that one of the Sabres' few wins last year was here against the Coyotes, and one of the relatively few Bills wins in the Gailey/Fitzpatrick era was here against the Cardinals. I try to get back to Buff for at least one Bills and one Sabres game a year. I will be at the home opener against the Fish on September 14 - I can't wait! By the way, I will be in Raleigh next weekend during the Bills-Bears opener. I'm staying in the North Hills area. Can anyone from the board recommend a good bar to watch the game? I found a few online, but would love some input.

Major thanks to Beebes Bubble and his post above. The last couple of years, I have, based on the great info found on TBD, called in and gotten some substantial discounts on DTV and Sunday Ticket. Last year, in an attempt to get a deal on Sunday Ticket, I threatened to cancel and was offered the Ticket at 50% off. Thinking I could do better, I pushed harder and ultimately, my bluff was called. To save face and hope they would come to their senses, I ended up canceling my service. I figured I would have a stack of voice mails the next day with all kinds of free offers to come back to DTV, free Sunday Ticket, etc. There were no such messages. My wife couldn't watch TV and wanted to kill me. I felt like a fool. She told me to do whatever I had to do to get our TV service back. I ultimately went crawling back to DTV with my tail between my legs to reinstate my service. There was a silver lining - they made so many mistakes in reinstating my service, that I had to call in 4 of 5 times. I spent hours on the phone with them. In the end, I had spent so much time calling in to fix their mistakes, that I had the ammo I needed, and found a merciful agent who agreed to give me Ticket Max for about $75. A great result, but WAY too much time, effort and stress. This year, I was not going to cancel and didn't want all the hassles of last year. I made one call, tried everything (B word, moan, complain, threaten, grovel, ask for mercy, etc.) and was able to get free Showtime for 3 months and $15 off of my bill for the year, but NOTHING on the Ticket. I was pretty depressed, having sold my soul to DTV and coming up short. I decided to wait a couple of days, checked TBD again, saw Beebes Bubbles' post, and tried again. I followed his script to the letter and voila! Sunday Ticket Max for 50% off! Plus, $15 credit just for calling in and being a good customer. And it only took about 5 minutes! No groveling necessary! This was last Friday and I have been in much better spirits ever since. Now, all we need is for Dareus to get his fat ass into camp, and all will be good again! Note that I have never posted to TBD before, but feel so indebted to Beebes and all of you guys who have posted here with advice before, that I had to step up and make my voice heard. I have been a regular reader of this site for several years and I look forward to adding a bit to the discussion. I've been a huge Bills (and Sabres) fan for about 40 years. Work and family have taken me out of Buff for the last 20+ years, but I never miss a game on TV and get back for a game almost every year as well as catching them on the road whenver they are in my part of the world. I will be there to see us squish the fish in the remodeled Ralph on September 14!