1billsfan

As with the position itself, the colleges where great NFL QBs come is a total crapshoot and scattered throughout the collegiate landscape. Most schools only have one great NFL QB to hang their hat on, if they even have one.

He's shown flashes, but not the consistency. The thing that's broken his progress is that he looks to be mentally seeing things that aren't there and that completely blew up the rest of his game. I was supportive of Manuel starting until this last game when it was clear he was not the same steady yet still raw player. Manuel clearly needs to get his mind and accuracy issues straightened out. Having said that, I still think he's got it in him to become a top 10 QB in this league. It will be interesting to see what becomes of Manuel from here on out.

I think the "yips" are when you've been there, done that and then the confidence in your swing goes away for an unexplained reason. EJ has never attained that level of play to even get the yips. I think he was seeing ghosts. He was seeing things that aren't there in the pass rush and in the secondary. So he's got a mental issue and an accuracy issue that only time will tell if they can be corrected. At least he'll get the time now to step back and slow down instead of forcing him to "learn on the job" which in his case, would only make it worse. I think Manuel should watch and learn the correct way to play QB the rest of this season and also work like crazy on his passing accuracy. I think he's got the fire in him, he just needs to understand that as the starting QB you bring the fire with you on the field. It's ok to play QB like they stole money from you.

That's fine, but it's annoying as heck watching him go all "Braveheart" in a pregame speech pretending as if he was done wrong by the Bills and pleading the Texan players to fight in his honor, because he wasn't done wrong.

F' him, the guy was signed for millions of dollars and then he crapped the bed for the Bills and their fans. That pre game speech angers me because I seriously don't know why this failure, who was given so much money for so little in return, is the one who's pissed at the team that gave him all that money and set him and his family up for the rest of his life. His anger apparently comes from a misguided fairy tale of epic proportions inside his head.

First play call was a pass to FB Frank Summers in the flat. That told the Texans that the Bills weren't seriously going to challenge them and that their plan was to hope Fitzpatrick would suck enough for the them to squeak out a win. No matter what happens with the QB position, IMO this offense is by far the worst coached offense in the league. Thinking back to the glory years of Teddy M's K Gun, this is sickening. Everyone is playing timid and scared. Total regime change after the season is possible seeing how the new owner isn't tied to these guys. At least there's a chance that we won't have to wait another year like the extended Jauron years. I feel like I'm watching the Dick Jauron years again. It's that horrible.

You're right, I don't know that. I actually don't care what they do in regards to who starts. Manuel is a deer in headlights. However having said that, you've got a week to prepare and the first play you call is a pass to your fullback in the flat???? LOL Can I once see the deep ball off a play action play on first down? IMO the HC/OC is also major problem just like it was with the Dick Jauron crew. In that case it was both the coaching and the QB being the problems which it's starting to look like this is the case again with the Bills right now. How shameful is it when you use three 1st rd picks in the last two years on QB/WR to pump up your passing offense and you make game plans like this? There's something seriously wrong with whats going on with this offense and it's not just one person to blame. I hope a reporter asks Marrone what gives with using three 1st round picks on QB/WR and then we see the most conservative offense in the NFL. It's just not logical in any way.

Changing QB doesn't change the HC/OC problem. This coaching staff calls plays as if they are petrified of mistakes just like the Dick Jauron regime did. It's pure torture watching them on offense. Until this coaching staff puts together a professional offensive game plan, nothing will change. BTW, I don't even care anymore who the starting QB is, I want accountability with regards to the offensive play calling.

This offense is so bland and vanilla that it's no stretch to see why defenses know which plays are coming and when. Marrone and EJ are both to blame. I've seen this offense and it's a direct descendant of Jauron Ball. I've seen this QB and he's Trent Edwards. I warned this team that playing conservative will ruin them sooner than later and that's what you saw here today people. DInks and dunks are not an NFL passing offense. Running on obvious run downs and passing on obvious passing downs is not the recipe for a successful NFL offense. I am shocked that a team that would use 2 first round picks on a WR and use a 1st round pick on a QB, would THEN run an offense so putridly bland and not even TRY to let them loose to see what they have. I am disgusted by the coach, the offensive line and the QB. If this is their plan then they all need to go as far as I'm concerned. This is embarrassing for this team to look so scared offensively. Grow some balls and LET IT FLY DOWNFIELD in Detroit or quit your jobs.

I think the Texans are one of the bottom five worst teams in the league and I think the Bills are a playoff team this year. So I'm pretty confident that they'll will this game. I'll bet there's a locker room full of Texan players who are not happy that Fitzpatrick is their starting QB. Players don't like it when their team puts winning on hold for a year, yet expects them to put their bodies in harms way for the full season. I don't ever remember a team that had no starting QB pass on one with the first pick. They'll probably pick high again this year, but there will be questions on this next crop of QBs as well.

I think that the Bills will play angry tomorrow. The Texans were not expecting any sort of season so they were probably pleasantly surprised going 2-0 and getting beat down by the Giants was more of a reality check for them. I believe that everyone in the Bills locker room thinks they have very good team and that they should make the playoffs. That loss at home and looking so bad during it probably stunned them and they can't wait to get the bad taste out of their mouth. Teams that go to the playoffs generally don't lose these type of winnable games.

This is why it doesn't pay to play conservative in the NFL if you want to keep your job for very long. Yes, it's nice to tally up some wins if you do happen to have a decent ground attack and defense. But it quickly catches up with you. The walls start to close in on the offense and the entire team starts feeling tremendous pressure that one mistake can ruin the game. They don't play as freely anymore. This should be the game for the coaches to tell Manuel and his WRs know that they're all in with an early "down the field" pass heavy attack. They've gone as far as they could with the run first strategy, but it's now in the teams best interest to unwrap the passing attack and see what they truly have or don't have. If it doesn't work and they lose, at least they have a real answer to a question that they didn't have before. Maybe they give Manuel one more shot after the Texans game and then if that doesn't work, Orton playing over Manuel can be fairly brought into the conversation. Maybe it starts with Orton coming off the bench if Manuel starts faltering after these next two games. Manuel was a 1st round QB pick and there's no hiding from this fact.

I think having a passing attack that's feared would cover up flaws 3 and 4. Defenses don't fear Manuel and they expect to see him as only a game manager. Also, all 32 NFL teams have flaws but if you're one dimensional NFL teams feed on that and the flaws start becoming magnified. I think the Bills are at a crossroads with regards to their conservative vs opened up approach on offense.

You make it seem as if the Bills have no other flaws than the QB holding them back. I count 4 other flaws... 1. Their Guards suck. 2. Penalties are killing them. 3. Hackett/Marrone's offensive conservatism is starting to produce a steady diet of 3rd and longs. 4. Their defensive backfield is suspect. I know that I'm in the minority here, but I think that the Bills should take the training wheels off EJ Manuel this week against the Texans. I think they need a real game final examination of what they have. Go out there with a pass heavy attack early with the objective to score at least 3 touchdowns before halftime. We ALL know that the Texans are loading up on the front to stop Spiller and Jackson. So IMO Manuel should have success early through the air because the Texans aren't expecting it at all. Playing it safe might get them a close game that they can win with a field goal in the closing seconds, but the day is coming where EJ Manuel will HAVE to pass this test. The coaches and the team need to know if he be trusted to pass the ball at the beginning of a game because defenses are loading up on the run. Because as long as the Bills stick with their run first, pass second game plan, they will only get to see an EJ Manuel that's put in the awkward position of passing when the defense knows they have to pass. Letting him sink or swim at least gives the Bills a good indication of where he's at on the learning curve. Have the balls to go all in on their first round pick this week and stop fiddling around the edges.

I agree with this guy's rating. When the Bills roll over the Texans on Sunday and have a 3-1 record, the negative nancy's who came out of the woodwork this week, will put their tales between their legs and go back in hiding, silently bitter with the knowledge they weren't right about anything they've been so declarative about these past few days. The rest of us will have fun.

The football gods will reward the team which tried to fix their starting QB position by using their first round pick on EJ Manuel last year, and they will punish the team that had the first overall pick this year which thought they were all set at starting QB with Ryan Fitzpatrick. The guy who sucked so bad after signing a big contract that it forced their opponent to spend a first round pick on a QB. The Texans brazenly thumbed their noses at the football goods knowing the worst sin of all is ignoring the starting QB position with the first overall pick. My silly analysis for a silly week here at TSW.

It's Thursday, if one of these twenty three QBs were suddenly starting this weekend for the Bills, how would he know the plays by Sunday? Wouldn't it concern you that he hasn't had enough practice with the team?

EJ Manuel is a raw QB who is both going through his growing pains and showing some positive signs of becoming a winning QB. He is what most everyone here thought a raw QB would look like. If you were to poll this board on who would be happy with Manuel having a 6-7 record his first 13 games, I think at least 50% would be happy with that kind of start to his career. Save the Manuel drama till when the growing pains stop being growing pains when we all see a string of bad performances. That simply hasn't happened yet. While he's not where we want him to be, he's also not as bad as you think he is right now. If he was, he wouldn't have the record he does. His record would be 7-6 if Stevie and Chandler don't drop easy catches at the end of the Falcon games last year. Manuel played like crap this past game, but he usually bounces back. He needs to be given a couple more chances to pull this team from a free fall like what happened in the Charger game.

Hackett’s play calling and penalties have held this team back almost just as much as EJ’s non ability to take a game over. Manuel simply wasn’t ready as a still raw QB to throw a team on his back. But seeing how he’s only been in 13 games, the jury is still out on whether he can eventually become that kind of QB. You don’t get there unless you are given more than a few tries to run through that wall. Manuel has been put in a lot of 3rd and long situations that even the best in the NFL have a hard time overcoming a steady diet of. Yes he sucked last game, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t ever master the art of pulling off a big comeback win when he and the team have played uninspired football for most of the game. But to get there you must go through growing pains like we saw against the Chargers. Watching that wasn’t fun for anyone. That being said, there are no excuses over the longer haul of the 2014 season for Manuel if he continues to show no improvement in this area. This team does have the weapons this year and it’s in this franchises best interest that he’s given the chance to sink or swim at least until week 12. Because all it takes is a couples of games for him to actually do it and prove to himself and team mates that he can win in under any circumstances.

EJ Manuel has a 6-7 record as a starting QB. If Stevie and Chandler don't drop easy catches at the end of the game against the Falcons last season then he'd have a 7-6 record. I think people have lost perspective regarding Manuel's level of success given his rawness coming into the league. He's been spot-on to the project QB label given to him. There's good, bad and ugly and the story is still being written. Orton's had his day. The Bills current staff's fortune will ride on how the team and Manuel does their last 8 games. If they win and look like a strong team then they'll stay. Yes Manuel had a big time clunker game on Sunday, but the whole team played badly. Manuel isn't ready to throw a team on his back and win the game when the running game and defense are playing uninspired and falling on their face. Hackett needs to step up, show some creativity and not put Manuel in constant 3rd and 8 downs. I'm talking about putting Jackson in the backfield with Spiller flanked out like Sproles and Watkins used like Percy Harvin. With Manuel's running ability combined with Jackson, Spiller and Watkins you've the makings for triple and quadruple options. Play fakes to Jackson, reverses, fake reverses, quick passes to Spiller in space. Can Hackett at least try something like that and do something other than Spiller up the middle for 2 yards? Right now, Manuel needs the whole team playing well to be successful, he clearly still gets freaked out when he realizes the win or loss is on his shoulders. He failed because he couldn't handle that kind of pressure. It doesn't mean he won't get there eventually. I think he will in time, he's just not there yet. The time to bring Orton in is when Manuel stopped being able to perform well when the team is playing well and he's the only one preventing them from winning. I've yet to see this happen to Manuel.

Manuel needs to be given a long leash by Marrone to sink or swim with his arm. You do not progress to the next stage until you PROVE IT to opposing defenses that your arm is a THREAT to beat them. The coaches need to tell him it's ok to throw interceptions and they need to mean it. Coaching conservative from here on out is not going to do EJ any favors. If Marrone and Hackett are telling EJ to not take any chances then they're ruining him without giving him a real chance. Because they will never know if Manuel can master the art of burning defenses with his arm until they actually let him do it without fear of reprimand when his interception counts starts to tally up. IMO, if Manuel starts taking real chances, the interceptions vs big plays will even out in time with the added benefit of EJ Manuel being given the proper canvas to prove one way or the other what he has to offer.

EJ had a bad day. But that's exactly what "growing pains" looks like in terms of a still raw and a bit unsure QB like Manuel. I think he'll eventually get it, but time will only tell. I do think that this offense needs to be changed though. This team can't survive with Spiller up the middle anymore. Also, we don't have the guards for a consistent inside running game. They need to become more of a basketball offense by stretching the field and putting pressure on the defense to cover the width of the field. I think the Bills really should use Watkins and Spiller as flankers close to the line of scrimmage with Jackson, Dixon (occasionally Spiller) as our RBs. Williams and Woods as the wideouts. They also need to call a few runs for EJ that would be easy 8-10 yards gains and make the defense less likely to know where the ball is going. This is what the Eagles do and they do it very successfully. The Bills need to shake it up because it's clear that this offense is extremely predictable and it's simply not going to work because of this fact. They aren't built for smash mouth because the middle of the line sucks and can seem to provide holes when the defense is keying on the run. Marrone and Hackett need to adjust to their offensive personnel.

Why don't the Bills use Spiller like the Eagles use Sproles? There are many plays where McCoy and Sproles are playing at the SAME TIME and there are tremendous play fakes and options out of that. The passes to Sproles are easy quick strike and meant to just get the guy in space and let him rip. There was a play last week where they faked handoff to McCoy and Foles threw it 3 yards away to Sproles who was just off the line, the TE made the lead block and they got an easy 20-30 yards. EJ Manuel really needs to step up his game, but there WILL be growing pains with this particular QB. There's no getting around it. Time will tell on his chances to be a real franchise QB. However, I'm almost 100% sure that what we saw today was growing pains and not a sign that he's just another in a long line of failures at QB for the Bills. That being said, I think this team has a serious identity crisis on offense. They think they are smash mouth, but they are built to follow the Eagles' offensive blueprint. That means handoffs out of shotgun, but with passing plays meant to be quick strikes to your skill players like Spiller and Watkins. They need to use reverses and fake reverses and run the ball up the middle with Jackson, Dixon and Brown. Manuel also needs to have his number called on running plays 2-4 times a game. Also, someone has to tell Spiller to watch tape of Sproles and let him know that you must run like your pants are on fire and not go down at the slightest bit of contact. The Texans will eat our current offense for lunch next week if they don't seriously change things up, become unpredictable, and put our players at an advantage with the play calling and schemes. It may have worked the first couple of weeks, but that's over. Hackett needs to start earning his paycheck this week because we all knew the plays that they were going to run.

I think his “Top 10 QB” parameters are misguided. There are the big four of franchise/HOF QBs in Brady, Manning, Rogers and Brees…and then there’s everybody else who fights it out for who the next best ten QBs are in any given season. Those QBs are Luck, Wilson, Kaepernick, Flacco, Rothlesberger, Stafford, Ryan, E. Manning, Rivers, Cutler, Dalton and Newton. Luck and Wilson are the only QBs from that second group who might graduate to the current top four’s status in time. So his “Top 10” should really be a “Top 15” because from that second pool (which fluctuates from season to season). Out of the last 10 Superbowls, there are 6 winning QBs from that second pool of QBs. So far, EJ Manuel looks well on his way to being in that top 15 status because he has a balanced team like Rothlesberger, Flacco, Wilson and E. Manning had during their successful seasons. To me, EJ looks like he’s getting comfortable in what they are asking him to do. I think the TDs will start coming. That preseason was so shaky that I’m not surprised the Bills are slow with the TD output right out of the gate. I'm very excited about tomorrow's game, because I think if they win convincingly that the Bills will look like a team which has truly "turned a corner" and is heading for a big season. Because it's been no secret that the talent is here and they were missing the QB and some confidence to get them over the hump.

I think this team needs help from WRs going the distance (eliminating the red zone factor all together) of which we have a few of those with that ability. I also think that they need to start calling EJs number and have him running off fakes until defenses stop loading up on the runs by RBs. Finally, stop with that fade corner pattern and start using picks, misdirection plays with a delayed release by the TE, Mike Williams sky jump patterns over the middle and Watkins ankle snap jukes 1 yard into the end zone. Stop just running the ball up the middle on first and second. We have the talent to have a very good red zone TD percentage. It will come in time, hopefully this is the week.