Fan in Chicago

Pat myself on the back ? Is that the crux of your complaint ? There are no victors in a situation when the Bills lose a game. Here is why I am regurgitating old conversations – in those earlier conversations, many on this board were discussing his picture with ‘USS FUHKMORE’ and his tweet regarding N Korea and Foxboro. What some of us were saying was that there is a disturbing pattern to Stevie’s behavior – drop against Steelers, his excessive celebration penalties, the above social media behavior etc. No one claimed any medical or psychological correlation between the on field and off field stuff. But what I did wonder is if his general lack of immaturity causes him to either try too hard or lose concentration in key moments where he is subconsciously looking to create a big moment. In that instant of losing focus, he makes game altering mistakes. To this opinion, there were several here that roundly derided that point of view and said things like ‘lighten up’ or ‘he is just a clown’ etc. Me bringing up the old threads was meant to point out how a casual hand waving is not always the right thing to do. The Bills traded Lynch because his off-field behavior would some day cause a suspension or arrest which would hurt the Bills. Stevie, which never in trouble with the law, has displayed judgment and behavior which paints an overall poor picture of him. Guy who gets yards, gets open, yet will let you down in big moments. If you see the above logic as my attempt to take a victory lap, then I am pretty sure you are not being objective about the situation. Are you just mad that Big Cat, Badol, me were right in being concerned ? You accuse us of patting ourselves on the back and taking victory laps, but you are just failing to acknowledge that, UNFORTUNATELY, the concerns we expressed with his behavior has come true and affected the outcome on at least three games now. That is about as much defense I can provide my point of view. I am being civil about this discussion and would encourage you to respond in kind.

You seem to be beating down on points that Big Cat and I am making - that Stevie has repeatedly shown a lack of maturity on and off the field. What point are you making or defending ? You are coming across as a rebel without a cause.

Actually, I linked two of those threads a couple of pages back. As I just said a few posts back, a simple glance through the pages shows that a majority were actually excusing his North Korea comment and 'USS FUHKMORE' shirt as merely funny transgressions which have no bearing on on-field performance. Unfortunately, the growing body of evidence clearly suggests that he is unable to contain his antics off the field, concentrate fully at key moments on the field and has little inclination to own up to his mistakes.

Fred Jackson

Not that you need support for your points, but just for fun, I dug up this thread and some post in them to bolster your statements above .... Glancing through that thread, I realized that there were very few of us who called him out on his immaturity and likely negative impact on the field. http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/159612-are-the-billsstevie-gonna-regret-this-photo-posted-on-fb/page__st__160 http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/159612-are-the-billsstevie-gonna-regret-this-photo-posted-on-fb/page__st__200 http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/157064-steve-johnsons-interesting-tweet/page__st__160 Shameless & depressing 'I told you so' from April , 2013: "He was in check last season but this transgression makes me wonder if he will once again cause a stupid penalty or drop a catch that costs us a game. I am not confident any more that he is mature enough to handle all game situations."

In the offseason, I came to grips with what was an emerging trend - immature Stevie spouting his mouth off and making juvenile 'LAMP' antics. On the field, great route runner with the ability to out-move the best of CBs. But very much a toss up in the clutch. This season, his antics have been minimal but his performance is disappointing. Any team will have its ups and downs throughout the game. The Bills are fielding a rookie QB (who contrary to your opinion, I feel has been learning adequately throughout the season) and 2 rookie WRs. There will be lows (like a very cold 3rd Q on O yesterday) but it was telling that we were within a field goal of winning the game. Our #1 WR has to make the catch and keep possession and yet SJ came up very small. I am tired of his personality and his shaking off of accountability. I would not be surprised or disappointed if he is shopped around in the off-season and the Bills decide to make a major push to upgrade the TE position and get a physical WR to complement Woods and Goodwin. I know it is not a popular opinion, but I wont miss SJ much if he is gone. He has been limited in his effectiveness this year (ability, effort, injuries) and is not the kind of #1 WR we need.

That is all that matters. I dont give a flying hoot what Tomlin's reasons were or the circumstances around him not knowing his own location on the field. He was wrong and should have been flagged.

No one held a gun to the Colts' head. It was a conscious, and in retrospect, a stupid deal. Excuses. A 'lesser' RB like Fred Jackson overcome similar conditions to keep trudging on year after year. Also, Adrian Peterson has not had a good QB to help the running game .

I agree. Trading Hughes to us was a bad decision by them (IMHO, the Bills got the better end of the deal) But the Trent Richardson trade takes the cake. A very good QB can cover up a lot of faults but items like this eventually catch up with the team in the long term,

I think we need to draft a RB to prepare for life after Jackson. We will always need a hard runner and as good as Freddie has been, we never know when he will fall off a cliff given his age. Having said that, I DO NOT want to use a first rounder for a RB - EVER again. Perhaps in the 2nd or 3rd round. Also, don't discount a big strong WR to complement Woods and Goodwin. So for the first 4 rounds, I would like to see a LB, G, WR and RB (not necessarily in that order).

What a catch in double coverage by Fitzgerald !! AZ up 14-3 on Indy

I am willing to go out on a limb and say that if one person has to go, it will be Shanny over RG III. Besides his mouth, RG III showed enough in his rookie year to secure his place on the team. Shanny OTOH, can be replaced. Not a potential franchise QB

With respect to Kaepernick, not being seen in Dolphins gear and then defending himself would be a good start. Not sure, but looks like he kinda got too comfortable in SF once Smith was traded. He is learning now never to take anything for granted. I don't have a problem in the way he accepted blame for that play. I do take issue with him basically giving the Eagles kudos for their game plan.

From most accounts, RGIII seems to be a nice guy and pretty level headed. He is a bit immature which comes across in the above statement. No matter how the other team won, you do not throw your own team and coaches under the bus. Instead he should have deflected it by saying that we need to be better prepared next time, execute better and protect the ball. You do NOT give a rival, especially a division foe, a psychological advantage (for future meetings). If EJ had said something like this after losing to the Pats*, I would be incensed.

I disagree. Look at the trajectory of the ball and imagine that 'interference' not occuring at all. Even if Kuechly was not pushing Gronk away, he would have been on the side of the ball. The ball should have been thrown more to (Brady's) right side. It was too much to the left and indeed I think if Kuechly wasn't tangled up with Gronk, he could have had a chance at intercepting that pass. Even if Kuechly did not, Robert Lester was moving towards the ball (he was not beat). Even Brady says it could have been a better throw. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000284507/article/tom-brady-throw-should-have-been-better-on-last-play Nope, never. Can't root for the Pats*. Speaking more objectively, when have the Pats* eased off on the throttle ? They will still do their darndest to step on our throats and say they want momentum for the playoffs. I would rather beat them when they are at full strength. Either way, I won't root for the friggin' Pats*

How are Fitz's picks related to EJ ?

While CJ certainly has elite talent, he was drafted that high to be the difference maker in games. The home run threat, if you will. But considering what we have seen so far - an underwhelming rookie campaign, flashes of brilliance followed by extended periods of insignificance, unable to shoulder a game's worth of work etc., forgive me if I am colored unimpressed. I will go as far as saying that CJ is a role player at best, very unworthy of his lofty draft position and certainly not deserving of a handsome contract extension/renewal. I will take a player, leader and performer like FJax any day. At this point, a single good game will not help CJ. He has to consistently show that he can make defenses plan for him and that the O is much better with him on the field. No more first round running backs ! Which brings me to a related point - for those that bashed Gailey for sparingly utilizing CJ, can we now let off on the snide comments and disdain ? Maybe Gailey knew that CJ is not a consistent game builder and made excuses to cover that up. Maybe Gailey wasn't that wrong about him after all.

I don't understand something - you are saying these panels are free to you ? If yes, then why would you be stuck with a $20K tab ? If you are paying $20K, it just sounds like a lousy payback to me even at 20 years. wild calc - $200 pm electricity bill x 0.35 offset x 12 months = $840 per year. Discounted, it will take an awful long time (~ 30 years I venture to guess) to pay off even under this optimistic calculation scenario. Even if you get a tax break, it will be several years simply to breakeven. What am I missing ?

Bolding a portion for those that evidently missed it. I have two teenagers now and I remember we would never take any risks with our kids when they were young. To give an example, I had taken my 2 year old out of her car seat and proceeded to close the car door. I had not checked and just at the very last minute noticed that she had he had on the car and would have had her fingers hurt when the door closed. Since then I was always careful of closing doors. I realize it is not exactly relevant but just wanted to point out that you can never be too careful with very young children. Err on the side of caution - always and dont play the game of percentages.

In yesterday's game, the tone was set very early on O. When Byrd's INT gave great field position and we could not drive it in on EJ's errant throw, LeBeau must have seen that EJ is looking skittish. He crowded the line, dared the Bills to pass and EJ came up small. From there on out, there was not much that play calling could do. And the D were constantly on their heels. So what I am coming to is that Hackett has little optimism to take the foot off the brake. Unless EJ shows some level of competence, our O calling will be severely hampered. We can blame the lack of Woods all we want but you did see EJ miss on even the basic throws. The Steelers line is experienced but shown to be vulnerable in earlier games. But even then, a one-dimensional offense can get smashed by schemes with a genius like LeBeau.

Agree , his footwork looks bad today

I dont give much credence to rumors but just as a thought exercise, maybe it makes sense for the Steeelers to go into full rebuild mode including the QB position. Considering the state they are at with their personnel, it may make sense to use this 'opportunity' to wipe the slate clean

I wil add, employment of the screen, a better performance by Chandler and a more accurate downfield game by EJ.

Overall, this is the healthiest team we will have fielded. Exciting. On paper, we should beat them handily.

You have stated pretty mich the same as the OP of this thread. No need to start a new thread http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/163428-ej-manuel-bias/page__st__40#entry2968763