Cash

Nice little piece; thanks for posting! I love Stevie and everything about him.

Totally agree. I'm not sure how much of the throw hanging up there was due to the wind and how much due to him being hit right as he threw, but it was a fine (and quick!) decision by EJ. Barring a totally blown coverage or DB falling down, there's never going to be a deep bomb where the receiver is open when the ball is thrown. All the QB can really do is recognize single coverage with no help (check), and huck it up in a way that gives his guy a chance to win the 1-on-1 matchup. With our guys, that'll usually mean throwing it really far and hoping our WR outruns the DB, but in this case, we got lucky with a way underthrown ball. But even if we didn't get lucky, I still like the decision. Worst case is an INT that's basically a punt. That's fine. Much more likely is an incomplete pass, which is still way better than the sack he would've taken if he didn't make that throw. Remember, it was an all-out blitz and Manuel was hit on a 3-step drop. Remember also, it was 3rd and 12. If our receivers can't consistently win those 1-on-1 matchups, then we need to get better receivers. As long as the QB is giving them a fair chance (which he didn't do in the first Jets game), that's all you can ask for. Flatulence is the key to EJ's good play? That's weird and gross, but if it works, I'm fine with it. I just feel bad for the poor bastards whose lockers are next to EJ's.

I personally love Dareus, so this is just a guess, but I think a lot of it might be due to the successes of guys drafted after him, especially JJ Watt. Plus, a lot of fans tend to get hung up on sacks as the only metric for D-linemen, and maybe don't necessarily understand that 5+ sacks a year is excellent for a DT or 3-4 DE.

If your team's success happened while you were not actively a fan of that team (i.e., too young to remember, weren't born yet, bandwagon jumper, etc.), it's pretty bush league to crow about it. I mean, it's great that the Bills won AFL championships in the 60s, but I feel no connection to it because it happened well before my time. I would probably still take Nelson over Graham, but neither is any great shakes. Graham did have one of his better games today, going 2 for 3 on catchable deep balls. His adjustment on the TD was very impressive.

Nice! This reminds me of my completely rational and justified hatred of Dick Jauron's coaching style. He would famously ALWAYS practice indoors unless the weather was ideal. When he talked about that policy, his rationale was basically along the lines of, "the poor weather will prevent us from effectively working on what we need to work on." But, as most of us fans pointed out at the time, if you can't practice it in bad weather, how will you be able to execute it during a game in bad weather? In other words, what's the point of crisp, clean practices if you know the game will be played under harsh conditions? Much better to practice in those same conditions and find out exactly what you can and can't do. Maybe even -- gasp -- adjust to those conditions? The worst of it was, Jauron always seemed stunned when the wind/rain/snow screwed up the offense. Quotes along the lines of, "we had a great week of practice, but we couldn't really move the ball through the air in this weather." So frustrating. Sorry for the rant, but I still haven't gotten over it. I don't know if Marrone is the guy yet, but at the very least, he seems to get basic concepts like this and learn from his mistakes, which Jauron never did.

Might as well do it now. One more loss probably eliminates us mathematically, or at least comes very close. It seems unlikely that we would win the tiebreakers even if we won out, but obviously that scenario is still in play. Might as well hope for the best as long as it's a possibility. For the record, I won't be disappointed in the slightest if we don't make the playoffs; never expected it and don't think it's reasonable to ask, particularly in light of the QB injuries. But I do want us to stay "in the hunt" as long as possible, and need to see us win several more games. At least 2 out of the Tampa/Jax/ATL murderer's row, and take care of business at home against Miami. Do that and we legitimately look like a decent young team on the rise, who can go as far as our QB's development takes us.

Apparently Marrone said in the post-game presser that Hackett will be on the sidelines the rest of the way.

David Nelson with a big revenge catch there.

Bad drop by McKelvin, but at least the win is pretty secure. He drops that on in a close game, it's hard to get over it.

Hahaha. Meanwhile, Goodwin continues to be fast.

Well, EJ & Chandler have redeemed themselves for that last missed connection. Beautiful throw & catch.

F.

Are we gonna get lit up by Matt Simms now? WTF?

So close!!! Dammit, he was WIDE open. Hate to miss that one.

What a play by Searcy!!! Bill from NYC is going to cream his jeans.

Bit of a weak call on Williams there, but I suppose they could've flagged Gilmore if they were being sticklers. But if Cromartie's shove on Goodwin isn't a penalty, I don't see why anything on that play should've been a penalty.

Ooh, Williams wanted that pick and almost had it. Good job by Holmes breaking it up.

Will certain posters still be freaking out about EJ's FSU highlight vid on Youtube not having enough tough throws on it? Having said that, the pick-6 that Cromartie dropped was very bad. EJ is definitely still a rookie.

Amazing game for Byrd!!!!

GOODWIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A THROW BY MANUEL!

Upon further review, I billieve this play stands.

Graham tracked a ball and Manuel put it on the money!!!!!!

Boo. Let's see how the offense responds. A nice sustained drive here would be very nice.

Right on cue, gets toasted. Let's see if we can get the goal line stop!

Boy, McLovin got beat bad on that play. No pass rush either. Would be nice to see the Bills play two good halves in the same game for once...