MDH Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 3-13 Peyton led the league in INTs his rookie year, too. Sure didn't shake his confidence. Comparing EJ to Peyton is silly, but I don't see the point in holding back EJ any. Now that they're out of the playoffs I agree. Let it rip and tell the kid to not worry about making mistakes which right now appears to be what his problem is. That an inexperienced QB with different injured WR's in and out of practice/lineup and missing valuable practice time himself may not be comfortable "throwing WR's open" is hardly a surprise. Yeah, that might be one of the reasons he struggled yesterday. He had developed some chemistry with Woods. Without him in the lineup it looked like he'd look to SJ and if he was covered just dump it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleed Bills Blue Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Now that they're out of the playoffs I agree. Let it rip and tell the kid to not worry about making mistakes which right now appears to be what his problem is. Agreed. He's got six games to show that we don't need to spend another first round pick on a quarterback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 He didn't baby him in the presser today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wattdogg35 Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 Lots of great points made in this thread. What confuses me is the approach of games to all of our QB's. When Lewis & Tuel were playing, you got the feeling that the coaches told them to go out and win the game at all costs. Yesterday with Manuel, it looked like the coaches told him to stay to a specific game plan, do not improvise, and try not to lose. That's how it looked to me, but I am only guessing. We need E.J. Manuel to play and learn, that is the only way I see him getting better. The coaches have got to be more creative on the offensive play calling, and not run a bunch of the same plays over and over. They need to tell him to "take a chance or two. If you throw an int so be it ... we understand and so will the fans". He seems to be Risk Averse and that is where "Checkdowns" come from. Now is the time for him to make mistakes and learn from them not for him to play it safe and never take a risk. I do not believe this is the coaches. You don't tell your Third and Fourth stringers to take risks and not your number 1. I don't think that anyone would disagree with the "babied" comments. Here's the thing and it's pretty simple. If the coaches didn't want him checking down to Jackson or Chandler on third and long, then those routes would not be run. That should tell us two things really. The coaching staff hasn't taken the training wheels off yet. We don't know the reason. Maybe he's just not ready to have full command of the offense at this point. Second and more important though is that Manuel himself by virtue of the fact that he IS checking down clearly isn't comfortable. When all is said and done, it has to start somewhere. all of these great points...the fans get it! I really hope the Bills staff understands and sees' the same points, observations that we do. "captain checkdown 2.0" I saw somewhere, I was thinking that against the Jets game first time around, just after 2 and a half games. He either has to dramatically improve and let him "open" up, or make him if it's EJ thats the main cause, or just realize that he's not "our guy" and move on...whatever happens, please let hit happen quickly! I love Buffalo Bills football, but can only take so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luka Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 This conservative, checkdown mentality is self imposed. It has been EJ's game since college. It is who he is. I pointed out to some of his more adamant supporters that he only threw for 300 yards 5 times in three years in a division that isn't known for great defenses. That was a red flag. It's more red now, watching Winston put up gaudy numbers on essentially the same team in the same offense. Just like Trent, I don't think you are going to see this change. And just like Trent, it is infinitely frustrating because physically, they are both more than capable of unleashing a few deep balls down the sidelines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_Pro_Bills Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 (edited) The problem is I don't see much seperation between the performances of Manuel, Tuel, or Lewis. All these guys suffer from a lack of experience so you'd expect some decision making and performance issues that should be resolved with game experience. But you get drafted in the 1st round because of talent and you get drafted in the later rounds because of potential. So I would expect a 1st round QB to have some 'natural' talent or ability that would be allow his play to rise above the performance of his peers. I don't see that. I see a pratice squad QB and a free agent rookie QB coming in with less preparation and playing as well or better. If the coaches are 'babying' EJ then they are making a terrible mistake. They need to take the training wheels off and let him show the talent and ability that convinced them to draft EJ in the first place or they need to begin to re-evaluate their decision process for making the selection. Edited November 12, 2013 by All_Pro_Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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