For those of you who gave up on EJ.....

[nucci]

This is football. Opinions change week to week.

[John from Riverside]

they are almost all to the flat/sidline. watch the replay and stop kidding yourself , watch pittsburg again and youll see every pass is an out or short hitch. today he had a couple 9 yard type hitches- WOW!. where are the crossing routes? slants even? hes afraid of the middle, like trent or any other qb who cant read a defense. Just saying,, watch and youll see this yourself, not that im rooting against ej but its true.

 

Rookies in general have a tough time reading the middle of the field and trusting it. I for one am happy that we have a QB that doesnt think its ok to throw interceptions.

 

When you have a defense like ours.....one of the biggest ingredients to victory is simply not turning the ball over. EJ Manuel to me shows a lot of maturity in making sure he is careful with the ball. If he had a athletic big target in the middle of the field I think we would see more throws there........he is gonna start going there its gonna take some time.

 

You have to be patient when you are bringing along a rookie QB........

[K-9]

Great term.

 

Certainly not a term I coined nor is it one I wish to take a shred of credit for. Full credit must go to Edwards Arm who often cites EJ's lack of "mental bandwidth" as a reason why he is a bust as an NFL QB.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[26CornerBlitz]

Certainly not a term I coined nor is it one I wish to take a shred of credit for. Full credit must go to Edwards Arm who often cites EJ's lack of "mental bandwidth" as a reason why he is a bust as an NFL QB.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Beyond his physical gifts, "Mental Bandwidth" and Emotional Maturity are actually two of EJ's strengths. He's an impressive guy.

[mattsox]

What say you now? Excellent accuracy all day long on all types of throws - short, intermediate, and long.

 

Bills and EJ Manuel bounce back in impressive fashion

 

Bills and EJ Manuel bounce back in impressive fashion

 

Howard Simon

 

howard@wgr550.com

 

I couldn't have scripted it any better. The Bills bounce back from their worst game of the season with a dominating win over a division rival and one that has beaten them up pretty good in recent seasons.

 

Rookie QB EJ Manuel responds to his worst game of the season with a very strong day, throwing the ball with accuracy and hitting plays down field.

 

Sideline Reactions: Bills 37 - Jets 14

 

By Joe Buscaglia

 

JoeB@wgr550.com

 

Manuel bounces back

 

In his first game back in over a month, EJ Manuel was not effective against Pittsburgh until the game didn't matter any longer. He was missing passes that he should always hit, and the offense had their worst performance of the season. Fast forward to Sunday, a game against the Jets with swirling winds, Manuel had a quality performance against a defense that has played quite well as of late. The rookie quarterback was hitting on the intermediate throws that plagued him against the Steelers, finding his targets on comeback routes, slants and out routes with well-placed passes. Even just after one week, the buzzards were circling Manuel following the Pittsburgh game despite rookie seasons being notorious for their peaks and valleys. However, Manuel answered back with a strong throw down the field to Marquise Goodwin for a touchdown right after another deep ball completed to T.J. Graham. Did he make some mistakes? Sure. Did he in anyway jeopardize the Bills from coming away with the victory? Not even in the slightest. Now it's on Manuel to pick up victories against three teams that have a 5-25 combined record on the year.

 

He's only Played 7 NFL Football Games. Let's see how he does over the course of 3 seasons. I still believe you have to give a player at least 3 seasons to know if they "GOT IT" or will "GET IT."

Edited November 19, 2013 by mattsox

[chris heff]

 

 

Yeah, forgot about that game...380 yds passing over 100 rushing... It all came in the second half when Clemson already had a huge lead right? I turned that one off after the first half. My happiness with today's rout of the Jets must have momentarily messed up my memory

 

I stand corrected...his second best game in the past two seasons

Clemson a 14 point lead in the third. Then it was all FSU.

[26CornerBlitz]

EJ Manuel a finalist for NFL Rookie of the Week

 

Bills QB is among the finalists for NFL Rookie of the Week, as announced by the NFL on Tuesday.

Denver Broncos RB Montee Ball, Chicago Bears DE David Bass, Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Mike Glennon, and Oakland Raiders QB Matt McGloin complete the list of nominees for the Pepsi NNEXT NFL Rookie of the Week for Week 11.

[ajzepp]

@ChrisBrownBills

Manuel's progression http://wp.me/plmrg-9d2

 

This cannot be accurate. I've heard at least three people I've never met on TBD who are clearly football experts say that EJ locks in on one receiver and fails to go through his reads.

 

[K-9]

This cannot be accurate. I've heard at least three people I've never met on TBD who are clearly football experts say that EJ locks in on one receiver and fails to go through his reads.

 

 

And that he was "taught" to only read half the field in college.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[elroy16]

In regards to EJ not throwing to the middle of the field, part of it could easily be what the defense is giving him. When teams are putting 8 in the box, it jams up the middle of the field. Outside of the numbers is where space is.

 

 

He played well today but let's keep it in perspective. He was still immediately eyeing his target and looks shakey in the pocket

 

He does look much better coming from under center then the gun which I think a lot of us have been calling for all season

 

Wait, so QB's aren't supposed to immediately look at or throw to their first read?

 

I'll refer to Marrone's comment people posted above about EJ going through his progressions.

 

 

 

He's obviously got a lot of room to grow, which is very encouraging. More encouraging is growth through the season. He was blasted for missing deep balls and not showing great accuracy on short throws, he did both on Sunday. He's looked uncomfortable in the pocket and has been quick to check down at times. Against the Jets, he looked a lot more comfortable in the pocket and scanned the field longer. That was something Marrone said he needed to work on and he's already improved.

 

 

Only 1 throw was really "bad" IMO on sunday and that was the hitch that Cromartie almost took back for 6. He missed Chandler on a crossing route that he threw a little too far out in front. I don't remember another throw that made me cringe or nervous.

Edited November 19, 2013 by elroy16

[GunnerBill]

I thought Chandler should have made the play on that crossing route. He seemed to hesitate midway through the route. The throw that Cromartie nearly picked off was a bad one. He clearly didn't see him. However, everyone is saying it would have been a pick 6..... the receiver that he was trying to get the ball to was Goodwin. He showed us what he can do to Cromartie in a foot race. I think he gets back and saves the TD to be honest... but regardless it was a poor throw.

[26CornerBlitz]

How Hackett convinced EJ to let it fly

 

“EJ and I had a long talk and it was right after the first Jets game,” said Hackett. ”He saw a lot, but for the first time to see the things he saw it was like, ‘Oh my gosh. I see it, but they’re really all coming after me.’

 

“We sat down and watched a lot of the quarterbacks across the league, the great ones, like Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers. Why are those guys so good? When you put on their tape they’re truly throwing the ball before the guy is open. They’re trusting their team. They’re just dropping back, they see it and they know and throw an accurate pass and let their guys make a play. He saw that in the Baltimore game (the following week) and was like, ‘Wow you’re right I’ve just got trust the look and go.’ As he continues to see himself through that he’s going to get better.

Edited November 21, 2013 by 26CornerBlitz

[LB3]

How Hackett convinced EJ to let it fly

 

“EJ and I had a long talk and it was right after the first Jets game,” said Hackett. ”He saw a lot, but for the first time to see the things he saw it was like, ‘Oh my gosh. I see it, but they’re really all coming after me.’

 

“We sat down and watched a lot of the quarterbacks across the league, the great ones, like Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers. Why are those guys so good? When you put on their tape they’re truly throwing the ball before the guy is open. They’re trusting their team. They’re just dropping back, they see it and they know and throw an accurate pass and let their guys make a play. He saw that in the Baltimore game (the following week) and was like, ‘Wow you’re right I’ve just got trust the look and go.’ As he continues to see himself through that he’s going to get better.

 

Thanks for the post. It was the first game that it looked like he was really letting his guys make plays on deep balls. It also looked like he wasn't guiding his short throws as much either. He said that he was trusting his reads a lot more and just letting it rip, and it showed. This bye week now seems like a gift and a curse. The team needs the rest, but it would have been nice if he could have kept rolling without another layoff.

Edited November 21, 2013 by KikoSeeBallKikoGetBall

[mrags]

 

The fact that this was EJs first game against a team that he's already played. The first game was rough for him, this game he was very, very good. It shouldn't be lost that in his second game against the same team, he progressed greatly. Making plays deep, knowing what his WRs were capable of, and maybe, just maybe he saw those looks before and learned from his past mistakes. Take it for what it is, but good quarterbacks make mistakes and learn from them, and it looked like to me that EJ did just that this past Sunday.

[26CornerBlitz]

The fact that this was EJs first game against a team that he's already played. The first game was rough for him, this game he was very, very good. It shouldn't be lost that in his second game against the same team, he progressed greatly. Making plays deep, knowing what his WRs were capable of, and maybe, just maybe he saw those looks before and learned from his past mistakes. Take it for what it is, but good quarterbacks make mistakes and learn from them, and it looked like to me that EJ did just that this past Sunday.

 

The Bills Brass has been saying this about EJ since training camp.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Let's review again:

 

EJ played against one of the top defenses in the league.

 

EJ had no running game upon which to lean on.

 

EJ was without the team's two best wide receivers.

 

EJ played on a very windy field.

 

EJ was coming off the worst game of his career, a performance which just as easily could send a rookie into a confidence crisis-induced tailspin.

 

EJ played a very strong game.

[Leelee Phoenix]

Learning from mistakes, etc... I think EJ is fine in that regard. He seems like a good guy that's always willing to learn, and realizes he needs to improve.

 

Is he an accurate enough passer? The Jets' game didn't convince me yet. The Graham TD pass was frankly dumb luck. The Goodwin throw was one Thad Lewis can make. The next month is where EJ can continue showing he can impress there.