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In defense of EJ (yeah, I said it!)


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All QB's have bad games, and in particular the young QB's without a decent supporting cast around him. That goes for the coaching staff who called to many pass plays even before the 3 TD debacle,

 

On first down Shady gets five yards and the Bills OC calls for a 7 step drop back pass on second down. Run the freaking read option, and have EJ run or hand it off with much much less passing.

 

The OP has a point that if the defense makes the stop then EJ gets redemption, and since that didn't happen he is crucified. Yea EJ stunk it up, but so did the rest of the team with penalties, bad play calls, poor defense.

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The Jaguars are horrible. EJ was more horrible than the Jags in the first half. He was slightly less horrible than the Jags in the second half.

 

Just to be clear: Slightly less horrible than the Jags is synonymous with horrible. So EJ was horrible in both halves. Hopefully this clears up any confusion some people are still having.

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This game was Houston 2.0 for EJ... Thanks for losing the game to a ****ty friggin team EJ. Good Riddance. He is a backup you cant even count on to beat a crappy team.

Exactly this reminded me so much of the Houston game of last year. First thing that popped into my head. There's honestly no way anyone should be defending EJ after today's game. Let's be honest he's probably the worst QB in the NFL and i'm not exaggerating one bit. He simply cannot make throw's that college QB's make consistently. It's time to move on.

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He reminds me a lot of Joe Ferguson early in his career frankly. When he is good he makes huge plays when he is bad he is the worst. Ferguson overcame that to have a good career. I still think EJ is a good back up for this team. Good remember Marangi not that was bad.

 

When I think of backup I think of two types of QB's. The first is one that come in and play in a pinch or have a short time to prepare and be ready to play - doesn't try to do too much and manages the game with hopefully few mistakes because of the conservative game plan. The second is someone learning behind the starter and learning - you hope your main guy doesn't go down so that it's not too early.

 

I don't see EJ as either of these types of QB's and I don't see this team needing the second type. In other words he's not the backup this team needs. On this team he should have been 3rd string.

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Ejs second half play did redeem him a very little bit. If they decided to bench him after the pick 6 or the second int... i think it was very likely that would have been the last time we ever saw ej as an nfl player.

Edited by PortlandiaEast
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EJ is erratic, indecisive, and is not creative. I don't know that more playing time fixes that. He is athletic and can make the throws when not under duress but when he is under duress it is deplorable. He is at his best after he has blown it as is this whole team actually.

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It's one thing to overcome poor play. A dumb Int, inaccuracy here and there, a fumble...but what he did in the first half was beyond that.

 

This is like saying that a guy robbed you, but brought the stuff back and is on okay guy in your book.

 

Sorry, his comeback doesn't count because they didn't win. His damage was too much

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The Jaguars are horrible. EJ was more horrible than the Jags in the first half. He was slightly less horrible than the Jags in the second half.

 

Just to be clear: Slightly less horrible than the Jags is synonymous with horrible. So EJ was horrible in both halves. Hopefully this clears up any confusion some people are still having.

 

Horrible doesn't bring a team back from 24-3 to take the lead in the 4th. He accomplished that! And on the flip side, he's the one who got us in that 24-3 hole. Had the defense made that one last stop, we'd be praising him for bringing us back. But he'd still be riding the pine behind TT when he comes back. I give him credit where it'd due, but at best, he's a 7-9 caliber starter. At worse, he'll get you to 5-11 and a top 5 pick in the next draft.

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It's pretty clear he's not starting material ( evidenced by bounced passes, staring down receivers, tough time with screen passes) .. But I still think he's a reasonable backup. He showed leadership and toughness and determination in that game fighting back after that disastrous 1st half so I think his teammates still have some faith in him. He showed he's capable of making a handful of big plays on any given day. He does have a consistent problem with fumbling but he doesn't really have a history of throwing too many picks so I think today was a bit of an anomaly. Remember... our BACKUP lost the game today.. What were we expecting

Edited by Bocephuz
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Horrible doesn't bring a team back from 24-3 to take the lead in the 4th. He accomplished that! And on the flip side, he's the one who got us in that 24-3 hole. Had the defense made that one last stop, we'd be praising him for bringing us back. But he'd still be riding the pine behind TT when he comes back. I give him credit where it'd due, but at best, he's a 7-9 caliber starter. At worse, he'll get you to 5-11 and a top 5 pick in the next draft.

So what you're saying is "at best" he is below average. In my book that means = shitcan.

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Sure. He bounced back.

 

I credit the defense more, though. They shut down the Jags in the 2nd half before being screwed on that last drive. Great goal line and 3rd down stops (even if it's just the Jags, credit where credit is due). The offense was able to start a couple drives near the 50 and in opposing territory, right?

 

If the D couldn't weather the storm caused by EJ, the game would've been lost.


EJ has been a slow starter throughout his career.

 

Has he addressed his preparation routine?

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I'm not sure what people expect from a backup qb when there are no more than a dozen guys in the world that are consistently good at the position in the first place.

 

All backups have some good moments, and most of them throw at least one pick per game, sometimes more than one (as Cassel did on three back to back possessions tonite, two of them were just awful, embarrassing throws from the one time pro bowl qb)

 

This doesn't mean the GM loses his job or that Rex sucks, it means we don't have a great backup qb like the VAST majority of teams in this league.

 

EJ was not seeing the middle of the field well at all. He wasn't keeping track of where the linebackers and safeties were, he was staring down his guys sometimes (as do a lot of qb's including Tyrod). He doesn't have a great touch on the short stuff.

 

We made some second half adjustments, EJ ended up with 300 yards and a few td's and couple of picks. His biggest mistake of the game was not doing a quick glance to his left to be sure the blitz wasn't coming. A lot of qb's make that mistake, and today it cost us the game. strip sack, and TD in the same play. He should know better. He should know they're going to blitz him and he should know how to be prepared to recognize it and act swiftly and decisively.

 

He didn't look to his left quickly and it cost us 7. Blame the qb coach and Roman and EJ for that because that's fundamental football failure, but not for throwing a few picks on the road as a backup qb.

 

And blame the ref who threw that game changing crap call. I don't care what argument anybody makes, it was a bad call, and if it doesn't happen we win that game.

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He really fell apart early in the game, and then Roman seemingly changed up the play calling to feature quick passes and a couple designed runs, and then things started to click for him. Take away just one of his turnovers, and we have a different game. Hell, as it was, we were in position to win in the end, but the defense choked. He certainly is a mixed bag, but that's why he's a backup.

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Calling out those in bold:

 

I will probably make similar posts in various threads throughout the week but the EJ dreamers need to be held accountable once and for all. EJ Manuel's performance today did not at all surprise most rational, intelligent Bills fans. But no matter how much it became painstakingly obvious, for whatever reason, 15% of Bills fans kept insisting that Manuel had this magic ceiling, had only played (now) 16 games, was ruined by Marrone, "good kid, great tools..."

 

I had to wait out a suspension last week and see Gugny post in the shoutbox that Tyrod Taylor is "terrible" (verdict's in on that one I guess) and in a thread that same day that Manuel's numbers through 15 games or whatever stack up favorably against hall of famers. Yeah guys who played in an era when 26 TD's and 15 INT's could win you MVP honors. Why don't you compare his numbers vs. a contemporary of his: Mike Glennon. Better yet, how do Tyrod Taylor's numbers (Take You to Tasker is the leader of the 'let's wait and see on EJ but verdict's in: Taylor sucks' bandwagon by the way) compare with those same players through 5 games??

 

I mean, the old, stale, tired arguments are so easy to refute. IT'S OVER! And the thing that bothers me about this is that I have spent so much of the last year (God knows why) telling everyone that he more than likely did not have it. And for what? It's not like I was asked to pick a number 1-10 and I took a number and Bills fan 4-ever took a number and I got lucky; this was plainly obvious to anyone who can watch and analyze a quarterback. There are two key components to being a good QB: thinking quickly and making quick, smart decisions and throwing an accurate football. He stinks at both! What in God's name did you see in this guy?

 

I digress. I hope this just dies forever. As I've stated previously, Bills fans who still support Manuel are eerily similar to Tebow-heads (saw there's a thread for that one too). Why? Why is he such a polarizing figure? He's just a bad QB, that's IT!

 

Go Bills and I certainly hope that the few of you who are trying to spread the 'Taylor sucks, that I know, but Manuel might still have it; hell, he might be an upgrade (WHAT?)' propaganda just quit it for good and start supporting the Bills starting QB who has had a HELL of a start to his career and may actually develop into/be the coveted franchise QB we've been waiting for lo these many years.

 

-Metz

Edited by metzelaars_lives
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I will probably make similar posts in various threads throughout the week but the EJ dreamers need to be held accountable once and for all. EJ Manuel's performance today did not at all surprise most rational, intelligent Bills fans. But no matter how much it became painstakingly obvious, for whatever reason, 15% of Bills fans kept insisting that Manuel had this magic ceiling, had only played (now) 16 games, was ruined by Marrone, "good kid, great tools..."

 

I had to wait out a suspension last week and see Gugny post in the shoutbox that Tyrod Taylor is "terrible" (verdict's in on that one I guess) and in a thread that same day that Manuel's numbers through 15 games or whatever stack up favorably against hall of famers. Yeah guys who played in an era when 26 TD's and 15 INT's could win you MVP honors. Why don't you compare his numbers vs. a contemporary of his: Mike Glennon. Better yet, how do Tyrod Taylor's numbers (Take You to Tasker is the leader of the 'let's wait and see on EJ but verdict's in: Taylor sucks' bandwagon by the way) compare with those same players through 5 game??

 

I mean, the old, stale, tired arguments are so easy to refute. IT'S OVER! And the thing that bothers me about this is that I have spent so much of the last year (God knows why) telling everyone that he more than likely did not have it. And for what? It's not like I was asked to pick a number 1-10 and I took a number and Bills fan 4-ever took a number and I got lucky; this was plainly obvious to anyone who can watch and analyze a quarterback. There are two key components to being a good QB: thinking quickly and making quick, smart decisions and throwing an accurate football. He stinks at both! What in God's name did you see in this guy?

 

I digress. I hope this just dies forever. As I've stated previously, Bills fans who still support Manuel are eerily similar to Tebow-heads (saw there's a thread for that one too). Why? Why is he such a polarizing figure? He's just a bad QB, that's IT!

 

Go Bills and I certainly hope that the few of you who are trying to spread the 'Taylor sucks, that I know, but Manuel might still have it; hell, he might be an upgrade (WHAT?)' propaganda just quit it for good and start supporting the Bills starting QB who has had a HELL of a start to his career and may actually develop/be the coveted franchise QB we've been waiting for lo these many years.

 

-Metz

Good post :thumbsup:

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Why wouldn't a fan support a player on the team they support? This idea that supporting EJ is somehow wrong is ridiculous. He's playing backup level currently. He's our backup. If there's another backup that's better, and available, and we want to swallow the cost of swapping out, I'm sure we'll do it. But until then, when our starter goes down, EJ's the next guy up. It's not like Cassel has shown anything promising this year.

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Why wouldn't a fan support a player on the team they support? This idea that supporting EJ is somehow wrong is ridiculous. He's playing backup level currently. He's our backup. If there's another backup that's better, and available, and we want to swallow the cost of swapping out, I'm sure we'll do it. But until then, when our starter goes down, EJ's the next guy up. It's not like Cassel has shown anything promising this year.

Of course I support EJ! I was rooting for the Bills as loudly and passionately today as I ever have. The TD pass to Easley was a freaking dime. But when you come on this site or call into WGR and tell everyone that Manuel is an upgrade, verdict's in: Taylor sucks, EJ might still have it, etc., you are no longer thinking rationally, you are operating off of a bias. Plain and simple. And I would certainly argue that those people are not "supporting" Tyrod Taylor. I hope they come around.

 

And Ryan L. Billz loves to point out "well Taylor sucked in the first half against NYG and Ten." OK, yes he did. Without McCoy or Watkins, but yes he did. Not sure how old you are but do you have any idea how many horrendous halves of football Jim Kelly played?? But I'll tell ya one thing- Manuel has never SNIFFED Taylor at his best. I am very much looking forward to seeing him develop further.

Edited by metzelaars_lives
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