The preseason is meaningless...

[X-Era]

It is... and it's not

Evaluation of individual play is valuable in the preseason. Cassel and Taylor looked good. And I feel like we landed a great player in John Miller.

EJ is way behind at this point. He needs to stun the brass with his play or he is likely to be 3rd string. Just my opinion.

The team looks great in this game but we know nothing about our game planning until the regular season.

[YardRat]

Cassel looked 'meh'. Taylor looked athletic, but unimpressive throwing the ball. EJ is feast or famine. I don't think any of the three did much to step up and claim the starting job.

[OpIv37]

It is... and it's not

Evaluation of individual play is valuable in the preseason. Cassel and Taylor looked good. And I feel like we landed a great player in John Miller.

EJ is way behind at this point. He needs to stun the brass with his play or he is likely to be 3rd string. Just my opinion.

The team looks great in this game but we know nothing about our game planning until the regular season.

Couldn't watch so I can't agree or disagree with your assessment of individual players, but I completely agree that individual assessment in preseason is valid as a general concept.

[ublinkwescore]

Taylor looked solid passing. And even while running. Also hit two receivers in stride that dropped a td and a first down. Taylor is my bet to win the job.

[swiper]

Cassel looked 'meh'. Taylor looked athletic, but unimpressive throwing the ball. EJ is feast or famine. I don't think any of the three did much to step up and claim the starting job.

He was 7 for 8 in his first preseason game. Short stuff? Yes. He is playing like the Bills expected he would as he is learning the system. I thought he had a good game running the first team.

[ublinkwescore]

Cassell found watkins and clay for some nice pick ups... moved the chains. If Hogan doesn't drop a pass, and Watkins doesnt draw a flag, cassell may have scored too.

[Famous Amos]

When EJ rolled out to avoid the rush, scrambling to the sideline and then throwing it into the dirt in front of O'Leary, he got a lot of **** from the guys on TV about short arming it and not hitting O'Leary in stride, but to me it didnt look like O'Leary was ready for it, he had his back turned to Manual, after doing a great job of breaking his route off and getting open. I really liked that from EJ, he avoided the rush with poise and rolled out to the sideline in control and i think he thought O'Leary was going to come back because the throw was a spiral, not a flub, he was throwing to a spot.

Also, EJs long ball to Thompson was a thing of beauty. He stepped up into the throw and hit Thompson in stride with a lot of mustard on the throw.

I can't comment on the other two guys because i got home from work 4 minutes into the fourth quarter. How did Taylor's long ball look? Somebody said he threw a few that were dropped.

[Yasgur's Farm]

I agree that he thought O'Leary was coming back... That's what receivers are supposed to do when the QB is scrambling.

Other than that, he hit hands on every other pass (2 outright drops and1 thrown a bit outside). Not sure what happened on those 2 shotgun snaps... 1 was snapped high and 1 was snapped before he was ready.

All told, all 3 QB's looked better than I expected.

Stay tuned for the haters.


The Bills' quarterbacks didn't receive too many favors from their receivers in Friday's game, with several drops affecting the stats of each of the top three quarterbacks. Offenders on the drops included receivers Chris Hogan and Marquise Goodwin, as well as tight ends MarQueis Gray and Nick O'Leary. Manuel also got the brunt end of bad snaps from third-team center Alex Kupper.http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/20027/matt-cassel-tyrod-taylor-and-ej-manuel-all-show-promise-in-opener

[sudzy]

I agree that he thought O'Leary was coming back... That's what receivers are supposed to do when the QB is scrambling.

Other than that, he hit hands on every other pass (2 outright drops and1 thrown a bit outside). Not sure what happened on those 2 shotgun snaps... 1 was snapped high and 1 was snapped before he was ready.

All told, all 3 QB's looked better than I expected.

Stay tuned for the haters.

http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/20027/matt-cassel-tyrod-taylor-and-ej-manuel-all-show-promise-in-opener

Will you ever run out of excuses for EJ? When Taylor was in there the offense was in rhythm and when EJ was in there everything was out of sync. Just like it was when he was in there last year. Does the QB ever get any credit for running or smooth offense or is it always someone else's fault when it isn't going right for your guy?

[justasportsfan]

Vanilla

:couch:

[Yasgur's Farm]

ANYBODY BUT CASSEL!!

[sudzy]

ANYBODY BUT CASSEL!!

HATER

[Meathead]

When EJ rolled out to avoid the rush, scrambling to the sideline and then throwing it into the dirt in front of O'Leary, he got a lot of **** from the guys on TV about short arming it and not hitting O'Leary in stride, but to me it didnt look like O'Leary was ready for it, he had his back turned to Manual, after doing a great job of breaking his route off and getting open. I really liked that from EJ, he avoided the rush with poise and rolled out to the sideline in control and i think he thought O'Leary was going to come back because the throw was a spiral, not a flub, he was throwing to a spot.


wow im gonna have to look at that again bc it looked absolutely unforgivable at the time. if youre right then ej really did have close to a spectacular night



Also, EJs long ball to Thompson was a thing of beauty. He stepped up into the throw and hit Thompson in stride with a lot of mustard on the throw.


calmly sidestepped the rush, ignored the pressure, set himself, and delivered a truly beautiful pass. big league play right there

[Yasgur's Farm]

QB Box Score through scrimmage and 1st preseason game...

Manuel - 9/19 - 181 yds - 9.53 yds/a - 2 td's - 0 int's - 116.34 pr
Taylor - 13/21 - 126 yds - 6.00 yds/a - 0 td's - 0 int's - 78.67 pr
Cassel - 9/14 - 72 yds - 5.14 yds/a - 0 td's - 0 int's - 77.08 pr

[X-Era]

QB Box Score through scrimmage and 1st preseason game...

Manuel - 9/19 - 181 yds - 9.53 yds/a - 2 td's - 0 int's - 116.34 pr
Taylor - 13/21 - 126 yds - 6.00 yds/a - 0 td's - 0 int's - 78.67 pr
Cassel - 9/14 - 72 yds - 5.14 yds/a - 0 td's - 0 int's - 77.08 pr

Actually shocking considering most feel Manuel is the odd man out from watching the games

[Yasgur's Farm]

I'm pretty sure it's gonna end up with Cassel released or traded...

1) TT and EJ are somewhat interchangeable with the style of offense Roman wants to run. (Important considering injury potential).
2) They both have way more ceiling.
3) Bills save $4.5M to pay Dareus, Glenn, Gilmore, Bradham.

[sudzy]

I'm pretty sure it's gonna end up with Cassel released or traded...

1) TT and EJ are somewhat interchangeable with the style of offense Roman wants to run. (Important considering injury potential).
2) They both have way more ceiling.
3) Bills save $4.5M to pay Dareus, Glenn, Gilmore, Bradham.

That's funny, because I'm pretty confident EJ gets released. You need a veteran, someone that has been there before. Even if he doesn't start, to mentor the younger guy. That leave Taylor vs EJ. And the offense was better with Tyrod then EJ. Take away that long TD and EJ offense was ineffective. And Roman had no problem last night playcalling offenses that allowed Cassel and Taylor to move the ball.

[CoolBreeze]

Really hard to evaluate EJ just because who he was out there with. He was with 9 guys that won't be there in a few weeks. 6 or so that will be out of the league. He was out there with mostly 1-2 yr guys. You can't discount that 51yd TD either, just because you don't like him. It was an excellent throw. Gray dropped one that was well thrown by EJ as well.

[Mace]

I think the thing I've looked for the most through the years in preseason is relative team attitude.

For example, Jauron teams were apathetic and disinterested. With few exceptions, players didn't appear to be fighting for jobs, they looked like they knew they were just going through the motions and had been encouraged to not take it too seriously. Jauron himself was the same, you didn't get a sense he was thinking to get anything out of it.

What I got from Marrone was "C'mon guys, sort of." I had the feeling Marrone wasn't ready to be a pro HC.

Levy teams were the exception. They swashbuckled and goofed, and Levy merely tried to survive preseason personally (being locked in porta pots) and without injury to his immensely talent bunch who never failed to wear their war face and get serious in Game One.

What I got from this game, and only practice game one (so I could be wrong), is sense of team no matter the depth chart, a sense of competing to the end, not just fighting for a job, fighting to win. And I genuinely loved Ryan pacing the sidelines at the end looking like practice game one was the Super Bowl.

I was pleased, though it was only practice game one. Makes me optimistic that this will be a team that REALLY tries all the time while they ride the initial magical Ryan wave.

[baalworship]

I preferred Roman's vanilla play-calling to Hackett and Marrone's actual game plans last year.

Playaction, screens, bootlegs, throws to WR's in space with blockers, and motion. I also appreciated having John Miller replace Erik Pears and seeing holes for a running back to run through. Karlos Williams was a steal.

[Night Train]

Taylor looked solid passing. And even while running. Also hit two receivers in stride that dropped a td and a first down. Taylor is my bet to win the job.

Agreed.

If the Bills plan on running the ball heavily, then play the guy who can keep plays alive with mobility and hit passes beyond 10 yards (Cassel can't). I was there and Taylor gave the offense an obvious energy boost. His passing ability is fine.

We should know more after mixing it up with Cleveland a few times this week.

[sudzy]

Really hard to evaluate EJ just because who he was out there with. He was with 9 guys that won't be there in a few weeks. 6 or so that will be out of the league. He was out there with mostly 1-2 yr guys. You can't discount that 51yd TD either, just because you don't like him. It was an excellent throw. Gray dropped one that was well thrown by EJ as well.

But, he was given a fair shot when TC opened. He was rotating with the 1s just like Cassel and Taylor. Now, three weeks later (like Sal of WGR reported Thursday) he's clearly the 3rd QB with Taylor and Cassel competing for the starting job. He's not out of the competition, but, he has a lot of ground to make up(Sal stated). No matter how YF wants to spin things he didn't do that Friday. One great throw should not earn you the starting job.

[better days]

But, he was given a fair shot when TC opened. He was rotating with the 1s just like Cassel and Taylor. Now, three weeks later (like Sal of WGR reported Thursday) he's clearly the 3rd QB with Taylor and Cassel competing for the starting job. He's not out of the competition, but, he has a lot of ground to make up(Sal stated). No matter how YF wants to spin things he didn't do that Friday. One great throw should not earn you the starting job.

I agree, one great throw should not earn you the starting job.

On the other hand, 7 throws for less than 50 yards combined & 0 TD's should not earn you the starting job either.

I just don't see how Cassel & his boring game manager style can lead the Bills to the post season.

I would rather watch Tyrod or EJ this year than watch Cassel lead the Bills to field goals.

[Meathead]

Actually shocking considering most feel Manuel is the odd man out from watching the games

yeah well unfortunately most ppl are miserable sots who jump to conclusions, think in herds, and love to pile on

note that we havent heard any of that kind of talk from the coaches at all

if you consider two of his three incompletions were perfectly placed drops, all of them would have been first downs, and one of them on his third read progression, he was actually spectacular everywhere except that fugly short hop to the irish bomber. if he has another solid outing against the browneyes i expect rex to give him the start in raplisburgertown, and if he does well there he certainly could emerge as the bills best option for game one

remember, tyrod was also spectacular, but he has a big advantage of going against teams that dont prepare for his running. hes likely to have A LOT more trouble ripping long runs in the regular season and will have to be a good passer. so far hes done that but his career numbers suggest he could come back down to earth when he faces first teamers who prep for him

i just want the guy who gives them the best chance to win to start, whoever that is. but it would be super awesome to see these boards littered with strips of dripping brain matter if ej gets announced as game one starter and half the fans heads explode

[Famous Amos]

wow im gonna have to look at that again bc it looked absolutely unforgivable at the time. if youre right then ej really did have close to a spectacular night



calmly sidestepped the rush, ignored the pressure, set himself, and delivered a truly beautiful pass. big league play right there

I might be giving EJ a little too much credit on the OLeary throw. It wasn't a spiral, it was definitely wobbly. But I still think EJ thought OLeary was coming back. Jim Kelly sure thought it was awful.

[Famous Amos]

People saying you can't give too much creedance to Tyrod's running is the same thing as people saying, "well, outside of so and so's long bomb(s), he was pedestrian."

I'm not sure.if that's fair to disqualify some plays and commend others because its not typical QB behavior. If it gets you first downs, keeps the defense on their heels, and opens up some soft spots for WRs to go to, then it should be praised rather than dismissed.

EJ also had a decent scramble to avoid pressure, going head first also.

[The Jokeman]

I agree, one great throw should not earn you the starting job.

On the other hand, 7 throws for less than 50 yards combined & 0 TD's should not earn you the starting job either.

I just don't see how Cassel & his boring game manager style can lead the Bills to the post season.

I would rather watch Tyrod or EJ this year than watch Cassel lead the Bills to field goals.
Cassel equates to Orton was last season yet I feel Shady and Roman's abilty to build a running game is going to equate a whole lot more than we got out the running ge last year. Together that's a half way decent offense.

[better days]

Cassel equates to Orton was last season yet I feel Shady and Roman's abilty to build a running game is going to equate a whole lot more than we got out the running ge last year. Together that's a half way decent offense.

I would agree with this.

I said before, I think the Bills could win with any of the three QB's this year.

I think last year, EJ could have led the Bills to a similar record as Orton did.

I would just get more excited watching Tyrod or EJ than Cassel, but if Cassel is the choice,so be it.

At least Cassel will try to pick up a first down rather than hit the dirt like Orton last year.

[The Jokeman]

People saying you can't give too much creedance to Tyrod's running is the same thing as people saying, "well, outside of so and so's long bomb(s), he was pedestrian."

I'm not sure.if that's fair to disqualify some plays and commend others because its not typical QB behavior. If it gets you first downs, keeps the defense on their heels, and opens up some soft spots for WRs to go to, then it should be praised rather than dismissed.

EJ also had a decent scramble to avoid pressure, going head first also.
As referenced in an earliwr thread that once defenses start game planningn for Tyrod's running,what's he leaving you with? Judging by the stats the worst QB ouside of Simms.

[Meathead]

When EJ rolled out to avoid the rush, scrambling to the sideline and then throwing it into the dirt in front of O'Leary, he got a lot of **** from the guys on TV about short arming it and not hitting O'Leary in stride, but to me it didnt look like O'Leary was ready for it, he had his back turned to Manual, after doing a great job of breaking his route off and getting open. I really liked that from EJ, he avoided the rush with poise and rolled out to the sideline in control and i think he thought O'Leary was going to come back because the throw was a spiral, not a flub, he was throwing to a spot.


well i watched it again and i was hoping you were right but im afraid its probably not the case

while its true o'leary made a mistake by not turning back toward the qb like youre supposed to during a scramble, there was a defender in front of him and it was wide open field behind so he naturally continued up field. what o'leary should have done is turn around so that he was facing ej and backpeddled into the open space behind him instead of running toward the ez with his back to the play, that way he could have adjusted better and given the play a much better chance at success

nevertheless, ejs throw was ten yards behind o'leary so even if he had done that it still would have been short. too bad too since it was such an awesome scramble and would have resulted in a big dramatic play that woulda helped his chances

[sudzy]

I just don't see how Cassel & his boring game manager style can lead the Bills to the post season.


Defense + Running game + no turnovers = playoffs.
I'd rather watch Tyrod then Cassel
But, first and foremost I want to win.
Just I can't handle being frustrated by EJ anymore

[Yasgur's Farm]

I asked for this on another board... It's a video of a phone screen but it helps to see reality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqabIKyiEeo&feature=youtu.be

Although EJ could have done some things better, there's coverage over the top that can be clearly seen from one of the angles (the other angle shows no defenders at all).

Also... his pass was actually 3 or 4 yard short... Not 10.

Either way, this is by far his worst moment from the game.

[Meathead]

wrong thread again

[better days]

I asked for this on another board... It's a video of a phone screen but it helps to see reality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqabIKyiEeo&feature=youtu.be

Although EJ could have done some things better, there's coverage over the top that can be clearly seen from one of the angles (the other angle shows no defenders at all).

Also... his pass was actually 3 or 4 yard short... Not 10.

Either way, this is by far his worst moment from the game.

On that last throw, EJ was in trouble & had to scramble.

I think EJ expected the TE to cut his route short & come back for the ball.

[WagonCircler]

well i watched it again and i was hoping you were right but im afraid its probably not the case

while its true o'leary made a mistake by not turning back toward the qb like youre supposed to during a scramble, there was a defender in front of him and it was wide open field behind so he naturally continued up field. what o'leary should have done is turn around so that he was facing ej and backpeddled into the open space behind him instead of running toward the ez with his back to the play, that way he could have adjusted better and given the play a much better chance at success

nevertheless, ejs throw was ten yards behind o'leary so even if he had done that it still would have been short. too bad too since it was such an awesome scramble and would have resulted in a big dramatic play that woulda helped his chances

Mike Rodak (yes, he's a douche) described it perfectly.

He side that it was EJ's career summed up in one play.