EJ's first start in over a year: how do you think he will do?

[Meathead]

and please, no negativity

[stuckincincy]

Of course not. It's a a wonderful day in the neighborhood.

[Skooby]

He will be handing he ball off a lot.

[HHURRICANE]

I wish it wasn't against the Bengals.

I suspect it's going to be a long day.

My guess is Watkins get 100 yards plus day and we lose by 20.

Not sure why Cinci isn't getting more respect?

[YardRat]

So we're not allowed to vote for Disaster or Modest?

[Novacane]

I am going with heart over brain. He's going to be great!

[Joe Fo Sho]

I'm hoping for a QB controversy.

[Mr. Pink]

I'll say decent to good.

It is his first start in a year after all.

[Ed]

I think he'll start slow, have some ups and downs, but play pretty well overall.

[BillsImpossible]

Sammy Watkins and EJ Manuel both have something to prove.

I wonder how well EJ practiced this week? Sammy got his wish.

If Manuel is smart, he's going to have his eyes on Watkins all day tomorrow.

If the Bills win and Manuel throws for 300 plus yards, he's not going back to the bench.

[alohabillsfan]

More importantly is what uniforms are the bills wearing tomorrow :)

[Luisito23]

Much better than last year (If pre-season's right)...

[Generalissimus Gibby]

He avoids those typical EJ style turnovers and we ground and pound --damn don't ya just wish that we had Jackson around (thanks a lot douche whaley) -- and the defense lives up to its salary and talent and stops a Jennings type TD catch then we have a chance. I think the Bengals win it, but I think the score is 20-14 or so.

[sudzy]

A better poll would be: which quarter do the Boo birds come out for EJ?

[justasportsfan]

I'm hoping for a QB controversy.

This.

[TakingItuptheChin]

I'm hoping for a QB controversy.

When does a QB controversy ended well?

[justasportsfan]

When does a QB controversy ended well?

Very well when done right and you choose right.

[Joe Fo Sho]

When does a QB controversy ended well?

Brees vs Rivers
Montana vs Young
Brady vs Bledsoe
Favre vs Rodgers

It doesn't happen often, but it can end well.

[TacklingDummy]

Brees vs Rivers
Montana vs Young
Brady vs Bledsoe
Favre vs Rodgers

It doesn't happen often, but it can end well.

Johnson vs Flutie
Losman vs Edwards
Edwards vs Holcomb
Tyrod vs Manuel
Or ton vs Manuel

[Joe Fo Sho]

Johnson vs Flutie
Losman vs Edwards
Edwards vs Holcomb
Tyrod vs Manuel
Or ton vs Manuel

As long as the Bills come out ahead at the end of the day, that's all we can hope for. Obviously this isn't a HOF QB vs HOF QB controversy, but if Manuel plays better than Tyrod, we're a better team for it.

[Meathead]

im sure ty is pushing to play bc he knows if ej has a good game the coaches might be temped to let him play again in limeyville, and if that goes well ty might not get the job back

im kinda excited to see if ej can keep what he did in preseason going. that would be the best possible scenario for the team bc then a) they would have two decent to good options, and 4) they might not have to pay ty the boatload they woulda had to if he played half the games as stipulated in his contract. if they did end up with the classic qb controversy they could probably push any difficulties into next season since neither guy would really have much leverage. then they could see if one emerges as the true qb1 or perhaps get a first or more from somebody for one of them

but yeah thats getting way ahead. just hope ej does well

[yordad]

I think he will play shockingly well.

[justasportsfan]

I think Taylor can still improve but I'm interested is EJ has learned anything under someone who's name doesn't sound like Moron

[djjimkelly]

I think he will play shockingly well.

i hope your right

im thinking 245 passing 27 rushing 2 td passing 1 rushing td

[swiper]

Here's how he will play:

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3545585/timmons.gif

[Meathead]

I think he will play shockingly well.

well for some of the fans shockingly well would be average. but yeah i would love to see him put up 300+ and a couple tds. gonna be real tough with a limited sammy a gimpy shady and no percy. but perhaps working with the second and third teams so much will actually work in his favor in that regard. how about 711 going off for a buck and a couple eh. hey it could happen

- - - Updated - - -


Here's how he will play:

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3545585/timmons.gif

wheres that other one of him fumbling bumbling the ball toward the sidelines that one is hilarious

[notacon]

If anyone thinks they know how EJ is going to play today, you're crazy.

[notacon]

Oh...and for the record...I'm much more worried about how the Bills defense if going to play today than EJ.

[Meathead]

for once this decade not a clue was right

so ej was somewhere between decent and good, certainly wasnt the problem today ... but im sure he will get blamed anyway. st, defense, and injuries blew this one

speaking of injuries, this season is on the verge of an injury disaster. cant compete when your stars are going down like logic at a mind hive convention. gonna be tough to compete with anybody unless lady injury luck decides to look someplace else from here on out

[HHURRICANE]

I wish it wasn't against the Bengals.

I suspect it's going to be a long day.

My guess is Watkins get 100 yards plus day and we lose by 20.

Not sure why Cinci isn't getting more respect?

Yep

[Ingtar33]

for once this decade not a clue was right

so ej was somewhere between decent and good, certainly wasnt the problem today ... but im sure he will get blamed anyway. st, defense, and injuries blew this one

speaking of injuries, this season is on the verge of an injury disaster. cant compete when your stars are going down like logic at a mind hive convention. gonna be tough to compete with anybody unless lady injury luck decides to look someplace else from here on out

ok; ether that's just what it looked like on TV or all you looked at was the final stats.

I was at that game (first bills home game for me in a few years, actually used my season tickets). What i saw was everything that was wrong with EJ all rolled into one game. He didn't let his WRs get open, wouldn't let the play develop down field, he locked onto his first target, and if he was remotely covered, he'd check down before the guy even had a chance to make a move. half his passes were high or behind or at the reciever's feet. Just before the TD to watkins he hit clay in the flat for a couple of yards, on that same play the DB blew the coverage on Watkins. he was standing in EJ's line of sight, completely uncovered in the endzone, jumping up and down with both hands waving for thr ball, while EJ locked onto clay from the start, so hard the CB dropped coverage on watkins to come up and help the safety on clay BEFORE he even threw the ball. BTW: Watkins was 10 yards behind clay in the endzone, same side of the field, EASILY in EJ's sightline. But he just ignored him and locked into clay.

I saw that happen time and time again. In the 4th quarter, when we were down 31-21, and had the ball right after the bengals TD, on a 3rd down he tried to hit clay on a 10y rout. Clay was open from the snap, up the seam he was open, even at the cut he was open, however, by the time EJ threw it to him (he was locked in from the snap) clay's rout ran him into the coverage area of another DB who broke his coverage and made a great play to break up the pass. I bring this play open because he does this all the time. he's LATE to throw the ball. he can't be trusted to throw a 10y out because he'll throw it late, well after the break, he can't throw a curl rout unless the WR is completely uncovered, because he won't throw the ball until the WR stops moving. he nearly threw half a dozen INTs today as DBs were thrown back into the play because of the bad timing. That INT was another EJ masterpeice. He made the right read on the play, the presnap read demanded the seam rout throw, so no problem there, even better the WR was open on the throw. However, he threw it short and behind him, allowing the coverage which was trailing to get the int.

Frankly he was lucky it was just one int.

As a sidenote, the bengals played their base defense almost all game. there was no game planning or complex coverage. it was the same look every down. and the same coverage for the most part; they would change up the look of the front 7 and bring a blitz once in a while, but mostly they played a pretty easy scheme for the QB to read, and EJ was simply EJ all game against it.

that game right there is EJ's ceiling. now, the loss is on the defense, i'm not saying otherwise. i'm just saying that there was nothing "good" about that performance. that was sub par nfl quarterbacking, there were a lot of yards and points left on the field by EJ today.

[Cleve]

Mediocre game by Manuele....82 passer rating - and that's exactly what his stats, scouting reports, and college/professional history suggest he'd do. Ever since the Bills signed him, he's performed exactly how I assumed he would perform.

[Historian]

His mechanics are terrible.

He's still throwing off his back foot. He's still locking on to one receiver, and he's still throwing 6 yard passes on 3rd and 12.

He will be lucky to catch on in the CFL.

[Albany,n.y.]

ok; ether that's just what it looked like on TV or all you looked at was the final stats.

I was at that game (first bills home game for me in a few years, actually used my season tickets). What i saw was everything that was wrong with EJ all rolled into one game. He didn't let his WRs get open, wouldn't let the play develop down field, he locked onto his first target, and if he was remotely covered, he'd check down before the guy even had a chance to make a move. half his passes were high or behind or at the reciever's feet. Just before the TD to watkins he hit clay in the flat for a couple of yards, on that same play the DB blew the coverage on Watkins. he was standing in EJ's line of sight, completely uncovered in the endzone, jumping up and down with both hands waving for thr ball, while EJ locked onto clay from the start, so hard the CB dropped coverage on watkins to come up and help the safety on clay BEFORE he even threw the ball. BTW: Watkins was 10 yards behind clay in the endzone, same side of the field, EASILY in EJ's sightline. But he just ignored him and locked into clay.

I saw that happen time and time again. In the 4th quarter, when we were down 31-21, and had the ball right after the bengals TD, on a 3rd down he tried to hit clay on a 10y rout. Clay was open from the snap, up the seam he was open, even at the cut he was open, however, by the time EJ threw it to him (he was locked in from the snap) clay's rout ran him into the coverage area of another DB who broke his coverage and made a great play to break up the pass. I bring this play open because he does this all the time. he's LATE to throw the ball. he can't be trusted to throw a 10y out because he'll throw it late, well after the break, he can't throw a curl rout unless the WR is completely uncovered, because he won't throw the ball until the WR stops moving. he nearly threw half a dozen INTs today as DBs were thrown back into the play because of the bad timing. That INT was another EJ masterpeice. He made the right read on the play, the presnap read demanded the seam rout throw, so no problem there, even better the WR was open on the throw. However, he threw it short and behind him, allowing the coverage which was trailing to get the int.

Frankly he was lucky it was just one int.

As a sidenote, the bengals played their base defense almost all game. there was no game planning or complex coverage. it was the same look every down. and the same coverage for the most part; they would change up the look of the front 7 and bring a blitz once in a while, but mostly they played a pretty easy scheme for the QB to read, and EJ was simply EJ all game against it.

that game right there is EJ's ceiling. now, the loss is on the defense, i'm not saying otherwise. i'm just saying that there was nothing "good" about that performance. that was sub par nfl quarterbacking, there were a lot of yards and points left on the field by EJ today.

Never was a scouting report more accurate than the guy who said he has "slow eyes". He cannot react fast enough to the speed of the NFL game. It's an physical/instinctual thing that can't be overcome with coaching. You could take the smartest guy around and if he's got slow eyes he won't be able to cut it in most sports no matter how much you try to fix him.

On here & a couple of other boards I tried to tell the people who were hoping this game would elevate EJ into starter contention that what EJ has can't be fixed, but all I got was flamed by the EJ fanboys who relied on the pre-season games with & against scrubs instead of acknowledging that the coaches who saw him in practice have seen all year what you're talking about. At least the fanboys will be a little more realistic the next time EJ plays.

[stuckincincy]

As a sidenote, the bengals played their base defense almost all game. there was no game planning or complex coverage. it was the same look every down. and the same coverage for the most part; they would change up the look of the front 7 and bring a blitz once in a while, but mostly they played a pretty easy scheme for the QB to read, and EJ was simply EJ all game against it.



Exactly so - I'm used to seeing their sets. They shot in S Nelson once. I was waiting for BUF's offense to vary things, when your opponent has a spiffy offense...do something to at the very least get some reasonable field position for your defense to work with.

McCoy got 40 of his 90 yards in that first drive, and trodded out another 50 on 11 carries. Not bad. Roman should have brought in Herron time to time - perhaps both at the same time. To shake things up. Flood a side, then a quick hitch. Many things Roman could have done without unduly exposing Manual. IMO.

[Victor7]

for once this decade not a clue was right

so ej was somewhere between decent and good, certainly wasnt the problem today ... but im sure he will get blamed anyway. st, defense, and injuries blew this one

speaking of injuries, this season is on the verge of an injury disaster. cant compete when your stars are going down like logic at a mind hive convention. gonna be tough to compete with anybody unless lady injury luck decides to look someplace else from here on out

lol

Your blind love for EJ is unreal meat.

He wasn't the problem today.

Ok

Don't know what else to tell you.

[djjimkelly]

lol

Your blind love for EJ is unreal meat.

He wasn't the problem today.

Ok

Don't know what else to tell you.


so at 17-14 at half then then bengals promptly running through our defense in the 2nd half is ej's fault lol

[Victor7]

so at 17-14 at half then then bengals promptly running through our defense in the 2nd half is ej's fault lol

I didn't say he was our ONLY problem.

You want me to say the D sucked ?? They sure did.

That doesn't excuse EJ's performance. Your man crush only managed to lead us to 7 points in the 2nd half. They came in garbage time too.

You EJ homers are ridiculous.

[Meathead]

i guess ej was probably just decent and not so much good. did some good things, certainly improved since his last start, but id agree he had a lot of the same issues hes always had just probably not as pronounced. took a step forward since we last saw him in a real game but not by a lot. kinda disappointed they didnt run him more cuz it looked like he had some room but i guess they wanted to be careful with ty out and joe blow as qb2. probably gonna get another start sometime this season maybe even next wk but really didnt do much to make anyone think he should be a starter. hes not awful like many fans passionately claim but needs to show more to be anything but a career backup

[Victor7]

Never was a scouting report more accurate than the guy who said he has "slow eyes". He cannot react fast enough to the speed of the NFL game. It's an physical/instinctual thing that can't be overcome with coaching. You could take the smartest guy around and if he's got slow eyes he won't be able to cut it in most sports no matter how much you try to fix him.

On here & a couple of other boards I tried to tell the people who were hoping this game would elevate EJ into starter contention that what EJ has can't be fixed, but all I got was flamed by the EJ fanboys who relied on the pre-season games with & against scrubs instead of acknowledging that the coaches who saw him in practice have seen all year what you're talking about. At least the fanboys will be a little more realistic the next time EJ plays.

Yes !

+1000

That's what I always said. Why do you guys think the guy was cemented as the No. 3 ?? He was inactive for the first 3 weeks for ****s sake. It took Whaley getting rid of Cassel (twice) to get EJ to the 2 spot. The guys that saw him every day never let him even sniff the 2 spot. That's how bad the guy is.