I provoked the ire of some Bills fans during the preseason when I questioned why the organization gave up so much to move up and draft Sammy Watkins, only to have him having catch balls from a quarterback as inconsistent as E.J. Manuel. I know some folks don't like to hear the truth, but hell, I thought if there was one thing we could all agree on it was that Manuel is erratic, especially with his accuracy.
The Buffalo Bills can win with Kyle Orton
The Bills made a quarterback change this week, benching 2013 first-round pick E.J. Manuel for journeyman Kyle Orton. That move gives them a legitimate shot to win the AFC East.
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After four games and sitting atop the AFC East at 2-2, Buffalo has decided the organization can no longer wait for Manuel to find consistency. The move was announced well before the Patriots debacle on Monday Night Football, so the Bills weren't technically atop the division at the time. I think the decision reflects a sense by those in power in Buffalo that with the Patriots looking weak, the division is ripe for the picking.
With a defense that can really get after the quarterback, a running game that has both thunder and lightning in Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller, a talented young wide receiver group and good special teams, the Bills really are built to win now. I don't think they even need an "elite" quarterback, word to PFTCommenter, just a guy who can make the routine throws and avoid disaster.
Is Kyle Orton that guy? He could be. He certainly can make all the throws. Avoiding disaster hasn't really been his thing, but maybe his decision making has gotten better after a few years on the bench. At the very least, the Bills won't lose anything by seeing what they have in him. Manuel just missed too many opportunities in the passing game, quite frankly.
This actually might be a good move for Manuel, in the short and long term. His rookie season was marred by injuries and inconsistent play, and he never had the opportunity to watch a veteran prepare and play to get a sense of what it takes to own that position in the NFL. In the short term, it’ll be good for Manuel’s health, since it kind of seems to me that his receivers were pretty close to jumping him.
I’m only half joking about that.
I pointed out last week that Manuel got one of his receivers killed against the Chargers. Poor Marquis Goodwin had to be taken off the field after being splattered by safety Eric Weddle. The crash test dummy last Sunday was Robert Woods. Manuel again threw him into a big hit against the Texans. There was only about 25 seconds left in the half from their own 48-yard line. Instead of trying to push the ball down the field, Manuel stared down Woods on a very short in-and-out route and led him right into a big hit by cornerback Darryl Morris, one of two Texans defenders just standing there waiting to take Woods' block off.
Woods’ body language has clearly suggested frustration with Manuel’s inaccurate passing several times this season. This time, Woods got up shaking his head as the team lined up to spike the ball. After the spike, I noticed that Fred Jackson, a team captain, made sure to stay between Woods and Manuel, talking to Woods as Manuel appeared to try to say something ... maybe apologize? Woods never even turned to look in Manuel’s direction the whole time, and I can only imagine how that conversation with Jackson went.
From that point on, every time Manuel threw a pass to Woods that was off target, Woods would get up and slam the ball to the ground. His fellow receiver Mike Williams got into the act, jumping up and down in frustration after Manuel missed him on two different deep balls. I already pointed out, in last week's Notebook, Watkins' refusal to reach out for a pass that likely would have gotten him blown up. Wide receivers usually aren't the type to fight, with the obvious exception of Steve Smith, but in this instance I think they were about ready to give E.J. a "Code Red."
And hell, could you blame them?
They haven’t exactly been perfect either, dropping catchable balls in the first four games. But when your quarterback is all over the place like Manuel was in their loss to the Texans, a game in which they clearly had a chance to win, a high level of frustration is not only understandable, but also warranted.
Orton could become the savior and lead them to a division title. Or, he may stink it up so bad that those same receivers go begging to the coaching staff to play Manuel. It really could go either way. At the end of the day something had to give.
E.J. Manuel simply is not the answer right now, and he may never be. The coaching staff recognized that his play was holding the rest of the team back. If I were a Bills fan, I would applaud the fact that they decided to make a move to better their chances of success. After years of dominance in the AFC East, the Patriots may never again be as vulnerable as they appear to be this season.
And for those Bills fans still mad because I gave my honest assessment of Manuel as a quarterback, in the immortal words of Col. Jessup in A Few Good Men, “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!”
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