They Aren't Who We Thought They Were

Your Weekly AFC East Roundup

By Kevin Reese

Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

Buffalo Bills-

The always seemingly bipolar Buffalo Bills are at it again. A week ago, the Bills took down the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens at home.

It was a dominating performance, as the Bills outrushed the Ravens by about 200 yards. On a short week, they took on the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. The Bills seemed to be going punch for punch with the Browns, and seemed to have the edge when Brian Hoyer suffered a knee injury in the first quarter. But then the favor was returned, and EJ Manuel suffered a knee injury as well.

As EJ Manuel went, it seemed, so did the Bills. The game took a complete 180 at this point, and the Browns took control. Manuel engineered a successful drive, bringing the Bills down to the Browns 13-yard line on the play he was hurt. Backup QB Jeff Tuel was able to capitalize, finishing the drive with a touchdown and putting the Bills ahead, 24-17.

The Bills never scored another point. Brandon Weeden, on in relief for Hoyer, took control, appearing to be playing for his job. Weeden finished with 197 yards and a touchdown. The game was sealed when Tuel threw an interception, which was returned for a touchdown by T.J. Ward. The Browns went ahead 37-24 for good. The Bills might’ve lost more than the game. The Bills also lost not only a quarterback, but also their leader.

New York Jets-

So the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets played on Monday Night Football. The winning quarterback threw three touchdowns and put together a fourth quarter two-minute drive to put his team in position for the game-winning field goal. Yes, that’s right. I’m talking about Geno Smith, not Matt Ryan.

The Jets appeared to finally let Geno loose, giving him the reigns in this offense. Smith, coming in with a league leading 11 turnovers, knew he had to cut down on the interceptions.

Smith didn’t throw an interception, and the Jets as a team didn’t give the ball away. Coming off of an ugly 38-13 pounding at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, the Jets were able to bounce back in a big way.

With the Patriots losing this week, the Jets were able to pull within one game of the surprisingly competitive AFC East lead. If the Jets can continue to take care of the ball, they might be able to surprise some people this season.

Miami Dolphins-

We’ve been here before. Ryan Tannehill with the ball, given the opportunity to lead his team on a game-winning drive. We’ve seen it against the Colts and Falcons earlier this year.

The Baltimore Ravens might’ve caught on. The Ravens, led by Terrell Suggs, sacked Tannehill six times on Sunday, he last of which came on the potential game-tying drive that ultimately pushed the Dolphins out of field -goal range.

The Dolphins, after starting 3-0, might have found their Achilles heel. Tannehill had been sacked a league-leading 18 times before this game. Adding six to that total certainly keeps them in the lead. The ‘Phins also amassed only 22 rushing yards on 11 carries.

Rushing for 2 yards per carry definitely does not help a second-year quarterback. If the Dolphins want to return to their winning ways, they’ll need to become a more balanced offense, as well as keeping their quarterback upright.

New England Patriots-

Tom Brady, for once, appeared to be human. Brady, coming into the game with a 52-game streak of throwing a touchdown pass, wasn’t able to find the endzone on Sunday. Nobody on the Patriots was able to.

The Patriots were out-passed, out-rushed, and outplayed in a truly ugly game. The Bengals passed for 13 more yards than the high-flying Patriots passing attack, while they rushed for 80 more yards than the Pats.

Maybe it was just a bad game, or maybe the Patriots finally got a taste of what playing a good team feels like. The Patriots opened up the season 4-0. Their opponents through their first four games: a combined 5-11.

With their hardest match-ups remaining on their schedule, it’ll be interesting to see where the Patriots end up. Might this be the beginning of the end for Tom Brady? 

Happy Birthday Pops

EJ Manuel's game-winning fourth quarter touchdown drive marks special day for the Bills quarterback

By Kevin Reese

Erik Sr. celebrated his birthday this Sunday by doing the only thing feasible for any American to do on a Sunday: watch football. Except Erik Sr. was watching his son play on this Sunday. Erik Jr., better known as EJ, was able to give his father one hell of a birthday present.

 

Bill Wippert/Times Union

I also happened to be in attendance this Sunday in overcast Orchard Park, where the Buffalo Bills took on the Carolina Panthers. I watched on as EJ Manuel, playing in his second career game, led his team to a victory, Manuel’s first in his career.

I also happened to attend three Buffalo Bills games last season, and this game for 58 minutes felt like another one of those games. Missed open receivers, bonehead penalties, and of course, disgruntled Bills fans. It had all the typical ingredients of a letdown at Ralph Wilson Stadium. But we still haven’t accounted for those other two minutes of the 60-minute contest. The last two minutes in this game saw history being made, and one 80-yard touchdown drive.

EJ Manuel looked like a rookie for most of this game, often times looking timid, checking down to receivers while receivers ran open downfield. At one point, wide receiver Stevie Johnson, following a failed third down conversion in which he ran uncovered, returned to the sideline slamming his helmet to the turf in frustration. But by the end of the game the outspoken receiver was praising his young quarterback. “He earned a lot of our respect”, said Johnson following the win.

The Bills received the ball with 1:38 left in the game, down by six. Manuel took the field, and all I could think of was those 3 Bills games last season. A loss to the Rams where Ryan Fitzpatrick was sacked to end all hopes, an incompletion by Fitzpatrick on a fourth down to end the game against the Titans, and a game which saw Fitzpatrick intercepted four times against the Patriots. However, today was different. The Bills had a new leader under center, and the end result showed. The Bills started the drive at their own 20, with no timeouts. Manuel marched his team down the field, in an all no-huddle drive. He finished 6-8 for 51 yards, with a crucial nine-yard scramble to set up the game-winning score. Manuel was able to find Johnson all alone in the back of the end zone with a blitzing Luke Kuechly in his face, putting the Bills ahead for good.

This is a new Bills team, specifically because they might’ve found their new face of the franchise. EJ Manuel made some history with his late game heroics. He became the first NFL quarterback since 1960 to post a QB rating of 89+ in his first two games, as well as becoming the fifth NFL rookie since 1960 to engineer a fourth quarter comeback in his first or second game. So how’s that for a birthday present for Dad? 

QB Future Bright in AFC East

This past Sunday featured the debut of two rookie quarterbacks, both of whom play in the AFC East

By Kevin Reese

Geno Smith, product of West Virginia University, started his career in East Rutherford at MetLife Stadium. At the same time, about six hours away in Orchard Park, EJ Manuel, the only quarterback taken ahead of Smith, debuted against the division rival New England Patriots. The results of the two games might not have been the same, but both teams now have a lot to look forward to after watching their rookie signal callers take the field for the first time.

Bloomberg.com

Geno Smith was anointed the Jets starting quarterback this offseason, when former first round pick Mark Sanchez suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder. Of course when playing in New York, expectations are always high, especially for the starting quarterback. Geno did not disappoint. Now he didn’t go out there and sling the football around to the tune of 400 yards and five touchdowns, but what he did do was win. He showed that he has what it takes to get the job done when it needs to be. Trailing 17-15 with 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Geno did what he had to do. Starting at his own 20, Geno completed a 25-yard pass down the middle to Kellen Winslow. After rushing to the line to spike the ball, Geno showed of his legs to gain ten more yards. Following the play, Tampa Bay linebacker Lavonte David was penalized for a late hit on Smith. This set up the Jets for a Nick Folk field goal to put the Jets up for good.

Now like I said, Geno Smith didn’t win this game on his own, however, he put his team in the best position to win. Smith finished with 256 yards passing and one touchdown, completing 24 out of 38 throws. Also, he was able to add 47 yards on the ground. During the game winning drive, it was all Geno. He appeared to have the confidence of a ten-year veteran, not a rookie quarterback starting his first game.

Boston Globe

Now lets travel to Ralph Wilson Stadium, where EJ Manuel, first round pick out of Florida State, took the field. This was Manuel’s first live action since Week 2 of the preseason, after which Manuel had a minor procedure on his left knee. EJ lived up to being the first quarterback taken in this year’s draft, a move questioned by many. Manuel played a very efficient game. He completed 18 of his 27 passes including 2 touchdowns, did not throw an interception, and was not sacked once. After halftime, with the Bills trailing 17-14, Manuel led the Bills on a systematic 80-yard touchdown drive, capped off by an 18-yard touchdown pass to Stevie Johnson. At this point, it seemed as though the Bills might be able to defeat the Patriots for the second time in twenty tries. But of course, things returned to normal in the AFC East, and the lone main stay in the division at quarterback showed the young gun how it’s done. Starting at his own 34-yard line, Tom Brady marched his team down the field, putting them right in place for Stephen Gostkowski to kick the game-winning field goal.

While the Bills didn’t ultimately pull off the upset, EJ Manuel gave Bills fans a lot of reasons to be optimistic. First off, EJ played turnover free football, something which has been a bit of an Achilles’ heel for Buffalo recently. Second, EJ posted a Total QBR rating of 70.8. QBR measures quarterbacks performances and what they do to help their team, incorporating the context of when certain plays happen, and how it impacts the outcome of the game. EJ’s QBR of 70.8 was good for 11^th in the league, better than Aaron Rodgers and his Sunday counterpart, Tom Brady.

While both didn’t come out victorious on Sunday, both Geno Smith and EJ Manuel gave fans something to look forward to. While this division is still Tom Brady’s for the next couple of years, the young quarterbacks in this division might be able to supplant Brady in time. The future is very bright for the American Football Conference’s East division.