NFL Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills Ignoring Bigger Problems by Benching E.J. Manuel

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By @GilAlcarazIV

E.J. Manuel

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

I want to start this off by saying that I’m not a big fan of E.J. Manuel. I wasn’t a fan of him during the pre-draft process, and I thought the Buffalo Bills’ decision to select him in the first round was unwise.

With that being said, the Bills are making a mistake by sending him to the bench and replacing him with veteran Kyle Orton.

While Manuel certainly hasn’t played great so far this season, a large chunk of the blame for his poor performances these past two weeks must fall on the team’s shoulders. Put simply, they’ve been expecting far too much of Manuel (he’s no Andrew Luck), which has caused his effectiveness to decline significantly.

First and foremost, the Bills are a running team. With running backs like Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller, they should have no problem moving the ball on the ground. Yet somehow, Buffalo is ranked thirteenth in the NFL in rushing offense, averaging 122.2 yards per game. They’re the only team inside of the Top 19 rushing teams that has less than two rushing touchdowns, and somehow they’re doing it with two above average backs and an athletic quarterback.

Because of the ground game’s ineffectiveness right now, the Bills are being forced to rely far too heavily on Manuel, a budding quarterback who hasn’t yet developed enough to be much more than a game manager. While that’s not to say he can’t eventually be a quarterback capable of carrying his team, he’s not at that point yet.

Just take a look at his numbers over the first four weeks.

In Weeks 1 and 2, Manuel was asked to drop back and throw a total of 53 times. During that time, he completed 66 percent of his passes while picking up 7.8 yards per throw. They won both of those games. In Weeks 3 and 4, Manuel was asked to drop back and throw a total of 94 times. During that time, he completed 53 percent of his passes while picking up 5.6 yards per throw. They lost both of those games. As the Bills have asked him to shoulder more of the load, his effectiveness has declined exponentially.

The decline took full effect last weekend, as Manuel completed only 47.7 percent of his passes for 225 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and a 59.4 quarterback rating. Not only was he asked to do far too much when the game got hairy, but the four dropped passes didn’t help either.

To make matters even worse, the offensive line play has been awful. On top of allowing far too much pressure on Manuel, the front five has failed to consistently open running lanes for Spiller and Jackson. That obviously puts more pressure on Manuel to make plays when the running room isn’t there, but the blame can’t be placed on the quarterback when other positions aren’t carrying their weight.

The Buffalo defense has done its part so far this season, ranking in the Top 10 in total yardage allowed while holding opponents to under 20 points per game. Unfortunately, the offense as a whole (not just Manuel) isn’t living up to their end of the bargain.

Orton is a solid backup option and should be able to provide some consistent play under center for the Bills, but he isn’t going to revive the running game or make the offensive line block better. Buffalo’s problems go much deeper than just the quarterback position, which is why benching Manuel is the incorrect answer to a complex question.

Everything looked on the upswing for the Bills when the season started, but this switch at quarterback is just another step backwards.

Gil Alcaraz IV is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @GilAlcarazIV, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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