I'm waiting for Millhouse's and Jeremy's take.
Not sure if your looking for me to give my thoughts on the Bills or the Manuel vs Nassib argument but I will try to do both.
First off in regards to Manuel vs Nassib its nearly impossible to make any sort of real comparison because Manuel has played mostly vs 1st team defenses and Nassib against 2's an 3's. I like Ryan, was a good player here and helped put Syracuse on the map. He also seems to be playing well and even though Kaiser probably won't be thrilled he seems a lock to be the Giants #2. That being said without seeing Ryan facing #1 defenses and going against the like of Bill Bellichek, Rex Ryan etc its hard for me to say who is the better QB especially when Nassib has taken exactly zero snaps in an actual game. Also I dont think people understand how different it is playing against a second and third team in the preseason. Manuel in the third quarter against a good chunk of second team guys (some starters were in but not many) went 11-11 with a TD and two scoring drives for the Bills in the second half Saturday.
As for the Bills themselves I felt like I was re-living the last decade of ineptitude in one game. I think everyone knew before last years draft that Manuel had a lot of question marks about his ability to be a franchise guy. Unfortunately Buffalo picked the one year to finally draft a a QB in the first round where there wasn't a consensus top guy or even a few definite round 1 types. I think they felt Manuel was the best of what was available and they were at a point where they had to draft a QB period.
To me Manuel's issues are his lack of accuracy ( a huge killer), his ability to stay healthy, and his ability to actually read through to his 3rd and 4th progressions. Combine that with Hackett's playcalling that seems to jump all over the place and about 20 first half penalties (three of which were bull sh$t and wiped out two huge runs by CJ on Saturday) and you get the performance you saw on Saturday. My biggest issue with the Bills and the front office was that they didnt bring a veteran or even a high upside young guy to compete for the second spot. Dennis dixon is awful, Lewis is only slightly better, and Jeff Tuel scares absolutley no one. It does appear that Marrone and Waley are at least acknowledging theres nothing behind Manuel, so I am hopeful some type of move can be made. I know Orton is out there, he should be signed immediately. Ditto for another veteran, hell at this point I would bring in Tebow we have nothing to lose.
The good news for Bills fans is that the Defense looks really good (though that secondary still leaves a lot to be desired), theres plenty of depth at WR and the O line, the LB's seem to be doing OK despite losing Alonso and the FG kicker is very good. The key for Buffalo is the same as it always is, can the offense put up points consistently and can there team as a whole stop imploding late and finding new and excrutiating ways to lose.
