All summer long we all wondered about Rex Ryan’s questionable quarterback competition that eventually led to Tyrod Taylor earning the starting job for the Buffalo Bills.
Taylor, in his five starts, played well and led the Bills to their three wins. Unfortunately, he has missed two games with a knee injury and the team has had to rely on former first-round pick E.J. Manuel to fill his shoes.
In Manuel’s two starts, the team has lost twice with the quarterback coughing up erroneous turnovers at the worst times. In Week 6, Manuel completed 28 of 42 passes for 263 yards, one touchdown and one interception resulting in a substantial loss to the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals, 34-21.
From there, things have only gotten worse for the Bills with Manuel under center. Manuel’s performance in London against a very beatable Jacksonville Jaguars was atrocious. In back-to-back second quarter plays, Manuel managed to lose the ball twice within seven seconds, with both turnovers resulting in scores for the Jaguars.
First Manuel was sacked, which resulted in fumble that was recovered by Chris Clemons and returned for a six-yard touchdown. Then just seconds later Manuel tossed a horrible pick-six that Telvin Smith handily ran in for a 26-yard touchdown. Over the course of the game, Manuel completed only 57 percent of his passes for 298 yards, two touchdowns, the lost fumble and two interceptions.
The Bills made a valiant effort to eventually catch up and surpass the Jaguars. Although the Jags scored a touchdown late fourth quarter that sealed the win, 34-31. Had Manuel not gifted two touchdowns and three total turnovers to the Jaguars, the Bills easily would have won Sunday’s game.
Instead, Manuel almost seems to be going purposely out of his way to prove that Ryan has been right all along about Taylor being the superior quarterback in Buffalo. The Bills desperately need Taylor to return to health if they want to gain any headway in their AFC east division, currently being dominated by the 6-0 New England Patriots.