New Route, Same Result

New quarterback, new coach, new general manager, new wide receiver, new approaches on both sides of the ball, even new jerseys (ditching the mystifying lapel-type collar that marred what are otherwise the sharpest duds in the NFL).

And yet, all that newness added up to an awfully familiar ending.

New England 23, Buffalo 21.

Let's be honest. It could have been a lot worse.

Thirteen penalties, 10 enforced, some stalling Buffalo drives and others extending New England's.

Two lost fumbles, leading directly to the Patriots' two touchdowns.

C.J. Spiller, frequently underutilized by the Chain Gailey administration, got 22 touches the first time out in Doug Marrone's system, which produced only 55 total yards.

And still, the Bills led their longtime tormentors by two points when New England got the ball at its own 34 with 4:31 remaining.

Then, as you would expect, Tom Brady completed seven straight very short passes in guiding New England to a Stephen Gostkowski field goal that felt as inevitable as winter.

And, judging from the wailing of some callers to the post-game radio show and the gnashing of teeth dotting my Facebook feed, it was a simple case of of new faces in a new system, but the same old Bills.

Except it wasn't.

Over the previous 12 years of New England's mastery of Buffalo, when the Bills managed to make one of their biennial beatings reasonably close (and even when the Bills actually beat the AFC East tyrants in 2011 and way back in '03), there has always been a fluky feel to the proceedings. Lucky bounces, combined with uncharacteristic lapses by the Patriots, deluded the locals into thinking the gap had closed, or was at least shrinking.

Then the Bills would go out and get splattered by mere mortals a couple times, disproving those illusions of competence.

Yes, Stevan Ridley fell down and fumbled without being touched in the second quarter Sunday, presenting Buffalo safety DaNorris Searcy with the opportunity to get the Bills back into the game with a 74-yard fumble return.

Once there, though, these Bills played like they belonged.

With E.J. Manuel looking very much like a first-round draft choice, the offense capitalized on the short field provided by Justin Rogers' interception of a Brady pass (that, to be fair, bounced off the hands of rookie tight end Zach Sudfeld) in the final minute of the first half, cutting New England's lead to three points.

Manuel hit on two nice throws, the second to fellow rookie Robert Woods, on that drive. He led an even more impressive one to start the second half, capped by a perfectly touched pass to Stevie Johnson in the left corner of the end zone to take the lead in a game that about an hour earlier looked ready to go very badly, very quickly.

While the defense never found a way to keep Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman, Brady's only two remaining viable receivers, from moving the chains with short receptions, it didn't yield a touchdown in the second half.

Instead of sitting back and waiting to get shredded, in keeping with the philosophy of recent defensive coordinators, the Bills generated pressure on Brady, finishing with seven hurries and two sacks.

Rookie linebacker Kiko Alonso was all over the field, getting in on nine tackles and recovering Brady's fourth-down goal-line fumble in the third quarter.

At safety, where the Bills were short-handed due to Jairus Byrd's bout with plantar fasciitis, the replacements held up pretty well. Besides his touchdown, Searcy finished with eight tackles, including a sack. And Jim Leonhard, who re-signed with Buffalo (where he played from 2005 to '07 before spending the next six bouncing from Baltimore to the New York Jets to Denver) just six days earlier, made nine solo stops.

At corner, Leodis McKelvin didn't do as badly as feared with Stephon Gilmore out, getting credit for four passes defensed and taking part in six tackles.

The most heartening part of the loss was Manuel's performance. He showed nice touch on both touchdown throws, an element long missing from Buffalo's passing game. He was patient, using his feet to create additional time to throw more often than to flee the pocket. Most significantly, he did not look overwhelmed by the speed of the game or the complexity of New England's defense.

Buffalo's upcoming schedule is hardly murderous. After hosting the Panthers and visiting the Jets, both of whom looked less impressive than the Bills in falling to Seattle and edging Tampa Bay, respectively, the defending Super Bowl champions come to town.

Normally, Baltimore would come in as a heavy favorite, but the Ravens may take a while to recover from what Peyton Manning did to them in the NFL opener last Thursday. Apparently, they do miss Ray Lewis and Ed Reed at least a little. I mean, Lewis -- whose new job description on ESPN involves making his fellow former-player panelists seem relatively coherent -- would have stood by while a couple of his friends took care of Manning, then agreed to testify against them, then taken a dive on the stand before he'd endure the humiliation of watching seven touchdown passes sail over his head!

Then it's at Cleveland, home against Cincinnati and on to Miami.

Of course, bad teams lose close games, too. The good ones figure it out, eventually.

Not to draw any absurdly premature comparisons, but Buffalo lost four of its first five after Jim Kelly arrived from the USFL, all by six points or less, with seven of the 12 losses in that 1986 season coming in one-possession games.

Before anyone starts thinking about these new Bills winning a bunch of games in a row, though, they have to show they can do it once.

Hello, E.J. Manuel

Since Tom Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe at quarterback almost 12 years ago, there have been few things more sure in the NFL than New England blowing out Buffalo, whatever the location or circumstances.

With the Bills starting a rookie quarterback in Week 1 for the first time since Rich Stadium was a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility, another humiliation is certainly possible.

Especially since, with cornerback Stephon Gilmore out and safety Jairus Byrd doubtful, Buffalo's secondary is experienced primarily in the area of chasing opposing receivers into the end zone.

And the Bills' offensive line is breaking in a new left guard in Colin Brown, as well as a right tackle, Erik Pears, who missed more than half of last season with a groin injury.

The Patriots, though, have problems of their own.

Brady's three top targets from 2012 will spend Sunday presumably watching on television, in Denver reveling in two touchdowns scored for the Broncos on Thursday and awaiting trial for one murder, while under investigation for two others, respectively.

Of course, Brady has repeatedly shown himself capable of shredding any secondary, particularly one as beat-up as Buffalo's, with a bunch of guys he finds playing catch in the parking lot.

Buffalo's rookie quarterback, meanwhile, has yet to prove anything.

Even with all the other storylines, E.J. Manuel's debut makes today's game worth watching, no matter how painful the trauma of more than a decade's worth of torchings by the Patriots, including this one last year. And this one.

Manuel showed enough arm, legs and brains in training camp and two exhibitions before sustaining a knee injury to give hope that Buffalo's 15-year run of ineptitude and infirmity at quarterback might finally be coming to an end. Then again, he -- like the system installed by first-year coach Doug Marrone, which is also making its first professional appearance -- could prove totally overwhelmed by the speed and complexity of big-boy, regular-season NFL football, particularly the variety executed by the Patriots defense as orchestrated by Bill Belichick.

As ever, feel free to share your impressions and biases in the comments below.

Manuel Making Historic Debut

As has been pointed out elsewhere, E.J. Manuel will be the first rookie quarterback to start the season opener for the Buffalo Bills since 1973, when Joe Ferguson did the same.

Manuel's debut, which remained in doubt until the moment it was announced, 19 days after the 16th pick in last spring's NFL draft underwent surgery on his knee, marks the first time the franchise has placed its short- and long-term futures firmly in the hands of a first-year quarterback.

Ferguson started all 14 games for Buffalo in 1973, the year O.J. Simpson ran for 2,000 yards, the achievement which landed him endorsements and acting roles. But he was backed up by Dennis Shaw, who held the job the previous three seasons and came in off the bench four times through the year. In the opener, during which Simpson set a new single-game rushing record with 250 yards against New England, Shaw played most of the game and threw nine passes to Ferguson's two.

Due to the potentially career-ending concussion absorbed by Kevin Kolb and Matt Leinart's disastrously brief stint on Buffalo's roster, there is no veteran presence to turn if things go badly for the rookie. Just Jeff Tuel, a rookie the Bills signed as a free agent after they and every other team passed on him an average of seven times in the draft.

Nor will Manuel be charged with simply turning and handing off again and again, as was Ferguson, who averaged fewer than 12 throws a game as a rookie.

It's a wildly different sport now. The '73 Bills ran the ball on more than 71 percent of their offensive plays (615 runs to 244 pass calls). In 2012, Seattle ran more often than any other team -- 54.2 percent of the time, making the Seahawks one of only three teams that ran more often than they passed.

One other probable difference -- the Bills beat the Patriots in Ferguson's first start, 31-13. This rookie and these Bills aren't going to have it nearly as easy.

Seriously? Seriously.

I can't quite believe I am writing this. Or even thinking it.

But the Bills signing Tim Tebow might not be the worst idea in the world.

As of this writing, seven days from the season opener, Buffalo has two quarterbacks on its roster. Only one is healthy enough to play against New England, provided Jeff Tuel can avoid catching his foot in an artificial-turf seam walking off the practice field or any other disabling mishap for the next week.

Even Brad Smith, the Bills' resident last-string quarterback, is on injured reserve.

Tuel's most notable achievement at Washington State was getting sacked at a Rob Johnson-esque rate, so there is a decent chance he won't remain ambulatory for four quarters. What then?

E.J. Manuel may be sufficiently recovered to wear a uniform next Sunday, but if he's not healthy enough to start, why risk his season -- and Buffalo's -- by bringing him in off the bench?

At the moment, Buffalo's other options would be direct-snapping to C.J. Spiller or Fred Jackson. Since any hope of upsetting New England would hobble off the field with an injured Tuel, putting Spiller or Jackson at unnecessary risk in a lost cause does not make a lot of sense.

The Bills have already tried throwing traditional free-agent quarterbacks out there with only a few days' preparation. Matt Leinart and Thaddeus Lewis, perhaps the two shortest-tenured Buffalo quarterbacks ever, showed how well that works.

No, Buffalo needs a true disaster quarterback. And, if nothing else, Tebow has proven himself perhaps the most disastrous quarterback in modern NFL history.

He can not possibly learn Doug Marrone's up-tempo offense in less than a week, either. But offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett could draw up a package of a half-dozen plays to keep the clock running as quickly as possible -- Tebow runs right, Tebow runs left, Tebow hands off to Jackson/Spiller right, Tebow hands off to Jackson/Spiller left, all the receivers run around and try to get open while Tebow scrambles around until he either sees a running lane or someone to whom he can shot-put the ball.

That's about all any other quarterback out there is going to learn in such a limited time. And, other than Vince Young, who has already washed out here once, none of them are as physically suited to such a primordial offensive approach. Not surprisingly, a writer from ESPN.com, part of a media conglomerate that has devoted an embarrassing amount of time on the former Heisman Trophy winner, floated a similar idea even before Lewis was waived.

Just to be clear, We Want Marangi is NOT advocating bringing him in for any reason other than the doomsday scenario presented above. Three NFL coaching staffs have already decided that his achingly slow release and lack of anything approaching consistent accuracy make him unfit to run an offense on a regular basis.

If you are among those who insist that some sort of league-wide conspiracy has prevented Tebow from establishing himself as a starting quarterback, please watch the video below -- especially the last minute.

Still not convinced? Please watch the following (as an added bonus, this clip contains footage of accused murderer Aaron Hernandez scoring a touchdown).

But Tebow's repeated firings, most recently by New England, along with the other 31 teams taking a pass on him after he was released by the Jets, should undercut any swell of populist support that might undermine Manuel's development. At this point, Tebow is just another guy, albeit one whose limited skills make him a good fit should Tuel get hurt before Manuel isn't.

For a week or two, that's all Buffalo needs.

An Unexpected Quarterback

This is not Buffalo's Week 1 starting quarterback.

This is Buffalo's Week 1 starting quarterback (if rapid knee-tissue regeneration is not part of E.J. Manuel's skill set).

You may not know much about Jeff Tuel, other than that he has demonstrated an ability to throw short passes with decent accuracy against defenses comprised primarily of men who will not be playing football for money in a few weeks.

But with Manuel's availability for the opener against New England in 13 days still uncertain, Kevin Kolb uncertain to ever play the game again, and uncertainty over whether new acquisitions Matt Leinart and Thaddeus Lewis have even received their playbooks yet, it's time to educate yourself.

We Want Marangi is here to help, with this Jeff Tuel primer from SBNation (which was brought to our attention by WWM's Maui Bureau Chief, Adam Borowiec.

And here's another piece on the franchise's most unlikely starting quarterback since Ed Rutkowski (as well as the first undrafted rookie to start a season opener since 1967), an article which is based on actual research, and therefore less interesting.

Bills Spent Sunday At QB Flea Market

With Kevin Kolb's future suddenly in doubt after the Bills presumptive backup quarterback at least the third serious concussion of his professional career Saturday against Washington, Buffalo's front office spent Sunday acquiring quarterbacks.

Due to Kolb's rather grim prognosis, as well as the darkening head-injury cloud hanging over the NFL -- and raising serious doubts about the journalistic integrity of its broadcast partners -- we'll hold off on any Matt Leinart or Thaddeus Lewis jokes.

For now.

In the meantime, in the interest of optimism, We Want Marangi is choosing to ignore the former Heisman Trophy winner and 10th overall draft pick's dismal professional career and TMZ-ready lifestyle. Instead, we'll focus on his spectacular on-field college exploits.

At least until he leaves no choice but to do otherwise.

Ryan's Jets Already Helping Buffalo's Self-Esteem

(Editor's Note: We Want Marangi remained dormant through the first month of training camp out of solidarity with holdout safety Jairus Byrd. Now he's back, and so are we.)

Three weeks into the exhibition season, one thing can be said with certainty for the first time since Marv Levy strode the sideline:

The Buffalo Bills do not have the dumbest coach in the AFC East.

Nobody's taking that title away from Rex Ryan now. Putting your starting-quarterback-because-the-other-guy's-worse into a practice game last night in New Jersey, behind an offensive line manned by soon-to-be-aspiring construction workers is the kind of thing that gets you fired. Or should.

After Geno Smith (who more than a few self-appointed experts believe Buffalo should have drafted instead of E.J. Manuel back in April) stunk out the Meadowlands for better than three quarters, the rookie panicked to a degree that must be seen to be fully appreciated.


Even if the annual meaning-free preseason pushing match between the Jets and Giants (which MetLife sponsors, for some reason) had been played using the Canadian Football League's 25-yard-deep end zones, Smith STILL would have charged with a safety, since he also committed intentional grounding by flinging the ball away while in the pocket.

Maybe the rookie's double-blunder so flummoxed Ryan that he forgot the only thing at stake was a Snoopy trophy.

Don't get me wrong. That thing is pretty sweet. I, for one, would gladly risk Mark Sanchez's health for it.

Then again, I don't have to coach a football team for more than four months with a quarterback who does not seem to have any idea where he is on the field at any given time. Or answer questions about what I could have possibly been thinking when I decided to create that situation.

But for all our differences, Rex and I were on the same page on this one. And to the surprise of no one, Sanchez got crushed, twice, by Marvin Austin, a 312-pound defensive tackle trying to keep his job with the Giants.

It's pretty easy to imagine what two words kept going through Ryan's head as he watched Sanchez writhe on the turf for several minutes before making it to the sideline, his throwing arm detached at the shoulder.

(Hint: The first word is "Oh," and the second rhymes with "shit.")

Of course, the Bills are also down to a single healthy quarterback, Jeff Tuel, who has never taken a snap in a regular-season NFL game (and looked very much the undrafted free agent he is on Saturday), after Kevin Kolb took a knee to the back of the helmet Saturday at the end of a scramble early in Buffalo's 30-7 "loss" in Washington.

While Doug Marrone had not announced it, Manuel had clearly earned the starting job -- unless you're the type who believes experience, even bad experience, outweighs the ability to throw and run -- before twinging his knee against Minnesota in the second exhibition. And the Bills expect him back when they open the season against New England two weeks from today.

Kolb's "concussion-like symptoms" almost certainly have the Bills looking for another veteran backup. If the goal is to have a healthy veteran available if Manuel's recovery from minor knee surgery takes longer than expected, or if he goes down again, they couldn't do much worse.

Kolb's performance through training camp has firmly established him as the poor man's Rob Johnson -- fleeting moments of competence undercut by a knack for injuring himself in the most unlikely ways.

First, he managed to pop his knee out walking across an empty field after practice, which kept him out of the exhibition opener. Now this. Even trying to slide safely after running for a first down, he managed to get knocked goofy by an errant knee when the play was over.

So now Buffalo's rookie coach gets to pick from a pool of veteran passers not a single other NFL team wanted, and try to get him ready in case Manuel isn't ready for the Patriots, while trying to fix everything else that went wrong in his team's worst performance after two pretty solid exhibitions.

It could be a lot worse for Marrone. He could be in Rex Ryan's position.

But early returns indicate he's smarter than that.