Breaking: E.J. Manuel Benched in Favor of Kyle Orton in Buffalo

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After a pair of struggling performances for the second-year quarterback, what started as potential rumor has now become reality: the Bills will start Kyle Orton on Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

The decision comes after Manuel finished the first quarter of the season with a QBR of 19.2, ranked 32nd in the NFL just above Chad Henne. In the past two games, Manuel is a combined 44 of 83 for 263 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

With only fourteen NFL starts for Manuel that have resulted in a 6-8 record for the 2013 first round selection (No.16 overall), this would appear to be a bit short of a leash. However, new ownership coming in and expectations raised by the investments made in the offense (two first-round picks for Sammy Watkins and trading for Mike Williams) may have increased the urgency to make the move.

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Orton last played for the Dallas Cowboys, backing up Tony Romo before he stepped in Week 17 to start for an injured Romo and throw for 358 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first start in two years. It remains to be seen how long this is Orton’s job, but he has plenty of experience, starting 69 games in his NFL career.

Update 6:15 p.m.:

Marrone said that Orton made him confident enough to name him the starter with the way he has “practiced” and his experience.

 

“He has an opportunity now and we’re with him and we’re going to put him in the best position we can put him in to win games,” said Marrone.

The second-year head coach declined to say if Orton would be the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season. As for Manuel, Marrone said that it allows the young signall-caller to “step back for a moment and look at things that we can work on and correct”.

“Again, he’ll have to have some thick skin through this and you’ve got to fight,” said Marrone. “That’s what usually happens in life. To get what you want, you’re going to have to fight for it. I think that he’ll be able to grow. I think that he’ll be able to handle it well, from my conversation with him. And he’ll be able to continue to grow as a quarterback.”

The process of information in terms of who was told about the news was Manuel first, then offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, quarterback coach Todd Downing, the rest of the coaching staff, Orton, and then the team captains (Kyle Williams, Eric Wood, Fred Jackson, Corey Graham, Brandon Spikes, and Mario Williams). The decision will be addressed to the team on Wednesday, according to Marrone.

Greatly Improved Run Defense:

One positive that has remained a bright spot despite consecutive losses is a much improved run defense, as Buffalo allows the third-lowest yards rushing per game in the league (71.5), and second lowest average per rushing attempt (2.9). The Bills were fifth-worst and tenth-worst in those respective categories last year.

When asked for the biggest difference for the Bills, defensive end Mario Williams said it was “simply just being fundamentally sound.”

“At the end of the day, if we just play ball and do our responsibilities, we’ll be just fine,” said Williams. “The biggest thing for us so far has just being in our gaps and not doing too much.”

Not taking the bait:

While not playing like the 1985 Chicago Bears defense the past two weeks, Buffalo has only allowed a combined 45 points in a league where offense is king, but the Bills have only put up 27 points the last two weeks.

Safety Aaron Williams, however, would not blame the other side of the football. When asked about coach Marrone’s comments about it being a “team win or loss”, and being discouraged about the offense struggling, Williams made sure to keep a united front.

“No,” said Williams. “We’re not going to go down that route. We’re not going to divide this team. We’re not going to blame one person, like Coach said. When the team wins, it’s a team win. When the team loses we all loss. There are a lot of things that the defense should’ve done to help our offense out and vice versa. We’ve got to help each other in any way possible. We’re not going to point fingers. We’ve just have to work stronger and finish stronger as a team.”

Missing on offense:

Running back C.J. Spiller said the team needs to develop a “killer instinct” on offense, as Buffalo got closer to San Diego and Houston with one touchdown drive in both games to cut second-half deficits, but got no closer.

“That’s pretty much what we’re missing right now as an offense,” said Spiller.

In a game in which Manuel dropped back 44 times and was hit 16 times, including nine by J.J. Watt, center Eric Wood said “communication was tough” in Reliant Stadium for an offensive line that inserted rookie guard Cyril Richardson for his first career start and has a rookie at right tackle (Seantrel Henderson).

“They got us on some stunts and we all know that,” said Wood. “They beat us in matchups up front and we’re all to blame.”

More time together is the only thing that can improve those issues, Wood says.

“You just keep working and keep drilling it. We’ve got a lot of young offensive lineman new to positions and they’ll keep getting better.”

They might have to in a hurry, as they will face a big-time defensive line in Detroit, with former first-round picks Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, and Ezekiel Ansah known as premier talents that can both stop the run and rush the passer.

 

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