Analysis:1* Take Buffalo (#265).
We saw three complete no-shows in Week 1 of the preseason
last night – the Patriots, Cowboys and 49ers.
Two of those no-show teams had one thing in common – their starting
quarterback didn’t suit up or play – Tom Brady for New England and Tony Romo
for Dallas. The third no-show team, San
Francisco, played QB Colin Kaepernick and the starters for only one
series. All three of those squads lost
by 20+ points; non-competitive in defeat.
Carolina has ‘no-show’ written all over them tonight. It’s expected to rain, potentially heavy
rain, in Charlotte this evening. Cam
Newton is not expected to see the field, still recovering from offseason ankle
surgery. The team truly lacks receiving
depth; a unit that is very much a work in progress as preseason begins. And third string QB Matt Blanchard – not exactly
a top prospect – is likely to get ample playing time in this one. Carolina’s offense was mediocre at best last
year and I’m not expecting anything resembling a high octane attack tonight.
The Panthers are a very depth-shy team; a squad who’s
primary goal in August is to get into September fully healthy. They can be expected to shuttle numerous
bodies in and out of the lineup in a very crowded secondary, with 15 defensive
backs fighting for ten roster spots, leaving the door open for a bunch of guys
not used to playing with one another to make mistakes against the Bills big
play passing game.
Buffalo head coach Doug Marrone has the QB rotation that I’m
looking for, with starter EJ Manuel looking to prove something off of last
Sunday’s struggles against the Giants when he completed only two of seven pass
attempts for 19 yards before getting pulled.
Behind Manuel are two guys who started last year; Jeff Tuel and Thaddeus
Lewis. They’re coming off a relatively
poor offensive game against the G-men, and Marrone was not amused: “When you're
going to play a game, the goal is to win the game. There's other things that
are coming into play with the schematics, and we're not game planning, but we
have enough in to win.”
Marrone was not the only guy on the Buffalo sideline that
wasn’t thrilled with their showing last weekend. Center Eric Wood: “Every time they're keeping
score we're trying to win. Even if it's not the 1's finishing the game, they're
representing the Buffalo Bills and we want to go out and win and we were
disappointed that we lost."
EJ Manuel: “I would've liked to have thrown a touchdown when I was in. But
this was our first game. We got our feet wet. We're looking forward to moving
on against Carolina.” Take the Bills.
Pick Made: Aug 8 2014 8:16AM PST