Tuel, the last man standing
With the injuries to EJ Manuel and Kevin Kolb, their returns for week 1 are in jeopardy. The last man standing is Jeff Tuel, an undrafted free agent from Washington State. The Bills have signed QBs Matt Leinart and traded for Thaddeus Lewis, niether look to be the starter, more than likely one will be the backup for Jeff Tuel.
Tuel played well in his first preseason game against the Colts which caused some clamor for him to be the starter, the phrase “Tuel Time” is now a popular twitter hashtag. However when he was forced to relieve Kevin Kolb, who suffered a concussion that is possibly career-ending against the Redskins, Tuel fell down to Earth. He went 10-17 for 63 yards and while he may have not thrown any interceptions, those numbers are not going to work against most NFL teams, overall the offense looked very bad. This creates a problem, especially for their week 1 start against the Patriots. While the Patriots might not have the greatest defense (25th in Total D), they did have the 9th ranked Scoring and Rushing defense last year.
The Bills offense relies heavily on running back CJ Spiller to carry the load, but a passing game has to exist as well. While Tuel may have played better than most 3rd string QBs (and some backups) he was still an undrafted QB for a reason and playing against backups is not the same as playing against starters in a game that counts.
Adding to the doom is starting CB Stephon Gilmore will be out 6-8 weeks with a fractured wrist.
Tuel may prove everyone wrong. He has done well so far during the preseason and was on pace to have Kolb relegated to 3rd string, before being injured.
The Bills may go with a game plan that calls for him to be a game manager, much like what Kolb did last year when the Arizona Cardinals beat the Patriots 20-18, thanks to the Pats Kicker missing a 42-yarder.
Tuel may also have a great game and prove yet again why the draft is not a proven science.[dropcap]
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However none of this concern may be needed. EJ after his procedure was expected to be back by Week 1, this may still be the case. If EJ returns, the Bills have a better chance to beat the Patriots and shock the world. But why be optimistic when you can instead talk about the DOOM!!!!!
Go Noles!
Written by: ArcherNoles
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