Tonight on the shores of Lake Erie, the Buffalo Bills were able to pull out a win on the road in a closely contested preseason matchup against the Cleveland Browns by a score of 11-10.  The major stories of this game were decided by the quarterback play on both sides, as they faced off against two of the better defenses in the NFL. 

Johnny Manziel came on in the second half and finished the game 10/18 for 118 yards with a touchdown. This performance inches Manziel closer to an opportunity to start the season at quarterback over veteran Josh McCown. McCown finished the game 7/10 for 57 yards and two interceptions.

Buffalo has a quarterback battle on their hands as well, and both options played solid football. Tyrod Taylor was the starter tonight and ended up 7/10 for 65 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. EJ Manuel played very well going 9/14 for 111 yards and what ended up being the winning touchdown.

The Bills came into this game severely hindered by the injury bug as they were without five running backs and three wide receivers.  The Bills were left starting with running back Bronson Hill, an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Michigan, and running back Ricky Seale to play majority of the snaps from the backfield.  Naturally this put a lot more pressure on the quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor and EJ Manuel. Matt Cassel did not play at all during the game.

Tyrod Taylor was announced the starter for the Bills immediately following the Carolina Panthers game last Friday. He seemed to be Cassel’s main competition going forward after this announcement, but in order to get the starting job in the regular season, Taylor would have to continue to play consistent and show that he could be a pocket passer as well as a runner in the offense. 

The first drive for the Bills was solid and time-consuming as the balanced Bills attack converted three third downs. This offense would be excellent for the Bills considering how terrific their defense is. Taylor was 5-for-5 on the drive and contributed two rushes for 13 yards.  The almost 10-minute drive fell short, however, when Taylor was sacked on a third down, followed by a Dan Carpenter field goal attempt that hit the upright.  

In the second quarter, Taylor would move the offense again with his legs, rushing for 28 yards en route to a Dan Carpenter 36-yard field goal.

Josh McCown’s day was not nearly as productive to start. His first two drives were cut short by two Ronald Darby interceptions. McCown was 3-for-6 to start the game, but ended the half with a very strong drive that lasted almost nine minutes that culminated in a game-tying field goal for Cleveland. 

The second half started with two very unproductive offenses led by Johnny Manziel and EJ Manuel trading punts for the entire third quarter. Manziel would break that streak when he went 5-for-6 and threw two solid deep passes, the second one on a fade route to a wide open Shane Wynn in the back corner of the end zone. Manziel drove the Browns down the field on 11 plays for 96 yards, that spanned just over five minutes of game clock.

After two more punts, EJ Manuel and the Bills took the field with 7:24 left in the game down seven. Manuel led the team down the field with good, accurate passes only to be stalled by penalties at the goal line, resulting in a 4th and 14 play with 1:40 left. Manuel stepped back on this play and fired a sharp pass to Andre Davis for the touchdown, followed up by a short pass to the flat to Bronson Hill to take the lead with the two-point conversion. 

Manziel tried to rally the Browns back, but incompletions and bad penalties would cost the Browns. The Bills would hang on after Vince Mayle dropped a potential fourth down converting pass. 

The quarterbacks in this game were by no means stellar, but each showed a different side to themselves that each respective team can build upon. For Buffalo, Taylor showed that he can make accurate passes from the pocket, and EJ Manuel showed his composure in tight moments. McCown showed resolve after two interceptions by responding with a long scoring drive, and Manziel proved that he can throw a deep ball and is still mobile enough to escape pass rushers.

Buffalo held on to win the game, but the biggest priorities for both teams in the preseason is to find their starting quarterback for the 2015 season.

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About the author
Jordan Hansgen
Wake Forest Student Sports Writer for Vavel.com Analyst on 91.3 FM Buffalo Blitz show