The Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings will meet in the second week of the preseason in New York and both teams come into the matchup with a number of questions, the most glaring is at starting quarterback for the Bills with E.J. Manuel or Kevin Kolb?
The team is starting Kolb on Friday and while Doug Marrone loves what the rookie Manuel has done, there is a good chance he will go with the veteran to start. Steve Johnson has been banged up and the team will be looking for nice play from Robert Woods as well as Marquise Goodwin.
On the Vikings side, ESPN.com reports that rookies Xavier Rhodes and Desmond Bishop are ready to make their debuts for the team and on top of that Christian Ponder will be the main focus. Ponder did not look good last season and his work with Greg Jennings and Cordarrelle Patterson will be key in the offense.
The Bills played last Sunday and while that quarterback race between Manuel and Kevin Kolb is still going on, the rookie first round draft pick showed some poise in the first preseason game against the Colts. Manuel has taken advantage of the fact that Kolb has been injured during training camp with a knee issue after signing a two-year deal in the offseason and he ended up playing the entire first half of the game while Kolb sat out and Jeff Tuel played the rest after he sat down. Head coach Doug Marrone may start Kolb when the season begins to give Manuel a chance to get acclimated to the league, but if he performs well the rest of the way he could win the job.
Manuel was solid in the first preseason game and after starting off by completing just one of his first three passes and the rest of the way he ended up with 16 of 21 for 107 yards and he also threw a touchdown to go along with it. Marrone said he was impressed with Manuel after the game and that there was room for improvement, especially on a play when he lost a fumble on a hand off at one point. Marrone may start off with Kolb no matter how much he plays in the preseason and that could take the pressure off for Manuel as he already knows he is the starter of the future.