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The Buffalo Bills are living, breathing proof of how important it is to have a quality quarterback.

Their roster is loaded at nearly every other position. Their defensive line is one of the best in the league, their linebackers are decent, their secondary has talent, they have a solid group of wide receivers, a fearsome one-two punch at running back and a formidable offensive line.

Yet their playoff hopes are nearly shot with three games to go before the season is over.

That three-game clock is ticking down not only to the end of the Bills' season—barring a three-game win streak, the Bills will miss the postseason for the 15th consecutive season—but also to the end of the current era of Bills quarterbacks.

With so many pieces in place, the Bills only need their quarterback to be above average, but even that seems to be asking too much from the quarterbacks on the roster.

The problem is, there aren't many feasible upgrades the Bills can explore this year. They traded their 2015 first-round pick to move up a few spots in the 2014 draft so they could take wide receiver Sammy Watkins; without a first-round pick, they will be firmly out of the running for the likes of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota and Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.

The free-agent market doesn't look much more promising. Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer, Houston Texans quarterback Ryan Mallett, New York Jets quarterback Michael Vick and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez are the only soon-to-be free agents with any worthwhile starting experience. Good luck selling any of those names as the quarterback of the future.

For the time being, the Bills don't have any other options.

Head coach Doug Marrone continues to stand firm behind Kyle Orton, but his logic is waning.

Kyle Orton vs. EJ Manuel, 2013-2014 Player Orton Manuel Games 12 15 Starts 10 14 Comp 258 256 Att 399 437 Comp% 64.7 58.6 Yds 2,753 2,810 YPA 6.9 6.4 TD 16 16 INT 9 12 Rate 88.7 78.5 Record 5-5 6-8 Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

"I just think that he's the best player that we have at that position for us to win a game," Marrone said when naming Orton his starting quarterback for Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers.

Yet the Bills have not been a markedly better team with Orton in the lineup than they were with EJ Manuel, whose plug was pulled after only 14 games as a starter.

It seems they would rather have a thousand paper cuts on their legs and run naked through a lemon juice sprinkler than put Manuel back on the field.

Oh, sure, Orton has put up all kinds of pretty stats. He tossed the pigskin a Bills record 57 times against the Denver Broncos, completing a record-tying 38 of those passes, and piling up 355 yards in the process.

Yawn.

Sixteen of his 38 completions, 27 of his 57 pass attempts and 183 of his 355 yards were earned in a garbage-time, fantasy-league-saving fourth quarter.

The Broncos defense is good but far from elite, especially against the pass, where they have allowed 25 passing touchdowns, seventh-most in the NFL.

Worse yet, Orton's shortcomings failed to reward a stellar performance by the Bills defense, which held Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning to his first sub-200-yard performance since November 24, 2013 against the New England Patriots, and his first game without a touchdown in 52 outings.

Orton's approval rating has dropped faster than the president's. The question is, who could do better with this group? Where is the change we can believe in?

If the Bills want to find a quarterback for the future, their best hope seems to be using their second-round pick and additional compensation to trade into the back end of the first round. The problem with that method, however, is that the Bills would have to hope a good quarterback falls to them in that spot.

The problem with a free agent is that none of them are a significant upgrade over Orton and Manuel, which means the Bills could be back in this spot once again next year: good enough to fight for a playoff spot, not good enough to get over the hump. The only difference would be that they would actually have a mid-first-round pick to show for it.

The Bills' need for a quarterback is so dire that nothing can be ruled out at this stage. There are plenty of talented players on the roster, and while it's impossible to predict trades, nothing can be ruled out.

The season is not over yet for Buffalo. A clean sweep in the final three games would put the Bills at 10 wins, which could be enough to sneak into a wild-card spot if the rest of the AFC playoff landscape cooperates.

But the chances of that happening are slim, and unless the Bills find a way to upgrade the quarterback position this offseason, their chances of making the postseason in future years will be slim, too.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.

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