Buffalo Bills: Things We Know This Week

The sky is falling. The sky is falling. 

Note to self, the Buffalo Bills are not as good as some predicted or anticipated. The team is not as bad as some think based on one loss where everything imploded.  

Addition to note to self. Nathan Peterman really looks like a player who has not previously played the position and is rated as the worst passer rating ever.  Not a stat you want your team associated with.  I would not want to be the coach that made the decision twice that he is the right quarterback for the job.  Save face and cut him now. Knowing the playbook does not make him more desirable than a journeyman off the street not knowing the playbook.  What good is knowing the playbook if you can not make the throws or execute the plays.  Billy Joe Hobert was cut by Buffalo for not knowing the playbook even with a canon for an arm. The same thing should be done in the opposite situation I digress….

It is only one game folks. Come on, the Detroit Lions were blown out just as deficiently in the opening game of the 1991- 1992 season and they finished 12-4 and only lost to the same team from week one in the playoffs by yet another blowout.  That team was the Washington Redskins who would go on to win the Superbowl in Minneapolis against the Bills. The point is not that they got blown out twice by the same team. The point is that they won 12 games after the humiliation of week one. I believe they even defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs before meeting up with Joe Gibbs Hogs. Not too shabby as Dallas was on the verge of becoming a power house under Jimmy Johnson who would win back to back championships against Buffalo.  Wow…. this explanation is depressing and was not intended to be so.

 The Bills lost to Baltimore by the second largest deficit in team history. Think about some of those really bad Bills teams under previous coaches. Now the mighty drought ender Mr. Clean can put his names up there with Bills coaching legends and can tell the story how he started a fifth round quarterback destined to make an okay back up somewhere if he was brought along slowly under the right circumstances. He not only started him over a healthy pro bowl playoff headed veteran quarterback and having it backfire with five interceptiptions in a first half and pulled before an more damage could take place. He actually stayed on the roster, although not ready to be a third stringer, put on the dog and pony show during OTA’s and training camp earning trust from the players and coaches again. 

What is next? He gets named starter to be the front man playing while the raw first round rookie sits back and takes notes on how Peterman does it. Does what? Why is there no contingency in place?  Why is a veteran journeyman not on the team? Why has Peterman not been cut for doing the unthinkable and looking every bit as bad in this year’s opener as he did against the Los Angeles Chargers last year.  Why is the laughing stock of the NFL for week one not cut showing the rest if the team it is a results-oriented business? Empathy?  I feel bad he was drafted in to the situation to not come along slowly on a practice squad.  He showed no signs of being that rare Tom Brady and gave no indications he would be.  Jon Gruden called him NFL ready. Well he should sign him along with EJ Manuel and AJ McCarron and coach it out of him.  No other position would be able to survive that display of bad football and still be on the roster the next week. Just because he knows the play book and is the plan B if Josh Allen gets hurt or flustered…him knowing the playbook does not matter because he cannot execute it at the NFL level. This is keeping a bad employee because he knows how to put the tarte sauce on the Filet of fish and no one else hired to start training to take his place. Keeping him out of desperation is not fair to the other players who make one mistake and get cut.

Coach McDermott and General Manager, Brandon Beane ridded the Bills of players with extra baggage. They acquire draft capital.  They acquired a couple of players who were to become free agents this past off-season.  They also had others leave like Eric Wood, not being his choice.  Richie Incognito has some history before Buffalo and was not getting any younger.  So, his crazy text about retiring was not going to be brushed off like it never happened.  It was the excuse they needed to rid their selves of a possible declining pro-bowler that makes a decent buck. Now no cutting him. They just followed through with his planned retirement and ignored any comments he made that he was not serious. His off-field antics have made the choice of not inviting him back look like a genius move at the perfect time.

Tyrod Taylor‘s 50 yard passing performances may have been a little under rated or underappreciated as he still did not turn the ball over which kills teams, and had enough esca ability to maybe make the O-line look better than it possibly was. Taylor was not going to take the Bills any farther than just making the playoffs with Andy Dalton’s help. But he was a good quarterback and an excellent teammate and extremely good athlete. When you combined his rushing yards together with his ball protection, the Bills were still in most games even without much of a passing game. He covered up a lot of the shortcomings, the teams and his own. It took Peterman’s performance to make some coaches and fans appreciate Tyrod a bit more last season. Unfortunately for the Bills and Peterman’s total lack of looking like he belonged in the NFL yet again….Taylor is not here to put back in and play it safe securing some wins and in losing, losing with dignity. Gruden called him the “most NFL ready QB” of the bunch in the draft last year Ready to be a third stringer with very little potential to have to actually play would be what he is ready for. 

I see someone that should not have gotten the start last year, looked out of his league again this year.  People have said he could be that next Frank Reich, a great backup for many years. From what I have seen he would not make a good backup because a backup is one ankle twist a way from being a starter. Peterman does not need to be in any position that puts him remotely close to playing quarterback in NFL games. Maybe someday if he were groomed on a practice squad over to a third stringer in a good organization only to be promoted to second stringer when and if ready. He is not a starter and will not be a starter. I have seen enough. If he is rolled back out there to start again I believe the coaching staff is saying its ok that we are putting someone out there who is not good enough. I am not saying he is not good enough to win championships like Taylor. Peterman is not good enough to even lose games, as he does not even finish the games he starts. I do not know what management was thinking going in to an NFL season with a raw first rounder with so much talent like Allen and a second-year untalented bust from a season ago and average journeyman veteran QB who could just calm everyone down and make a first down or two.

Things We Know About The Buffalo Bills This Week:

• The Bills made an addition to their much-needed offensive line on Wednesday, as they were awarded the claim for rookie OL Ike Boettger out of Iowa. He was an undrafted free agent who spent the pre-season with the Bills only to be one of the final cuts. He was picked up by Kansas City, but released giving the Bills the green light to claim him.

• Josh Allen on being named the starter of the Buffalo Bills: “Obviously, I’m super excited and thankful for the chance to be the starter of this team,” Allen said. “This is something I’ve dreamed for a long time, but now that it’s here, come Sunday, just trying to do my job. I’m not trying to do too much, trusting those around me, ultimately trying to be the quarterback that this team needs which is moving the ball, moving the chains on third down and putting points on the board.”

• Bills release Adolphus Washington who was Buffalo’s third round pick back in the 2016 NFL Draft. Big shake up moves after a horrible blow out loss…

-Scott Bryk is a writer for Full Press Coverage who covers the Buffalo Bills. Scott can be followed on Twitter at @skotbrick1970 and @FPC_Bills for Bills coverage.