Buffalo Bills: Peterman struggles, Tyrod comes in off bench as Chargers rout Bills, fall to 5-5

The Buffalo Bills got it handed it to them for the third straight week on Sunday. Starting QB, rookie Nathan Peterman, threw five picks as the Chargers blew out the Bills 54-2 4 in Los Angeles.

The Buffalo Bills tried to be the laughing-stock of the league this week, and it might have worked. The Bills came into this game at 5-4.

They were blown out by the Jets and Saints in the weeks prior, but still in a playoff spot. To try to “give them the best chance to win” Coach Sean McDermott benched two-year starter Tyrod Taylor and gave the start to Nathan Peterman.

To me, the decision is laughable . I think it is fair to say a lot of other people saw it as a bad decision. However, Peterman got the go and I never expected just how quickly things would escalate.

Peterman might have played the worst game by an NFL starter in recent memory. His brutal stat line read as such:

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Yards: 66

TDs: Zero

INTs: FIVE! FIVE!

Tyrod has thrown three all season.

I thought last week’s game vs the Saints was an anomaly. But perhaps this one is. LeSean McCoy rushed for over 100 yards in a loss, which is rare.

The Bills lost the turnover battle 6-0, which is rare.

San Diego dropped 54 points, also rare.

Although the margin of victory in this game was not as bad as the Saints game, this game, if it’s fair to say, was just as brutal.

The worst part is the Bills were somewhat in the national spotlight. For one, they were one of very few 4:00 PM Eastern time games yesterday. But mostly because they benched their starting QB while in a playoff spot.

The Bills, if you forgive all else, have time and time again proven to be at their absolute worse when a lot of people are watching. They followed this pattern Sunday.

Once again the Bills were overwhelmed in pretty much every category, and the score shouldn’t even be taken that seriously because the Bills were down 30 at the half.

Chargers beat the Bills in:

Turnovers / Points off Turnovers
Time of Possession
Penalties
Passing Yards
First Downs
Total Yards (barely though)

Buffalo had more rushing yards. I would like to think that is because the offense became one-dimensional. But the Bills running attack looked better and Shady got going early. Perhaps that is the only good sign from the game.

Nathan Peterman’s picks have to be the top reason the Bills lost this game so badly. I’ll defend that one was off a deflection and he was under pressure a lot but five is way too many.

Tyrod plays behind the same O-Line and he only has threes far this season.

McDermott said after the game he has made no decision on who will start net week at Kansas City.

He has put himself in a rough place. If he starts Tyrod he will look foolish and prove every thing he said about Peterman would be fraudulent. If he does stick with Peterman, he will have to deal with the backlash from the fans and media.

There is no way of knowing what the right decision is going to be. But the Bills have dug themselves into a huge hole.

This current team is the one we all expected to see in 2017, not the team that was a win away from 6-2 and first place.

It is important to know that Tyrod game back into the game for clan up duty, much like Peterman did last week to earn the start for this game. Tyrod threw a TD, ran for a TD, threw for over 100 yards, and rushed for 38. He did lose a fumble but his one turnover pales in comparison to the other five.

The numbers do not really say as much, they just emphasize or enhance a performance based on how they are read.

The Buffalo Bills are flat-out playing bad football right now. This Chargers game, was third times the charm.

Defensively, they need to wake up and get back to the ball hungry, play makers we have seen them be.

Offensively, they have Shady but need to just simply commit to one quarterback.

Buffalo, some way, somehow still can make the playoffs. They are currently the 7th seed in the AFC.

Buffalo is playing terrible football and I personally think they are not good enough to stay in the playoff race but the AFC is very weak this year.

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Once the coaching staff gets themselves out of this QB mess then they can try and get the team to regroup in time to recover.

The Bills now sit at 5-5. They are a brutal 1-4 at home, 1-1 in the division, and 3-3 vs the AFC.

Next week, they travel to Kansas City to play the also struggling Chief before returning home vs the Patriots.

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