Sitting at 5-4 and heading into a showdown with the Chargers in Week 11, Bills coach Sean McDermott made the controversial decision to bench starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor in favor of fifth-round rookie Nathan Peterman. Things did not go well.
Peterman threw a pick-six on his first drive, then was picked off on his second drive, fourth drive, fifth drive, and eighth drive. In all, he completed nearly as many passes to players in Chargers uniforms as he did to those wearing Bills uniforms. The final stat line: 6 of 14 for 66 yards, no touchdowns, and five picks. He also fumbled a snap and had a sixth pick go through the hands of the Chargers' Casey Heyward.
Here are all the lowlights:
Naturally, Peterman was -- mercifully -- pulled at halftime, at which point McDermott put Taylor back into the game. Taylor didn't exactly shower himself in glory, but he did complete 15 of 25 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown; he also ran for 38 yards and another score.
Immediately after the game, McDermott said he'll evaluate who to make the starter next week against the Chiefs. A day later, he's still evaluating.
It's hard to imagine what McDermott could have seen from Peterman that would lead him to believe that Peterman should start going forward, but then the decision to go to him in the first place didn't make a whole lot of sense, either.
Taylor didn't go out there and win games on his own like some other quarterbacks can, but at least he didn't turn the ball over -- he has the lowest interception rate of all time among players that have thrown at least 100 career passes -- and he's also not the reason the Bills' run defense has completely fallen apart since trading Marcell Dareus. Opponents ran 124 times for 396 yards (3.2 per carry) and three touchdowns in Buffalo in the five games Dareus suited up before being traded, while they've amassed 638 yards on the exact same number of carries (5.1 per tote) and 11 scores in three games since.
McDermott has to worry about the next several years of Bills football, not just this one, and maybe he thinks Peterman is the guy to lead the team into the future. He's well within that right, but it's clear that Peterman isn't ready to be that guy right now. Throwing him back out there again so soon after such a disastrous performance does him no favors, and only shows McDermott digging himself in after making a decision that appears to have been too hasty.