If you follow me on Twitter (@itsbabydom), you’d know how vocal I am about my displeasure with the RB moonlighting as a QB, Tyrod Taylor. Many apologists for his gross inadequacies would say that he can avoid sacks no one else can. But therein lies the problem, he’s holding the ball for so long that he has to make gymnastic-esque escapes to avoid the pressure. He can throw a killer deep ball they say, but all I see is him look downfield, get scared because there’s a defender within 5 yards of the receiver, and decide to check it down to Shady for a 1 yard gain. So to be honest, I was fairly fed up with this so called “above average” QB.
But then, after an abysmal performance, the likes of which I hadn’t seen live in my lifetime, where Tyrod passed for only 56 yards and an interception and in 3 1/2 quarters of play had me ready to tear my hair out, like an angel descending from process heaven, Nathan Peterman came down from the clouds in a dreary New Era Field. He came on to the field, and delivered strike after strike to receivers and tightends alike, like Santa giving toys to young children on Christmas day. He threw to the middle. He threw in tight windows. My God, he even threw to the new guy!
Now, you may ask me, “Dom, how can you possibly be so amped over 7 completions from a rookie against a bored and halfway on the jet home Saints defense?” Well, it’s because of how those completions came. The 21 yarder to Kelvin Benjamin was an absolute dime that he rifled to home after only 2 or so seconds in the pocket. No dancing, no backflips to get away from imaginary pressure, just drop back, scan, and throw. God, what a welcomed sight. Next, his strike to Jordan Matthews, where he threw the ball before Matthews even had his head turned around. He turned around, and the ball was already there. That’s called throwing with anticipation, something western New Yorkers haven’t seen from a Bills QB in at least the last 2 1/2 seasons. He knew exactly where Matthews was going to be, and when. He saw the coverage, and gunned it to him without a second thought. Finally, the touchdown pass to O’Leary was the the cherry on top for his regular season debut, standing tall in the pocket, then seeing his tight end coming across the goal line, scrambling to his right and delivering a bullet between a high-low coverage for Buffalo’s only touchdown of the day, and only real bright spot in an otherwise awful performance.
After the game however, Sean McDermott reiterated at the post game presser that Taylor was their QB, and that he was confident in him going forward. Then, for the next two days, he doubled and tripled down on that sentiment, saying he trusted Taylor. Well, until Tuesday night when he gave the Peterman household a ring to inform him that he would be usurping his wireless company nicknamed counterpart for the starting QB gig. And at 9am on Wednesday morning November 15th, he broke the ‘Buffalo internet’ by announcing that Peterman would be the starter going into a pivotal, and possibly season altering road matchup against the LA Chargers. After witnessing Taylor struggle to show he can be a competent passer (which is pretty important for a QB) week in and week out, and allowing defenses to just key in on the run because they have no fear of him as a passer, McDermott finally pulled the rip cord on the Tyrod experiment in Buffalo. I’m rejuvenated with hope that even though we may have a few INTs here and there, at least Buffalo may finally have an aerial attack again.
buffaloauthority.com 