Bills start Peterman and 5 picks later, it must be asked … Why? David Carr has an idea

There are people still trying to figure out why the Buffalo Bills benched Tyrod Taylor for rookie Nathan Peterman, a move that backfired on Sunday in pretty spectacular fashion.

Peterman, in the first start of his career, threw a pick-six on his first series and four more interceptions before the end of the first half. Final score: Chargers 54-24, and 17 of those Buffalo points came in the second half after coach Sean McDermott pulled Peterman and went back to Taylor.

What were they thinking?

It probably had more to do with Marcell Dareus than it did with Tyrod.

I’ve seen this happen before. It’s one of the dirty sides of the game: Guys trying to take pressure off themselves.

The Bills traded Dareus, one of their best defensive linemen, on Oct. 27. Buffalo beat Oakland two days later, but then the defense unraveled giving up 194 yards rushing in a loss to the Jets and 298 yards rushing in a loss to the Saints.

So how did McDermott respond? He benched Taylor. Sure, Taylor had a rough game against the Saints but he has been efficient this season, can make plays with his legs – hidden yardage, as we call it – and if the Bills played better on defense then Taylor would be fine.

But they made the trade and now a defensive coach is feeling pressure because his defense is giving up a lot of yards and a lot of points. He’s looking for reasons, and the quarterback has a bad day.

So they grab Peterman. They think that he’s going to help. They think that he’s going to save the day. But he doesn’t.

Nothing against Peterman. I liked him coming out of college, I liked him in the preseason. I thought he handled himself well, showed good poise, made some really nice throws. I can see where the coaches saw the same thing and thought, “This guy can give us something.”

But this is something McDermott could lose the locker room over. He benched the quarterback who has played well and that everybody likes.

It can make guys who like McDermott question whether he knows what he’s doing because he has only been a head coach for a year and there are guys who have started in the league for 10 years on his team. They feel like they know just as much as he knows.

The Bills were 5-2, now they’re 5-5.

And what do they do now with Taylor and Peterman?

They let Peterman throw five interceptions. Sit him for the rest of the year and that makes for a very difficult offseason and a long year until he gets to throw another ball in a preseason game.

I think that’s why McDermott struggled this week to name a starter, finally giving the nod to Taylor on Wednesday.

That’s not a decision I would want to make. I would try not to put myself in that situation in the first place, but now that they’re there, man, that’s a tough room.

Question of the week

From Kenneth Hanner: You’ve been sacked by many players during your career, but who did you fear the most or which team concerned you the most?

The one who stands out the most is Dwight Freeney, who was just waived this week by Seattle in his 16th season in the league. He was pretty fantastic and he still can play, which is crazy. He’s 37 years old, but he still has his spin move, he still can get in there and get after people. He was just a nightmare for us in Houston. He was the one guy that we played against where we had to make sure two guys were on him at all times because a single block just wouldn’t hold up.

I remember one time, in Indianapolis (where Freeney started his career), first play of the game we have a quick three-step drop and I’m going to try to get the ball out of my hand to my tight end, a simple 5-yard out route, nothing special about it. I snap the football, but my left tackle didn’t hear the cadence. We were under center at the time and probably should have used a silent count. That was probably our fault, but under center you’re not thinking you have to use it because you can literally reach out and touch the tackle. But he didn’t move and Freeney came around the corner and I had barely taken my third step before I got hit.

The guy was incredible off the edge. Mad speed rush. He was great at stunting. He’s one of those guys you just couldn’t block one-on-one. There have been other guys like that. Jevon Kearse was another guy like that, but Freeney really stands out. I have 15 plays like that running through my head right now …

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Bills start Peterman and 5 picks later, it must be asked … Why? David Carr has an idea."