WGR

‘All-in-all, it was an enjoyable day of Bills football. What does it mean in terms of where this season will go? Probably nothing. It sure looked like the Jets had given up on their season, perhaps knowing their head coach will soon be out of a job. I doubt the Bills will get themselves back into the wild card race, despite the fact the schedule looks very favorable for the final six games. But, hey, it was fun to watch the Bills and it was great to see points, lots of points from an offense that was on pace for the lowest points per-game average in franchise history.’

‘It was a rare sight for Bills fans, as the offense racked up a whopping 451 yards, including 212 yards on the ground, as Buffalo destroyed their AFC East rival. It got started early, as the Bills needed only two plays to draw first blood, including a 48-yard completion from Barkley to Robert Foster on the first play of the game. It was only the third time this season that Buffalo scored on their first drive of the game. When Buffalo has scored on their first drive, the Bills are 3-0.’

‘The Bills had outgained Bowles crew by 313 to 68 by halftime. The Jets defense made Barkley look like an All-Pro. The one thing I think that this performance did was seal the fate of Nathan Peterman. Once the quarterbacks are all healthy again, I would think Peterman would be gone. I think Allen and Barkley would be one and two with Derek Anderson staying around to mentor Allen.’

‘For a quarterback to be signed and just twelve days later and right away be inserted into the starting lineup, on arguably the worst offense in the league up to that point, would normally have disaster written all over it. But Barkley was very good, especially early on, and made the Bills’ offense look not only functional, but good. The newly signed signal-caller went 15-for-25 for 232 yards, including a pair of touchdowns passes and no interceptions. In the first half, Barkley went 9-for-15 for 146 yards and touchdown helping the Bills to a 31-3 lead. His 47-yard hookup with Robert Foster on the first play of the game set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.’

‘Barkley’s last start came back in the 2016 season as a member of the Chicago Bears. That season, he started in six games, going 1-5 while throwing 129-of-216 for 1,611 yards, eight touchdowns and 14 interceptions.’

‘The “WHOSDAQ” is something we’ve done at WGR over the past few training camps, basically asking “who is the quarterback?” But it applies again this week, as the Bills didn’t reveal who the starting quarterback would be until late Saturday afternoon. Matt Barkley, signed just over a week ago, will get the nod under center over Nathan Peterman after the team also declared Josh Allen would be out while he continues to nurse his sprained elbow. Allen will miss his fourth straight game. Derek Anderson was also ruled out as hasn’t cleared concussion protocol yet.’

‘”Josh Allen not being able to play due to injury, it’s a little tougher to get a feel for where the Bills thought they might be if he’d been able to play the last number of weeks. Not that he’d all of a sudden be a top level quarterback, but he’d have three more games of reps and, ideally, that gives him more experience and you could see improvement…”‘

‘”It’s the same philosophy with Darnold as it is with Allen. Unless these guys are coming out of a pro-set college offense like [Carson] Wentz, it’s best to hold these guys back. If you look at it, each game [Darnold] has gotten worse. What the Jets should have done is sat him out for that Thursday night game, because you basically go in with no preparations. It served him up and he had one of the worst games.”‘

‘Allen was listed as “limited” by head coach Sean McDermott prior to Wednesday’s session, and although he was sporting a fairly large brace over his right elbow, he appeared to have a full workload of passes during the individual positional portion of practice the media was allowed to watch.’

‘Darnold was reportedly spotted in a walking boot and missed practice Wednesday, and is now considered out on a “week-to-week” basis. Veteran quarterback Josh McCown would start for the Jets this week after the team had traded Teddy Bridgewater to the New Orleans Saints in the preseason.’

‘Gaines was responsible for a pair of lengthy pass interference calls against the Chicago Bears, as well as a critical pass interference penalty in the end zone in Buffalo’s loss to the Houston Texans. The Bills have figured they have seen enough from Gaines to release him outright from the roster. Gaines, a 5-year veteran, started 6 games for the Bills this season, totaling 30 tackles and two passed defensed.’

‘In 2017 with the Broncos, McKenzie played in 11 games, catching four passes for 29 yards. He has 23 career punt returns in the NFL, averaging 8.5 yards per-return.’

‘”It’s a big area that you need to have play well, regardless of what happens at the other positions. You need your quarterback to play well, and play well on a consistent basis.”‘

‘”This is so hard, it takes so much mentally. It’s not something you can be halfway in or halfway out for. Don’t let my mind wander.”‘

‘I would really like to have a way to wrap this up into some kind of meaningful statement about the direction the Bills are going but I really don’t know how. Maybe that’s because I’m as terrible at this as the Bills are at playing offense, or maybe it’s because what we’re all watching on these Sundays really is utterly meaningless. The Bills prized possession, seventh overall pick quarterback Josh Allen is hurt. In the meantime, whether it’s Derek Anderson, Peterman or Matt Barkley playing quarterback, the results and how they perform mean nothing.’