1billsfan

First 21 game starts… Seimian: 11-10 QB record 60% comp 27 TDs / 20 INT 230 yards per game Taylor: 12-9 QB record 62% comp 25 TDs / 8 INT 190 yards per game Now, is throwing 12 more interceptions that big of a deal, when it was Taylor’s total lack of challenging defenses DNA that got him benched? Not for me. Taylor has a lot of support through out the league, but I think a lot of that comes from the familiarity and goodwill of being a seven year veteran and being a genuinely good guy and pro. But these stats say they are the same player, just different styles.

Trevor Siemian got benched this year and there was not one single blip on the “how dare the head coach do that” outrage meter anywhere. Siemian and Taylor are total equals in the QB performance department (look up the stats) and Taylor has had four extra years in the league. Is anyone else baffled by the completely overboard fan and media outrage of McDermott’s benching Taylor? Has the seemingly occurring narration of Tyrod Taylor being a well-established starting QB become one of the biggest NFL myths ever? Is anyone else becoming tired of the outrage? Phil Simms was a top 10 pick and three year veteran and Parcells started Scott Brunner over him for his fourth season. Terry Bradshaw was benched by Chuck Knoll. What would today’s 24/7 media and fans say about those moves?...and we’re seeing a melt down over seven year veteran Tyrod Taylor being benched?!

Really?? The Bills will be probably picking around the 10-14 position. Draft either Mayfield or Jackson… …and they would STILL have another 1st, two 2nds and one third round picks (the rest of the draft)…PLUS free agency. Seriously...if you can’t fix your trenches with all of that capital after their 1st rd QB pick, then you should quit and go into another business.

Maybe he thought that the defense was going down and not going to come back, and that putting in Peterman was his attempt to save the season. Because he was an unknown as far as what he could do. Could he come in and start putting up points on the board using the passing game? So this would have been an attempt to save the season, because with the defense he had, Taylor was a known quantity of not being good enough to outscore teams. The big picture for the people in charge of getting this franchise back on top is being focused on the future of this team, not necessarily this season.

Maybe the three straight poundings on defense have shifted this season away from "win now", to more of an evaluation of the players they want to keep for next season. That includes looking at what they have in Peterman against teams like the Chiefs and the Patriots. The 5-2 season was clearly a fluke. This team needs a lot of players and the HC and GM are just starting out. I think fan expectations need to change back to what they were at the beginning of the season.

Even if he did lose credibility among the players, 50% of them won’t be here next year so that doesn’t matter. The season was supposed to be a rough one, they got lucky with turnovers early on in the season, when that stopped and Taylor was not challenging defenses, McDermott gambled on Peterman to be a game changer in the passing offense since the AFC was very bad and all they had to do was prove they could win with offense. The gamble didn’t pay off, McDermott lost his shirt, now we get to see if Taylor with a chip on his shoulder and see if he will finally pass the ball and challenge defenses knowing he has nothing left to lose. Weird NFL season, but the Bills are now looking like we thought they would look at the beginning of the season. They are 5-5 and Taylor has an opportunity to beat two tough teams and change all of the perceptions. No need to get overly dramatic about this.

Back in the day, Phil Simms was benched by Parcells, Terry Bradshaw was benched by Knoll. Both were high draft picks (Bradshaw #1 overall). I like that McDermott was bold enough to bench the former 6th round pick Taylor, who was just not progressing like he should have especially with this being his seventh season in the NFL. You have to dare to be great if you are ever going to amount to something. McDermott seems like he will do what he wants and will not let the media or anyone else influence his decisions. This is a trait that the all of great coaches have. Taylor lost his job because he wasn't taking chances. He was coached to take chances and he did not follow the orders to do so. So he got benched. Let's just see what Taylor's game looks like now (post benching) in Kansas City.

With Bridgewater it was more referring to his thin legs not built for the NFL Qb position. Lamar Jackson has that same wirey frame. You have to have a strong frame if you are going to be a long term answer at QB. Either that, or you need a lightening quick release like Brady or Marino.

I was a Mahomes guy, but I have really liked what I have seen of Peterman. I can't wait for the game. One interesting aspect of both this past draft and the benching of Taylor is the whole "running QB" vs "traditional drop back QB" offensive system. Taylor wasn't ever a natural passing QB and he eventually lost his job because of this, we all know what happened with RGIII getting hurt and never being the same, Bridgewater was not a big guy and he eventually got severely hurt, Watson had a big body but small legs and got a major injury just running drills. Peterman looks like a really great value when you consider that he has the body and traditional drop back game of the ones who ended up being great QBs and who lasted 10 or more years. Maybe the Bills just simply did not want to go down the "running QB" path considering the only one who made it successful was Wilson. The name of the NFL game is for your QB to drop back and get rid of the ball quickly, not to run around and eventually get hurt.

I'd like to think that since McDermott made this bold move, he doubles up on it and lets Peterman throw the football around to all the eligible Bills receivers. The Chargers will be loading the box expecting McCoy, but I hope we see a real franchise culture change to a modern NFL offense. This will extend McCoy's Bills career as an added bonus.

This also reminds me of the collapse in Oakland last year. I think it's evidence that defensive NFL players, in general, can lose their fighting spirit and competitiveness when they think the offense has no shot to score any points. Look at the Giants, same type of thing. I'm sure there are numerous other examples. I get the feeling that McDermott got some feedback that made him very comfortable to go ahead and flip the switch. I can't believe they did this, and I think it's awesome they did! Looking forward to see what Peterman can do at starting QB! I think the whole team is going to play extremely hard now.

I don't think this is the case at all. Because they already have gone over the threshold of benching him for Peterman even though it was garbage time, and he performed very well. The "they think they can win with Taylor" ship has obviously sailed IMO. I think it's over for Taylor as soon as he plays badly in a game they can win which will probably happen this week. The only reason that Taylor is starting is because of their winning record. I'm sure the franchise wants Peterman to come into the comfortable and logical situation where Taylor has played himself out of the job and it's Peterman's the rest of the way no matter what. They don't want to drag the kid into a QB drama controversy.

Imagine the feeling if the Bills go to 5-7, and they then finally put Peterman in as the starter after the Patriots game, he plays great with a 3-1 record, and the Bills finish at 8-8, with one more win having giving them a playoff spot? Ouch. McDermott talked about today being a tough pill, that one would be a gigantic pill since they haven't made the playoffs in 17 years.

He really is the second coming of Dick Jauron then. This loss was so bad, Taylor was so bad, that you have to realize that benching him and starting Peterman is the only chance you have of saving the season. If you don't expect Taylor to be your QB next year, then there's no choice of not doing it right now.

Why throw away the season? To sooth Taylor's ego? The 2017 season is still there for this team, the AFC sucks, this team is going to need to score a lot of points in games, Taylor is clearly not going to be around next year. Benching Taylor is the logical decision. There is literally no good reason to start him again, unless Peterman got hurt.

McDermott has rocks for brains.

Funny, considering the writer’s employer ESPN is the worldwide leader of companies without a plan.

At least the outcome of the game will give a good indication of which way the season is heading. This is the official "are you a contender or pretender" game.

<Jeff Foxworthy voice> "When a your starting QB is not the best QB on the field in two-thirds of your NFL season schedule...you might not have a franchise QB." Taylor definitely has stepped up his game for this debate to become legit, but his three year starting history suggests that his ceiling is probably middle to bottom half of the league and that will not be good enough for long term plans. He has a good opportunity to prove himself if he gets the team in the playoffs and they make a good run at the Super Bowl. If his play is inconsistent, then there will be a QB competition next training camp, and if he loses that, then he will be probably traded for a decent 2019 draft pick.

What if they trade Taylor for a 2018 draft pick? Might sound crazy at first...say they make the playoffs and are eliminated in the first round, a team in the #20-30 range offers their #1 for Taylor, the Bills believe there's a very good chance that Peterman will perform at least to Taylor's level, also, the Bills have a QB in the rookie class they want to work with and develop using one of their high picks...then consider that Taylor in 2018 will be on his last year of a contract which means some team will be giving him a long term 25 million a year type of contract after next season. With the current regime, you have to wonder what their plan would be given the looming potential cap hit. Having said that, they will sign him long term very quickly if the Bills get deep in the playoffs and Taylor's having Russel Wilson type of success. He certainly has been looking that way the last two weeks and I hope it continues. We shall see.

I have to think that many passed on Watson because he has that slender lower body build. With RGIII and Bridgewater as recent examples of franchise QBs with slender builds which led to career ending injury, it had to be big reason why he was passed up by all those teams, including the Bills. If I were the Texans, I'd stop with having Watson play the role of "running QB". Won't be as crazy productive, but he will have a much longer career.

This new regime won't hesitate giving the keys to Peterman if eventually he shows himself worthy. Their mode of operation is that they don't care about your status, they will do what's in the best interest of the team. Tyrod has been a great story so far this year, but he isn't at franchise QB level yet. So pumped he's playing like he is though. So much excitement back!

Mike Mayock said Peterman reminded him of Kirk Cousins. Daniel Jeremiah said if forced, he would predict Peterman as being this year's Dak Prescott. Peterman played very well for a rookie QB in preseason. Also, the Bills clearly have very good offensive coaching staff in place and probably for a long time. So with that being said, that statement made absolutely no sense to me.

When I look at Watson, I see a guy with the upper body of a franchise NFL QB, and the lower body of an NFL wide receiver. The recent cases of RGIII and Bridgewater are clear reminders of QBs who just didn't have the right NFL QB body type to take a pounding. The Bills could have liked his game, but maybe they didn't want to risk picking him that high because of what they perceived as Watson being a QB with a much higher probability of having a bad injury, which in turn would force the team to start over in a franchise QB search. Of course, I don't know...I'm just throwing out the possibility of why they didn't take him. There are exceptions like the Bills current starting QB, but he wasn't a top 10 pick so that kind of huge risk was never there.

Tyrod Taylor is just not the type of QB that is a viable long term NFL starting QB which you are building your team around. He is clearly on the path of being the classic journeyman, stop-gap type of starting QB like Fitzpatrick has been throughout his career. Taylor has just not shown the ability to put the team on his back and win the 3-4 close games during a season in which you need your QB to pull off a win using his arm (where are the signature comeback games after 34 starts?). This is not to put him down, Fitzpatrick has carved out a great NFL career and got the most out of his limited abilities. This is why I think that Peterman will be starting at some point this year. His ability is an unknown and that's why they will want to take a look at what he can do sooner rather than later.