Bills play like they are haunted, lose third straight
It's been almost a month since Halloween but the "Rexorcism" that Sean McDermott performed on the organization doesn't seem to be working anymore . Since that date, their offense has been unable to move the ball, stay on the field, and put up points.
The defense cannot plug holes in gaps or wrap players to make tackles. The turnovers created by the defense have evaporated faster than water in the Sahara Desert. There has been nothing going for the Bills recently and the game against the Chargers was even more spine-chilling than the previous two blowout losses.
There were a number of things that seemed strange this past Sunday. First off, the Chargers arranged to play a football game in a soccer stadium in an attempt to get the Bills to show up with the wrong equipment.
Next, they were playing in Los Angeles rather than in San Diego where they called home for over 55 years. The team arranged for the game to start at 4pm EST which is pretty rude of Los Angeles as hosts knowing the Bills are used to playing at 1pm EST.
There was an eerie presence of a ghost of coaching past on the Chargers sideline too. Former Buffalo Bills running backs coach, offensive coordinator and interim head coach (all in one year) Anthony Lynn leveraged those roles into a head coaching gig with the Chargers this past offseason.
That wasn't the only ghost lingering on the sidelines. The Bills players could feel the aura of the ghost of their former starting quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, when he sat on the bench this week in favor of the rookie Nathan Peterman.
Peterman's first drive lead to a touchdown. The only problem was it was a Chargers touchdown when fullback Patrick DiMarco tipped the pass up and it was returned for a pick six.
It didn't get any better from there. Peterman would throw five interceptions in the first half while most Bills fans sobbed and received counseling from their adult beverages. It felt like one of the final destination movies where Peterman was never supposed to start and was just going to keep on throwing interceptions until his final destination was determined by Sean McDermott. Personally, I made it a point to keep up with his interception pace and so I pounded five beers in the first half.
The Bills first half possessions ended like this.
INT (pick six)
INT
Touchdown Bills
INT
INT
Punt
Punt
INT
If you don't like scary stories, don't ever watch the first half of this game. The Chargers were able to take advantage of the Bills turnovers finishing the half ahead 37 to 7.
Halftime Stats:
5 Beers
12 Wings
1 Process on the verge of losing trust
1 Confused Tyrod Taylor who doesn't understand how coach chose Peterman over him
1 Nathan Peterman who was turned into a national punch line.
LAC 37 - BUF 7
McDermott was forced to free the evil spirit of quarterbacks past and returned Tyrod Taylor to the starting lineup in the second half but the game was already far out of reach. Melvin Gordon and Joey Bosa gave Nathan Peterman nightmares in the 1st half and they didn't relent on Taylor. Joey Bosa forced a strip sack which was picked up and returned by Melvin Gordon to extend the Chargers lead to 47 to 10.
To give you an idea of how frightening things have gotten with this organization, the team forced it first punt of the game in the third quarter with just under 5 minutes left. It was their first since Week 9 against the Jets when the Bills forced them to punt with about 13 minutes left in the 4th quarter. That's a span of almost two full games without forcing the other team to punt.
The one bright spot on the day for Buffalo was they were able to get the running game going but many of those yards came on big plays and was not consistent enough due to the struggles in the passing game. Other than that it was a dark, dark day for the Buffalo Bills who lost 54 to 24.
In a game like this, the real kick in the nuts is when the other team reminds you about how bad they are beating you by putting in their backup quarterback. The low point of my day was watching Kellen Clemens take snaps as the Chargers won this game. How dare the football Gods make me witness such a horrific scene!
The Bills organization has been meandering around on Sunday's like zombies and have dropped three straight now sitting at 5-5 on the year. Their playoff hopes are still alive, but it's hard to tell if any of the players on this team are lately. They are facing adversity for the first time in the Sean McDermott era and it will be interesting to see how they respond against a very tough Kansas City Chiefs team today in Arrowhead Stadium.
Final Stats:
9 Beers
21 Wings
1 Process on verge of losing trust
1 very stupid quarterback decision
3 horrible blowouts in a row against the Bills
LAC 54 - BUF 24
