The Bills' Nathan Peterman has a strong case for the NFL's worst quarterback. In his first start last season as a rookie, he lasted just 30 minutes before he was benched. In that Week 11 game against the Chargers, Peterman was 6 of 14 for 66 yards and oh by the way, he threw FIVE interceptions. He started again three weeks later when he was 5 of 10 for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Peterman remained on the shelf for the rest of 2017 but the Bills traded Tyrod Taylor in the offseason, did the same just before the regular season with free-agent acquisition AJ McCarron, and with rookie first-rounder Josh Allen apparently not ready to see the field, Peterman won the starting gig by default. The results, as you might expect, were disastrous.
He was 5 of 18 with two interceptions when coach Sean McDermott again pulled the plug, this time 34 minutes into the game.
The Nathan Peterman experience, everyone pic.twitter.com/zKDmVZRhGv
— Sung Min Kim (@sung_minkim) September 9, 2018
For the record:
Bills QB Nathan Peterman has made 3 career starts, but has yet to finish a game.
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) September 9, 2018
Peterman has now been benched twice and left another game due to injury. pic.twitter.com/SWv0eNjtWh
This is how bad it was:
Nathan Peterman is having such a bad day that when he threw an incompletion his QB Rating went up from 1.7 to 4.9 pic.twitter.com/yCqM3lDuNM
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger_sherman) September 9, 2018
It was 40-0 when Peterman departed and his passer rating had dipped to 0.0. Inexplicably, after the game McDermott said he needed to first look at the tape before issuing a verdict on Peterman, who could be back on the field next week when the Chargers come to town.
I honestly would not put it past the #Bills to have Nathan Peterman be the starting QB Week Two at home against the LA Chargers. And this is why (See the full 1-on-1 with McDermott on @WKBW at 11PM): pic.twitter.com/qqZRW1N9xg
— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) September 9, 2018
"There's a lot of things I have to look at and not just the position itself," a bewildered McDermott told WKBW's Joe Buscaglia after the 44-point loss. ... "The entire team I'll have to look at, and look at the people around the quarterback and make the right decision for our football team."
McDermott may be hesitant to give the offense over to Allen, whom the team traded up from 12th to 7th to draft back in April, because he's still raw and the schedule is incredibly difficult over the first half of the season. After the Chargers, the Bills play in Minnesota and Green Bay, are home for the Titans, then at Houston and Indianapolis before hosting the Patriots.
And while letting Allen learn by watching is certainly a reasonable strategy to bring along a rookie, there doesn't seem to be a backup plan. Which means that the Bills could go from making the playoffs last season for the first time since 1999 to making a run at the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. It would be nice to know if Allen can play before the team is faced with using another first-rounder on a franchise quarterback.