Second verse, just like the first.
Just like in Sean McDermott’s first season in Buffalo, the Bills head coach is faced with another major quarterback decision. Not even a year after he benched Tyrod Taylor in favor of Nathan Peterman, and then switched back, he’s now in a similar predicament. After Peterman started Week 1 for the Bills and had a disastrous first half, the head coach is now debating whether to bench Peterman and insert rookie Josh Allen into the starting lineup. Online sportsbook BetDSI has posted odds on the likelihood of this happening and they’ve made Allen the favorite to start in Week 2.
Which quarterback will start for the Bills in Week 2?
Josh Allen -150
Nathan Peterman +120
The issue is that Peterman looks completely overmatched at the NFL level. Although he seemingly had a strong preseason, it didn’t carry over at all in the regular season. In his first half against Baltimore, Peterman was 4-of-13 for 25 yards, an interception and zero first downs. On the day, he finished with a 0.0 quarterback rating. Allen came in and threw an incompletion on his first pass and at that point, had a higher rating already.
While this was a disastrous first half, sadly it wasn’t the worst of his career. Peterman actually threw five interceptions in the first half of his first start, which came last year against the Los Angeles Chargers. Coincidentally, that’s the opponent on tap for this week.
For McDermott, the issue is that the Bills are not a very good team and whoever is out there – Peterman or Allen – won’t get much help. The offensive line is a disaster, the wide receivers are marginal at best and while LeSean McCoy is an excellent weapon, opponents will be loading the box to make sure the electric running back has no room to operate. That really puts the quarterback in a bind.
Does McDermott tough it out with Peterman because the schedule is very daunting these next few weeks? This week the Bills host the Chargers and next week they visit Minnesota. Whoever is starting at quarterback for the Bills is likely to have a rough time. If the Bills truly have an eye toward the future, putting Peterman back out for these two challenging games makes sense. Allen is a rookie – and a raw rookie, at that – so they can try to protect him.
At the same time, it’s clear as day that Peterman just isn’t good enough to be a starter and that Allen – as raw as he is – is already the better option. McDermott could potentially lose the locker room and take weeks of battering in terms of public relations as long as the Bills continue to trot out Peterman and get rocked. Although he’s only in his second season, each week that the Bills perform like they did in Week 1 brings him closer to a pink slip.
McDermott is between a rock and a hard place. He was in a similar position last year and made what proved to be the wrong decision by going with Peterman. The oddsmakers don’t think he’ll make the same mistake again.
