The Buffalo Bills are facing the worst-case scenario this season as Josh Allen could be out for an extended period of time.
The Buffalo Bills have sure given fans a wild 48 hours.
Nathan Peterman threw a pick-six to give the Houston Texans the victory on Sunday in a game that saw Josh Allen leave with an elbow injury. The loss dropped the Bills to 2-4 when 3-3 seemed just a few minutes away.
The end was so bad it seemed like the only logical option was to release Peterman and let him take up a new profession. But life as a Bills fan is not filled with such easy scenarios.
Bills rookie QB Josh Allen will not start this Sunday and there is concern he will miss weeks per sources
— Dianna Russini 🏈 (@diannaESPN) October 16, 2018
This is bad news. It only gets worse when you realize the injury Allen is dealing with.
To be clear, UCL surgery is not off the table on #JoshAllen. I try to stay optimistic and hope for best case November return (and not be click bait or rile up a fan base). Over under is 6 weeks out. If surgery, would miss most/all or 2019 too. https://t.co/PS5fG5Lrq1
— David J. Chao - ProFootballDoc (@ProFootballDoc) October 16, 2018
Baseball fans know what a UCL injury could mean for someone who relies on throwing a ball for a living. So right now the worst-case scenario for Allen would be missing this season and next season. The best-case is that he is healthy in a month and eases back into playing again.
That brings the focus back to right now. The options at quarterback are Peterman and Derek Anderson. The same Derek Anderson who signed a contract to serve as a mentor to Allen. So much for that easy paycheck.
This is far from ideal and I don’t see any way that Sean McDermott can start Peterman this Sunday and keep any respect in the locker room. The kid seems nice, but he is actively hurting his team’s chances to win when he takes the field. He just can’t keep getting more chances.
2007 was the last year Anderson was a full-time starter when he went 10-5 with the Cleveland Browns. He has served mostly in a backup role since then and has only made a total of four starts since the start of the 2011 season.
This is a scenario in which it would have been nice to keep AJ McCarron. He could have served in the mentor role and could have played as well. Trading him looks worse and worse with each passing week, even before Allen got injured.
But he is gone and it sure is a good thing the team signed Anderson last week. If not, there would be no other choice but to start Peterman.
I’m also told the Bills haven’t decided who will start at QB...There is a feeling in the organization that veteran QB Derek Anderson has to start or Sean McDermott is in danger of losing the locker room after Nathan Peterman’s latest performance
— Dianna Russini 🏈 (@diannaESPN) October 16, 2018
McDermott has a choice to make. Start Anderson and let the veteran run a simplified version of the offense or start Peterman and risk his team tuning out him and his “culture” message.
If the goal is to win, Peterman cannot start.