With Derek Anderson becoming the third Buffalo Bills quarterback to start this season, what can we expect from him this Sunday?
With Josh Allen diagnosed with a sprained elbow per the Buffalo Bills official Twitter account, veteran signal-caller Derek Anderson has been named the starter for Sunday’s game.
The circus that is the Buffalo Bills 2018 season has added yet another clown to its repertoire as Derek Anderson will play in place of Nathan Peterman this Sunday much to the relief of Bills fans. The Bills made it known that Anderson, the former 213th overall selection in the 2005 NFL draft from Oregon State, would be handed the reigns to Buffalo’s horribly unproductive offense this week.
For Anderson, this marks his first action since his stint with the Carolina Panthers from 2011-17. He made an appearance in Week 4 of the 2016 NFL season when he came in to replace Cam Newton where he threw for 178 yards along with a pair of touchdowns and interceptions, losing the game 48-33.
The following week Anderson was given the start due to the severity of Newton’s injury as the Panthers took on and lost to the Bucs, 17-14. In that game, Anderson threw for 278 yards and two interceptions.
Before his time with the Panthers, the former Oregon State Beaver spent time with the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and the Arizona Cardinals. Having a career completion percentage of 71.1 percent, looking at the numbers it’s safe to say Anderson could be the interim solution in the absence of both Peterman and Allen.
Anderson, who was brought in to be a mentor to the young Allen has embraced his starting role this week saying:
QB Derek Anderson: “I’m not a rocket scientist but I’m pretty smart. I feel good physically and have been putting in a lot of hours to catch up. We’ll have the offense ready to go Sunday.” #GoBills pic.twitter.com/68Kd9GF3yO
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 17, 2018
Taking on the Colts this week, from a matchup point of view, the cards are in Anderson’s favor. The Colts give up an average of 386.6 yards per game making them the 23rd ranked defense in the NFL, so Anderson will be getting his looks Sunday. That is if the Bills offensive line can shake off their past week performances and can handle the Indy front four.
Having recorded 19 sacks through the first six games of the regular season, the third-ranked Colts (tied with the Bills) will be looking to bring the pressure to Anderson.
Pressure from the Colts exterior linemen in Jabaal Sheard, the eight-year defensive end from Pitt, and Jihad Ward, a third-year Illinois product, will be some names to watch as the Bills’ tackles must be able to get their hands on them to give Anderson time to feel out this game.
With Anderson not having a legitimate start since his time with the Panthers, it will be up to him and the offensive line to try and get some meaningful yards this game. The key to Anderson’s success this weekend will be the Bills run game.
If offensive coordinator Brian Daboll can take the ball out of Anderson’s hand and into either LeSean McCoy‘s or Chris Ivory‘s, Anderson may stand a chance this Sunday.