TYROD TAYLOR – FROM HERO (WHEN THE BILLS WERE 5-2) TO ZERO
Rookie Nathan Peterman will start at quarterback for the Buffalo Bills Sunday at the Los Angeles Chargers.
Bills coach Sean McDermott on Wednesday morning announced that Tyrod Taylor – 20-18 as Buffalo’s QB the last three years – has been benched.
It seems like only yesterday that the Bills had a surprising 5-2 record and Tyrod’s many critics among the long-frustrated fan base and media were giving him his share of the credit for the team’s success.
Now – the way I see it – Taylor is the scapegoat or fall guy after two embarrassing losses: 34-21 (it wasn’t that close) at the New York Jets and 47-10 at home to New Orleans last Sunday.
Taylor was not the only reason – or even the main reason – for Buffalo’s two-game losing streak. The biggest problem was an overmatched defensive unit that allowed 492 yards and 9 TDs on the ground. Tyrod Taylor does not play defense.
Taylor is far from a complete quarterback. Like most QBs, he has flaws. But much of the media and many fans were quick to point out what he doesn’t do well and downplayed what he does well.
After Peterman led the Bills to a late TD in garbage time against the Saints, I was amazed at the reaction by so many fans and media: “He did more in a few minutes than Tyrod did the entire game.”...”Tom Brady and Tony Romo were undrafted or late draft picks and became stars. Why not give Peterman a chance.”...”Tyrod is too short. Peterman looks more like an NFL quarterback and throws better spirals.”...”We know Taylor isn’t a ‘franchise quarterback.’ Maybe Peterman can be.”
So now Peterman – a fifth-round pick and the 171st selection in the 2017 NFL college draft out of Pittsburgh via Tennessee -- gets his chance. This move probably means Taylor won’t be back in Buffalo next season. No surprise, really. He was inherited by the new regime. He’ll be playing somewhere in the NFL and I believe he will be more respected and appreciated than he has been in western New York.
The Bills currently are 5-4 and the No. 6 seed in the AFC. Considering how lousy the AFC is this season (14-24 vs. the NFC head-to-head), 10-6 certainly would earn the Bills a wild-card playoff berth. 9-7 or even 8-8 could be good enough.
I’ll be rooting for Peterman while feeling sorry for Taylor. Maybe this move will wake up a slumping team and spark Buffalo into the playoffs. But I won’t be shocked if Peterman is in over his head and Taylor comes off the bench to bail out the Bills in a game or two down the stretch.
HAVE PRO SPORTS PEAKED IN ROCHESTER?
Bob Lilley, one of the best coaches and talent evaluators in North American pro soccer today, is leaving the Rochester Rhinos in favor of fellow United Soccer League member Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
Good for him. Pittsburgh is an improving team and franchise by USL standards. They’ll be better for his presence.
I know Lilley was appreciated by Rhinos ownership and upper management but I also believe that Lilley – one of the best coaches Rochester pro sports ever had -- and the Rhinos as a whole were underappreciated by sports fans in Greater Rochester. Many of the long-time pro soccer fans have faded away or found ways other than the Rhinos to spend their time and money.
The team’s owners – Wendy and David Dworkin – have scheduled a press conference for Wednesday to discuss the future of the franchise. I don’t have any inside info, but if they asked for my advice, I’d suggest they sell the team and recoup some of the money they lost on the Rhinos this year.
It isn’t just soccer. I believe Greater Rochester has soured on pro sports in general in recent years for a variety of reasons. We’ve talked about this on my radio show and I’ve written about this for years for Gannett Rochester and News Radio WHAM 1180.
The women’s soccer Flash are gone. The Major Lacrosse League Rattlers are rumored again to be headed for Dallas. Mayor Lovely Warren helps keep the basketball RazorSharks above water. I worry about the Knighthawks because they used to be very good to great and now likely are closer to the bottom of the National Lacrosse League. Will the team’s fans support relative mediocrity?
What’s happening?
1-Our region’s economy simply isn’t what it used to be. Some huge companies have shrunk or disappeared. There isn’t as much money to spend on pro sports. Prices for tickets, concessions and parking keep going up. There are ambitious plans to revive this region’s economy. Smart people are trying to make things happen. Let’s hope for the best.
2-Cable TV has given sports fans many more options to supporting the local pro teams. Soccer fans can now watch top international teams on TV. Hockey fans can watch every Buffalo Sabres game on TV – including head-to-head against the Amerks on some nights. The NBA is all over TV. That doesn’t help the RazorSharks. The Major League Baseball TV package can’t help the Red Wings.
3-Local media coverage isn’t what it used to be. The decision makers at the newspaper and TV stations don’t devote nearly as much attention to the local pro teams as they used to and would have fewer reporters to cover the teams even if they did. I get it. Interest in the teams – all of the teams, including to a lesser extent the Red Wings – has slipped. The perception is that our teams aren’t as important as they used to be. Times change. I believe that attitude is reflected at the gate.
4-Parents are spending more time watching their kids play – boys and girls – and have less time to spend on supporting the pro teams. Money that used to be spent at the stadiums and arenas is being spent on equipment for the kids and for sports their parents participate in.
5-Our pro sports facilities alone are not attractions. Frontier Field is a fine baseball stadium and the atmosphere is appealing on summer nights but it no longer is the “new thing”. The soccer stadium and Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial are not fan magnets.
I hate to criticize or convey opinions that people don’t want to hear. I wish I had suggestions to turn things around regarding our pro teams. But I don’t have any.
Thumbs up to the civic-minded owners who lose money in providing pro sports entertainment in Rochester. I wish there were more fans supporting them but I understand what is happening.
THE SAINTS CAME MARCHING IN: THE BRUTAL 24 STRAIGHT RUNNING PLAYS
There was a lot for fans of the Bills to forget about Buffalo’s the humiliating 47-10 home loss Sunday to the New Orleans Saints.
My least favorite memory of this debacle will be the 24 straight running plays by New Orleans in the second half. The Bills “held” Drew Brees under his customary 300 yards passing mainly because New Orleans was having so much fun and success on the ground that he didn’t need to pass. Buffalo knew what was coming and couldn’t stop it.
Here are the 24 straight running plays that stampeded Buffalo:
14:53 to go in the third quarter – Mark Ingram +2
11:43 – Ingram +16
10:21 – Alvin Kamara +19
9:40 – Kamara +5 (TD) score 24-3
8:24 – Ingram +3 (TD) score 30-3
6:55 – Ingram +11
6:10 – Kamara +10
5:33 – Zach Lane +9
4:49 – Ingram +9
4:01 – Kamara +15
3:18 – Kamara +11
2:38 – Kamara +11
1:57 – Ingram +5
1:16 – Kamara +6
0:22 – Drew Brees +7 (TD. score3 7-3
14:15 to go in the fourth quarter – Ingram +4
13:33 – Ingram +5
12:29 – Ingram +3
12:06 – Kamara +3
11:06 – Trey Edmunds -1
10:23 – Kamara +9
9:42 – Edmunds +1
8:59 – Edmunds +6
8:14 – Edmunds NO GAIN.
And at that point – with 7:29 remaining in the game and facing third-and 3 yards to go, Brees finally threw a pass. Naturally, it was complete for 5 yards and a first down.
Destroy this play-by-play log. Delete or burn.
BILLS ARE NOT IN GOOD COMPANY ON THIS LIST
Only 3 of the NFL’s 32 teams rank 25th or worse in both total offense and total defense: the New York Giants, Indianapolis and Buffalo.
Giants – 25th offense (307.6 yards per game) and 31st defense (400.3 allowed per game)
Colts – 27th offense (300.8) and 29th defense (385.8)
Bills – 28th offense (292.0) and 25th defense (359.9).
RED SOX LIKELY TO LAND A BIG BOPPER TO REPLACE BIG PAPI
The Boston Red Sox sorely missed retired slugger David “Big Papi” Ortiz this past season. They had a solid lineup to-to-bottom but lacked a genuine big bopper.
Yahoo Sports speculates – not an earth-shaking revelation – that the Red Sox are a “lock-solid certainty” to acquire “at least one” of these three available sluggers – free agents Arizona right fielder J.D. Martinez or Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer or Miami Marlins trade bait Giancarlo Stanton.
If Boston lands Stanton, the New York Yankees might not be the pre-season pick to win the American League East in 2018 after all.
MORE PROOF THAT THE 2017 RHINOS WERE A SOLID TEAM
Louisville City FC defeated visiting Swope Park Rangers (out of the Kansas City area) Monday night 1-0 in the United Soccer League’s championship match before a capacity crowd of 14,456 at Slugger Field. Cameron Lancaster scored the only goal in the 88th minute.
Louisville City FC was all out to beat the visiting Rochester Rhinos, 1-0, in the Eastern Conference semifinals October 28, before a crowd of 7,117.
HOW’S THIS FOR A MONEY-MAKING IDEA?
I think I have a decent idea to make a lot of money but not a clue on how to pull it off:
A poster of the two hottest and hugest pro athletes in New York City today – Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Kristaps Porzingis of the Knicks – posing together with the Empire State Building in the background.
How many New Yorkers alone would buy that poster for $10? Maybe a few hundreds of thousands.
That’s the idea. Now some enterprising person with the right connections should run with it.
SHORT SHOTS
Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has dropped slumping Buffalo’s odds to win Super Bowl LII to 200-to-1. The favorites: New England 5-to-2...Pittsburgh 4-to-1...Philadelphia 5-to-1...New Orleans 6-to-1...Kansas City 10-to-1.
The trusty FiveThirtyEight sports computer also has cooled on the Bills. Buffalo’s new projected record is 8-8, with a minus-29.8 point differential, a 36 percent probability to make the playoffs (reasonable considering how lousy the rest of the AFC’s wild-card hopefuls are) and 4 percent to win the AFC East.
I heard that someone has suggested a stock sale to save the Rhinos and have Rochester Community Soccer. Hardly anyone has been going to watch a winning team. So why would anyone want to invest in the team? I doubt that this could be the second coming of Rochester Community Baseball. But who knows?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Wednesday, November 15
Karl-Anthony Towns (22)...Trevor Story (25)...Lorena Ochoa (36)...Pedro Borbon (50)...Greg Anthony (50)...Bobby Dandridge (70).
Thursday, November 16
Kari Lehtonen (34)...Amar’e Stoudemire (35)...Alexander Popov (45)...Mike Devlin (48)...Oksana Baiul (50)...Lawrence Dawsey (50)...Dwight Gooden (53)...Zina Garrison (54)...Chuck Finley (55)...Corey Pavin (58)...Terry Labonte (61)...Herb Washington (66)...Jo Jo White (71)...Amerks Hall of Famer Dick Gamble (89).