Welcome to your Monday roundup of the best and worst of NFL Sunday — by which we mean the single very best thing and single very worst thing. Because the stuff in the middle doesn’t matter, really.
THE VERY BEST THING ABOUT THE NFL THIS WEEK: It is, perhaps, mean to place the most humiliating day of a young man’s career in the “Best” section, but this space has a special affinity for coaches getting their well-deserved comeuppance, so here we are.
A fact: Heading into yesterday’s game against the Chargers, the Buffalo Bills had lost two straight to fall to 5-4.
A second fact: Despite the small skid, the Bills were still in wild-card position as Sunday dawned.
A third fact: In the two previous losses, the Bills defence had allowed a combined 81 points to the Saints and Jets.
And a final fact: Tyrod Taylor is not a member of the defence, but he caught the blame for the losses all the same.
Orchard Park’s favourite scapegoat, Taylor was benched by coach Sean McDermott — yes, benched, after two losses following a 5-2 start — in favour of rookie Nathan Peterman. Peterman is a fifth-round pick who, to put it mildly, lacks athleticism and experience, but had handled himself well enough — seven completions and a touchdown on 10 attempts — in Week 10 versus the Saints.
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So McDermott made the move and more than a handful of Bills fans looked forward to seeing what the rookie could offer in a game against a defence that ranked in the bottom third of the league.
And just like that, five — yep, five — first-half interceptions later, a small slump became a major issue, a rookie’s confidence had been shattered, a good-if-not-excellent starting quarterback (hardly something to throw away in an NFL starting nobodies on several teams) had been embarrassed and any credibility McDermott might have built up with the fans, the organization and his own players had been undermined.
The coach believed his own hype — he believed his moves had put the Bills in position to perhaps finally make the playoffs, and his moves would keep them there. But that wasn’t the case. It’s always the players, so if you’re looking to blame them, at least blame the right ones.
But of course McDermott can’t bench an entire defence — a defence that suffered the indignity of a 50-burger on the scoreboard yesterday — so no doubt he’ll make some other kind of random noise this week.
We’ll wait with bated breath to see how that turns out. And again — sorry, Nathan. But it sure doesn’t look good on your coach.
THE VERY WORST THING ABOUT THE NFL THIS WEEK: For most of us, this play wasn’t the worst so much as it was hilarious fuel for mockery that will likely live on in GIF form for many seasons to come.
For Dre Kirkpatrick it was… well, let’s just say it was a good thing Andy Dalton found Tyler Kroft for the one-yard touchdown three plays later.
Because settling for a field goal after a near-certain interception return for a touchdown in a game that was ultimately decided by three points would have made this perhaps the worst play of the season.
The thing that’s fascinating about the fumble, though, is that it comes from nowhere. Kirkpatrick doesn’t slip, he’s not touched, he doesn’t even appear to bump his arm or hand with one of his churning legs. It’s the purest example of cornerback butterfingers to grace a professional field in quite some time. Kudos, Dre.
