The Buffalo Bills were blown out in Baltimore by a Ravens team that was clicking on all cylinders today. But the Bills were absolutely terrible in all three phases. Here are our five takeaways for the game.
How the hell can you stick with Nathan Peterman?
I said Nathan Peterman earned the start in the first game of the season after his performance this preseason. I also knew that would be a short-term option with Josh Allen waiting in the wings. After today, I don’t know how they keep Allen on the bench in Week 2. The Bills’ offense was absolutely horrendous. They couldn’t get first downs. They couldn’t get a running game. They were called for a lot of penalties. Above all, Peterman could find nothing in the passing game. It was bad. Peterman was bad.
The wide receivers were as advertised
When I say “as advertised”, I mean awful. Kelvin Benjamin dropped at least two passes, including a Josh Allen touchdown throw that went through his hands and off his chest. They consistently couldn’t find separation, and forced throwaways from both quarterbacks. Charles Clay was a non-factor.
Penalties are now a real concern
We gave them a pass after the preseason because they were bad last year in the games that didn’t count but turned it on in the regular season. This year, the penalties kept coming. Pre-snap, post-snap, concentration, emotion, mistakes... all the kinds of penalties you can imagine. Ten penalties for 100 yards.
Pass rush exposed
The Bills were not able to put any pressure on Joe Flacco or Lamar Jackson today. While the Ravens had seven sacks against Buffalo, the Bills had one. Kind of. Tremaine Edmunds stopped Joe Flacco just short of the line of scrimmage on a scramble.
Tremaine Edmunds can play
The Bills’ rookie had a great debut, with the aforementioned sack, pass breakups, and a forced fumble. The Ravens may have torched the Bills’ defense, but Edmunds and Matt Milano were bright spots at linebacker. Edmunds was the youngest starting linebacker of the Super Bowl era and he acquited himself well.