Plays that defined the 2018 Buffalo Bills: Chicago Bears

With the 2018 NFL season in the books, we look back at the year and our beloved Buffalo Bills. Every week is a story, and we bring this to you through the lens of key plays that defined each game. Your Week 9 match-up:

Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills

In the waning moments of the loss to the New England Patriots in Week 8, Derek Anderson suffered a concussion. Ruled out for Week 9 vs. the Chicago Bears, it was time for...Nathan Peterman. An incredibly ugly game ensued. Penalties galore. Turnovers. The Bears were held to under 200 total yards and allowed the Bills to dominate time of possession. They won. It was never close.

Sherrick McManis illegal block above the waist (Q1, 7:37)

The fact that the first penalty of the day (this one) came after 1/8 of the game was over only makes it more shocking that 25 total flags were thrown. Of those, 24 were accepted. If you’d like to relive the nonsense, here’s the recap. While this wasn’t the craziest infraction in the world, it was the spark that started the pyre. There were 292 penalty yards between the two teams. The Bears (remember they won by a gigantic margin) had 190 yards of offense and 129 penalty yards for a net movement of 61 yards.

Jason Croom fumbles (Q2, 7:21)

The Bears had scored a touchdown early in the second quarter and both teams traded punts on short drives. The Bills worked into Stephen Hauschka striking distance. A bobble by Jason Croom was pulled in, but a great defensive effort by Eddie Jackson dislodged the ball. Just like that the Bears were up by 14.

Nathan Peterman throws a pick-six (Q2, 3:38)

If you haven’t clicked it yet, go check out the penalty recap to see why this wasn’t pass interference. In a game where penalties occurred at a preposterous rate, a seeming penalty disrupted Zay Jones’s route. While the pass from Nathan Peterman wasn’t the best in terms of ball placement, the contact from the defender helped create the tip and resulting pick-six. This one wasn’t entirely his fault, but Peterman threw three interceptions to go with Croom’s fumble. Despite the Bills out-gaining the Bears by a good margin and controlling the clock, the turnovers not only negated these positives, they were a primary factor in the blowout loss.

Peterman runs for 24 yards (Q2, 0:00)

The Bears were up 28-0 before halftime. A penalty (of course) by the Bears gave Buffalo one last untimed down before the break. It was all or nothing. Nathan Peterman chose nothing. Mental errors and mistakes by the Bills helped keep the Bears rolling all day.

Phillip Gaines defensive pass interference (Q3, 11:01)

The first of two pass-interference calls on Phillip Gaines occurred when there was some chance of a comeback. Gaines gave the Bears 47 yards on this play and 43 yards in the fourth quarter. This put Gaines at three really harmful pass-interference flags with Buffalo and he was let go two days later. Performance-based consequences from this game loomed large. Nathan Peterman’s last snap in a Bills uniform came in this game. He was sacked for a loss of nine yards.