I don't know what was going on on the field in Los Angeles last Sunday but the Bills certainly weren't playing football. The header for this article says "Bills humbled....", it should be BILLS HUMILIATED in loss to Chargers. WHAT IS GOING ON? WHO is leading the team? Is this what the rest of the season is going to be like? I am a loyal Bills fan, when are the Bills going to start being loyal to their fans????
Bills humbled in loss to Chargers
A recap of Buffalo's Week 11 game against AFC opponent the Los Angeles Chargers.
Location: Stub Hub Center, Carson, California
Regular season records: Buffalo (5-5), Los Angeles (4-6)
In a nutshell: It was a bold decision by head coach Sean McDermott to start rookie Nate Peterman against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Peterman and Buffalo’s offensive line however, were not ready for the Chargers’ second-ranked pass rush as they helped force five first-half interceptions by Peterman. It led to 24 points for L.A., who had a 37-7 lead at halftime and never looked back in a humbling 54-24 defeat for the Bills.
Peterman, who was eventually replaced by Tyrod Taylor
for the second half, went 6-14 passing for 66 yards and was under duress even on short drops and quick releases.
Chargers DE Joey Bosa had one sack and four quarterback hits in the game. His lone sack forced Tyrod Taylor to fumble in the second half that led to L.A.’s second defensive touchdown of the game on a fumble return by Melvin Ingram.
Taylor in relief went 15-28 passing for 158 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a touchdown after the game was already decided.
Buffalo’s defense again struggled mightily. Though they were handed some short fields on the turnovers they were unable to force the Chargers to punt until the 4:40 mark of the third quarter. It was the first punt forced by the Bills since the 13-minute mark of the fourth quarter against the Jets in Week 9.
The 135 points allowed by the Bills over the last three games is a franchise high over a three-game span.
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Bills vs Chargers - Week 11
How it went down:-The Chargers got on the board first after a Nate Peterman pass intended for Pat DiMarco went off the fullback’s hands. Denzel Perryman intercepted it and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown for an early 7-0 lead just over three minutes into the game.
-Buffalo answered back just two minutes later when LeSean McCoy ripped off a 27-yard touchdown run, as he accounted for 64 yards on the two-play scoring drive to tie the score at seven midway through the first quarter (7-7).
-Los Angeles regained the lead when Nick Novak put a 33-yard attempt up and through. Buffalo’s defensive backs forced the field goal with an open field tackle on first down, followed by a pair of pass breakups in the end zone after the Chargers reached the red zone.
-The Chargers capitalized on Nate Peterman’s third interception of the first quarter when Philip Rivers found Keenan Allen along the right sideline for a 21-yard touchdown to push their lead to 17-7 early in the second quarter.
-Allen and Rivers would hook up for their second touchdown of the day when the Chargers QB found the receiver for a two-yard touchdown catch to cap a four-play 15-yard drive after Peterman’s fourth interception of the game (24-7) with 10:36 to play in the first half.
-L.A. would add a field goal drive on their next possession as Nick Novak put a 28-yard attempt up and through to make it 27-7 with five minutes left in the second quarter.
-Rivers and the Chargers offense would make it a runaway when they put together a quick-strike five-play 57-yard drive culminating with a 10-yard touchdown run by Melvin Gordon to push L.A’s lead to 34-7 with just over a minute left in the first half.
-Los Angeles would tack on another field goal before the half was over on Nate Peterman’s fifth interception of the half. Nick Novak was good from 39 yards out for a 37-7 halftime lead.
-Novak would hit from 28 yards away for his fourth field goal of the game to make it a 40-7 Chargers lead early in the third quarter.
-Buffalo would put a field goal on the board midway through the third quarter as Stephen Hauschka hit from 50 yards out to make it a 37-10 score.
-The Chargers would get their second defensive touchdown of the game when Tyrod Taylor was stripped of the ball on a sack by Joey Bosa. Melvin Ingram recovered the fumble and returned it 18 yards for the touchdown to make it 47-10 late in the third quarter.
-LeSean McCoy would score his second touchdown of the day when Tyrod Taylor hit him on a 12-yard pass on fourth down early in the fourth quarter to make the score 47-17.
-The Chargers would push their point total to over 50 when Austin Ekeler darted through a hole for a 21-yard touchdown run to make it a 54-17 game midway through the fourth quarter.
-Tyrod Taylor reached the end zone on a two-yard run to make it 54-24 with five minutes remaining to cap an 11-play, 75-yard drive
Subplots:-Nate Peterman didn’t get much in the way of pass protection, but had a disastrous first start of his NFL career. Peterman went 6-14 passing for 66 yards with five interceptions and a passer rating of 17.9.
-LeSean McCoy was one of the few bright spots in the game as he rushed for over 100 yards on the day. The Bills feature back had 113 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown rushing and receiving.
-Tyrod Taylor came on in relief of Peterman in the second half and went 15-25 passing for 125 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for a TD too.
-Buffalo has given up a total 135 points in their last three games, a franchise high over a three-game span.
-In his first NFL start Nate Peterman was saddled with five interceptions in just a half of work. The turnovers resulted in 24 points for Los Angeles in the first half. Tyrod Taylor was also sacked and fumbled that led to a TD, giving the Chargers 31 points off turnovers in the game.
Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison called plays from up in the coach’s booth for the first itme this season. Quarterbacks coach David Culley was down on the sideline relaying plays into Nate Peterman.
-Kelvin Benjamin suffered a right leg injury on the first offensive possession and was helped off the field. He did not return to the game.
-Inactive for Buffalo on Sunday were Shareece Wright , Mike Tolbert , Conor McDermott , John Miller , Cordy Glenn , Logan Thomas and Jordan Matthews .
Up next: The Bills travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium for a 1 pm kickoff on Nov. 26th.
Top 3 things we learned from Bills-Chargers
Nate Peterman's first NFL start could not have gone any worse, but he wasn't alone in a game where some of Buffalo's most pressing problems resurfaced again.
1 – Peterman and pass protection struggle togetherTo say that Nate Peterman struggled would be an understatement as the rookie quarterback made his debut Sunday. Peterman got off to a bad start, and couldn’t turn the tide after his third of what wound up being five interceptions in the first half. It led to 24 Chargers points in a 30-point loss for Buffalo.
“It wasn’t what he had hoped for or we had hoped for,” said McDermott of Peterman. “At the same time, you know when you put a young player out there, a young quarterback, that there are going to be some ups and downs. To me it’s not indicative of who he is as a player, but you know you’re going to go through some of this. All good players do.”
As much as fans may want to roundly criticize the decision to start Peterman in a pivotal game of the season, he was not alone. For the third straight week, the Bills got beaten at the line of scrimmage, particularly in pass protection.
Los Angeles came in with two pass rushers in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, who together had more sacks (18) than the entire Bills team this season (14). Though they did not rack up many sacks they made their presence felt early in the game.
Bosa along had an impact on three of Peterman’s interceptions. He closed on Peterman on his second interception, an ill-advised throw deep over the middle and forced him to throw off his back foot as he tackled the quarterback on the play.
On Peterman’s fourth interception, the quarterback had just reached the top of his drop on a three-step drop. He immediately wound up to deliver the ball and was hit as he threw. The ball was picked off by Casey Hayward, his second of the game.
And Peterman’s fifth and final interception, he was hit broadside, while trying to get the ball to Deonte Thompson along the left sideline, but the hit changed the direction of the throw. The ball went into the hands of Trevor Williams.
along the left sideline, but the hit changed the direction of the throw. The ball went into the hands of Trevor Williams.
“I wanted to take a shot, but I got hit at the same time and didn’t get to put everything I wanted into it,” said Peterman. “So a tough break.”
Observing the first half from the sidelines before coming on in relief in the second half, Tyrod Taylor noticed how the team lost the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball again.
noticed how the team lost the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball again.
“We haven’t been as physical as we would like on both sides of the ball up front or just controlling the line of scrimmage,” Taylor said. “That’s something that we can correct, but it doesn’t just stop there. Across the board execution on both sides of the ball can be better. But a physical mindset is something that we have to get back to and it’s something that played a big role in our five wins.”
2 – Defense can’t get stops againThe Bills defense was handed more than their share of short fields on Sunday, due mainly to turnovers, but winning at the line of scrimmage for them proved difficult as well. For the second consecutive game, Buffalo’s defense could not get off the field.
The Chargers scored points on seven of their first eight possessions. The only reason they failed to score on their first possession was because kicker Nick Novak missed a 46-yard field goal.
“On defense, we have a job to do. No matter where the ball is spotted on the field, no matter what the offense does. We have to play better,” said Jordan Poyer. “We have to be able to play more disciplined. We’ve got to come into work and fix our mistakes. It’s just tough. Tough losses for us three weeks in a row. We just have to continue to work.”
. “We have to be able to play more disciplined. We’ve got to come into work and fix our mistakes. It’s just tough. Tough losses for us three weeks in a row. We just have to continue to work.”
Los Angeles didn’t have to punt until there was 2:54 left on the clock in the third quarter. It was the first punt forced by Buffalo’s defense since the 13-minute mark of the fourth quarter of their Week 9 game against the Jets. So on 22 straight possessions over two-plus games, the Bills defense couldn’t get a stop.
“The game got away from us in a hurry, due to the turnovers in part,” said head coach Sean McDermott. “That said there are areas we can get better at.”
For the second straight game, the Bills defense surrendered more than 400 yards of offense. They gave up a pair of touchdowns on the ground and through the air.
3 – McCoy finds some holesIf there was a bright spot Sunday it was that LeSean McCoy broke off some big runs and went over 100 rushing yards for the 13th time as a Bill. That moved him into a tie for the fifth-most in team history with Travis Henry and Joe Cribbs. He finished with 114 yards on just 13 carries.
broke off some big runs and went over 100 rushing yards for the 13th time as a Bill. That moved him into a tie for the fifth-most in team history with Travis Henry and Joe Cribbs. He finished with 114 yards on just 13 carries.
McCoy’s best back-to-back plays came on the team’s two-play 64-yard scoring drive. On a 1st-and-10, McCoy came around the left side behind Vlad Ducasse and Richie Incognito, picked a crease and scampered 37 yards to the Chargers 27-yard line.
, picked a crease and scampered 37 yards to the Chargers 27-yard line.
On the very next play he went off the left end again where there was a gaping hole and reached the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown run.
“We schemed them up really well and got some one on ones,” said McCoy. “We ran well. I even missed one or two and we still ran well. The guys up front were really dialed in and got it done. Rico (Dennison) called some good plays. The running game was solid.”
“I thought that was a positive,” said McDermott. “We did run the ball well at times and made some big runs. Give some credit to our offensive line coach and Rick Dennison. They had a good week of practice and identified some areas where we thought we could run the ball.”
Los Angeles came into the game with the league's worst run defense.
McCoy now has 36 100-yard rushing games in his NFL career.
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