Bills dominated in Baltimore, look like worst team in NFL as Allen and Jackson make debuts

The Buffalo Bills tried to get their fans excited for coach Sean McDermott’s announcement last week that Nathan Peterman would be their Week 1 starter with a short “hype” video.

Most of us, Bills fans included, weren’t buying it.

Turns out, we were right.

Bills look awful in Baltimore

Buffalo looked terrible in its opener against the Baltimore Ravens, and Peterman was terrible too.

The Bills were down 40-0 late in the third quarter before getting on the board, and by that time had oddly decided to pull Peterman, putting rookie first-round pick Josh Allen in at quarterback.

Peterman was 5-for-18 for 24 yards — no, really, just 24 yards — and two costly interceptions. Peterman’s first pick was in the second quarter, on third down and deep in Buffalo territory; the Ravens got a field goal off the turnover.

The second came in the third quarter, also on third-and-long, and the Ravens’ offense took over from the Bills’ 1, running it in for a touchdown and 40-0 lead. It was the last play of the day for Peterman, who left with a quarterback rating of 0.0.

Buffalo did not get a single first down in the first half.

Peterman was also sacked three times, which highlights part of the reason he was chosen to start: the Buffalo offensive line. It’s quite a bit different than last year’s, after the retirements of Eric Wood and Richie Incognito and the trade of Cordy Glenn.

The new guys were not better than the old guys.

But if, as has been theorized, Peterman was made starter because the line is so bad and it’s better for him to take the beating than risk the health and development of Allen, the seventh overall pick this year, why pull him?

Let Peterman finish this game, and start on a game plan for Allen next week. But letting Allen get drilled against the Ravens — he was promptly sacked on his third play and three times in his first eight minutes of game-clock — isn’t going to help anything.

Ravens’ offense rolls

Conversely, the Ravens’ Joe Flacco had a strong outing against Buffalo’s defense, completing almost three-quarters of his passes (Flacco had more completions, 25, than Peterman had passing yards, 24) and had three touchdowns, each to a different receiver.

With the Ravens holding a large lead, Baltimore’s own rookie quarterback, Lamar Jackson, got a chance to get his first regular-season action.

While Jackson completed just 1-of-4 pass attempts, he used his legs to help get Baltimore its sixth and final touchdown of the day. He had 30 yards on three carries on the possession, including a 16-yard scramble that gave the Ravens second-and-goal from the 2.

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