Derek Anderson was signed by the Buffalo Bills last week to be a mentor to Josh Allen. He was not on an NFL roster at the time, having reached the end of the line after last season with his former team, the Carolina Panthers, where Bills head coach Sean McDermott and General Manager Brandon Beane knew Anderson well. Anderson's first day with the Bills was last Wednesday and when Josh Allen arrived at the stadium, Anderson was already hard at work, having completed his weight session and was deep into reviewing film of the team's upcoming opponent. By all accounts, Anderson, a 14 year veteran, was helpful to Allen last week as he prepared to face the Texans in Houston. Fast forward less than a week and Anderson may find himself as the Bills starting quarterback on Sunday in Indianapolis.
Nathan Peterman is a past winner of the Vontae Davis Halftime Retirement Award (and there are only four of them, after Davis himself) but this week, I am awarding him with a variation on the award - a sort of forced retirement - as he is likely to be cut by the Bills after earning the starting quarterback job coming out of training camp and the pre-season. Peterman will become a punchline in Buffalo for his propensity to throw interceptions and it seems unlikely that any other NFL team would want to add him to its roster. In his two career starts - one in Los Angeles last year and another in this year's opener in Baltimore - and after coming in to last season's playoff game in Jacksonville and then entering yesterday's game in the third quarter for an injured Josh Allen, Peterman has established himself as a prolific interception thrower. He threw five in his ill-fated start last season and another in the playoff game but yesterday he reached a new level by literally throwing the game away with 1.23 remaining in the fourth quarter of a tied game. Peterman's pass, intended for Kelvin Benjamin, was read easily by Texans cornerback Jonathan Joseph (as Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News put it, "he couldn't have read it more easily if it were flashed on a giant neon sign") who easily returned it for the game-winning touchdown. I can not see Peterman remaining on the Bills roster through the end of the season. If Allen can not play this week, look for Anderson to get the start with Peterman backing him up and then look for the Bills to cut Peterman once Allen is healthy again.
Lost in all of the Peterman interception excitement was an outstanding performance by the Bills defence in Houston yesterday. Think back to halftime of week two against the Chargers. Through a game and a half, the Bills defence looked like they couldn't stop anything. It was certainly enough for Vontae Davis and with clearly prolific ineptitude on both sides of the ball, I was preparing for the possibility of an 0-16 season and the first overall draft pick which goes with it. But since then, the Bills defence has steadily improved and yesterday in Houston, it looked very impressive indeed, allowing only 216 yards of offence and 13 points. The pass rush was awesome as Texans quarterback DeShaun Watson was sacked seven times and hit repeatedly. The Bills defence forced another three turnovers and held the Texans to a field goal at the end of the fourth quarter after setting up with a first down at the Bills one yard line after a pass interference call in the endzone. An outstretched Matt Milano got his hand in front of a third down pass from Watson to prevent a game-wining touchdown. Houston had little success in the run game with only 74 yards and, despite having one the NFL's best receivers in DeAndre Hopkins, the Texans managed only 142 passing yards on the day. With any modest level of offensive support, the Bills defence played more than well enough to win. I chalk up the improvement to good coaching.
Up next, the Bills travel to Indianapolis. By that time, cannabis use in Canada will have become legal. I think I'm looking forward to trying it on Wednesday to see if legal cannabis is any different from the kind which has been firmly embedded in the Criminal Code for a hundred years. I'll report back next week if I remember. I do hope that users will show respect for those who do not choose to use it and who find the smoke and the smell not only offensive but bad for their health. What we do not need, in my view, is a free-for-all with people smoking-up on the streets, in parks and in other public places any more than they already do now. I support the concept of legalization but I also support a reasonable and respectful level of discretion around the use of cannabis in public.
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