the stories of the Buffalo Bills’ 2018 season." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteBuffalo Rumblingsa Buffalo Bills communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsSectionsBillsOddsShopAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections NewsNotesOpinionAnalysisDiscussionPodcastNFL DraftSalary CapFiled under:AnalysisNotesPlays that defined the 2018 Buffalo Bills: Baltimore RavensNew White Russell Bodine Jerseys ,61commentsIt’s back! We look at special moments that tell the stories of the Buffalo Bills’ 2018 season. EDTShareTweetShareSharePlays that defined the 2018 Buffalo Bills: Baltimore RavensWith the 2018 NFL season in the books, we look back at the season and our beloved Buffalo Bills. Every week is a story, and we bring this to you through the lens of key plays that defined the game. Your Week 1 match-up:Buffalo Bills at Baltimore RavensIt was finally here! The NFL regular season. With the quarterback of the future acquired in the draft and exciting new faces in the building, things were looking up for the Buffalo Bills. Sean McDermott’s rookie year as head coach had led the Bills to their first playoff berth in nearly two decades. Looking to build off this success, the season opened with a sense of wonder. First up; the Baltimore Ravens. The team Buffalo narrowly edged out for the final playoff slot the year before was a poetic beginning to a new year. Until the game actually started. The Ravens put a beat-down on the Bills to the tune of 47-3. Along the way, the Bills stirred up a quarterback argument that still rages on today. Fans were reminded that pain is part of the process in spectacularly brutal fashion. Opening kickoff (Q1, 15:00) This is the play of the game for the Buffalo Bills. I wish I didn’t have a solid argument for that statement. Stephen Hauschka’s kick to start the game was brought out of the end zone by Janarion Grant who was marked down at the 20. This “five yards better than if he had downed it” scenario is one of few objectively positive outcomes of the game. This also represents literally the entire time the Bills were arguably in control of the game. The Ravens marched down the field and scored a touchdown with 8:49 left in the first quarter. It was the winning score. Nathan Peterman’s first pass of the day (Q1, 8:16)When you’re defining a game like this one, unfortunately the narrative steers away from highlights. This incomplete pass is all too emblematic of the day. The Bills finished the game with 98 passing yards despite throwing the ball 33 times. A 33% completion rate and just under three yards per attempt are statistics that are painful to calculate. Any incompletion would have sufficed, but Nathan Peterman’s first throw of the game was selected to juxtapose with a play we’ll look at in a moment. Tremaine Edmunds’s first NFL sack (Q2, 11:58)There’s no way to go a full 60 minutes of game time without at least a few things going right. While this game was nearly irredeemable, let’s take the time to celebrate one notable milestone. Tremaine Edmunds stays disciplined and takes down a scrambling Flacco. It’s right on the fence between sack and tackle, but we go with the official NFL log and give the rookie his credit. Nathan Peterman’s second interception (Q3 Russell Bodine Jerseys 2019 , 11:39)It’s not my intent to pile on Nathan Peterman, but there’s no way of avoiding how this shaped the story of the game. Before this throw, Peterman was 5-for-17 for 24 yards and one interception. In comparison, Lamar Jackson ended the game with four pass attempts and matched Peterman’s yardage output. Back to this throw, Kelvin Benjamin arguably should have bailed his quarterback out. Regardless, this was the death knell for the Peterman era. While it was a slower death than many hoped for (including starting again), this was the final straw. With his performance against Baltimore, Peterman earned a 0.0 passer rating. The Josh Allen Era begins! (Q3, 10:54)Josh Allen throws his first regular-season NFL pass! Here’s our juxtaposition mentioned above. Both Allen’s and Peterman’s first passes fell incomplete, but they seem like night and day. Allen’s pass found the same zip code as his intended receiver and may have even been caught if it weren’t for some contact by the defender. This was an incompletion that had promise! It was sooner than anticipated, but the Allen era was on in Western New York.Josh Allen’s final pass of the game (Q4, 0:11)This is perhaps my favorite play from the game. The execution is lacking. And ultimately it had zero bearing on the outcome of the game. What stands out is that with 11 seconds to go and down by 44 points, the Bills let Allen throw it downfield. For a team that had repeatedly played incredibly conservative football on offense in 2017 White Phillip Gaines Jerseys , the decision to allow Allen to practice more aggressive calls was refreshing.Buffalo Bills starting quarterback became very interesting Friday night The Buffalo Bills have completed two of their four preseason games in 2018, and while their starting quarterback competition appears far from settled, events from Friday night’s 19-17 win over the Cleveland Browns have provided some clarity on where things are headed there.With next Sunday’s trip to Cincinnati serving as the de facto regular season dress rehearsal for the club, here is where things (seem to) stand for the Bills at quarterback heading into that game.AJ McCarronMcCarron reportedly suffered a hairline fracture to his collarbone at some point in his four series’ worth of action last night. Obviously, that type of injury could very well keep him out of the lineup for an extended period of time, and it’s an unfortunate development in his bid to win his first starting job at the pro level.Even before that news broke, however, McCarron seemed to have lost ground in the race. McCarron’s chunk of playing time with the starting offense in Cleveland was easily the worst performance by a Bills quarterback thus far this preseason. That wasn’t necessarily all on McCarron, of course, but when you’re the owner of the only truly poor performance thus far in the competition, you’re naturally going to slip a little bit.Here’s to hoping that McCarron’s injury is not serious enough to keep him out for too long.Josh AllenAllen was a breath of fresh air for the Bills’ offense in Cleveland. Following four straight three-and-outs from the starters, the offense scored on three consecutive possessions (a touchdown and two field goals) after Allen entered the game. Granted, all of that happened after Cleveland pulled their defensive starters Phillip Gaines Jerseys 2019 , but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that Allen elevated the play of the unit when he was on the field.Through two preseason games, Allen is 18-of-32 for 176 yards with two touchdowns, no turnovers, and a quarterback rating of 92.7. He has also added 47 rushing yards on six attempts, and his ability to extend plays with his legs is becoming a distinct advantage for him in the competition.We have not really learned anything about Allen this preseason that we didn’t already know. He is Buffalo’s most talented quarterback by a country mile. He throws a great heater, but his off-speed stuff needs some work. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders, but it’s not at all clear yet how he’d handle on-field adversity when the games count. In a perfect world, he’d sit and learn for a little while, but he may not have that opportunity in Buffalo.Allen is probably the fan favorite to start at this point. That won’t matter to Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott. But given his consistent performance after moving from the third-team offense to the second-team offense this past week, it would frankly be shocking at this point if Allen didn’t see time with the first-team offense next week - especially if McCarron is sidelined.Nathan PetermanIt’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Peterman could have put a better foot forward than he has thus far in preseason action. In roughly two and a half quarters’ worth of play, with the first-team offense (against Carolina) and the third-team offense (in Cleveland), Peterman has completed 17 of 20 passes for 231 yards with two touchdowns and one (not-entirely-his-fault) turnover. That’s good for a quarterback rating of 127.3.This competition was always Peterman v. McCarron, with Allen’s progress (or lack thereof) serving as the wild card. Allen is playing well White Marshall Newhouse Jerseys , and has kept himself in the conversation as a result. But even before the injury, McCarron had fallen behind Peterman, and not just because of Peterman’s near-perfect performance. Peterman had looked sharper and more in command of the offense, and most importantly, offered some extra juice in terms of escapability and playmaking outside of the pocket.Right now, it’s easy to argue that the Week 1 starting job in Baltimore is Peterman’s to lose. Allen needs a shot with the first-team offense to truly round out the evaluation, and we all know that it’s only a matter of time before Allen takes over the starting job, hopefully permanently. But it’d be a tough sell to argue that Allen has outplayed Peterman in preseason action. Peterman has been quite good.There’s no reason to get ahead of ourselves here; the Bills won’t be doing that to themselves, either. The starting job is (probably) now a Peterman-or-Allen proposition, and a week from tomorrow, both will likely see time with the first-team offense in their most important exhibition performance yet.