Toronto Sun

‘Three of the previous four times the Bills had a winning record after 11 games during their league-longest playoff drought of 17 years (in 2000, 2008 and 2016) they lost four of their last five games to convince no one they were playoff worthy in the first place. The other time, in 2014, the Bills won three of their last five but finished 9-7, which that season wasn’t good enough to qualify for the post-season either.’

‘Does Taylor feel he has full support of McDermott, the first-year Bills head coach who reiterated Wednesday the QB swaps were his decisions? “Yes I do,” Taylor said, adding, “and my teammates as well.”’

‘Mr. Rockless (aka overly careful seventh-year passer Tyrod Taylor) never throws a football anywhere near a receiver who’s close to a defender, which is when expert NFL passes often must be delivered. That largely explains why Taylor is ineffective, why he was benched in the first place a week ago, and why he throws so few interceptions.’

‘Look, Peterman probably deserved a better fate, as the interceptions weren’t all on him, especially the crushing first one. But by half’s end, he was as flustered as any rookie QB you’ve ever seen. Done.’

‘Excluding the last seven minutes of garbage-time completions against a prevent defence at New York, when the Bills narrowed a 34-7 deficit, Taylor over the past two games completed 28 of 45 throws but only three went for more than 12 yards. Three.’

‘In said manners, the Saints utterly obliterated the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at New Era Field — by a 47-10 score that, believe it or not, doesn’t fully represent the Saints’ dominance. First downs gained is a fairer measure, and New Orleans had 32; Buffalo, five. A single-game first-downs differential of 27 is as staggering as it is rare.’

‘Outside of a one-year aberration in 2013 — when new, short-lived co-ordinator Rob Ryan switched the Saints’ scheme to a 3-4 and fielded the NFL’s fourth stingiest defence, before everything fast fell apart — the New Orleans overall defence ranked 24th in 2011, 20th in 2014, 31st in 2015 and 30th last season.’

‘What was great, especially by Taylor’s previous high-water marks, is that with Raiders pass rushers content to merely contain Taylor, closing off his scrambling lanes and making him throw, he threw — and fabulously. And made the Raiders pass coverage pay dearly, time and again.’

‘If you’re a Bills fan, these gaffes are seared into your aching soul. It’s scar tissue on scar tissue, courtesy of six full-time and two interim head coaches, plus too many failed quarterbacks, all dating back to 2000.’

‘This means the overpaid, underachieving defensive tackle reports to Jacksonville’s new head of football operations: Mr. Show Up Ten Minutes Early, Or Else himself, Tom Coughlin. What’s more, Dareus is reunited with disciplinarian head coach Doug Marrone, Mr. Offer Me $4-million To Leave And I’m Outta Here, who coached the 27-year-old in Buffalo from 2013-14.’

‘Did thoughts of cack-ups past start creeping into Wood’s head as the Bills seemingly started to unravel? Really, how could they not. “A little bit,” Wood said. “It helps if you’ve won tight games already this year, and we’ve played tight games. So we were prepped. You can’t ride the emotions. You’ve kind of just got to stay locked in. Ultimately, we were able to make some really big plays at the end.”’