Bills Beat — Week 1
Taylor Disappoints in Homecoming
Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor fell short in a defensive battle Sunday afternoon, losing 13–7 against the Ravens in Baltimore.
A lot of hype came with this game as it was Taylor’s first time back to the team that drafted him back in 2011. Taylor spent five seasons with the Ravens, sitting behind Super Bowl winning quarterback Joe Flacco. And he returned to Baltimore in hopes of beating his former team, but failed to do so.
The Ravens completely shut down the Bills passing attack, allowing only 111 yards through the air. Taylor completed 15 of 22 passes, scoring no touchdowns. LeSean McCoy scored the only touchdown for the Bills when head coach Rex Ryan made the decision to go for it from the 1-yard line instead of kicking the field goal in the second quarter.
In 2015, Taylor threw the ball over 20 yards 20 percent of the time. In last week’s game, Taylor threw the ball over 20 yards just once. With big names on the offense, including Charles Clay, McCoy, Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins, it should be no problem for Greg Roman to put Taylor in situations to make big plays.
There were many circumstances where Taylor could have escaped the pocket to get some good yardage and decided to look for the wimpy check down instead. The Ravens came out with a defensive game plan to make Taylor stay in the pocket, which is what the Bills would like him to do anyway, but maybe it is time for the Bills coaching staff to stop putting restrictions on Taylor and let him show off his talents.
Taylor set a franchise record as a quarterback with 568 yards rushing last season. Here, in the season opener, Taylor was held to just 11 yards on five carries, averaging just 2.2 yards per carry. With the speed and elusiveness of Taylor, being held to 11 yards rushing is a little pathetic to say the least.
Just like every other game, you cannot entirely put all of the blame on the quarterback. The offensive line had a rough afternoon against the Ravens front seven. Losing tackle Cordy Glenn in the 2nd quarter did not help the Bills.
This season opener was very disappointing for many Bills fans. The defense looks to be improved under Rex and his brother Rob Ryan, but Rex Ryan needs to find something that works on the offensive side in order for the Bills to chalk up some more wins. The Bills have missed the playoffs a league-high of 16 straight years, leaving fans to question whether or not they ever will make it.
Taylor and the Bills look to bounce back at home in a divisional matchup Thursday night against the New York Jets.
Michael Cammarano is a blogger for EdinboroNow. He can be reached at sports.spectator@gmail.com
