The most important person at StubHub Center for the Chargers on Sunday was Bills head coach Sean McDermott.
McDermott not only decided to bench starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor in favor of rookie Nathan Peterman … he decided to leave the kid in to have arguably the worst first half any QB has ever had in the history of organized football.
Peterman was intercepted five times in 14 pass attempts, gifting the Chargers multiple short fields and a couple of franchise records that ended with a 54-?24 Bolts win.
The first interception was not the rookie’s fault. He made a good throw that shot up off the hands of fullback Patrick DiMarco and right to linebacker Korey Toomer, who ran it back for a 59-yard touchdown and a 7-0 Chargers lead. Then it just got silly.
On their next possession Peterman was pressured and made a terrible decision, lobbing one up in the middle of the field where it was picked off by defensive back Casey Hayward. That drive ended with a missed field goal by Nick Novak.
On their next possession the Bills got wise and just gave it to LeSean McCoy. The explosive running back ran it twice, once for 37 yards and then for a 27-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7. It would never be close again.
After a Chargers field goal Peterman was crushed by Joey Bosa and his pass floated again, this time right to safety Tre Boston for pick number 3.
The Chargers turned that into a touchdown when Philip Rivers found Keenan Allen for a 21-yard touchdown and a 17-7 lead. At this point folks were thinking the game is still within reach, go ahead and go back to the veteran.
But McDermott sent Peterman back out and on the very next play he made another bad throw that was picked off by Hayward. Rivers found Allen again for another 3-yard TD and the lead was 24-7. Instead of admitting his terrible error in judgment McDermott threw the rookie to the wolves again. He managed to get through a pair of 3-and-outs without turning it over but the Chargers got 10 points on their next two drives, highlighted by a 10-yard Melvin Gordon TD run to make it 34-7.
Sure enough Peterman had one more bad throw in him. Cornerback Trevor Williams got the last one to set up another Novak field goal that gave the Chargers a 37-7 halftime lead. The 37 points are the most the Chargers have ever scored in the first half of a game. The five interceptions are also the most they’ve ever had in the first half of a game.
Taylor finally entered the game after halftime and he was not the answer. After leading a field goal drive Taylor was sacked by Bosa, the ball came out and Melvin Ingram returned it 39 yards for another defensive TD and a 47-10 lead. Running back Austin Ekeler rushed for another score to give the Chargers their highest point total since 1985.
In the 4th quarter Taylor threw a TD pass to McCoy, and ran for another score, giving the impression that if he’d been in the game earlier the Bills might have been able to get a different result.
The Chargers improve to 4-6 and now have a short week. They head to Dallas to play the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
