In a season filled with devastating injuries and off-field drama, Tyrod Taylor has been one of the brightest stories of the 2015 season.
A 2011 6th round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens, Taylor spent 4 years as the backup behind Joe Flacco before getting a shot of his own in Buffalo, where he signed a 3-year $3.35M dollar contract. On August 31st, he was named the Bills starting QB after beating out E.J. Manuel and Matt Cassel.
A dual threat with a deadly deep ball touch and great scrambling abilities, Taylor has brought excitement to the Bills franchise not seen from a QB since the Jim Kelly days (and to a lesser extent, Drew Bledsoe back in 2002). Returning from injury on Sunday, Taylor led the way with a great performance by helping the Bills defeat the Miami Dolphins 33-17 in Buffalo. Taylor completed 11 of 12 passes (finishing with 11 consecutive completions) for 181 yards and a touchdown, and earned a 98.0 QBR score from ESPN.
Not only did Taylor completed 91.7% of his passes, a Bills franchise record, but he also threw for 15.08 yards per attempt, the highest mark from any Bills QB in a single game since 1992, and the 7th most in franchise history. See the chart below for further details.
(Yes, that is Kyle Orton up on the chart, and no that is not a typo)
With the highest single game YPA in the 21st century for the franchise, Taylor has also entered special company with some of Buffalo’s most beloved signal callers, including Jim Kelly, Doug Flutie, and Jack Kemp. His play has kept the Bills competitive in the AFC Wild Card race, so this is hardly stat padding.
Buffalo hasn’t seen this kind of excitement in decades, and down the road I’m rooting for Tyrod Taylor to keep this up.
(Main Photo Via Baltimoreravens.com)
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