Bills Win! Shock the Jets 41-10

I received a fortuitous Tweet from my buddy Red yesterday. Unprompted, he sends me the following message:"I may regret this, but Matt Barkley is not THAT bad." Barkley started six games from the Bears a couple years ago (Red is a Bears fan), won one of them and threw 8 TDs and 14 interceptions. He did complete almost 60% of his passes, and I think I remember watching him play one time and had about the same reaction Red did, but I also correctly recall him throwing a bunch picks during his time with Bears.

I don't think he threw any today but at least one ball went right into the hands of a Jets defender, who dropped it. No, it wasn't the Jets' day and if Todd Bowles doesn't get fired after that performance at home... well, if I could bet on it I would.

Let's take a look at what happened here:

• The Bills came into the game having scored 46 points in their last six games combined.
• They were starting Barkley of the aforementioned  one win in six starts two years ago
• After kind of a strange career at USC, Barkley had been cut about five times in the last five years by multiple NFL teams
• He was signed by the Bills less than two weeks ago
• The Bills offense had been putting up historically bad numbers
• The Jets had won one more game (3) than the Bills coming in and their defense was ranked 13th in yards allowed.
• Today the Bills today outgained the Jets in yards, 451-199

So, what exactly happened? Barkley looked fairly good - like an NFL quarterback. I mean, all season, the Bills offense has been getting shit. People have been saying the receivers suck, they can't get separation, the O-line can't block anybody, Shady is washed up....but, what do you know, when you get competent quarterback play, the Bills offense is suddenly decent. And, BTW,. the defense looked great again: two picks, three sacks., 3.6 yards per play.

So, there are a few conclusions that can be drawn:

• The Jets stink: definitely a possibility.
• Matt Barkley is a legitimate NFL QB: Despite Red's recommendation, I'd have to say Barkley hadn't proven that to date. I'm going to say that after his junior year at USC, I remember people talking about him like he could be the number one overall pick in the draft. He instead chose to stay at USC and his stock dropped when he wasn't as good as a senior (Robert Woods was one of his receivers and he also had a down year) and injured his shoulder. Maybe Barkley is finally now regaining his confidence (he reportedly had a great pre-season this year with the Bengals before getting hurt and cut). I don't know, but he looked confident and smooth today, and although his arm certainly didn't look the strongest, it looked better than Peterman's and Barkley made most of his throws.
• Peterman and Derrick Anderson were/are abysmal: Who do we blame for having them start the games they did? I mean, it has to be McDermott, but how was it this guy was able to build what looked like a decent team (today at least), around his QBs while f-ing up the most important position in the NFL so badly? Can we trust him going forward?
• Of course, maybe there was just no way the team could lose today in the wake of Poncho Billa's inspiring speech. 

Okay, one final point: There is no way that Allen should start ahead of Barkley vs. the Jags in two weeks. I hope McDermott has at least figured this much out in regards to QBs. I had thought the plan was to let Allen sit and learn behind McCarron for at least half the year. Granted, that didn't work out, but Barkley appears like he might be able to deliver what we had counted on McCarron to do. Let's at least give him a chance to do it. Allen may be great in the future, but he could clearly use some time on the bench behind a competent quarterback to get used to the NFL. And if it turns out Barkley's for real, all the better. More good players is good, as compared to one bad one at a key position dragging everyone else down.

Go Bills.