Stat by stat, Bills' offense inching toward NFL infamy

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Around every corner lurks another statistic that tells the cringeworthy story of the Buffalo Bills' offense this season.

By one Football Outsiders metric, the Bills are on track to be the NFL's worst offense since at least 1986. They are the first team since the 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to Pro Football Reference, to have thrown as many or more interceptions returned for touchdowns as passing touchdowns through nine games.

Even relatively good news, such as Nathan Peterman's completing 31 passes in Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears, has come with bad news. No NFL quarterback since 1950 with at least 31 completions in a game has gained fewer yards than Peterman, with 189, did Sunday.

At 2-7, the Bills have yet to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs but have already matched their loss total from last season, when then-first-year coach Sean McDermott snapped a 17-season franchise playoff drought.

After each of the offense's successive failures this season, McDermott has suggested that ongoing rebuilding -- though he has avoided that specific word -- is partly to blame. On Monday, he offered hope for a brighter future.

"I've been a part of two turnarounds, one in Philadelphia with Andy Reid and one in Carolina with Ron Rivera," said McDermott, a former assistant coach and defensive coordinator of the Eagles and Panthers. "There were hard days there, and this has been tough. It's been tough sledding.

"There's been 17 years [out of the playoffs] before we got here. We changed that last year, and we're going to continue to change the future of this organization moving forward."

McDermott has pointed to the ongoing development of young players for his team's performance this season, which has applied when 2018 first-round pick Josh Allen or 2017 fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman have been at quarterback. But elsewhere on offense, youth should be less of an excuse for the unit's striking futility.

Six Bills players who have played 100 or more offensive snaps this season are 25 or under, compared to 11 such players 26 or older. The Bills' defense is arguably less experienced -- eight players 25 or younger have played 100 or more snaps this season, compared to 10 who are 26 or older -- yet that side of the ball has been among the NFL's best this season.

The Bills' offense has sunk to historically bad levels despite having two accomplished running backs in LeSean McCoy and Chris Ivory, a former first-round pick at wide receiver in Kelvin Benjamin and an eighth-year starting tight end in Charles Clay. On average, the five starters along the offensive line have 52 games of starting experience.

In multiple statistics, the offense is at risk of matching or exceeding the worst marks the league has seen since the introduction of a 16-game schedule in 1978. Excluding the strike-shortened 1982 and 1987 seasons, here is where the Bills are on a mathematical pace to rank by season's end:

Fewest points scored

• What the Bills have: 96 points, fewest in the NFL in 2018.

• Projected total by end of season: 171 points, sixth-fewest by any team since 1978.

• What Bills will need for fewest since 1978: 43 or fewer points, or 6.1 per game in their remaining seven games. The NFL-low since 1978 is 140 points by the 1992 Seattle Seahawks.

Fewest touchdowns

• What the Bills have: Eight, fewest in the NFL.

• Projected total by end of season: 14, tied for fewest by any team since 1978.

• What Bills will need for fewest since 1978: Five touchdowns or fewer in their remaining seven games. The NFL-low since 1978 is 14 touchdowns by the 1992 Seahawks and 1991 Indianapolis Colts.

Fewest passing touchdowns

• What the Bills have: Three, fewest in the NFL.

• Projected total by end of season: Five, tied for fewest by any team since 1978.

• What Bills will need for fewest since 1978: One passing touchdown in their remaining seven games. The NFL-low since 1978 is five passing touchdowns by the 1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Fewest total yards

• What the Bills have: 2,235 yards, fewest in 2018 among teams that have played nine games.

• Projected total by end of season: 3,973 yards, 21st-fewest by any team since 1978.

• What Bills will need for fewest since 1978: 1,138 yards, or 162.6 per game in their remaining seven games. The NFL-low since 1978 is 3,374 yards by the 1992 Seahawks.

Fewest passing yards

• What the Bills have: 1,360, fewest in 2018 among teams that have played nine games.

• Projected total by end of season: 2,418, 60th-fewest by any team since 1978.

• What Bills will need for fewest since 1978: 299 yards, or 42.7 per game in their remaining seven games. The NFL-low since 1978 is 1,660 yards by the 1979 Chiefs.

Fewest first downs

• What the Bills have: 137, fewest in 2018 among teams that have played nine games.

• Projected total by end of season: 244, tied for 56th-fewest since 1978.

• What Bills will need for fewest since 1978: 38 first downs, or 5.4 first downs per game in their remaining seven games. The NFL-low since 1978 is 176 first downs by the 2000 Cleveland Browns.

Most interceptions

• What the Bills have: 16, second-most in the NFL.

• Projected total by end of season: 28, tied for 41st-most since 1978.

• What Bills will need for most since 1978: 21 interceptions, or three per game in their remaining seven games. The NFL high since 1978 is 36 interceptions by the 1978 San Francisco 49ers and 1988 Buccaneers.

Most turnovers

• What the Bills have: 22, most in the NFL.

• Projected total by end of season: 39, tied for 165th-most since 1978.

• What Bills will need for most since 1978: 42 turnovers, or six per game in their remaining seven games. The NFL high since 1978 is 63 turnovers by the 1978 49ers.