BEREA, Ohio -- The Buffalo Bills were plenty excited to make the NFL Playoffs last season, but they fell well short of the goal of winning the final game of the year and bringing home the Lombardi Trophy to their passionate fans.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor was one of the leaders of the Bills’ resurgence, but after being traded to the Cleveland Browns in the first few hours of the new league year back in March, he is once again focused on guiding a struggling franchise to the postseason.
“When I walked into Buffalo a lot of people really didn’t know my name and I was able to win the starting job and I was able to, as I left, break the 17-year playoff drought, so there was a lot that was accomplished in those years and I was thankful for those opportunities, but more so glad for the opportunity that I have here,” Taylor said prior to a practice earlier this week.
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For a third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Taylor was dealt to the Browns with one year remaining on his contract, and while he holds no ill will against Buffalo for trading him, there is some motivation to prove the Bills’ decision-makers wrong.
“I think each year has it’s own way of motivating itself, but definitely how I think it ended there, it’s motivation for this year,” Taylor said. “Not necessarily for this game, but like you said, this year.”
During his seven-year career with the Baltimore Ravens and Bills, Taylor completed 793 of his 1,271 attempts (62.4 percent) for 9,056 yards and 51 touchdowns against 18 interceptions. Of those 793 completions, 116 went for at least 20 yards and 22 more were 40-yard gains.
In his three seasons with the Bills, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Taylor completed 774 passes for 8,837 yards and 51 touchdowns against 16 interceptions.
Despite being benched midway through the season, which lasted all of one half after Nathan Peterman threw five interceptions over two quarters of play, Taylor led the Bills to their first playoff appearance in 17 years.
And after snapping the NFL’s longest playoff drought last season, Taylor looks forward to making history repeat itself with the Browns this fall.
“The goal is of course to win a Super Bowl, but for a team that hadn't been to the playoffs for 17 years, to come home after we beat Miami on New Year's, to see the fans standing out in the snow as the plane approached back in Buffalo was definitely special to see,” Taylor said.
“You definitely saw excitement, and I look forward to creating that here.”
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