Tyrod Taylor has the Bills back in the playoff hunt after a horrendous experiment with a backup

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• Tyrod Taylor and the Buffalo Bills upset the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday to fight their way back into the playoff hunt.
• The big win comes a week after Taylor was benched in favor of rookie Nathan Peterman, who threw five interceptions in the first half of his debut, losing the game for the Bills almost immediately.
• With the Bills still attempting to make a run at the postseason, the decision to start Peterman looks worse by the week, especially with the final playoff spot in the AFC likely determined by a single game.

Tyrod Taylor has brought the Bills playoff hopes back to life, leading Buffalo to an upset victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

While Taylor didn't exactly light up the box score, throwing for 183 yards and a touchdown, he looked competent in the pocket, light on his feet, and most importantly, did not turn the ball over.

Taylor's return came after he was benched in Week 11 in favor of rookie Nathan Peterman in a crucial AFC matchup against the Chargers. Peterman crumbled almost instantly, throwing five interceptions in the first half before being replaced, and leading the Bills to a 37-7 halftime deficit from which they would never recover.

After the game, the Bills once-promising playoff chances looked dead in the water. The team had dropped three straight games after a 5-2 start, and had games against two division leaders in the Chiefs and Patriots looming. Their defense had given up a total of 135 points in those three losses, and the team as a whole was trending in the wrong direction as the season turned toward the home stretch.

But with Taylor back under center for Buffalo, the Bills looked like the team football fans saw early in the season, marching the ball down the field with the help of a smart, committed rushing attack and a defense that refused to give up big plays.

"I just thought overall today we played good team offense," Bills coach Sean McDermott said after the game. "We ran the ball well at times. Tyrod used his feet well at times. We had some critical third-down conversions on drives, so there were some good things going on there. It wasn't just one guy."

Buffalo still has work to do if they want to make the postseason. They'll head into Week 13 tied for the final Wild Card spot in the AFC, and need to pull another upset against the Patriots in order to keep their newfound winning streak alive. But as it stands today, FiveThirtyEight projects Buffalo with a 33% chance at making the playoffs - up from 17% after Peterman's embarrassing performance.

Should the Bills miss the playoffs by a single game, or worse, lose the final spot to the Chargers due to a head-to-head tiebreaker, the decision to sit Taylor in favor of Peterman will look even worse than it already has.