Bills unravel behind undisciplined play against Giants
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Thirty seven yards away from where it all happened, lay a problem that occurred far too frequently and that made it impossible for the Buffalo Bills to win.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor unleashed a picture perfect, 31-yard touchdown scramble in which he dodged and danced through would-be tacklers. He tight-rope-walked his way along the sideline and hopped into the end zone for what would have been one of the lead plays on highlight shows the rest of the evening. It would have made it a six-point game in the middle of the third quarter.
But the play would come back. A yellow strip of cloth confirmed one of 17 flags thrown Sunday against Buffalo in its 24-10 loss to the New York Giants. The Bills (2-2) simply committed far too many penalties to complete a comeback, even though New York (2-2) gave them ample opportunities to do so. It’s one of the biggest issues facing this team, and coach Rex Ryan defiantly and unapologetically walked up to the podium and defended his team.
“Well, I’m going to tell you something,” a clearly worked-up Ryan said, barely sneaking a breath in between sentences and pounding his fist into the lectern to drive home his point. “I’m proud of the way this team played. Can we play a lot smarter? Absolutely. But I’ll take a team that will fight over a team that won’t, that will sit back and take it. Any day of the week and bring out the next team. That’s the way I look at it.
“Get me a team that’s got some fight and will compete to the very end – right, wrong or indifferent – no matter how good the officiating is or whatever. It makes no difference to me. Is 17 penalties ridiculous? Absolutely, 100% ridiculous. Eventually we’ll find a way to win. Eventually we’ll find a way to eliminate penalties.”
Though it’s not the only reason Buffalo lost Sunday – an ineffective rushing game and a dismally slow start didn’t help, either – two of Buffalo’s flags negated touchdowns in the second half. After Taylor’s 31-yard score was brought back, a missed 30-yard field goal sealed the wound of Buffalo’s self-inflicted errors.
If the Bills want to compete in the AFC, these are the games they need to win: at home, against an injury-rattled Giants squad. And the numbers forecast a historically bad sign for the Bills.
Through four games, Buffalo has collected 11.8 penalties per game for an average of 107 yards per contest. If the team’s current pace holds, the Bills will commit 188 infractions for a whopping 1,712 yards.
Both of those marks would be NFL records, shattering the 2011 Oakland Raiders, who were flagged 163 times for 1,358 yards.
For the fans watching at Ralph Wilson Stadium, it was an extension of what they saw in the team’s last game in the building two weeks ago, when an emotional Bills team came in too hyped and lost to the division-rival Patriots, 40-32.
But even though Buffalo committed three more penalties Sunday than they did against New England (14), defensive tackle Kyle Williams said the “low point” came two weeks ago.
“New England was a bigger problem,” Williams said. “The only place to point the finger against New England was at us. We let it get out of control. There was a lot of stuff (Sunday) that was provoked out on the field and we got goaded into different things. Do with that what you will. Obviously we can’t have an open discourse about whether it was the other team or officials or anything like that because of all the rules, but a lot of things have to be better and it’s not just us.”
That’s a fine line to walk, but that statement is easily translated. Many of the Bills felt the officiating was imbalanced, with the Giants drawing 11 flags for 85 yards. And with the team’s recent track record, Bills players fear that there’s already a label on the squad that won’t go away.
“You have to be able to walk away. The bad thing is, the reputation is out,” Williams said when asked how the team could fix the issue. “We have to be choir boys.”
The troubling part for Buffalo is that many of the penalties could have been easily avoided. Four personal fouls is way too many. But, for as bad as the Bills have been, this is a problem that can be corrected. It’s not as bad as – say – a personnel issue.
As safety Corey Graham, visibly frustrated, later added: “We keep talking the talk and talking about it, but at some point, we’ve got to do something about it.”
Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.
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