Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets: Three Keys to the Game

Limit the Penalties

Yes, this was one of the three keys last week, but it bears repeating again. The Buffalo Bills must limit their penalties Thursday, especially the ones that can kill a drive or extend an opponent’s.

There was a point in the second half against the Ravens where the Bills had given Baltimore four first downs because of penalties. That is unacceptable.

Buffalo’s eight penalties were fifth-highest Week 1, while its 89 penalty yards was fourth-highest in the league.

Here are what some of the movers and shakers had to say about the penalty problems and how they’re looking to limit them moving forward.

"“Some of them you can excuse,” Rex Ryan said, via NewYorkUpstate.com. “The one that (Nickell) Robey got, he’s trying to make a tackle, and he got the back of the helmet. So that one, I understand. Jerry (Hughes), trying to make a play on the quarterback, he thinks (Flacco)’s running with the football. I can live with that penalty because they’re going to full speed. That’s what we’re trying to do. But there’s some that I just can’t live with. Like the field goal. You have to be smart there. We know the rules. And there’s other ones that are just frustrating.”"

"“I don’t know how many penalties we had, but we had too many.,” Bills safety Corey Graham said. “We had some critical ones, I know that, especially personal fouls, and they got the ball back. We’ve just got to be smarter. We’ve got to find ways to avoid those penalties, because when it all boils down, good teams don’t kill themselves like that.”"

The Bills have been saying that they’re going to fix this problem for over a year now. It’s at the point where words no longer mean anything. Actions speak louder than words, and with a crucial divisional matchup on tap, Thursday would be a great time to show some discipline.

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