Buffalo Bills: 5 keys to upsetting the Minnesota Vikings

3. Don’t commit backbreaking holding penalties

The Bills have made terrible backbreaking penalties to hurt themselves while trying to claw their way back into the first two games of the season.

Most, if not all, of these hurtful penalties came in the form of holding on the offensive line. While most (if not all) of these can be attributed to the fact that the Bills offensive line has been struggling and has been trying to makeup for its lack of talent/execution by holding their defensive counterpart when beat, it is still inexcusable.

In fact, on several instances the holding penalty occurred away from the ball and after the running back was already by them. The Bills cannot commit these penalties on Sunday. When you are a big underdog on the road the last thing you can do is beat yourself. Committing holding penalties such as these is exactly that: beating yourself.

I am sure that in the offensive line meeting room it has been pounded home all week that the Bills need to cut out the holding penalties. You would be better off having the run play be limited for a small gain than be penalized 10 yards for a hold. Most importantly, you would be much better off not committing a holding penalty that  negates a huge play you just had on offense.

Additionally, when you have a rookie quarterback the last thing you want to do is  back yourself up into long yards-to-gain situations. When you do this you put added pressure on the young quarterback to get the first down which in turn may cause him to make or force a bad throw trying to overcome the penalty and get the first down. The Bills cannot do this to Josh Allen, especially on the road against a heavily favored team.

To win and spring the upset on Sunday the Bills cannot hamstring their offensive effort with backbreaking holding penalties. If they commit them they will be making a very difficult situation a near impossible one.