Buffalo Bills: Keys to victory in Week 17 against the Dolphins

Play Smart and Disciplined

Regardless of how much playing time the starters get in Week 17, the outcome of this game could be heavily swayed by the number of penalties committed by both teams.

According to the Football Database, the Bills have the fifth most penalties committed so far this season with 99 total penalties. On the other hand, the Dolphins have been extremely disciplined this year relative to the rest of the league. The Dolphins have committed the third least amount of penalties this year totaling at only 71 penalties. In terms of penalty yardage, the Bills’ 99 penalties have totaled 925 yards, while the Dolphins’ 71 penalties have totaled only 610 yards.

Although the Bills have accumulated a large number of penalties this year, they have shown the ability to put together some disciplined games. With that being said, the number is as high as 99 because of some terrible outlier games with over 10 penalties, which are simply unacceptable.

If the Bills want to make their path to success easier in Week 17, playing a disciplined brand of football would certainly be a good first step. Just in the recent game against the Broncos, the Bills negated multiple scoring plays because of silly penalties like illegal motion, illegal alignment, or an unnecessary holding that wouldn’t have changed the outcome of a significant run.

Against a disciplined Brian Flores led Miami Dolphins team, the Bills and Sean McDermott need to keep this game clean and match the Dolphins discipline in order to give the Bills their best chance for success.