Penalties derailed Buffalo Bills in close loss to Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles continued their great season with a 37-34 win over the Buffalo Bills in overtime. The loss moves the Bills back to .500 (6-6) on the season. 

On paper, Buffalo was way better than the Eagles in many categories. They tallied up 500+ total yards on offense and this came with a time of possession totaling 40:30. This was a full 13 minutes more than the time Philadelphia was on offense. 

However, the one stat the Eagles had the Bills beat in was penalty yardage. Compared to the four Philadelphia penalties, the Bills racked up 11 total penalties on the day. This totaled 80 yards awarded to the Eagles. It comes as no surprise since the Bills rank 5th in the NFL this year in penalty yardage given up, but the sheer amount of penalties on Sunday was concerning in its raw form. 

It is the second time the Bills have gotten 11 penalties this season. The other occurrence came in the team's 25-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. Therefore, this tied for the most penalties Buffalo has had in a game this season.  

The majority of the Bills' penalties in this game were offensive ones affecting themselves and their own yardage. Five of the 11 were offensive penalties meaning that Buffalo's explosive game with moving the ball was also slightly affected. In those five penalties, 43 yards were lost on offense, and with that nearly being half the length of the field, this played a big part in the loss.

Moving forward, the Bills will need to look for more discipline to help them win tight games like this against some of the top teams in the NFL. And as you look at their remaining schedule, the next two games pin them against the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys, meaning the discipline must be there as December approaches.

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