Bell: Crown the Buffalo Bills penalty champs

Jarrett Bell | USA TODAY Sports

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PHILADELPHIA – With the playoffs once again seemingly out of the question for a drought-stricken franchise, the Buffalo Bills are positioned nonetheless to lead the NFL in something this season.

They can earn a dubious crown as penalty champs.

The Bills sure looked the part during the 23-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, when they were flagged 15 times for 101 yards. It ran their season totals to 124 penalties, second-most in the league (Tampa Bay, 125), for an NFL-high 1,086 yards.

What, is Rex Ryan not ordering enough penalty pushups in practice?

“It was a disgrace that we had way too many penalties,” Ryan said. “That’s on us.”

No argument here. The Bills were so undisciplined across the board, it seemed they were trying to hit for the penalty cycle. False start. Illegal use of hands. Facemask. Pass interference. Illegal motion. If it was in the rule book, by golly the Bills seemed determined to draw a flag for it.

They had particular issues, though, with neutral zone violations and offensive holding, drawing four penalties each for such infractions.

This suggested two things: They were a bit antsy to rush Sam Bradford. And they had a whale of a time trying to neutralize Eagles defensive end Fletcher Cox, who drew several flags while in the process of blowing up the blocking schemes.

“That kid, (No.) 91, is a player,” Ryan said of Cox, “but I don’t care if Reggie White was in there, we can’t hold them that much.”

This is no way to win. The Bills (6-7) have had double-digit penalties in six games this season (including a season-high 17 against the Giants, Week 4), and lost four of the games.

When they look back on this campaign – which despite Ryan’s promises upon taking over as coach this year, seems destined to continue Buffalo’s NFL-longest playoff drought to 15 seasons – they will rue the opportunities blown by the abundance of flags.

Sunday, the Bills moved the football and amassed 412 yards. But it sure didn’t feel like it, with the offense committing 10 penalties, leading to one long-yardage case after another to stunt drives.

“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” Ryan said. “We didn’t allow ourselves to get into any kind of rhythm because we’re backed up. It’s now first-and-20 or third-and-15 or whatever the heck it is, and when you’re behind the sticks it’s tough to do anything.”

Unfortunately for the Bills, the latest setback, which had other self-inflicted wounds such as Marcus Thigpen’s muffed punt and Tyrod Taylor’s game-sealing interception, was a microcosm of the season.

For all of the buzz that Ryan generated upon his arrival with his pledge to build a contender, they are a playoff longshot now. The Bills need to surpass three teams in the final three weeks of the regular season to claim the AFC’s final playoff slot.

“We’re going to be sick, I can tell you that much, if this costs us,” Ryan said, “which it probably will.”

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