Bills’ Sean McDermott costly penalties: ‘Discipline is important’
The Buffalo Bills came up short against the Tennessee Titans 31-34 on Monday Night Football during NFL Week 6 in Nashville.
Both teams fought hard and made some highlight-worthy plays, but in the end, the Bills would lose the game on an unsuccessful fourth-down conversion attempt at the goal line. But the final score reflected more than just the broken-up play.
Wide receiver and return man Isaiah McKenzie opened the Bills’ final drive by taking the kick-off catch 101 yards for a touchdown that would have given the Bills the lead in the final three minutes of the game.
The touchdown would have done just that, had it not been for an offensive holding penalty on Bills linebacker Andre Smith all the way back at the Buffalo 28 yard line that nullified the electric score by Mckenzie.
This after a long day that saw missed red zone opportunities, missed tackles, and penalties that added up and, in the end, proved costly.
After the game, Bills head coach Sean McDermott was asked about the impact of those penalties on the outcome.
“They’re big,” McDermott said during his post-game press conference. “It comes back to making sure we’re using the right technique, and moving our feet, using our hands, getting our hands inside.”
Two of those penalties cost Buffalo touchdowns, the holding call on Smith as well as another holding call in the second quarter on Bills WR Emmanuel Sanders that nullified a running touchdown by tight end Dawson Knox.
Those scores would have made a difference in the score in those final minutes, giving Buffalo a better chance to win.
“You know, discipline, discipline is important if you want to be a good football team,” he added. “The red zone, the turnover, you know the difference of points right there, that’s a potentially different game.”
And for McDermott, it came down to learning from those mistakes.
“We got to learn from that and get better, and then we’ve got to fix some things on defense as well, and then penalties overall. You know we can’t kill ourselves with penalties like that.”
Those comments on penalties and discipline echoed a similar remark the coach made after a game against the Titans during this same week of last season, in which he said “I can handle aggressive penalties but I can’t handle lack of discipline penalties.“
The Bills will have plenty of time to think about the tough loss and to learn from the tape, as they enter their bye week. The Coach and his players will roll up their sleeves and get back to work ahead of a Week 8 matchup with their AFC East Division rival Miami Dolphins in Orchard Park on October 31st.
