The Buffalo Bills are 2-2 entering the second quarter of the 2015 NFL season, and Rex Ryan’s team has seen its fair share of ups and downs already.
During the team’s Week 4 loss to the New York Giants, Ryan’s squad garnered an astounding 17 penalties and the normally stout defense was undisciplined late in the game.
Speaking about this on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” Monday morning, Mike Golic and Cris Carter blasted Ryan for being more dumb than tough.
“Build a bully, but you’ve got to be a smart bully, to use (Ryan’s) terms,” Golic said, via Syracuse.com. “You can be tough, but to get stupid penalties? My gosh, 17 of them in this game. You gave the stats there. You have now crossed the line. Now you’re past tough, you’re into dumb. You can be as tough as you want — you can be the big boy throwing out your chest all you want— but when the referee stands in front and gives the signal for personal foul and points at your team, you’ve just entered the dumb phase. You just have, and all you’ll do is cost yourself.”
Per the report, the Bills have committed 58 penalties through four games, 47 of which have been accepted. That’s almost 12 accepted penalties per game, which usually is an equation for failure.
Carter unfavorably compared Ryan’s tactics of bluster and intimidation to the sound fundamentals being taught in the Pacific Northwest by Pete Carroll with the Seattle Seahawks.
If the Bills are going to somehow compete with the New England Patriots in the AFC East, then the penalties must be pared down. There is a way to dominate your opponent in the NFL while still maintaining a high level of discipline. To this point with the Bills, however, Ryan hasn’t figured out how to make it work.