Monday, September 9, 2013

Marrone on penalties: 'It's not acceptable'

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The Buffalo Bills were penalized 10 times for 75 yards in their last-second loss to the New England Patriots Sunday.

New England was flagged four times for 36 yards.

"I think it’s hard to overcome especially when offensively you have a young quarterback and you’re a young team. It’s not acceptable," Bills coach Doug Marrone said after the game. "We have officials at every practice, we have to get together as a staff and we’ve got to figure out a way not to have that."

Buffalo took seven penalties in the first half alone, including a neutral zone infraction by Marcell Dareus on the very first play from scrimmage.

In the first quarter, Arthur Moats was called for a facemask on a punt, which set up New England for an eventual field goal. The punt came after tight end Scott Chandler was flagged for a false start a few plays earlier.

On the Bills' next possession, Cordy Glenn got flagged for illegal use of the hands, putting his team at first-and-20 on a series that resulted in a punt.

That string of penalties was a prime example of how flags held Buffalo back early in a game it was otherwise playing toe-to-toe with the cream of the division.

"We have to look at them and evaluate them first," Marrone said. "The officials, we think we have the best officials in the world out there and I think they do a nice job. We just have to look at it. 10-4 (penalty ratio), obviously that’s a lopsided situation."

Follow Nick @NickStDenis
Follow AFC East Daily @AFCEastDaily