Jets vs. Bills: 168 Yards in Context

The Jets committed an incredible 20 penalties yesterday. The Bills gained 168 free yardage due to these penalties. Just how much did the Jets help the Bills out? Consider this.

Last year, the team with the most yardage on offense was the New England Patriots. They averaged 164.1 yards per game more than the team with the least yardage, the Arizona Cardinals.

Last year, the team to allow the least yardage on defense was the Pittsburgh Steelers. They averaged 164.3 yards per game less than the team with the most yardage allowed, the New Orleans Saints.

Essentially when you give away as many yards as the Jets did yesterday, you have a greater impact on the game than replacing either the best offense or best defense in the league with the worst unit.

This obviously needs to be cleaned up. There is a glass half full interpretation, though. It is very unlikely the Jets will come close to committing 20 penalties in a game again. They probably couldn't do it if they tried. Despite how negative these miscues were, they still won the game. That means something, right?