Bills' Dion Dawkins Sets Record Straight: 'We Have a Standard'

The Buffalo Bills committed 13 penalties and four turnovers in their 27-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, and offensive lineman Dion Dawkins doesn't want to hear excuses.

Things couldn't have been been much uglier for the Buffalo Bills in their 27-15 loss on the road to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.

Penalties and turnovers were abundant throughout the first half for Buffalo. While it's only the preseason, that isn't an excuse Bills sixth-year offensive tackle Dion Dawkins is trying to use. 

"I don't think there's any excuse," Dawkins said. "I don't want to put the word it's preseason in the air. We have a standard and at times, it wasn't up to our standard. That's the good thing will having something like the preseason but I don't want to say 'oh it's preseason, who cares...'We wont let this hurt us, we'll learn from it."

Buffalo failed to live up to that standard with 13 penalties and four turnovers, including three interceptions from quarterback Matt Barkley. Among Buffalo's penalties was a stretch of three straight from the offensive line that turned second and 10 at the Steelers' 38-yard-line into second and 34.

"That's football," Dawkins said. "It sucks, it's horrible to beat yourself. That's not something that we're OK with but we're learning with different things that are going on. We've just got to use it to our advantage. We can't have the pre-snap stuff but it's football ... Most of that stuff cures up over time and over reps."

To make matters worse along the offensive line, the Bills lost offensive tackle Tommy Dolye for the season with an injury to his left knee. 

"This is a wakeup call that this game is a very violent game," Dawkins said. "It's a very play-by-play game. Any play could be your last [and] anything could happen. It's a very sad thing. Tommy is our brother and we love him ... He just can't catch a break."

Regardless of Dawkins brushing away the "preseason" excuses, the good news for Buffalo is that it really is just the preseason. The Bills' performance against Pittsburgh could be the wakeup call they need as they look to win the AFC East. But at the same time, Buffalo's performance on Saturday leaves more questions than answers with the regular season under a month away. 

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