Buffalo vs. New England: Why the Bills Shouldn't Bench WR Stevie Johnson

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson isn't known for his good judgement. He's prone to committing ill-advised penalties when celebrating touchdowns and other individual feats of football prowess, and apparently his most recent one went too far for head coach Chan Gailey.

Johnson scored a touchdown in the first quarter of his team's Week 17 contest against the New England Patriots, lifted up his jersey and revealed a t-shirt with "Happy New Year" written on it, drawing himself a 15-yard excessive celebration penalty.

As of halftime of that game, Johnson hasn't returned to the field. He was benched by Gailey, who has apparently had enough of his antics.

While a 15-yard penalty is never helpful, it's even more harmful for Gailey to pull Johnson, the team's best wideout, off of the field for incurring it. With Johnson's help, the Bills built themselves a 21-0 lead over the Patriots, but New England then managed to score 14 unanswered points in the remainder of the half and have themselves a very real chance to best the Bills in this final game of the season.

While it's not a guarantee that the Bills would have produced more on offense with Johnson on the field in the second quarter, it surely would have helped. The Patriots have a terrible secondary—the worst in the league—and it's well-built to be exploited by a player as dynamic as Johnson.

Further, Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has been inconsistent the second half of the season, and anything that can help him should thus only help their team.

This season, Johnson has caught 72 passes for 964 yards and six touchdowns, but this week's excessive celebration penalty is Johnson's second in six weeks.

When it comes to what weighs more—Johnson's contributions to his team's overall efforts or what he's done to harm his team—it's no contest that what he brings to the table as a receiver far outweighs the occasional penalty he costs his team.

At least Johnson is drawing penalties as a result of scoring touchdowns. He's not on the field taunting opponents, throwing footballs in referees' faces or engaging in fistfights—he's simply celebrating scoring his team points.

While football is a game of field position and 15 yards is quite a bit to give to an opposing offense (especially when that offense is the Patriots'), Gailey picked the wrong time to send a message to Johnson.

Why bench a player who has just scored you a touchdown, and who has an opportunity to make the biggest impact for his team this week?

If this game comes down to what the Bills were unable to do while Johnson sat on the bench, then it's Gailey's judgement—and not Johnson's—that will come into question this week.