Shaw66

Whether it was Josh or Brady, I don't know. I just know I was sitting there saying over and over "throw the ball downfield a bit." Not bombs away, not 25-yard strikes, just get some 8- and 12-yard gains to get the defense back on its heels. It seemed all night the Bills were attacking with runs and passes at the line of scrimmage.

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Well, maybe you need more sleep. The fact is that the Bills won 13 games playing in a way that seems to tire you out, and would have won a 14th if the Pats game had meant anything. McDermott is 8th among active coaches in playoff wins. Three of those ahead of him are already out of the playoffs - Payton, Shanahan, and Tomlin, and a fourth didn't make the playoffs and got fired - McCarthy. McVay has two more wins and has been a head coach for the same number of years as McDermott. The other two with more wins are Reid and Harbaugh, but they've been head coaches three times and twice as long McDermott, respectively. So, I'm sorry your tired, but you need to get used to it. McDermott is a big-time success as a head coach, and his style of play has made him a success.

I agree with this. I've always said it. Several years ago, a US nuclear submarine surfaced off Hawaii and accidentally sank or at least incapacitated a Japanese ship carrying students on a summer scientific excursion. Several kids died. I heard the captain of that sub speaking several months later, and the interviewer tried to get the captain to say that it was the seaman's fault who failed to see the ship on radar. before they surfaced. Over and over, the captain refused. Essentially he said that if mistakes were made, it meant that people weren't trained well enough, and if they weren't trained well enough, then the blame lay with him, the captain. He's responsible to see that everyone does his job. In that sense, 13 seconds absolutely was on McDermott. It wasn't a dropped pass; no one fumbled. It was a team not performing as well as it could and should have, and when the team doesn't perform, it's on the coach. (Which is why I wonder how Daboll still has his job.) However, I've also said repeatedly that the growth mindset and continuous improvement that is the core of how McDermott runs the team applies to him as much as anyone else, and he's been clear about that from the start. Any rookie head coach has to learn how to do the job, has to grow into it, has to mature and develop judgment that can come only from doing the job. And McDermott clearly has grown. We've seen it in his sideline decision making, and we've read about in multiple interviews and columns talking about how his approach to the job has changed over his years in charge. McDermott's team still might blow it at the end of a tight game, because each situation is new and it's difficult to make all the decisions correctly, but I'm sure he's better now than he was back then. Evidence of his development can be seen in the most important place - the team. We're seeing a team with a deeper understanding of what they're doing, a confidence that allows them to respond to adversity. We talked last week about how the Bills responded after the Broncos gashed them for a first-possession touchdown. For the Bills, it was business as usual. They didn't expect to post a shut out, so the fact that Denver had scored was no reason to despair. They just went to work and soon it was clear that they knew how to beat the Broncos. As I watched the Chiefs dismantle the Texans last night, I stopped to appreciate how magnificent that team has been. To put together the string of AFC championship game appearances they have is truly remarkable, and their late-game success, game after game, this season has been superb. Much of it is, I'm sure, due to Reid. He has a multiple decades of the kinds of experiences that McDermott has seen for only a half-dozen years. He's built his knowledge of in-game events, and he's built a culture where his team can approach those events with calmness and understanding. Yes, Reid has the QB he needs, but Mahomes too is a product of Reid's mentorship. We can see the same thing happening to McDermott, and I believe that we see it in Allen, too. McDermott said recently that he doesn't need to talk teach much to Allen any more, because Allen understands completely where McDermott wants to go. McDermott, for his part, has gotten an offensive coordinator who has put together an offense that suits Allen nearly perfectly,. And now that they've gotten to where they are, it will be easier for that success to continue even if Brady leaves, because McDermott now knows what he needs in a coordinator and how to develop that guy. In fact, Allen will help McDermott teach Brady's successor. The point is that building a high-functioning team is hard to do, but Reid and Belichick have shown that once you've built it, maintaining and growing it is an easier task. McDermott is now emerging into the same space. He has shown that his team can better year after year, even in a year when most of the fans, and most of us here, thought that overall talent had declined. (We all thought and hoped that the Chiefs would get worse when Hill left, but Reid and Mahomes showed us the error of our ways.) 13 seconds truly is disappearing in the rearview mirror.

There was a report after the game that Farwell huddled up the kickoff team and called the squib kick, but that Bass wasn't in the huddle - he was taking practice kicks into the net. Farwell's job is to be certain that everyone knows the playcall; either someone needed to go tell Bass, or Bass should have been trained to be in the huddle.

Actually, they're the NFC team that scares me the most. But yeah - GO Rams!!! And GO Bills!!!

I agree. The NFL certainly is NOT going back to six seeds. Much more likely that they will go to eight. That produces two more television events, as well as having a simple draw that even the most casual fan can understand - same as the NCAA basketball tournament (minus play-in games). The NFL needs to cater to the most casual of fans - that's an endless pool of potential viewers.

The number 1 seed is a huge advantage in this tournament. I liked it better with byes for the top 2. It meant that often both teams in the final game had had the benefit of the bye. With one bye, it means the number 2 team has to go through a serious gauntlet just to get to the championship game, and face a team that had gotten a week off.

I hope for your sake you're kidding about your life. We all have issues in our lives, but most of us can count on things working out okay from day to day. It hurts every time I think about all the people whose lives have been turned truly upside down in Los Angeles and every other place where major events have destroyed the day-to-day lives of thousands of people. Most of us are blessed with what we have. And for us, we're blessed to have a team like the Bills and a place like this to talk about them.

Yes. And don't leave out Brady. There's real offensive excellence on display, and he orchestrates it.

WOW! Thanks so much for that. It made me think of how much I loved reading Larry Felser's work. During the season, I'd go immediately to the sports section of the news to see what Felser was saying. There were columns where I learned football, because he asked players or coaches how the play worked. Columns about the background of a player, where he came from, how his football career developed. The guy had a genuine curiosity in everything about the team, but especially about the game. Above all, his columns the day after games were excellent and insightful. He told us the keys to the game, the turning-point plays, the winning strategy. It was consistently excellent. Felser was really good for a long time.

This is such an interesting point. It seemed that every ten minutes, the Bills looked better than the previous. And then better, and then better still. But it happened in a slow, methodical, gradual way that people didn't notice. I agree. But this team feels different.

I didn't notice Dixon, but I agree about Shakir and Cook. Cook's speed on the edge is breathtaking. Each week, he looks faster. And what you say about his patience is correct. He waits and waits, and then he zips. It's not an explosion - it's silent instant acceleration. And yes to Shakir, too. He is exquisite in the open field. I'm not sure there's anyone like him.

Frankly, I wondered if I was missing something. It's good to hear that your TV impression was the same. There was less support for the team than I heard at any of the home games I attended this season (five). People need to show up this Sunday.

It's well to remember all the things McDermott has said over the years. Either he says them, or players say he said them. One of them is winning the second half. They want to be the toughest guys in the second half. Another is that it's a long game, and you're going to have a stretch when things don't go your way. You have to recover and start making plays again. It's that mentality that keeps them focused when something like an explosive first-possession TD happens. No big deal.

Exactly. These games are a different challenge. That's the challenge of going deep in the playoffs. The challenge starts Sunday.

We had a good trip to Buffalo. Hartford to Amherst on Saturday, the Broncos game on Sunday, drive home in some sloppy snow on Monday. It’s probably just me, but I sensed apprehension in western New York. It seemed like no one wanted to get too excited about the possibilities of the coming weeks. No one wanted to get their hopes up. I read last week that tickets to the Broncos game in the secondary market weren’t selling at high premiums. In shops and restaurants, there was a nervous excitement, not typical regular season boisterousness. It was almost as though many people were afraid the Bills would lose and didn’t want to be let down. In the stadium, fans were loud for the Broncos’ first possession, were quieted by the quick TD, and then they watched with the same apprehension. The fans had doubts, and they didn’t seem to stand with the team on defense for the rest of the half. Slowly, as the Bills began to take over the game, the fans’ enthusiasm grew, but then it was the usual late-game party atmosphere for a blow-out win. Compare the Lions fans: It's all new to them, and their unbridled enthusiasm was on full display when the Bills were there a month ago. Lions fans seem to think that their team can and will roll through the entire NFL. They think that their disappointment last season was the final bump in the road, that now winning is almost a foregone conclusion. Maybe, but Bills fans have learned that it's more difficult than just showing up. It isn’t new to Bills fans any longer, and it seems this season Bills fans are just sitting with their fingers crossed, hoping this may be the year but prepared for a letdown. Thankfully, the Bills themselves had no doubts, no second thoughts, no fears. They just went about their business, being the team they intend to be – a team that can win by playing whatever style is necessary to win the game. They take the field knowing they’re prepared to play a style – running, passing, defending, that can be effective against the opponent. When the Broncos scored their touchdown, the fans were stunned. The Bills weren’t. The Bills just went about their business, playing the game they planned to play, Play by play, drive by drive, the Bills took over the game. They did it the way they planned, and they won. As the game went on, moving the ball became increasingly difficult for the Broncos and became easier for the Bills. It could have a more lopsided score, but the Bills play to win, not to have a fireworks display. In the NFL, there are some good teams, and then there are the best teams. Good teams make the playoffs, but they don’t match up well with the best teams. On Sunday, the Broncos, a good team, ran into one of the best. The Broncos couldn’t compete. The Bills put it all on display. The offense was relentless, and the defense was stout. After striking early for a touchdown, the Broncos; offense was stymied. The Bills’ defense is disciplined, fast, and strategic. They can play to stop the run, then can smother passing games, They disguise well, and they don’t make mistakes. For a rookie quarterback, it’s too much to handle. Bo Nix had a nice season, but his playoff education began against the Bills. How good are the Bills? We’ll find out. To my eye, the Bills are very good. I like the offense, a lot. There aren’t many teams running an offense as good as what the Bills are showing. The Bills have answers all over the field, in two senses. First, they have excellent players everywhere. The offensive line is stellar – they execute in every phase. They pass block. They create seams in the run game. They power block when Josh sneaks. They get downfield. The receivers are a dynamic mix of skills; they get open and they catch the ball. Cook runs with surprising power at the point of attack, great awareness in those seams the offensive line creates, quickness to change direction, and surprising acceleration and speed in open field. Brady bewilders defenses with an astonishing array of formations and player combinations. The Bills rarely take two offensive snaps with same personnel on the field. The Bills present a different look and different threats all game long. Brady uses motion well; Curtis Samuel was this week’s example. And Allen understands everything that’s happening. Allen runs, passes, executes, and leads as well as anyone in the league. The result – the Bills run well, they pass well, and they score. The defense is the same – solid players everywhere, and everyone executes. Milano and Miller, the two guys with demonstrated star potential, have begun contributing. They don’t make every play like we saw before their recent injuries, but they have begun to contribute in ways that slow offenses. The Bills have filled their roster with able backups, guys who step in and make plays, both on offense and on defense. Lewis and Bishop and Ingram can play, and Williams. Every receiver can make plays, every running back. Everyone does his job. There is no team in the league that plays team offense and team defense as well as the Bills, and that’s what makes them a great team. The Bills have now had their one game in the playoffs against a good team. If they want to win the Super Bowl, they have to star defeating the other great teams: the Ravens, the Chiefs, and some great team out of the NFC. Those teams are great in their own ways. The Ravens will come at the Bills with a tough, tough defense and two generational star players – Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. The Chiefs have their generational quarterback, offensive coaching that has been superb for several years, and a stud defensive lineman in Chris Jones. The Lions and the Eagles are just as tough and feature multiple star players. Those matchups pose the intriguing question: Does coaching and elite teamwork beat coaching and elite talent? Starting Sunday, against the Ravens, the real tests begin. Starting Sunday, we will see how great the Bills are. These are the games that the McDermott Bills haven’t been able to win consistently. These are the games that are the next step that we’ve been waiting for the Bills to take. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were every-day people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

It's called complementary football.

I'm not interested so much in Josh. Second team, all pro makes some sense, and I understand you can make arguments either way. I'm more interested in the fact that there are 44 spots on the first and second teams for All pro, which would mean that on average a team should have 1+ player on the all-gro team. In the case of a really good team, like the Bills, you would expect that they would have two or three or maybe even four players among the 44. The Bills have only one. What does that mean? I think what it means is that the overall talent on the Bills roster does not include any stars other than Josh. That's something we've known for a long time. And that leads me to the conclusion that the real award that is missing from the Bills is coach of the year. If the team is under talented compared to the great teams in the league and to the league in general, then it must mean that the coach is doing an outstanding job compiling the record he has compiled.

There was a thread going today that got closed, because the OP was just McDermott-bashing. But there was an interesting discussion starting about Codrington's role, his importance, and his backup. My view of punt returners is that all I care about is that the guy does not, under any circumstances, turn over the football. I don't want him to lose yardage, but if he doesn't gain any, that's okay by me. Brandon Codrington, of course, has been good at ball security - fumbled twice, lost one, I think. Not as good as I'd like, but he looks pretty secure back there. And he brings the added bonus of being an above-average, at least, return man. We've grown accustomed to seeing him pop for 10 to 25 yards, sometimes when it looks like there's nothing there. He's been a very nice contributor. What happens if he goes down? Well, Hyde is on the PS, and he is great at ball security, and he actually contributes some nice returns, too, just not like Codrington. And there's Shakir, who I believe has good experience in college and a solid head on his shoulders, and he also can contribute yardage, I'd guess more or less like Codrington. There may be others on the roster who can do it, too. I don't want anything to happen to Codrington (and I'm assuming he can go against the Broncos), but my sense is the Bills have the position covered.

Well, okay, I get it, but THE most reliable punt returner the Bills have had in the last ten years is on the practice squad, so the Bills won't be left high and dry if Codrington can't go. Micah Hyde. And, Shakir has a lot of punt returning experience. There are more important things to worry about.

Look at the defense. It covers and and runs to the ball the same as the starting defense. Not as well, of course, but same style and efficiency. That's true depth; any of those guys can move in to replace a starter, and the overall defense still functions well.

He's a guy with some brains and physical skills like Allen, but a lower level. A little smaller, a little less of a thrower, a little less of a runner. But still, compared to most QBs, he's more like Allen than most NFL QBs. I think that makes him the ideal backup for the Bills. And he looked it on that drive. He looked like someone who can the offense the way the Allen runs it, without the Hall of Fame production of Allen.

This. There are a couple of plays in here where his punch absolutely explodes. He's knocking guys off balance all the time. Hand play is the key to line good line play, and his hands and arms are great weapons.

Thanks. That's some of the best analysis I've seen here. Good stuff. As to your first two paragraphs, I think you describe exactly what McDermott is trying to do. He thinks that if he's loaded his team with guys who are superior talents (not stars, but superior), who are smart and who are willing to play a team game, he'll have a team that keeps getting better and better. McDermott believes that the team that executes better, over and over, will beat the team with some stars who execute well. Still, I hear you about Allen and of course you're right. Allen makes it all work. But we've always known that about football. Mahomes makes it all work. Brady makes it all work. I think McDermott would say that he can keep it working even when he loses players, other than Allen. McDermott has shown that he CAN keep it all working, even though he lost what seemed to be a lot of core players. He HAD an answer for the interior offensive line, he HAD an answer for the receiver room, he HAD an answer an answer at safety. Is the answer always better? Well, maybe not better than what was replaced, but the object isn't to replace those players with other players like them; the object is to replace them with players who keep the system running. Frankly, my view of this team is that it's already out-performed in the win-loss column and had a successful season if it gets one playoff win. I know, that's not the goal and all of that, but to have done a substantial retooling and end up with a BETTER team, that's darn good. This may not be a team that can win a Super Bowl, but it's pretty impressive even if it doesn't. I think that 2025 is when McDermott's system will prove itself with a REALLY big year.