Shaw66

I look at the team and generally agree with you about an impact player. The good teams generally scare you with some big=time defender. Hutchinson says he plans to be back for the Super Bowl. That's something every AFC opponent has to think about. I really do think the ultimate question for discussion is philosophy. Groot is a good example. The guy could be the best all-round defensive end in the game. He can do everything. He's coachable. I'm sure McDermott loves him because he's skilled, high motor, durable, and consistent. He's the ideal McDermott player. Look at Jerry Hughes. He was a big play guy until McDermott arrived, and then he transitioned to a player more like Groot. The big plays declined, but the mistakes, the plays where the edge was left unprotected, also declined. That's what McDermott wants. But Groot is a playmaker without being a big-play guy, and in big games the perception of many (including me) is that you need big plays. Now, maybe out perception is wrong. Maybe consistent play is more valuable than big plays even in big games. I don't know. But when Chris Jones disrupts Allen on a critical throw in the red zone, it's hard not to think that the Bills need a big-play guy. It's an interesting discussion, and I'd love talking to McDermott about it. I won't get that chance. In the meantime, I'm not holding my breath. McDermott and Beane seem to agree on philosophy, because Beane keeps getting guys who fit the McDermott ideal, not the Deek ideal.

This is an interesting point, and I think you're correct. I commented somewhere that the Bills went heavy early in the season on all sorts of screens and rubs and other gimmicks to get the ball in the hands of Shakir or Samuel or any of the others (Kincaid, Knox, Coleman all were targeted some). As the weeks went by, teams started locking down that stuff, playing tighter, fighting through blocks etc. Several weeks ago, the Bills went away from those plays and now throw them only occasionally. But teams still know that if they play soft on the outside on short yardage, the Bills will just throw it out there and take the necessary yards, so the opponents still have to get up tight to stop those quick passes to the outside. What we saw on Sunday in Detroit is that the Bills are now taking advantage of that tight coverage in short yardage situations by going over the top of the defense. It's really demoralizing to a defense to give up 15, 20, 25 yards on third and three, and that's what happened to Detroit. It's all about play design and execution. Brady has the right design, and we're now seeing Josh in more or less full control of what's happening out there. The result is an offense that has looked unstoppable for a few weeks.

I agree with this. Signing Miller wasn't a mistake; it was a decision that didn't work out. We have no way of knowing how much he would have contributed if he hadn't injured his knee. He looked good before it happened; he hasn't had his special magic since he came back. In Detroit, he did his job and played his position, but he never really won one-on-one. Still, there's time. Two or three timely sacks in the playoffs will make everyone happy the Bills have him.

Thanks. I doubt McD will change his approach, so it won't happen. I can't say I disagree with you. I wish they had a big play guy up front.

But what you actually do if you were the GM and/or coach. Are you saying you would clean house? You would change the defensive style in some way? I mean, it's fine to say that the pass rushers are unsatisfactory, but what are you going to do. Get others? Get a different coach for the D line? Change the scheme?

If you were in charge, what roster and/or scheme changes would you make? And for the record I've consistently said I have my doubts about McDermotts approach. I think his style makes for a good regular season team but not so much for the playoffs. And I certainly haven't said that there's anything wrong with you're being critical.

I don't dislike teams. Well, I love it when the Cowboys lose, because their owner is such a jerk. But I don't dislike them. I like beating teams in the AFC East, but I've never had any intense Jets hate or Dolphins hate. I never liked losing to the Patriots, but I didn't dislike them.

Well, reading a bit of you and Muppy, I think she's on the right track. Was I disappointed in the defense on Sunday? Well, sure, I was disappointed that those guys moved up and down the field at will in the second half, but then again, our offense moved up and down the field at will, too. I think the reality is that it's really hard, maybe impossible, to stop modern offenses all the time. The offenses are too varied. Now that the run game has come back to the NFL, you have to defend the pass and the run. As I think I said in the Review, other than Allen, the Bills have no stars. Nobody comes into a game with the Bills worrying about what to do about anyone on the Bills except Allen. There is no LaMarr Chase, no Chris Jones, no Micah Parsons, no Saquon Barkley. The Bills are built that way intentionally. The Bills are built to be a team in the truest sense of the word, to operate together. It's like they're choreographed. And they are built to achieve a variety of goals, like scoring and stopping scoring. But because they're built that way, they aren't going to excel at stopping the best passing teams, like the Rams and the Lions, when they're passing, and they aren't going to excel at stopping the best running teams, like Baltimore, when they're running. They ARE built to make it more difficult for those teams, and the Bills did make it difficult for the Rams, Lions, and Ravens. They made it more difficult for the Chiefs. It's a good defense to win with. It may get overrun by some team in the playoffs, and then we'll say the defense needs to be better against whatever it was that smoked them, but to make it better that way makes it worse some other way. It's supposed to be balanced, to do as well as you can against everything. In addition, I think we forget, I know I forget, how good some of these guys are. Benford, for example. I continue to think of him as some young, unproven guy. No, he's a stud. He is really good. And Bernard. And Johnson. And Oliver. (I said in a different thread that Dan Campbell raved about Oliver, saying the Lions would double him regularly. If you don't double him, he wrecks the interior. That's what Campbell said.) It's hard to win in the NFL. And it often looks messy. If the Pats put up 40, I'll start to worry. I doubt that's happening.

Yes and no. No to Elam for Douglas. I like what the Bills get from Douglas: 1. Really solid pass defense, tight coverages. 2. Aggressive run support with solid tackling. Maybe he showed something Sunday, but I didn't see that kind of rock solid play. If another week off would be beneficial to Douglas's recovery, yes, by all means play Elam on Sunday. But then get Douglas back in there and battle ready. Yes to Bishop for Hamlin. Hamlin just doesn't do it for me. He's not a powerful tackler, and he strikes me more as a guy who is in the vicinity of making the play, rather than being there and making it. Rapp is on the scene to make the play, but Hamlin usually is just arriving. Bishop didn't show me complete command of the defense on Sunday; he looked like he was stilling thinking about it when other guys already were running to it. However, I'd take him over Hamlin because he has some speed that I don't see in Hamlin, he hits with authority, and he can continue to learn the nuances. In other words, I'd bet on Bishop's higher ceiling, even though he may not yet executing as well as Hamlin. As I think about it, having two playmakers at safety would make this pass defense a lot stronger for the playoffs. Rapp is one; I don't think Hamlin can be the second, but Bishop can. So, get him out there on the field, getting game reps, and get him ready for the playoffs.

My wife and I went to the Detroit Institute of Art, which is an extraordinary museum. On their main donor wall, the second highest category was donors who had given over $10 million in the past several years. There were four or five names in that category, including the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, right there with this Ford and that Ford. Really extraordinary generosity.

It used to be that we used to pay attention to the power rankings every week to see if the Bills had moved up or down. Everyone would comment on the rankings - too high, too low, about right. We don't do that on this forum like we used to. Anyway, I just happened to look at ESPN's power rankings. Bills are fourth. That's okay, I guess, and I don't really care, but it strikes me as really odd that the Bills beat both the Chiefs and the Lions and both teams are still ranked above the Bills. What are they supposed to do to be recognized for what they are? I don't know - maybe the both of those teams ARE better than the Bills, but it seems to me some leaps of faith have to be taken to reach that conclusion. Like, Patrick Mahomes is the next Tom Brady, and his team is ALWAYS better because they have Patrick Mahomes. Or, the Lions are everyone's favorite story this season, so they must be better. Just keep winning.

It’s been an interesting few days in Detroit. We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel room in Greektown, less than a mile from Ford Field. There is a casino a couple of blocks from the hotel, plenty of restaurants, all sprinkled into an old downtown neighborhood that now is coming alive after probably decades of decay. In some ways it has the same feel as parts of downtown Buffalo. There were a lot of people out and around Saturday night. Plenty of Bills fans, and a lot of Lions fans. Just like in Buffalo, it seemed many people in Lions gear weren’t here for the game; they were Lions fans just excited because a big game was coming to town. Just like Buffalo a month ago the weekend of the Chiefs game. Sunday morning, my wife and I and a friend headed out to Hitsville, USA, the Motown Museum. It was a great visit. They give a nice tour and tell the whole history of Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, and all those incredible groups that came out of these two small old houses in Detroit, old houses and streets that look so much like Buffalo. On one wall they had a plaque honoring donors to their annual campaign and to the capital campaign to support the construction of a new museum building. Near the very top of the list, where the biggest donors could be found, was the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. A good, good man. It was an easy walk to Ford Field from the hotel. Thousands of fans, all anticipating the game. A decent number of Bills fans, but we were way outnumbered. We had great seats, right on the 50 yard line, 40 rows back. We could see everything, and there have been few games in NFL history that have had more to see than that game. Where we were sitting, Lions fans outnumbered Bills fans 10 to 1 or more. The place is beautiful. They do a lot with the lights – off and on, highlighting one thing or another. Once, the whole place was dark and they put a rectangular spotlight on each bench, so the players were the only thing visible in the entire place. Every fan got a wristband, like a plastic white wrist watch. Each “watch” had two LEDs in it, and the director of the show could make your LED light up in various colors. There were times when the whole stadium was blinking different colors on and off. It was cool. It's loud in there. The roof keeps the sound in, and it seemed like there was nonstop sound blasting. Between the lights and the sound, it was a highly stimulated sensory environment. When the game started, the Bills fans didn’t make much noise. Lions had the ball, and we all just watched. When the Bills got the stop, forcing a punt, the Bills fans woke up. But it was nothing compared to when the Bills started on offense. The noise was incredible. Lions fans were nuts, all standing. It got a little quieter after the first first down, quieter still after the second first down. The fans were stunned when the Bills scored. They weren’t ready for this. After the second touchdown, the noise in the place was back to the level of a normal NFL game. The Lions fans got loud only on occasional big third downs or goal-line situations. It's impossible to recap the game from a fan-in-the-stadium perspective, so I won’t try. Why is it impossible? It would be like trying to recap a fireworks display. Boom! Bang! Flash! For almost four hours. And then all the drama at the end. Amazing. I had one impression, an impression that began for me a few weeks ago and that has been growing since then: The Bills are a very good football team, with total emphasis on the word TEAM. The Bills are more like one organism crawling, pushing, running up and down the field against a group of individuals trying to keep up. Other than Josh, there are no stars on this team, but they play as units in ways that rarely have been seen on any football team. They’re scoring 30 points game after game and other than Josh, James Cook is the only player on the field who makes me say “WOW!!!” from time time to time. The rest of the team is just guys doing their jobs. What’s amazing about the Bills is that all these guys are doing their jobs at a really high level, over and over. There are very few mistakes. Negative plays have been banished. Few sacks, few turnovers, few three and outs, few explosive plays by the opponent. Over and over, the team, the individuals together, does the right thing. Over and over, the offense has an answer, the defense has an answer. On Sunday before the first half ended, it seemed that the Lions fans had accepted the inevitability of the coming loss. It was as though collectively they had realized that the Lions couldn’t beat this team. They just sat there and watched – no more standing for the Lions defense, no more big noise as the Bills came to the line on third and whatever, because it was inevitable that third and whatever was about to become first and ten, and soon the Shout! song was going to be playing in the heads of Bills fans throughout the stadium. The Lions fans watched and cheered as the Lions’ offense got going in the second half, but the hope and excitement after every Lions score dissolved minutes later as the Bills scored again. The only thing that would end this disappointment was the clock expiring. Monday, people in Detroit were going about their business, many wearing Lions gear. But life was subdued. One woman walked into the hotel, maybe an employee showing up for work, and she saw a friend. She put on a sorrowful face and accepted a hug. It hurts in Detroit just like it hurts after a loss on those bleak Monday mornings in Buffalo. What a team! 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.

I thought Bishop was consistently slow to react. He has nice speed and size, and he closes really well, but he seemed to break late on many plays. Cam Lewis is the opposite. He seems to really understand the defense, and he wins by recognizing and reacting really well, which makes up his lack of outstanding speed. I can't say I remember what Lewis looked like his first couple of years in the league. At least, that's how the two look to me.

All this. There's another aspect of Brady's success, and that how Allen always has options and Allen and the other players always find those options. Not always, of course, but the success of the offense should be measured by the high percentage of positive plays the Bills have. Cook has positive opportunities most of the time he gets the ball, and he takes advantage. The other backs, too. All the receivers eat, because if they all run their routes, Allen will find them and Allen can deliver the ball. I noticed the Seahawks trying to run a variety of quick passes to the wing, screens and other strategies. The league began shutting the Bills down when the Bills went to Shakir too often on those plays. For the past several weeks, the Bills have gone away from that game, and they've had even better success elsewhere, Then, when you've forgotten about the wide stuff, there's another. And then, out of nowhere, comes the shovel pass to Shakir. I think we've seen that from the Bills a few times, but not often. Still, those plays are now in the arsenal. Bottom line is that the offense can attack anywhere and everywhere. Doesn't mean they can't be stopped, but it makes them hard to stop.

Well, Campbell is also a crazy gambler, so there's that. But I completely agree with Brandt's point that if it made sense to do it when they did, it had to make sense to do it when they scored again. The fact that they didn't do it again means either (1) Brandt's right - Allen was in their heads or (2) the LIons aren't very good at the details. I think it might be (2), because I also don't get why the Lions didn't take the field goal when they were in the red zone and the clock running. They needed two scores, they were saving timeouts so the Bills couldn't run out the clock, they had to save themselves some time for another drive. Whatever, Allen's amazing.

On a video interview that I saw before the game, Dan Campbell had high praise for Oliver. He said Oliver demands double teams and the Lions would double him.

No game commentary. We all saw it, and it was great. The Bills are a good team, and that makes it fun. Nice stadium. It was a pleasant place to watch. Noise all the time. They really need to turn down their loudspeakers. Fans were loud, at least sometimes. They stood on defense all around the lower bowl, and they were loud until the Bills got to 14. Then they were loud occasionally on third down. Plenty of Bills fans all around the place, and all around downtown. It was a good showing. Best fan moment: The Lions showed fans in the stands a lot. The cameras were searching for Lions fans in interesting costumes, makeup, etc. One time they just showed babies being held in the air by the parents. But the best was when they showed a fully dressed Santa Claus standing at his seat. He looked great. Then he tore open his red Santa jacket, and inside was a big, beautiful Bills logo! Great job, Santa.

Seattle and Detroit this year. And four in Buffalo.

I saw him last week. I don't think he's faster than Keon. He looked like an emergency call up from the PS.

I'm in.

Awful. I feel for him

That one really bothered me. First, the defender was just holding on to the shirt, and that I get. But when his hand pulled away from the jersey, it was clear that then there was real force being applied to Cooper, and I thought there was no way he didn't slow down as the result of that pull. It was hard to say, but it pretty easily could have been the difference between Coop getting to the ball and not.

Chances of recovering an aside kick - about 7% in the league this year. Chances of holding the Rams to three and out - about 14%, because the Bills did it to the Rams once in 7 possessions. Playing for three and out was and is the much better decision. What really disturbs me is that Tom Brady obviously had all of this drilled into his head while playing: He knew, and said it the moment the Allen sneaked on the first play, that the Bills had made a mistake. Throw the ball three times, so if you don't make it, you at least have stopped the clock on each play that doesn't score. Especially with Allen, because he can roll out and run if he has the opening, he can run out of the shotgun and pull up for the little pop pass, he has lots of options, all of which will stop the clock if he doesn't make it. By doing that, the Bills have the 14% chance of getting the ball back, twice as good as the onside kick. So, if Brady knows this, it's because someone taught it to him. By this time in his career, someone should have taught it to McDermott.

I thought he was a lock last year, and I suspect he's on the list this year because he has the inside track. We'll see.

I haven't read this thread, so I'm probably saying things others have said. I'll respond anyway. I'll start with a question. What's it going to take for the Bills to stop punt returns? The Bills are giving up 9.1 yards per return, which is right in the middle of the pack in the league. Your answer probably is, well, middle of the pack isn't terrible, and why is it so important to get better at punt coverage? The team is 10-2 and playing well. Well, the Bills are in the middle of the pack in yards given up rushing per game, and the answer is middle of the pack isn't terrible, and why is it so important to get better at rushing defense? The team is 10-2 and playing well. So, the first point is that random stats often don't correlate with winning, so being troubled by random stats often is a fool's game. In other words, the answer to your question is it doesn't really matter if the Bills improve their stats against the run. What matters is whether the Bills are winning, and they are. The second point, for which I don't have quality stats, is that not all rushing yards are made equal. The Bills' defense is designed to stop scoring, not to stop the accumulation of yards. The Bills are 11th in the league in yardage defense and 6th in the league in scoring defense. They're 18th in rush yards per game, so yes, relatively speaking their rush yard defense isn't as good as it could be. But look at 4th down defense. It's hard to know how many of those fourth down plays are running plays, but it's probably a reasonably high percentage. The Bills are fourth in the league on fourth down stops, so on the plays that really matter, the Bills' run defense appears to be pretty good. Red zone scoring? The Bills defense is tied for 8th in the league, which suggests the defense, and probably the rushing defense, is playing pretty well. Good stats aren't the objective. Winning is the objective, and the Bills are winning. In building a team, the question is how are we going to win? The answer is by scoring more points than the other team. The Bills are second in points per game scored, and they are sixth in points per game allowed. That's damn good. The Lions are way ahead of every team in point differential, and in second place the Bills are way ahead of every other team. Sean McDermott very clearly understands how to win football games, and it's also very clear that he believes the way to win football games is to stop explosive plays and to stop scoring in the red zone. If he were to build a defense that was very good at stopping the run, he would have a defense that isn't so good at stopping scoring, and that's not how McDermott wins. So, how much do we really care that the Bills aren't leading the league in punt return defense or in rushing defense?