Shaw66

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?

Thanks for this. It's a great read. It's certainly one perspective of the team, and it's not too far off. We can admire these men. They are good stories, all. Oh, and Micah Hyde is back, the safety who was, simply, a stud.

Good stuff. Amazing that Reid hasn't won it in Kansas City. Stefanski has won it twice

Lately, I’ve been admiring how elegantly good McDermott’s team is. In particular, I’ve been admiring what a special coach McDermott is. Stop there, just for a moment. I’m not saying McDermott’s perfect, and I’m not here to start a discussion about his strengths and weakness. I’m just looking at the exceptional thing he has done, and comparing it to other coaches and situations around the league. When McDermott came to Buffalo, he took a team with a 15+-year history of failure, a team that lacked any real leadership at the top. Rex Ryan had left nothing to build on in terms of organization. There was some talent, but the overall talent level was thin. McDermott took the team to the playoffs in his first season, suffered through one tough season, and has been in the playoffs every year since. He’s won five straight division titles. That’s a truly amazing coaching job. “A brutal loss, a volatile locker room, and weird Zoom: Inside the Bears’ firing of Matt Eberflus.” That’s how ESPN introduces a recent lead story. Think about how much different the Bears organization is, right now, compared to the Bills. Think about the dysfunction at the Jets. McDermott took a team in turmoil, turmoil not unlike what Chicago and the Jets (and several other teams, too) are in these days, and immediately took them to the playoffs. He took one year to get Josh Allen acclimated to playing in the NFL, now he has a team that is a solid favorite to make the playoffs every year. McDermott’s excellence is seen not just in his record. It’s apparent in how his players play. They are focused on their jobs and they do them as well as they can, play after play. They block together on offense, they play integrated defense. They may get beaten on a play every now and then – that happens to everyone, but they don’t confuse assignments, they aren’t out of position, and they don’t run from contact. Look at how they run the quarterback sneak. The Bills are behind only the Eagles in efficiency on that play. Yes, it helps to have a strong, athletic quarterback who, if he weren’t the ball carrier, is big enough to be one of the pushers. Watch instead how the interior linemen always get the push needed for the first down. That’s not easy to do, but the Bills have developed that skill. Look at the way the linebackers and defensive backs cover the entire field. Yes, they give up completions, but they’re rarely out of position. Being in position means at least they can make the tackle, occasionally they can defend the pass, and occasionally they even can intercept. And their spacing is so good that often it’s not a one-on-one tackle, because a second tackler arrives quickly, then a third. That’s quality defensive play. The Browns-Broncos game on Monday showed two teams who are executing at a much lower level than the Bills. Those teams have some good athletes who fly around and make plays, but they lack the consistent excellence the Bills play with. Quarterbacks often fail to understand the defense, make inaccurate throws, take unnecessary sacks. Receivers’ routes leave them closely covered, and the receivers fail to fight for receptions. Defenders are out of position, don’t pursue, don’t gang tackle. Those teams aren’t executing because they aren’t coached to execute at that level. The Bills are executing a plan for a team, not for a collection of players. The players have learned the plan, and newcomers to the team learn the plan within a year or two. Look at Taylor Rapp: A year ago, he wasn’t the stud that I had hoped he would become. He made some plays, but he also missed plays, too. It took him a year to work into the defense. Now, Rapp seems always to be where he needs to be. He understands his role, and he understands that he can trust his teammates to understand and execute theirs. Executing that role allows Rapp’s skills to come out. I’ve been impressed all season by his tackling, and there was none better than his shoe-string play on McCaffrey on Sunday night, except maybe the forced fumble on the goal line later. The Bills execute at an extremely high level, and that is happening because Sean McDermott teaches everyone – the coaches and the players and all of the supporting cast – to do their jobs at a high level. It began the season he arrived, and he’s been raising the Bills’ level of play ever since. McDermott’s done an impressive job, and he hasn’t finished. 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.

Man, I would hope Buffalo is cool enough not to tear down goalposts. Act like you've been there, and all that. Still, I hear you.

You know what this discussion sounds like? It sounds like a lot guys, collectively saying this: Whatever defenses do, the Bills find a way to attack and move the ball. They are diverse in the best way, because they seem to adapt to whatever the defense is doing. A lot has to do with Josh. Everyone knows his job, but Josh has to walk up to the line of scrimmage, look around, then decide whether to change plays, get everyone to understand the play change, and then execute. And every player knows if he does his job, Josh will find a way. Get Cooper back and fully tuned in to Josh, get Kincaid and Coleman back, this could be a smokin offense in a few weeks.

I want to add something else about the game itself, not the experience. Tuesday night I watched the replay of the game on the NFL Network. Every few minutes, I'd have the same thought: The Bills are really good. The Bills now are the team that McDermott always envisioned: They play a total team game, and a team that plays like that is very tough to beat. Where it's easiest to see is on defense. The Bills' defense makes it hard to play, every down. Even on completed passes, one or two defenders are right there, making a play on the ball and then making the tackle. In the red zone, they make it really hard to score. Running the ball into the end zone from the two-yard line against the Bills seems almost impossible. Even when the Chiefs scored, it was just barely. Essentially what they do on defense is have eleven guys spread around the field with assignments that allow the team, collectively, to cover every place on the field. Each guy knows his assignment and executes. And they tackle! Hunt broke through for a 15-yard run or so, and Rapp made a textbook tackle. Cam Lewis flashed. The reason Bills fans, including me, were underwhelmed by Rousseau for the past few seasons is that he doesn't make the highlight-reel play very often. What he does do, however, is execute his assignment flawlessly, with speed, size, and strength. He's rushing the passer, he's stopping the run, he's controlling the edge. Bernard is the ringmaster, completely in charge. It's a phenomenal team defense. And the offense has the same characteristics. Everyone blocks. The pass protection is excellent. Even when it isn't working, they keep running the ball, because the constant threat of the run challenges the defense in ways that create openings to throw the ball. The Bills always seem ready to attack where the defense is weak. Allen seems to be becoming what we'd always hoped and expected. He's a field general who sees and reads defenses. The offense works its way down the field relentlessly, because Allen always knows where to go with the ball. And then, on the four or five or six plays when the Bills really need it, he takes off the horned-rim glasses and the Clark Kent business suit and becomes Superman. There is only one other Superman in the league, Lamar Jackson the Ravens offense is good but not so persistently effective as the Bills offense. The NFL is so competitive that teams (other than the Lions) can't dominate play after play after play, and the Bills can't either. But the Bills are IN every play. If they don't make the play, they come close. It's really impressive. And they're about to bring Kincaid, Coleman, and Milano back to the lineup, and to get Cooper fully integrated and at full-speed, all playing the same kind of team game but with the ability to make the special play from time to time. I think we're looking forward to a couple of exciting months.

Great stuff. Thanks.

Love the parrot story, thanks! Was the crowd standing. Truth is, I don't know. In the Club seats, people stand for opening kickoff, big third downs or other big plays. Most of the rest of the time, even when the Bills are on defense, they sit. That's fine with me. When I look at the lower bowl, it usually looks to me like everyone is standing. I didn't actually look on Sunday, but I went through the entire game assuming they were standing! Bottom line - the crowd on Sunday was about as energized as I've seen.

He was still standing at the end of the game!

I’d been antsy all week. From any perspective, the Chiefs at the Bills was a big game. A Bills win would put them back in the running for the bye in the playoffs. The Chiefs had displayed a great knack for finding a way to win, and we all knew they’d found ways to win against the Bills in the past. It was Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and Andy Reid coming to town for a showdown, and they would be ready. The national hype for the game was well under way. Everyone who cares about football would be watching this one. At noon on Sunday, my friend and I were sitting in the parking lot at the Buffalo Sports Garden on Southwestern Boulevard in Orchard Park. We had talked about going downtown for lunch, but I was too much on edge to plan for a mid-afternoon drive from downtown to Highmark Stadium – the traffic and parking lots are so unpredictable that I simply didn’t want to risk it. Orchard Park was a much better staging area, because it meant we had only a short drive to the stadium when the time was right. The restaurant opened at 12:00 sharp, and we walked in. Surprisingly, the place wasn’t packed. Most tables were occupied, but not all. They have a lot of TVs, and all sorts of pregame shows for all the 1 pm games were on the screens. The CBS studio crew kept popping up all over, with Bills fans in the background, yelling and waiving signs. It was like we were in the parking lot with them, but we were just sitting, having lunch, and getting wired for the game. We watched the 1 pm games, focused primarily on the Steelers and the Ravens. Interesting, hard fought game. AFC North games are always entertaining. At halftime, we were out the door and in ten minutes, we were pulling into Lot 6 at the stadium. There was very little traffic and as I drove to a parking space, I realized why the traffic was light: It was an hour and half before the game, and everyone going to the game was already there. The lots were almost completely full. We donned our gear and went directly to the gate. There were no lines – tailgating was in full swing, so we walked right in and went to the Pepsi Club. We’d missed only a few minutes of the third quarter of the Steelers-Ravens, and we watched the rest of the game in the Club. Every once in a while a TV screen in the Club would switch to the CBS crew, still doing their pregame shtick, including jumping on tables. Finally with a minute left, it became clear that the Steelers would win it, game time was fast approaching, and we headed for our seats. Understand this: We’d just had pretty much the same television experience that millions of fans around the country had had. It had been a normal Sunday of NFL football on TV. We’d seen all the hype about Bills-Chiefs, with highlights of Mahomes and Allen making plays and all of that. And then we walked twenty yards and walked into the stadium to our seats. It felt like we had somehow walked into the TV show we’d been watching. The stadium was completely packed – all those people who were in the lots when we walked into the Club at 3 pm had filled the stadium while we were watching football on TV. There were no visible empty seats. Anticipation of the game was hanging in the air. Within a couple minutes after taking our seats, a huge American flag covered the field, the Star Spangled Banner was sung, helicopters flew overhead, and the game began. We were at the game the entire country was watching! The noise during the Chiefs’ first possession was as loud as it gets in Highmark Stadium. We’d seen the occasional Chiefs fans at the hotel, at the restaurant, walking through the parking lot, and in the Club, but in the stadium, it was Bills blue everywhere, with only the occasional dot of red here and there. The Chiefs fans tried making some noise, but it was obvious to everyone that it has hopeless: they were in Bills country now, and they had to just sit and wait for whatever was coming. The game, of course, lived up to the hype; it was another classic to add to the story of the Bills and the Chiefs under Allen and Mahomes. When the Bills went up 23-14 early in the fourth quarter, it was the first time that either team had had a two-score lead. The lead didn’t last long; the Chiefs drove seventy yards in five minutes to get back within two points, 23-21. There were eight minutes left in the game, and everyone in the stadium had the same thought: This is Mahomes and the Chiefs, and they’ve just started their Mahomes-and-the-Chiefs thing, taking over the game down the stretch to win in the end. There was only one way to beat them, and that was to drive the proverbial stake in the heart. Running out the clock would do it, but an eight-minute drive was unlikely. The Bills needed a touchdown. A field goal wasn’t enough; everyone knew that with a minute to go and the ball, Mahomes could find a way to get the touchdown to win. That’s what Mahomes does. Even McDermott admitted it later. The Bills put together the drive they needed until, at third and two from the Chiefs’ 26-yard line, Ty Johnson was stopped for no gain. 2:27 left in the game. The Bills were where they have often found themselves late in games: in a one-score game, with the offense stalled and asking the defense to win the game with one more stop. Sometimes the defense comes through, sometimes it doesn’t, but it shouldn’t be that way. The offense needs to win the game, and that was exactly the message Sean McDermott delivered to the offense. A field goal wasn’t enough – it still would be a one score game. The offense had to get the first down, at least to run more time off the clock, but also to give the Bills another chance to score the touchdown that would end the game. One play to win the game. Did the offense have it in them? Yes! Allen came to the line of scrimmage and understood the defense the Chiefs were showing. As the play began, the Chiefs left what had been a disguise and changed defenses. Allen was ready. His options were to throw if his receiver was open or to run if the defense had covered the receiver. It was more or less impossible for the defense to cover both options. Allen looked briefly at the receiver and took off running to his right. Chris Jones, the Chiefs’ all-world defensive tackle had been lined up to that side, but he was being man-handled by Bills guard O’Cyrus Torrence. Torrence drove Jones completely out of the play. A cheer went up as Allen took off running. It was the fans saying, in unison, “Josh is our man and he’s running the ball!!!” Within a second, the cheer got louder, because Allen had gained the necessary two yards, had the first down and was still running. Now Allen was at the fifteen, running at full speed with some Chiefs closing in. The fans got louder; they’d seen this before – their 250-pound hero doing his Superman-thing. Allen barreled through the last Chiefs defender at the goal line and fell into the end zone as the crowd erupted into the loudest roar of the entire afternoon. Touchdown! Game over! Bills win! It wasn’t over, of course. Two minutes left; for any other team, the situation would be hopeless, but this was, still, the Chiefs and Mahomes. They began their march up field, probing the Bills defense, looking for some way to put up a big gain and a quick score. It still seemed possible when on fourth down Mahomes scrambled for 18 yards and a first down to the Bills’ 34 yard-line. However, an offensive holding penalty negated the gain, and on fourth and 13, Terrel Bernard intercepted. One more eruption from the fans, a couple of kneel-downs by Allen, and the win was secured. Leaving the stadium, everyone was smiling (except Chiefs fans – including one in a red Chiefs game jersey, number 13, with “SECONDS” where a player’s name should be). It felt so good. The Bills stadium workers at the exits were smiling and greeting us as we left. One fan, assuming a staffer at the game had been outside the stadium throughout the game, said to her, “Wait until you watch the replay of the game.” She said, simply, “I can’t wait!” The traffic jam getting out of the lots was, of course, massive, because no one had left early. Within a half hour, we were back on Southwestern Boulevard, and within a few minutes more we had returned to the Buffalo Sports Garden, where the day had started with lunch and the early games. Now, we were back for supper and the first half of the Sunday night game. At halftime (after watching the Bills highlights one more time), we went back to the hotel, and as the final seconds of the the Chargers’ win over the Bengals ticked away, I turned off the television, turned out the lights, and fell asleep. Perfect. 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 think you understate the importance of what we saw yesterday. It's true, it's only one game, but I think the game displayed beautifully a couple of things we've been waiting for. 1. McDermott's approach is based on a belief that the offense and the defense can literally get better from season to season, as the players learn to make decisions and to execute nearly flawlessly. I think this season is demonstrating that. A good argument can be made the Bills are better this season than last season, even with the substantial personnel changes that were made. And, as he's already alluded to occasionally, the coaching is getting better year over year, too. McDermott is developing a better feel for decision-making. He seems calmer than in previous seasons. A lot of the time he's observing, because his coordinators are funning the game the way he wants. 2. Allen gets it. His description of what he was thinking on the TD showed that it's all coming naturally now. He knew what he was looking at, could see the Chiefs were showing one defense and sliding to another, he understood what it meant and where he could attack it. That high-level thinking on the field. He's been taking the short completion over the deeper 50-50 ball more often - and he's making smart decisions, generally, about when to throw the 50-50 ball. These aren't things that have happened overnight, but to have it so clearly on display in a big game against the most feared opponent in the league (along with Detroit), that's important.

Full time officials and booth review. Full time officials would cost each team $1 million a year. Worth to improve the credibility of the game.

Thanks, and I agree about the last point. If he lost any speed that a good receiver wouldn't, that was the difference between a completion and a near miss.

I haven't watched replays carefully. Did he lose speed? If so, that's a really interesting point, because it was literally a half step, which means the ball was right on the money. Still, I'll say that given how open he was, Allen could have and probably should have dialed it back a tad. That was a tough run for his receiver.

Talk about complementary football. They are it. They play really tough defense, and when the defense needs someone to pick them up, they turn to Mahomes. Great combination. I think the Bills simply aren't at their level, yet. I think they're a year away. I think the Bills need to plug in a really good defensive talent somewhere. I was hoping it would be Bishop, and maybe he's like Bernard - he needs his rookie season to get up to speed. I hope they'll acquire someone special in the off season, ideally a stud d lineman. Then the Bills will look like the Chiefs do now - great defense, with a quarterback and an offense that demoralizes the opponent. Brady and Manning used to play every year for the same reason. I'm sure the Pats and Colts fans hated it, but the rest of the country loved it. Pats-Colts was always a must-see game.

It's true, it's not a rebuild, but it's still a fabulous job on the coaching (and personnel) end. The pieces keep changing, and a lot of the pieces are not high-end talent, but the team keeps winning. The list of names who have contributed is impressive: Rapp, Hamlin, Lewis, Spector, Williams, the D line rotation, the receiver room. It's not that all of these guys, and others I haven't named, are great. The whole point is that McDermott and his staff can prepare less-than-great players, and the collective result is that the team keeps winning. That's impressive.

No replay of the call against Douglas in the end zone. Penalties are part of the game, so they aren't showing the whole game.

I hear you. No one had immediate success in those days. That was because the pro game was so different from college. Now, the pros have adopted a lot principles from the college game, and I think that's why guys are having what seems like more immediate success. I think I heard that Jayden Daniels is running the same offense he ran in college (maybe it was someone else). Then the defenses figure out the tendencies of these kids and they stop them unless they grow as a field generals. Ultimately, college skills aren't enough to keep anyone on top. I think Lamar is a good example. He's gotten progressively better, year after year, running the Ravens' passing offense, and that's what keeps him on top. Kudos to him. A lot these kids from college plateau and don't keep advancing. But it is true that some have more success immediately than in earlier eras.

Yes, about the presnap penalties. The formations, the motions, the various options, the tackles eligible. All of it adds complexity and increases the chances that guy screw up. Yes, about the receivers, too. They're extraordinary. But the league needs to find a way to get back to their being able to make plays downfield. Right now, they're pretty much hemmed into the line of scrimmage and five or ten yards beyond. No, about the QBs. I think there are young QBs who fall into the right situation and make big splashes, but they have to have the brains and mental discipline, and experience, to run these complicated offenses. So, you have Stroud being all the rage last season, and now he is struggling. Every season there are one or two who are flashing greatness, but we haven't seen many climb into the true upper tier. As much as I've dumped on Lamar, I've gotta say that he's now upper tier. Mahomes, for sure, and I think Allen, particularly given the maturity he's playing with this season. As of this season, I'd say not Herbert, not Murray, not Cousins, not Mayfield, not Fields, not Darnold, not the guy in Philadelphia, not Stroud. And I'd say don't crown Daniels in his first season, just as crowning Stroud was premature.

CeeDee Lamb And I always thought Dak was a bad investment. I think all three franchises have habitually made bad personnel decisions, including head coach choicess. I suspect, however, that the problem with the coaches is inappropriate interference from the owner, certainly in the case of the Cowboys and the Raiders (if we assume Mark Davis manages like his father) and probably the Browns, too. Jones's approach is too much driven by the bottom line. He values the show that he puts on more than the superiority of his team. They always seem to have multiple players who love the spotlight so much that they lose sight of what's necessary to win, players who make for good TV. All the way back to Prime Time, TO, and Michael Irvin. Great, great, players, but they wanted the spotlight. At least Irvin won, but I think that's probably to AIkman's credit. .

When the Bills got Cooper, someone asked why has the guy changed teams so much. Answer, ownership. He played for the Raiders, the Cowboy, and the Browns. That's dysfunctional, cubed.

This is great stuff, nice analysis. Thanks.

I guess it isn't a fascinating question, because more or less everyone agrees it's the Browns. In my mind, it's simple. If you're NFL team and you don't have a QB to build around, you need a quarterback. Seems like both teams have cap problems that will keep them from acquiring a QB in free agency, but it's pretty tough to get a good QB in free agency - just look at, uh, the Saints. Cousins is about the free agent QB any team has gotten since, uh, the Saints and Brees. That means they have to draft a QB. Let's assume both teams hit the lottery and draft QBs are good from the get go and are guys they can build on. Which team is in a better position to build? Saints, because their cap situation is less bad than the Browns. Ownership? I have no idea if Gayle Benson knows what she's doing in New Orleans. I am sure that Jimmy Haslam doesn't know what he's doing in Cleveland. Again, the negative advantage foes to New Orleans. I'd rather be the Bills.

If I had to guess, I'd guess it wasn't his best game. He showed up in the passing game, but I've been noticing him playing special teams. He plays them all, I think, and multiple times I've seen someone make a play and ask, "Who was that?" It's surprising how often the answer is Hollins. I think he's another one of those guys whom McDermott loves.