THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Back on Track

[Shaw66]

The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66

 

Back on Track

 

The Bills beat the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday.  A win is a win, and there’s no need to complain about any win, but the big news wasn’t the win.  The big news was the Bills returned to the NFL, at least for a week. 

 

The Bills had been totally uncompetitive against the Jets, the Saints and the Chargers, being essentially unable to do anything offensively and unable to stop more or less anything on defense.   The Bills needed to prove, to their fans and most of all to themselves, that they actually deserved to be in the NFL at all.  And prove it they did.

 

For the previous three weeks, the Bills may have been the worst team in the league.  For all we know, the Browns may have petitioned the league for a schedule change.  Everyone wanted a piece of the Bills. 

 

Curiously, the Chiefs have suffered their own collapse, so the Bills had competition for the worst-team-in-the-league title.   So a game that six weeks ago looked like a crucial matchup between two of the AFC’s best became each team’s best chance to stop a desperate slide out of the playoffs. 

 

The Chiefs were big favorites, in part because they were at home, in part because their losing streak was shorter and in part because the Chiefs’ early-season success looked to be sustainable, while the Bills’ success smelled and looked more like smoke and mirrors. 

 

Well, the Bills aren’t the worst team in the league.  We still don’t know if the Chiefs are. 

 

The really good news is that the Bills’ defense showed up.  The Chiefs’ vaunted running game has stalled over the past month, so the Bills stopping the Chiefs on the ground isn’t making any NFL headlines.  Still, the Bills were stout up front.    They weren’t getting pushed off the ball, they weren’t allowing backs a free pass to the second level.   Linebackers ran to the ball and made sure tackles.   The Bills forced the Chiefs to throw. 

 

Against the pass, the Bills didn’t break down.  The pass rush certainly wasn’t devastating, but it often created pressure an Smith and got to him occasionally.   More importantly, the defensive front generally contained Smith, making it tough for Smith to hurt the Bills with his legs.  He had some nice runs, generally off scrambles, but as Bills fans know, when your QB running is your best offensive weapon, your offense is in trouble.  Smith WAS their best weapon, and he didn’t have enough to win the game. 

 

On the opposite side of the ball, the Bills’ offense is maddening.  It is hopelessly conservative.   Maybe McDermott has no confidence in Taylor, which would be consistent with the Peterman debacle.  Maybe he has no confidence in his offense generally.  Maybe it’s just that his philosophy is that defense is more important, and he believes that in crunch time you put the game in the hands of your defense. 

A few maddening sequences:  Second possession of the game.  McCoy for minus 1, pass to Zay for 5, Cadet runs for 4.  Punt.  Really?  Who runs on 3^rd and 6?   Well, it does happen once in a while, but it’s almost predictable with the Bills.

 

Bills razzle-dazzle.   Once, the Bills faked to McCoy going right, then faked the flanker reverse, leaving Taylor with the ball ten yards behind the line of scrimmage with no pass rushers in sight.   What’s the play?  Throw it BEHIND THE LINE, five yards behind the line.   Think about it – they actually designed a play hoping defenders would bite on the fake to McCoy and then threw to him, surrounded by all the defenders who bit.   The defense clearly reacted to the fake to McCoy and probably also to the flanker reverse.  The whole point of a play like that is to throw the ball downfield.   Not the Bills.  Their idea of a big play is a screen pass. 

 

With a lead, the Bills were content to play for field goals.  Up by 6 with 12 minutes left in the game, they were content to run the ball, wind the clock, and punt.   Other than the completion to O’Leary, the wouldn’t throw the ball downfield.   They punted and left it to the defense to win the game.  Did the defense do it, or are the Chiefs helpless on offense?

 

When the Bills next got the ball, still up 6, everyone knew they’d run twice and then let Taylor run.   Three and out to give the Chiefs ANOTHER chance to win and to ask the defense ONCE AGAIN to win the game. 

 

Anyone watch the Rams beat the Saints today?   Nursing a 10-point lead against an explosive offense, Goff was throwing the ball all over the field.  Not the Bills.  The hopelessly conservative offense, and consequently the hopelessly predictable offense, runs when it should run and runs when it should pass.  When it passes, it passes to running backs.  

 

Taylor had another nice game.   Not great, but enough to win.   The Bills put him on the move more than in recent weeks, and as a consequence he wasn’t getting trapped in the pocket.   He threw well, often with nice touch.   He wasn’t as accurate as he should be; the poor throw to O’Leary cost the Bills a critical first down late in the game, and he missed some other throws over the middle.   But as usual, his completion percentage was in the mid-60s, as usual he threw for under 200 yards and as usual, he had no giveaways. 

 

Can Taylor do more?  I don’t know.   The Bills don’t ask him to do more. 

 

Fun fact:  Nick O’Leary uses the same hair gel worn by Johnny Miller.

 

A few quick hitters:

 

1.  Milano always seems to make a standout play. 

 

2.  The Bills linebackers struggle in pass defense.   They held their own Sunday, barely.  To their credit, and the coaches, Kelce didn’t kill them. 

 

3.  Zay Jones looks to be playing himself into the league.  I like how he looks. 

 

4.  Colton Schmidt did a nice job.

 

5.  Hauschka, too.   Too bad his streak ended.

 

6.  I thought White would fumble on his interception return.  Gotta get down the minute someone gets close.  

 

7.  Shady does some amazing little thing every game.  Or two, or three.   Not necessarily spectacular, but amazing. 

 

8.  Anyone think Peterman gives the Bills the best chance to beat the Pats?

 

9.  Bills could use Benjamin and Glenn in the lineup, but the Bills have nothing to complain about on the injury front.   They’ve been remarkably injury-free.

 

10.   Playoffs?  Through week 12, the Bills are in.   Beat Miami twice and Indianapolis once and they have a chance.  Throw in a win over the Pats and they’re in.  That would mean closing the season 5-1 after three totally embarrassing losses.  Don’t bet the ranch. 

 

So, are the Bills back, the October Bills?   Or are the Chiefs just that bad?  Tune in when the Pats visit Orchard Park next week.   Ball game or blowout?  

 

 

 

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 everyday 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.

[Happy]

23 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

On the opposite side of the ball, the Bills’ offense is maddening.  It is hopelessly conservative clueless.   Maybe McDermott has no confidence in Taylor, which would be consistent with the Peterman debacle.  Maybe he has no confidence in his offense generally.  Maybe it’s just that his philosophy is that defense is more important, and he believes that in crunch time you put the game in the hands of your defense. 

A few maddening sequences:  Second possession of the game.  McCoy for minus 1, pass to Zay for 5, Cadet runs for 4.  Punt.  Really?  Who runs on 3^rd and 6?   Well, it does happen once in a while, but it’s almost predictable with the Bills.

Once again the defense won the game, while the offense did just enough not to throw it away.  I'm not convinced that Dennison actually knows what he's doing.  He's shown to be extremely stubborn and clueless.  I suspect it was Dennison's idea to start Peterman agains SD and Tyrod was prepared to come in if the wheels fell off the experiment, which they did.  If Dennison play calls not to lose next week, and gets cute with stupid gimmicks, it will be another long and embarrassing loss to NE.

 

I have to believe that McDermott wants to score on offense, and find it hard to believe that 3 points is an acceptable cushion.  It has been said that he wants to avoid turnovers, which is fine, but you can't coach scared and expect to win consistently.  The offense has to score.  Dennison just does a poor job game planning the opposing defense, and I have to believe McDermott has to see this...right?  This needs to be fixed next week.

 

On defense, the key to beating Brady is pressure up the middle; the blueprint to beating him is known, though teams inexplicably fail to do this.  Hope Frazier is up to the task, otherwise NE will carve us up for 50 points.

 

Good writeup.

[Shaw66]

7 minutes ago, Happy Gilmore said:

Once again the defense won the game, while the offense did just enough not to throw it away.  I'm not convinced that Dennison actually knows what he's doing.  He's shown to be extremely stubborn and clueless.  I suspect it was Dennison's idea to start Peterman agains SD and Tyrod was prepared to come in if the wheels fell off the experiment, which they did.  If Dennison play calls not to lose next week, and gets cute with stupid gimmicks, it will be another long and embarrassing loss to NE.

 

I have to believe that McDermott wants to score on offense, and find it hard to believe that 3 points is an acceptable cushion.  It has been said that he wants to avoid turnovers, which is fine, but you can't coach scared and expect to win consistently.  The offense has to score.  Dennison just does a poor job game planning the opposing defense, and I have to believe McDermott has to see this...right?  This needs to be fixed next week.

 

On defense, the key to beating Brady is pressure up the middle; the blueprint to beating him is known, though teams inexplicably fail to do this.  Hope Frazier is up to the task, otherwise NE will carve us up for 50 points.

 

Good writeup.

 You properly separate two separate thoughts:  1.  Conservative offense.  2.  Bad offense.   I put them together.  

 

I think McDermott is conservative.   So is Dennison.  

 

But the offense still has to have plays that work, and they have to get called.   That, as you say, is on Dennison.  

[LABILLBACKER]

Dennison is just awful. He embodies everything you don't want in an OC. I'm grateful we won but no wonder this defense quit 3 weeks ago. It wasn't Dareus or McD, it was a statement to everyone involved in the offense. 

[Kelly the Dog]

The worst thing he does is call plays or design strategies or game plans that work, and then abandon them. 

[HappyDays]

I didn’t get a ton of joy out of this win. Maybe it’s because the Patriots are coming to town next week and that feels like a sure loss. Maybe it’s because I think McDermott already lost the team by benching Tyrod when we were still in the playoff race. Mostly I think it’s because I don’t feel like the Bills beat anyone tonight. They didn’t beat themselves, which is progress from last week. But they didn’t really beat the Chiefs either, the Chiefs did. They had equally questionable play calling, a run game that couldn’t get going, and the real difference was Alex Smith made a few more mistakes than Tyrod did. So I’m left feeling pretty empty about what should be a very important win in the playoff race. Playing the Patriots aggressively would bring my enthusiasm back but I’m not counting on it. I expect the Patriots to walk all over our defense like they’ve done against every other defense. I wonder if our coaches are smart enough to realize we need to score a lot of points next week, and a game plan like today won’t get it done. The same game plan we’ve had every week.

[Kelly the Dog]

Just now, HappyDays said:

I didn’t get a ton of joy out of this win. Maybe it’s because the Patriots are coming to town next week and that feels like a sure loss. Maybe it’s because I think McDermott already lost the team by benching Tyrod when we were still in the playoff race. Mostly I think it’s because I don’t feel like the Bills beat anyone tonight. They didn’t beat themselves, which is progress from last week. But they didn’t really beat the Chiefs either, the Chiefs did. They had equally questionable play calling, a run game that couldn’t get going, and the real difference was Alex Smith made a few more mistakes than Tyrod did. So I’m left feeling pretty empty about what should be a very important win in the playoff race. Playing the Patriots aggressively would bring my enthusiasm back but I’m not counting on it. I expect the Patriots to walk all over our defense like they’ve done against every other defense. I wonder if our coaches are smart enough to realize we need to score a lot of points next week, and a game plan like today won’t get it done. The same game plan we’ve had every week.

Why isn't it winning when Tyrod made less mistakes than Alex Smith? Quarterback is ALL about making plays while minimizing mistakes. 

[billspro]

I think that DeAndre Coleman has been a very underrated addition to the defence. He has replaced the run stuffing role that Dareus used to fill and done very well. Our defence is much better with Milano on the field, he is our most athletic LB. Then there is White, I think they avoided him most of the day and he got the game clinching INT. I don't want to forget about Gaines either, when he is healthy and we have two good corners this D has been good this year. 

 

On offence it seems Dawkins is starting to develop into a solid left tackle. I think I would even move Glenn over to RT at this point, maybe that would take some pressure off his foot injury. Zay is starting to look like an NFL WR, that is going to be huge for us if we want to make a playoff run. I think that Cadet should be RB2 from now on, he provides so much more than Tolbert at this point. 

[hemma]

Better coverage, better pass rush.

 

EJ Gaines being back helped make our 'pass rush' appear to be better.  

We started Yarbrough over Lawson to help our pass rush actually be better.

 

 

[HappyDays]

7 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Why isn't it winning when Tyrod made less mistakes than Alex Smith? Quarterback is ALL about making plays while minimizing mistakes. 

 

By mistakes I mean missing plays that are there to be made. This thread from the Chiefs fan board has good examples:

 

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=311814

 

Our run defense actually played much better in this game. But in the pass game there are still open receivers and big plays that a good QB will find. Alex Smith missed them more often than not but Brady won’t. There were a few drops, and a bunch of plays where Alex Smith threw inaccurately or missed an open man. Letting the other team beat itself isn’t a long-term winning strategy. Our offense needs to wake up.

[Bray Wyatt]

With how our defense was playing, I had no problem putting them back out there to seal the win, if this was a higher scoring type game, I doubt the play calling is the same like say it was 27-21 and not 16-10

[Stank_Nasty]

this game really didn't do much to change my view. i didn't think they were as bad as the last 3 losses and didn't really think they were as good as the 5-2 record weeks ago. just an average squad. could go anywhere from 7-9 to 9-7 depending on how the ball bounces. happened to catch a team at the right time playing awful football. 

 

dennison is freaking awful..... i remember a sequence in the 2nd half where they ran for 9 on first down and then couldn't get a 2nd and then a 3rd and one. and then on the very next drive they ran for 7 on 1st down and again couldn't pick up 3 more on 2nd and 3rd. both drives were 3 and outs..... that's pathetic. 

 

in other news....what a breath of fresh air cadet has been. 

Edited November 27, 2017 by Stank_Nasty

[Marty McFly]

13 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

this game really didn't do much to change my view. i didn't think they were as bad as the last 3 losses and didn't really think they were as good as the 5-2 record weeks ago. just an average squad. could go anywhere from 7-9 to 9-7 depending on how the ball bounces. happened to catch a team at the right time playing awful football. 

 

dennison is freaking awful..... i remember a sequence in the 2nd half where they ran for 9 on first down and then couldn't get a 2nd and then a 3rd and one. and then on the very next drive they ran for 7 on 1st down and again couldn't pick up 3 more on 2nd and 3rd. both drives were 3 and outs..... that's pathetic. 

 

in other news....what a breath of fresh air cadet has been. 

 

Yeah that was crazy. Piss poor play calling.  With clay shady and tyrod there is no excuse to not dial up a quick short pass play for the 1st down. Having cadet since game 1 couldve made this offense better.

[Stank_Nasty]

3 minutes ago, Marty McFly said:

 

Yeah that was crazy. Piss poor play calling.  With clay shady and tyrod there is no excuse to not dial up a quick short pass play for the 1st down. Having cadet since game 1 couldve made this offense better.

100%. i always knew he was a solid option for brees and the saints over the years but never paid much attention. sure handed and very slippery 3rd down/spell back.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Stank_Nasty

[Marty McFly]

4 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

100%. i always knew he was a solid option for brees and the saints over the years but never paid much attention. sure handed and very slippery 3rd down/spell back.

 

Im starting to wonder is Dennison asking for a better roster? Or at least bringing in the right talent to run the plays hes calling? Any idiot could see Cadet is a better fit then Tolbert.

[HappyDays]

29 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

this game really didn't do much to change my view. i didn't think they were as bad as the last 3 losses and didn't really think they were as good as the 5-2 record weeks ago. just an average squad. could go anywhere from 7-9 to 9-7 depending on how the ball bounces. happened to catch a team at the right time playing awful football. 

 

dennison is freaking awful..... i remember a sequence in the 2nd half where they ran for 9 on first down and then couldn't get a 2nd and then a 3rd and one. and then on the very next drive they ran for 7 on 1st down and again couldn't pick up 3 more on 2nd and 3rd. both drives were 3 and outs..... that's pathetic. 

 

in other news....what a breath of fresh air cadet has been. 

 

Nothing sums up Dennison better than the run on 3rd and 6. I don’t know what it is with some coaches. I wouldn’t ever run on 3rd and more than 2 unless it was 4 down territory. Doing that on the 2nd possession of the game was insane.

[Stank_Nasty]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Nothing sums up Dennison better than the run on 3rd and 6. I don’t know what it is with some coaches. I wouldn’t ever run on 3rd and more than 2 unless it was 4 down territory. Doing that on the 2nd possession of the game was insane.

and if you do decide to do it...... how bout we make the executive decision to keep our elite runner out there... i'm so over dennison. just so over him.

[Jasovon]

I wish we didn't have the pats next week, we will get steamrolled and demoralised. Though if we do somehow win i can see us making the playoffs almost for certain. 

[P51]

Im a big fan Shaw, nice job again!

 

Cheers 

[SoCal Deek]

Shaw

 

I'm with the majority here. I can't recall a 'big' road win that I was LESS excited about. This felt like one of those meaningless week seventeen wins that only served to screw up the next year's draft.