Shaw66 Posted May 26, 2019 Author Posted May 26, 2019 4 minutes ago, Stallions said: I was at the Rockpile in 1960 with my Dad and I've been optimistic ever since . It' a wonderful illness! Illness. Yes. Wonderful. Yes.
PolishPrince Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 As a 30 year old happily married man, I want to sit in Josh Allen's lap. 4
GETTOTHE50 Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 The only thing is that the AFC is tough. I think one super bowl berth may be possible if mcd and josh keep improving, but there are the chiefs, colts, and browns to look out for. Those three will be perennial division winners if their QBs stay healthy.
Marv's Neighbor Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 It’s like they’re all from Mayberry. If I'm not mistaken, that's in NC. The C stands for Carolina, and that explains so much! I am optimistic too but that keeps being over shadowed by realism. Any way.....GO BILLS!
Happy Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 7 minutes ago, PolishPrince said: As a 30 year old happily married man, I want to sit in Josh Allen's lap. But would Josh Allen want this? 1
Rocket94 Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 Very informative, measured and accurate description of the Bills today. Coming from a fan who has witnessed it all through the years! A true testament!
NoSaint Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 2 hours ago, Augie said: This year could look very different. Hate Josh taking off for the 20 yard scamper? Kiko says the spy thing doesn’t work very well. Go more zone so DB’s don’t turn their backs? Can Josh find the guys settling down in the soft spots? Afraid of the deep ball? Maybe more 2 deep safeties? Does that open up the run again? It should be an interesting year, and hopefully points to great things for the next decade plus. Ironically, the big athletic qb with an arm, and speedy deep threats that open up the running game always seemed to be whaleys vision. Likely from his Pittsburgh ties. that they have come back around to it is one of the things that has me feeling more optimistic than I did looking at slower big bodies in Carolina and then bringing in KB here. Real speed outside plus a qb that can move the chains with his legs too is so hard to defend. Finding the right QB is tricky though.
HuSeYiN_NYC Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 As long as McDermott keeps getting rid of coaches that don't adapt to the NFL and bring out the best in the players they're coaching, I'm on board... I was very worried that McD would be married to the coaches he handpicked but he's proved more than once that if coaches don't produce, they get replaced. I love that about him... 4
Rocket94 Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 3 hours ago, jkeerie said: I think you may be onto something Shaw. Is it optimistic?...yes. Overly so? No. Your outlook is reasoned and measured. Count me in the cult as well. Yes...I call it optimism!
The Firebaugh Kid Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 Lets goooooo!!!!! Billieve and it shall be done. 4 hours ago, Shaw66 said: The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66 “The Hopeless Optimist” I know I’m probably heading for a big crash, but I can’t help it: I think the golden age of the Buffalo Bills is upon us. I think we are about to witness the greatest run of excellence in the history of the franchise, and one of the greatest of all time in the NFL. Maybe it’s just because I’ve lived a long life and been fortunate to have had a lot of good things happen around me. About the only good thing that hasn’t happened is true greatness for my football team. I was there for the AFL championships and the Super Bowls. Now it’s time to go all the way. Whatever the reason, I can’t talk myself out of believing the Bills are about to take off. It’s not that I expect the 2019 Bills to be great – someplace in the 9-7 to 7-9 range once again this year; what I expect is that the 2020 Bills will be a solid playoff team and a regular preseason Super Bowl contender after that. It could come a year earlier or a year later, but it’s coming. “WHAT??!!! You can’t be serious,” readers scream. I’m serious. I’m serious for the combination of several reasons. 1. The Process I keep listening to McDermott and Beane, learning about what they are doing. If I understand it, I think it will work to build a team that is a powerhouse for many seasons. It’s about continuous improvement, getting better at your job. McDermott says it over and over. Get better every day. That’s why they want rookies. They want the benefit of a football player for ten years, getting better year after after year. Part of the genius of that system is that new guys get pulled up to level of the rest of the team pretty quickly. When the team is playing at a good level, rookies come in and learn quickly to play at the good level. When the team is great, rookies come in and learn to play at the great level. McDermott saw Andy Reid do it, and he’s watched Bill Belichick do it. Everyone is challenged to get better, game after game, season after season. Players are challenged. Coaches are challenged, too. McDermott is expected to improve. Daboll is expected to improve. Frazier. Everyone. If you aren’t working to improve, you aren’t part of the process. No player is guaranteed a job, and every player knows that he will sit or worse as soon as someone comes along who does it better. And the players are happy with that, because they understand they are part of a bigger process. If they’ve worked hard and made the team better, they will share in the team’s future success, because they were part of building the platform from which it all took off. I guarantee that when McDermott wins a Super Bowl in Buffalo, Kyle Williams will know that he owns a part of that trophy. Continuous improvement. 2. The Coach My apologies to the lifelong atheists in the crowd, but there’s no way to describe McDermott except in religious terms. He’s organizing a cult, with avid followers who get high on the Word. It’s his personal version of The 300, with everyone doing his job, doing anything, for the benefit of everyone else, with a little of Andy of Mayberry wholesome goodness thrown it. He practices what he preaches. He’s about doing the right thing all the time, preparing, learning, communicating. He lives in a world where everyone earns what he gets, and everyone understands why they sometimes don’t get what they tried to earn. He expects a Lombardi Trophy and nothing less, and he understands that if he doesn’t get it, someone else better will get the job. And he’s okay with that. He imposes that world on his players, and he expects them to be okay with it, so he must be okay with it, too. He cares about everyone in his organization, and he wants everyone in the organization to care, too. Was there an element of commercialism in how McDermott and the Bills adopted PanchoBilla in his final weeks? Sure. But there was genuine caring and concern, too, and there was genuine grief at the end. Is McDermott perfect? No. Does he make mistakes? Plenty. But it’s about continuous improvement, learning and getting better very day. He WILL get better, because he won’t accept less from himself. And don’t forget, he took his first head coaching job at about the same age as Bill Belichick, and Belichick made mistakes for years before he hit his stride. McDermott is growing into greatness. McDermott does it right, and by doing it right, those around him do it right, too. 3. The GM I just love Beane. I love his calculating approach to his job. Analyze, make a decision, evaluate, move on. Analyze, make a decision, evaluate, move one. No wasted motion. Beane’s the Chief Operating Officer of the cult. His primary job is to keep a fresh supply of qualified devotees on hand for them to study at the feet of the master. He believes in the process, and he believes in McDermott. He believes that if he continues to deliver the right players, McDermott will deliver the Lombardi. Beane’s fearless. He’s willing to make a decision and accept the consequences. He doesn’t fret over the mistakes; he just moves on to the next decision. He’s willing to make the bold move. 4. The QB It’s completely obvious that Beane and McDermott are selecting players the way they said they would: they want players who are intense and non-stop competitors, players what always want to get better, players who are driven to work at their craft every day. They want disciples. Others need not apply. The latest example is Jerry Hughes, who has evolved from an occasionally flashy, occasionally frustrating athlete to superior all-around football player and leader. It didn’t seem possible three years ago. Hughes’s contract extension says two things – that he’s matured into the kind of player and leader that McDermott wants to win with, and that Hughes can see that the Bills are the kind of organization that make him a better and more successful player. Hughes wants to be part of the success that McDermott and Beane are building; he is a disciple. And he isn’t the only one. What does that have to do with the quarterback? Just this: the quarterback is the most important player on the field, and therefore the quarterback has to be the lead disciple. In Josh Allen, Beane and McDermott found their guy. He loves to compete. He loves to learn – you can see it and hear it in his interviews. He’s so much more mature, he has so much more understanding of the game, than we saw a year ago. He handles his duties in press conferences almost flawlessly, giving thoughtful answers, deftly avoiding difficult issues, rarely being flustered. He desperately wants to do it right, on the field and off, and McDermott thrives on that attitude. Belichick got his ideal disciple in Brady. McDermott got his in Allen. And, by the way, McDermott also got 6’5”, 240 pounds, speed, mobility and a rocket arm. I think Allen is destined for greatness, because he has all the tools, mental, physical and emotional, and he has the perfect mentor. A match made, if you believe in that sort of stuff, in heaven. 5. The Owners How perfect is it that leading this whole effort is a pair of owners who are true believers in the process? They’ve lived the process, they’ve reaped the financial and personal benefits of doing it right, and now they’ve found a coach and a GM who preach the process. They’re believers in continuity. They know being great takes time, because it took them time, and they’re willing to give Beane and McDermott time to reach the goal. They’re the big donors in the cult. When the GM says he needs new facilities to attract and train the kind of disciples who will win football games, the owners say yes. When McDermott says he needs another coach, they back him. And they’re good people, just like McDermott and Beane and Kyle and Jerry and Josh. It’s like they’re all from Mayberry. The NFL is a club, and the club members already are proud to have colleagues like Kim and Terry. Colleagues who can be counted on to have one eye on the bottom line and the other on their moral compass. Bills fans can be proud, too. There it is. Something approaching the perfect combination of ownership, leadership and players committed to a process that will work. We’ve waited a long time for this. It’s going to be special. Count me in the cult. 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.
Just Joshin' Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 Shaw - Always look forward to your posts. Please keep them coming. I want to be optimistic but have touched the stove numerous times. So I will enjoy the progress but be prepared for disappointment.
Rocky Landing Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) I'm cautiously optimistic. But, what keeps me from being giddy is the thought that we are, at least on paper, the third ranked team in our division. A lot of our success hinges on how well the Jets adjust to their new coaching staff. I'm optimistically expecting them to have growing pains. (I'm also optimistically hoping Brady* falls down in the shower.) We certainly have a shot at the playoffs this year. But, I can't get my expectations too high. And, man, I'm so tired of putting our playoff hopes on a wildcard. So, I'm going to temper my optimism on the knowledge that we seem to be moving in the right direction from a 6-10 season. Edited May 26, 2019 by Rocky Landing
Richard Noggin Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) On 5/25/2019 at 11:08 PM, HuSeYiN_NYC said: As long as McDermott keeps getting rid of coaches that don't adapt to the NFL and bring out the best in the players they're coaching, I'm on board... I was very worried that McD would be married to the coaches he handpicked but he's proved more than once that if coaches don't produce, they get replaced. I love that about him... Underrated aspect of his tenure here. It's been a pleasant surprise for this Bills fan to watch the head coach apparently agree with our assessments of which coaches need to go, and to move on from them decisively: (but without the insecure and bridge-burning midseason firings) Dennison, Crossman, Castillo, and a full cast of offensive position coaches. Let's not forget McD's handling of Leslie Frazier and the defense early last season; he intervened decisively and effectively, and without alienating or badly undercutting his D Coordinator. In fact, I'm fairly certain (without looking it up) that he shared the duties the following weekend, at Minnesota, and awarded Frazier the game ball following an upset win and defensive masterpiece. THAT's head coaching. That's putting your best people in position to succeed. Edited May 27, 2019 by Richard Noggin auto-correct inserted an emoji 7
downunderbill Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 5 hours ago, Augie said: I’m also a member of the optimist club. I admit I’m a bit worried about #4 on your list. Encouraged, but not fully sold......and Josh is the linchpin. It all depends on his success. If it turns out he’s NOT the guy (and I pray that will not be the case), I’d want the current regime to get another shot at finding the right guy. I’m not “negative” there, but we just need to see more. Progress does not equal perfection, but we need progress. I agree with you about giving the current regime the chance to find the guy should Allen not work out. If the GM is providing the right players and the coach is getting the best out of them, why should they be tied to the fate of one QB. 2 hours ago, HuSeYiN_NYC said: As long as McDermott keeps getting rid of coaches that don't adapt to the NFL and bring out the best in the players they're coaching, I'm on board... I was very worried that McD would be married to the coaches he handpicked but he's proved more than once that if coaches don't produce, they get replaced. I love that about him... prime example and they are learning the job as well, it shows they do learn their lessons. I really hope Allen is the guy and I share Shaws optimism but if they tie them all together then another team will benefit and the Bills will start from scratch again, and again.
Aussie Joe Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) It’s the off-season and anything seems possible.. I think it’s ok to be optimistic after the free agency and draft.. The OL was my biggest worry this time last year.... 3 months ago I would have been excited to think they could acquire Morse, Spain and Ford let alone a couple of others they have found that will at the least be replacing lesser players on the team..I’m expecting this improvement to be dramatic admittedly coming off a low base... Next issue was the WRs and TE’s .. whilst the makeover has not been quite as thorough here, I still think there are a couple of good acquisitions that Beane has made, and reasons to think returning players can improve.. Of course, ultimately we all know who the biggest difference maker on the field has to be in 2019..At least we know that JA won’t leave any stone unturned in his preparation and work ethic.. We will have to wait and see if he is the guy, but at least we should know one way or the other this season with the other improvements made to the offense.. Edited May 26, 2019 by Aussie Joe
Mark Vader Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 Great write-up @Shaw66. I am optimistic every season. Although I really don't know what to expect from the Bills this upcoming season. I'm excited to see how our new offensive line looks, and I'm sue it will take time for them to come together as a complete unit, but it should be fun to watch. Josh Allen needs to be protected and hopefully we found the guys who can do that. Not to mention open bigger holes for Shady, Gore etc. I'm confident in Josh Allen to improve this season, especially now that he has better options to throw too. I would like to see more plays from him using his arm more than his legs. Then there's the defense. Plenty to be excited about here. The competition at CB, the arrival of Ed Oliver, the growth of Tremaine Edminds. Now I am not going to make outrageous predictions for this season. I'm sure there will be some tough moments. I do like what Beane & McDermott have brought to the team this off season, and there is reason to be excited about the Bills. Can't wait for September. GO BILLS!!! 1
buffalo2218 Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 9 hours ago, Shaw66 said: The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66 “The Hopeless Optimist” I know I’m probably heading for a big crash, but I can’t help it: I think the golden age of the Buffalo Bills is upon us. I think we are about to witness the greatest run of excellence in the history of the franchise, and one of the greatest of all time in the NFL. Maybe it’s just because I’ve lived a long life and been fortunate to have had a lot of good things happen around me. About the only good thing that hasn’t happened is true greatness for my football team. I was there for the AFL championships and the Super Bowls. Now it’s time to go all the way. Whatever the reason, I can’t talk myself out of believing the Bills are about to take off. It’s not that I expect the 2019 Bills to be great – someplace in the 9-7 to 7-9 range once again this year; what I expect is that the 2020 Bills will be a solid playoff team and a regular preseason Super Bowl contender after that. It could come a year earlier or a year later, but it’s coming. “WHAT??!!! You can’t be serious,” readers scream. I’m serious. I’m serious for the combination of several reasons. 1. The Process I keep listening to McDermott and Beane, learning about what they are doing. If I understand it, I think it will work to build a team that is a powerhouse for many seasons. It’s about continuous improvement, getting better at your job. McDermott says it over and over. Get better every day. That’s why they want rookies. They want the benefit of a football player for ten years, getting better year after after year. Part of the genius of that system is that new guys get pulled up to level of the rest of the team pretty quickly. When the team is playing at a good level, rookies come in and learn quickly to play at the good level. When the team is great, rookies come in and learn to play at the great level. McDermott saw Andy Reid do it, and he’s watched Bill Belichick do it. Everyone is challenged to get better, game after game, season after season. Players are challenged. Coaches are challenged, too. McDermott is expected to improve. Daboll is expected to improve. Frazier. Everyone. If you aren’t working to improve, you aren’t part of the process. No player is guaranteed a job, and every player knows that he will sit or worse as soon as someone comes along who does it better. And the players are happy with that, because they understand they are part of a bigger process. If they’ve worked hard and made the team better, they will share in the team’s future success, because they were part of building the platform from which it all took off. I guarantee that when McDermott wins a Super Bowl in Buffalo, Kyle Williams will know that he owns a part of that trophy. Continuous improvement. 2. The Coach My apologies to the lifelong atheists in the crowd, but there’s no way to describe McDermott except in religious terms. He’s organizing a cult, with avid followers who get high on the Word. It’s his personal version of The 300, with everyone doing his job, doing anything, for the benefit of everyone else, with a little of Andy of Mayberry wholesome goodness thrown it. He practices what he preaches. He’s about doing the right thing all the time, preparing, learning, communicating. He lives in a world where everyone earns what he gets, and everyone understands why they sometimes don’t get what they tried to earn. He expects a Lombardi Trophy and nothing less, and he understands that if he doesn’t get it, someone else better will get the job. And he’s okay with that. He imposes that world on his players, and he expects them to be okay with it, so he must be okay with it, too. He cares about everyone in his organization, and he wants everyone in the organization to care, too. Was there an element of commercialism in how McDermott and the Bills adopted PanchoBilla in his final weeks? Sure. But there was genuine caring and concern, too, and there was genuine grief at the end. Is McDermott perfect? No. Does he make mistakes? Plenty. But it’s about continuous improvement, learning and getting better very day. He WILL get better, because he won’t accept less from himself. And don’t forget, he took his first head coaching job at about the same age as Bill Belichick, and Belichick made mistakes for years before he hit his stride. McDermott is growing into greatness. McDermott does it right, and by doing it right, those around him do it right, too. 3. The GM I just love Beane. I love his calculating approach to his job. Analyze, make a decision, evaluate, move on. Analyze, make a decision, evaluate, move one. No wasted motion. Beane’s the Chief Operating Officer of the cult. His primary job is to keep a fresh supply of qualified devotees on hand for them to study at the feet of the master. He believes in the process, and he believes in McDermott. He believes that if he continues to deliver the right players, McDermott will deliver the Lombardi. Beane’s fearless. He’s willing to make a decision and accept the consequences. He doesn’t fret over the mistakes; he just moves on to the next decision. He’s willing to make the bold move. 4. The QB It’s completely obvious that Beane and McDermott are selecting players the way they said they would: they want players who are intense and non-stop competitors, players what always want to get better, players who are driven to work at their craft every day. They want disciples. Others need not apply. The latest example is Jerry Hughes, who has evolved from an occasionally flashy, occasionally frustrating athlete to superior all-around football player and leader. It didn’t seem possible three years ago. Hughes’s contract extension says two things – that he’s matured into the kind of player and leader that McDermott wants to win with, and that Hughes can see that the Bills are the kind of organization that make him a better and more successful player. Hughes wants to be part of the success that McDermott and Beane are building; he is a disciple. And he isn’t the only one. What does that have to do with the quarterback? Just this: the quarterback is the most important player on the field, and therefore the quarterback has to be the lead disciple. In Josh Allen, Beane and McDermott found their guy. He loves to compete. He loves to learn – you can see it and hear it in his interviews. He’s so much more mature, he has so much more understanding of the game, than we saw a year ago. He handles his duties in press conferences almost flawlessly, giving thoughtful answers, deftly avoiding difficult issues, rarely being flustered. He desperately wants to do it right, on the field and off, and McDermott thrives on that attitude. Belichick got his ideal disciple in Brady. McDermott got his in Allen. And, by the way, McDermott also got 6’5”, 240 pounds, speed, mobility and a rocket arm. I think Allen is destined for greatness, because he has all the tools, mental, physical and emotional, and he has the perfect mentor. A match made, if you believe in that sort of stuff, in heaven. 5. The Owners How perfect is it that leading this whole effort is a pair of owners who are true believers in the process? They’ve lived the process, they’ve reaped the financial and personal benefits of doing it right, and now they’ve found a coach and a GM who preach the process. They’re believers in continuity. They know being great takes time, because it took them time, and they’re willing to give Beane and McDermott time to reach the goal. They’re the big donors in the cult. When the GM says he needs new facilities to attract and train the kind of disciples who will win football games, the owners say yes. When McDermott says he needs another coach, they back him. And they’re good people, just like McDermott and Beane and Kyle and Jerry and Josh. It’s like they’re all from Mayberry. The NFL is a club, and the club members already are proud to have colleagues like Kim and Terry. Colleagues who can be counted on to have one eye on the bottom line and the other on their moral compass. Bills fans can be proud, too. There it is. Something approaching the perfect combination of ownership, leadership and players committed to a process that will work. We’ve waited a long time for this. It’s going to be special. Count me in the cult. 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. Nice post Shaw, always enjoyed reading your rockpile review. I wanna be optimistic, but there's just too much history to set aside for me to "drink the kool aid" as they say. Allen did show a lot of good things last year and I really hope he takes his game to the next level. But I also want to see how good this defense is gonna be. If Oliver is as good as advertised, Milano doesn't lose a step, and Tre White reverts to being more of the ballhawk he was in his rookie year, then you may be spot on with your belief on this season.
Commish Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 Beautifully written as always, Shaw66. It's posts like this that make TBD worth coming to. So much different than the drek usually found on football forums: looking at you JetNation, GangGreen, FinHeaven, PatsFans ... 1
CSBill Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 Having been a Bills fan since I can remember as a child, somewhere in the late 1960s--pre OJ days, I have to agree with you Shaw. The optimism that surrounds this team now feels much like the early 90s and the run up to the SB years. We had a great coach, a great QB, a lot of talent, etc. Obviously, we're not there yet, but it sure feels like we will be soon. Great read, thanks for the work.
cd1 Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 7 hours ago, Just Joshin' said: Shaw - Always look forward to your posts. Please keep them coming. I want to be optimistic but have touched the stove numerous times. So I will enjoy the progress but be prepared for disappointment. Just because you now get socks and underwear doesn't mean you still can't enjoy the Magic of Christmas Eve. Regardless of how the season ends, I find that I really enjoy the "sugar plumbs and fairies" of a promising preseason! Thanks Shaw!! Actually, coming from you, it all seems MORE REAL!!!!!!! Go Bills!
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