THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Let the Games Begin

[Shaw66]

Let the Games Begin 

 

It’s all fun and games until the shooting starts.

 

The shooting starts now. 

 

Bills fans have had eight months of anticipation and excitement.   Free agency went well.  The draft looked good.  The Bills looked good in training camp.  They went 4-0 in preseason games.  Add it all up and what do you have?  0-0 and a lot of questions. 

 

Do you want the dream scenario?   Here it is:  the offensive line is stout, Gore and Singletary combine for 2000 yards, the defense lives up to expectations.  And Josh Allen is a top-10 passer. 

In other years it was a dream, but this season it’s more than that – it’s an actual possibility.   Over the past month, the Bills have looked like a team without glaring weaknesses, a team that is, in a word, capable.  They block, they tackle, they complete passes, they finish drives.

 

Up until now, all the things we hoped for about Josh Allen have happened.  He got first-team reps through OTAs, training camp and preseason.   He focused on the shorter, high percentage passes.  He connected regularly with Cole Beasley.  He found John Brown (when Brown was on the field) on those long, mid-range crossing routes that take advantage of Brown’s speed and Allen’s ability to make that throw.  Allen looks poised and comfortable. 

 

The Bills’ other 2018 wunderkind, Tremaine Edmunds, also appears to have taken a big step forward.  He’s step for step with receivers, just like last year, but he’s also attacking the run game with quickness, energy and solid reads.  He could be one of the big stories in 2019. 

 

It all looks promising.

 

Still, the Bills are 0-0, just like every other team. And just like every other season, the competition will be fierce.  The Jets want game one just as badly as the Bills do, and they have their own star quarterback.  The Giants won’t lay down, the Bengals are unknown (but we’ll give Dalton one ovation) and then the Patriots come to town.  Nothing will be easy, nothing will be given to the Bills.  They’ve fought and clawed every day to make the team and to come together, and now that process continues, every day, every week. Get better or get beat.

 

There are no second chances.  The Bills must do everything possible to win game one, because once the final whistle blows, that game will forever be a win or a loss.  And they have to do it again, and again.  The season is brutally difficult that way, with disappointments and injuries along the way.  

 

Welcome to the season we’ve been waiting for.

 

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.

[DCBongo]

Thanks Shaw, here's to hoping 2019 is a season to remember for all the correct reasons!

[TroutDog]

I agree, Shaw: it should be an entertaining year. I still think we need some more depth in some spots but we are closer than we’ve been in a significant amount of time!

 

I trust the leadership and firmly believe Josh and Tremaine are the true QB’s of the O and D respectively. 

 

However we end up this year (and I believe we will do very well), the trajectory is, finally, right!

Edited September 2, 2019 by TroutDog

[Shaw66]

23 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

I agree, Shaw: it should be an entertaining year. I still think we need some more depth in some spots but we are closer than we’ve been in a significant amount of time!

 

I trust the leadership and firmly believe Josh and Tremaine are the true QB’s of the O and D respectively. 

 

However we end up this year (and I believe we will do very well), the trajectory is, finally, right!

Yes, the trajectory is right.  Well put.  There will be more talent on the 2020 Bills than 2019.   And the 2020 Bills will have more experience at key positions.   2019 will be about growth.  If the growth happens fast, it could be a great season.   If it's slow, 2020 is the year. 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

good post Shaw!

 

 it's finally here, the long off season is now behind us.

 

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Perk71]

Go Bills!!

[ILBillsfan]

Can not wait for the games to count and see this team play a regular season game. Been quite awhile since I have had this much anticipation for the Bills to kick off the season.  

[EasternOHBillsFan]

Thank you as ALWAYS for your outstanding assessments!!! I read every single one even though I don't comment much.

 

Just think this way...

 

Our team was handicapped by dead weight in salary and we couldn't do much about it.

 

Our team last year had a rookie start who had the worst stat line in NFL history for a QB.

 

Our team started a franchise rookie QB who went into Minnesota and shocked the Vikings, and showed why he was a top pick before his apparent victory in Houston was blown by the former..

 

Our team brought on a QB who hadn't played a game in months and months... and destroyed the Jets in his start.

 

Our team had a worthless TE who faded fast, an offensive line that resembled swiss cheese with such starters as Ducasse and Bodine, and receivers that were patch repair guys.

 

Our team had our QB as our leading rusher because the offensive line couldn't support a true running game and the lost a step Shady hurt worse.

 

OUR TEAM STILL GOT SIX WINS. That's gotta count for something. The team with all of those issues managed to still win six, and yet while true we ARE 0-0, we have every right to be optimistic because after many upgrades, this team has proven that it can win and all we need is the consistency.

 

GO BILLS!!! #BillsMafia

 

 

[billsredneck1]

game one imo is the most important game of the year...perhaps 2nd only to the last game, unless we have already secured a playoff berth.

 

in any case , it will be great not talking draft before thanksgiving.

[Bleedbuffaloblue]

Great post as usual Shaw. Been waiting some time to hear from you again. Like many it’s been some time since I have been this excited about the start of the regular season.

I agree we are still in the final stages of the “growth mode”, but with any kind of luck this season could be special before we should be a consistent contender starting in 2020.

Here’s to a special season this year! Go Bills!!!

[ThurmasThoman]

2 hours ago, ILBillsfan said:

Can not wait for the games to count and see this team play a regular season game. Been quite awhile since I have had this much anticipation for the Bills to kick off the season.  

 

The most anticipated opening day for me in the last 20 years was 2012.

 

Against the Jets in the Meadowlands, after signing Mario and hiring Wanstedt as D coordinator. That was the year after Buf started 5-3 and finished 6-10. Seemed like everything was in place for a solid playoff run, but got blown out by the Jets week 1. I think Fitzy even threw a pick 6 on the opening drive. What a total disaster.

 

 

[John from Riverside]

I’m just hoping for a solid rushing attack while our ol gels the talent is there

[PJBrown7]

1 hour ago, JohnnyGold said:

 

The most anticipated opening day for me in the last 20 years was 2012.

 

Against the Jets in the Meadowlands, after signing Mario and hiring Wanstedt as D coordinator. That was the year after Buf started 5-3 and finished 6-10. Seemed like everything was in place for a solid playoff run, but got blown out by the Jets week 1. I think Fitzy even threw a pick 6 on the opening drive. What a total disaster.

 

1 hour ago, JohnnyGold said:

I remember that. That was god awful. We are expecting big things and we just laid an egg. It got better after that but wow.

 

[njbuff]

Season openers against the Jets have not been pretty historically, until the last season opener against them.

 

Here’s to starting a season opening winning streak against the Jets.

 

Still to this date, the most fun season opener was in 1986 when it was Jim Kelly’s first game as a Bill against the Jets. The Bills lost but the Bills and their fans knew they had a franchise QB on that day.

[buffalo2218]

Great post Shaw, as always. The threads you post here are every bit as interesting as the ones you posted on BB.com. I'm always gonna be the type to put my optimism in check, as yourself and many others have said, the first game win or lose will tell a lot of the story on the season. I wanna believe Allen will show he's progressed, but blind faith has failed me too many times before. All I can do is hope the kid surprises us all. I'm actually more interested in how our defense is gonna be this year, mainly Edmunds and Oliver. We didn't get to see much of Hughes in the preseason, so I'm anxious to see how he does. My biggest question mark is with Singletary. He's got some pretty big shoes to fill with Shady being cut. I'll admit that he seems to have great vision, but to me lacks a bit of burst. I hope he has a hell of a rookie year just the same. Thanks again Shaw, looking forward to reading more of the Rockpile Review

[ILBillsfan]

3 hours ago, JohnnyGold said:

 

The most anticipated opening day for me in the last 20 years was 2012.

 

Against the Jets in the Meadowlands, after signing Mario and hiring Wanstedt as D coordinator. That was the year after Buf started 5-3 and finished 6-10. Seemed like everything was in place for a solid playoff run, but got blown out by the Jets week 1. I think Fitzy even threw a pick 6 on the opening drive. What a total disaster.

 

 

the year we signed Bledsoe was probably the last year i was this eager

[bills exile]

As a very long time fan I am ready for a season that the Bills once again are an elite team! Hoping this is just the start of that possibility.

[BillsVet]

There's no need to employ phrases like when the "shooting starts" to describe a team's season.  I laugh when fans start talking about football as a battle because real shooting isn't anything like football.  This reminds me of a Marv Levy quote when someone asked him (and I'm paraphrasing) if a certain game was must-win.  Marv responded by saying no, World War II was a must-win.  

 

7 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Yes, the trajectory is right.  Well put.  There will be more talent on the 2020 Bills than 2019.   And the 2020 Bills will have more experience at key positions.   2019 will be about growth.  If the growth happens fast, it could be a great season.   If it's slow, 2020 is the year. 

 

Second, anyone who mentions 2020 at this point is hedging their bets and not fully confident the off-season was productive enough.  All commentary will stop short of having a defined expectation as a result.  

 

Additionally, there is no indication at this early point what the talent level will be next year...in large part because players are constantly leaving, injured, and/or aging.  

 

Bottom line, the Bills need to be in the discussion to win the division this year, and short of that, win 10 or more games.     

 

[Shaw66]

9 hours ago, BillsVet said:

There's no need to employ phrases like when the "shooting starts" to describe a team's season.  I laugh when fans start talking about football as a battle because real shooting isn't anything like football.  This reminds me of a Marv Levy quote when someone asked him (and I'm paraphrasing) if a certain game was must-win.  Marv responded by saying no, World War II was a must-win.  

 

 

Second, anyone who mentions 2020 at this point is hedging their bets and not fully confident the off-season was productive enough.  All commentary will stop short of having a defined expectation as a result.  

 

Additionally, there is no indication at this early point what the talent level will be next year...in large part because players are constantly leaving, injured, and/or aging.  

 

Bottom line, the Bills need to be in the discussion to win the division this year, and short of that, win 10 or more games.     

 

As to your first point, I'll admit to being lazy and using a tired cliche to open my piece.   However, there is nothing wrong with using battle as a metaphor for football.  It's been done for decades.  Beyond that, it's a really good metaphor, because there is nothing in real life that more closely approximates war than football.   In fact, that's why a lot of people like watching it - it's a complex contest between two teams involving intense hand-to-hand combat, strategy and the acquisition of territory, which is exactly what war is.   It's a stylized war that my city can excited about when we play some other guy's city.  We can watch it but be spared the actual killing that goes on in war.   

 

The players prepare for games like they prepare for battle.  That's what "putting your game face" on is about.   It's about getting ready emotionally to defeat, within the rules, the guy across the line of scrimmage from you.  We have rules, like "no knives," so the battle happens but without the killing.  

 

George Carlin aptly pointed out that football uses the war jargon regularly.   The bomb, the blitz, contest in the trenches.  What's the highest compliment a player can give to a teammate?  Call him a "warrior."

 

Marv's quote was about what's important in life, and he was correct.  Football isn't important, and war is deadly serious.  But that doesn't mean that the metaphor doesn't work.  The metaphor captures the intensity of football very well.   

 

As for your second point, where is it written, in the Code of Conduct or elsewhere, that we can't discuss next year?  If you think Brandon Beane is not thinking about 2020 and 2021 EVERY DAY, you are sadly mistaken.   Building a football team is a multi-year process, and the process doesn't stop when this year's season begins.  And there ARE indications that next year's talent will be better than this year's talent.   One such indication is how young the team is today.   If there are no new players added to the roster, the team will be better next season simply because many of the current players will be better.   All the young guys have more to learn, and they will. Josh Allen, in particular, will be a better QB in 2020.  In addition, once again the Bills have more than their share of draft picks, and they are in very good salary cap situation, so they will be in position to acquire new players, some of whom will be more talented than the players on the current roster.   Is it possible that won't happen?   Sure, it's possible.  Is it likely?   Not very likely at all.  The Bills will have 53 players in 2020 who are, collectively, more talented than the 53 they have right now. 

 

The Bills don't "need" to win ten or more games.   They don't "need" to do anything, because this is football, not war.  If what you're suggesting is focusing on 2020 takes the focus away from 2019, well, sure, if I'm a coach or a player, my mind has to be 100% on today and this week, and any thought of 2020 is an unhelpful distraction.   But I'm a fan, and if my focus shifts from time to time to 2020, that has absolutely no impact on how the players and coaches perform this week.   

 

Ten wins or more may be some marker that you think is important, and maybe you think that some consequences should befall McDermott or Beane if the team fails to reach that threshold, but that's your marker, not theirs.   However, nothing McDermott, Beane or the Pegulas have said suggests in any way that the Pegulas have set the 2019 bar at 10 wins.   I fully expect that the Pegulas will view 8 or 9 wins as a positive season, assuming they're seeing the right kind of growth and improvement.   

[SoCal Deek]

Well done Shaw. I absolutely love the line: Get Better or Get Beat. That pretty much sums it up!

Go Bills