THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Winning the Fourth Quarter

[PlayoffsPlease]

1 minute ago, Rockinon said:

I like this one better.

 

Standings

1. Buffalo Bills (1-0, 1-0 in AFC East)
2. New England Patriots (1-0)
3. Miami Dolphins (0-1)
4. New York Jets (0-1, 0-1 AFC East)

why, it is not even right.  The correct version of standings (which is not all the same as power rankings) would be
1. Buffalo

1. New England
4. Miami
4. Jets

or including tie breakers

 

1. New England

2. Buffalo

3. Jets

4. Miami. 

 

 

[Shaw66]

Maybe someone can catch me up.   I meant to comment about this.

 

I was at the game and haven't been reading any news.  What happened to Taron Johnson.  At some point in the game I noticed that Neal was in the game, but didn't find Johnson on the sideline.   I wanted to include a comment in my write up because it seemed like Neal was in good position a lot, rarely out of the play.   

[Warcodered]

2 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Maybe someone can catch me up.   I meant to comment about this.

 

I was at the game and haven't been reading any news.  What happened to Taron Johnson.  At some point in the game I noticed that Neal was in the game, but didn't find Johnson on the sideline.   I wanted to include a comment in my write up because it seemed like Neal was in good position a lot, rarely out of the play.   

Hamstring injury I think said he felt/heard? something pop so doesn't exactly sound good but I think he's getting an MRI haven't really heard anything else.

[Shaw66]

15 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

Hamstring injury I think said he felt/heard? something pop so doesn't exactly sound good but I think he's getting an MRI haven't really heard anything else.

Thanks. 

 

One other thing - something I've been thinking about since yesterday and I just said in the thread about the Bills being better in the first half than many people think.  

 

I find I keep coming back to something Belichick said right after Atlanta collapsed in the Super Bowl.  He said something like "we weren't worried at halftime, because we were competitive on the field, we just weren't competitive on the scoreboard."   That's how I felt at halftime.  

 

When the Jets scored, I was worried a good deal, but I kept thinking the Bills were okay.   I admit, it was a little weird, but I kept thinking the Bills are built for this.   Then it was 16-3, Bills still hadn't gotten into the end zone, but I felt like it was starting.   Then it just unfolded.  The Bills didn't look like they were doing a lot different, except they figured out how to spring Singletary.  The press makes a big deal about Moses going down, but although that may have helped the Bills, I don't think it made that much difference.   The Bills just kept on executing, just like they had all game, maybe a little better.  The Jets didn't have an answer.   

 

So, yes, absolutely, the Bills were not as bad in the first half as people say.  They took control of the game on the field from the very beginning and never let go.  It was impressive.  

[Buddo]

I think there are two aspects of the press 'emphasizing' (might be an excessive description) about Mosley going down.

 

Firstly, he had the highlight plays of a pick 6 and fumble recovery in the first half. Tbh, while you do have to be around the football for that stuff to happen, it could have been a.n.other defender, Mosley was in the right place at the right time. He had no part in either of the things that caused the ball to become available. He also was a big FA signing for the Jest, so there's a bit more of a focus on what he does.

 

Secondly, and I think what was important, is that although I didn't think he was playing 'lights out', for all the gaudy stats for the pick 6 and fumble recovery, what he was, was the organizer in chief, of the Jest D. When he went off, all of a sudden, it seemed like guys became unsure of what they should be doing. I think Daboll deserves some credit for attacking the edges with runs, but it did seem like the Jest D simply lost their on-field communnicator when Mosley went off.

 

Personally, I think the Bills would have still come through, but it might have been a touch more difficult.

[Shaw66]

3 minutes ago, Buddo said:

I think there are two aspects of the press 'emphasizing' (might be an excessive description) about Mosley going down.

 

Firstly, he had the highlight plays of a pick 6 and fumble recovery in the first half. Tbh, while you do have to be around the football for that stuff to happen, it could have been a.n.other defender, Mosley was in the right place at the right time. He had no part in either of the things that caused the ball to become available. He also was a big FA signing for the Jest, so there's a bit more of a focus on what he does.

 

Secondly, and I think what was important, is that although I didn't think he was playing 'lights out', for all the gaudy stats for the pick 6 and fumble recovery, what he was, was the organizer in chief, of the Jest D. When he went off, all of a sudden, it seemed like guys became unsure of what they should be doing. I think Daboll deserves some credit for attacking the edges with runs, but it did seem like the Jest D simply lost their on-field communnicator when Mosley went off.

 

Personally, I think the Bills would have still come through, but it might have been a touch more difficult.

That's interesting.  Thanks.

 

In something a bit related, I was just looking the video of every touch Singletary had in the game.   The runs are nice, but what's really impressive is the line play.   Watch Morse in particular, but just notice how defenders are either out of position or cleared out or blocked by the offensive line.  The line was in total control.  Mosley's absence may have contributed to that.   Still, the line was sharp.

 

Here's a link:  https://www.buffalobills.com/news/top-3-things-we-learned-from-bills-at-jets-kickoff-weekend

[Buddo]

Thanks for the link - Morse was impressive getting way out to the sideline in front, on one of those runs. You were right too, mostly good holes opened up where they were supposed to be, although I thought on one run, it was Singletary's awareness to go against the flow, and bounce outside, that got the yards.

[Nextmanup]

The story of the game is the Jets' utter inability to take advantage of the mistakes we made and turn those advantages into points on the board.

 

As I said in the game-day thread, had we been playing a good team on Sunday, we would have lost badly.

 

Because they didn't really do anything with the gifts we gave them, we were able to buy time and finally get things calmed down enough to play some solid football. 

 

And in the end, that was just enough to win the game.

 

We looked like the better team all game long, and I'd be very surprised if we don't win the second game in WNY fairly easily, as I doubt we will repeat so many miscues again.

 

 

[Ayjent]

Bottom Line win.  Some stuff to get excited about, some to be concerned about.

 

However, division road game victory is a big win regardless of the projected record of the opponent.  They are the biggest and toughest games - so to see the Bills win the way they did was a big deal.  Good teams find a way to win.  They found a way to win.

[Shaw66]

9 minutes ago, Ayjent said:

Bottom Line win.  Some stuff to get excited about, some to be concerned about.

 

However, division road game victory is a big win regardless of the projected record of the opponent.  They are the biggest and toughest games - so to see the Bills win the way they did was a big deal.  Good teams find a way to win.  They found a way to win.

Right.   

 

I see more and more the results of what McDermott calls building the right way.   Everyone on this team seems to know his job and execute.   He doesn't necessarily make outstanding plays, he just makes the right play and executes it just about all the time.   Everyone on the team learns this methodology.  Then, year after year, the talent improves.  A guy gets drafted at guard, for example, who gets the process and is a better talent than a guard the Bills have.   It's constant competition, looking to produce guys who are better and better.  

 

The defense is ahead of the offense in this developmental process, but yesterday we saw the offense making strides.  They were running complex formations and shifts, they were changing plays, and they did it with virtually no penalties (virtually no delays or false starts), and when the snap came, they all did their jobs.  Receivers were getting open, because the plays they were in attacked weaknesses in the defense.  Allen understood where he was going to find guys open, like on the TD pass - he knew where to go with the ball and how to get it there.   Brown knew how to run the route.   Constant execution like that puts a lot of pressure on the defense, so you generate things like the missed tackle on that play.   

 

So not only was a win of that kind, on the road against a division opponent, down to scores, a really good win and good indicator, the WAY they did also was impressive.   

[toto8]

First of all thank you for your write up I have never missed one of them even since you were at BBMB. Great points all the time.

 

On 9/8/2019 at 6:26 PM, Shaw66 said:

7.  I miss Shady.  And Singletary was giving me a lot of reason to miss him in the first half.  Second half?   Oh, yeah!  Sweet moves. 

I miss him too I had my doubts about "motor" but he looked pretty good. He needs to work on his speed he seemed too slow in the open field. It's one game only but it was a good showing. We'll have a good idea of where he stands at the end of the season.

 

I was worried about the 4 turnovers as the statistics are unfavorable when you have so many turnovers in a game.

 

Couple of things I noticed.

 

-Cody Ford was out in the 3rd quarter and all of the 4th quarter did you see any drop on his play?

-Nsekhe fell on his butt in one of the plays in the 4th qtr.

-Oliver is a best he threw an OL like a rag doll in one play and almost gets the sack.

-Bad Luck on the turnovers besides the Josh Allen fumble. The pick 6 is on Beasley, one of the fumbles was Morse's fault and unlucky on the tipped ball for the 2nd interception.

Edited September 10, 2019 by toto8

[JoeF]

@Shaw66 great write-up.  One other observation...5 rookies contributed in a tangible way yesterday...EO, Cody, Motor, Sweeney and Knox....EO and Motor stood out...for the rest there was mostly good and some bad, but this is a pretty good sign that the Bills drafted well.

 

I missed Darryl Johnson--how could I??? So six contributed.  Watching the film -- DJ did not look lost out there in his 13 or so snaps on D and 15 on Teams...

Edited September 9, 2019 by JoeF

[Shaw66]

33 minutes ago, JoeF said:

@Shaw66 great write-up.  One other observation...5 rookies contributed in a tangible way yesterday...EO, Cody, Motor, Sweeney and Knox....EO and Motor stood out...for the rest there was mostly good and some bad, but this is a pretty good sign that the Bills drafted well.

 

I missed Darryl Johnson--how could I??? So six contributed.  Watching the film -- DJ did not look lost out there in his 13 or so snaps on D and 15 on Teams...

That's a good observation.   And I continue to think there will three or four or five more rookies moving in next year.   The talent on this team is on a serious uptick.  

[Pokebball]

8 hours ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

Or eliminate a couple of bad kicks the other way and we lost 20-17.
I suspect almost every team every week wins each game if that team is allowed to change the outcome of five plays. 

I am high on Allen.  I am high on the teams chances.   I hope all of our mistakes were flukes and all of our opponents mistakes were typical.  Not clear after only 1 game if I can know that to be true.   

A lot of woulda, coulda, shouldas after games.  Some games you get the bounces, some games you don't.  I feel this game we didn't get the bounces yet we still got the W.  Good teams play through those bad bounces.  Color me encouraged!

[Pokebball]

55 minutes ago, JoeF said:

@Shaw66 great write-up.  One other observation...5 rookies contributed in a tangible way yesterday...EO, Cody, Motor, Sweeney and Knox....EO and Motor stood out...for the rest there was mostly good and some bad, but this is a pretty good sign that the Bills drafted well.

 

I missed Darryl Johnson--how could I??? So six contributed.  Watching the film -- DJ did not look lost out there in his 13 or so snaps on D and 15 on Teams...

[Saxum]

6 hours ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

Over the years I have come to believe that what happens after a tipped ball is totally random.   So that was one tipped ball by the Jets converted to an int and six by the Bills but with no turnover.  That all seems rather random to me.

 

Results from tipped balls are random unless the tipper has made conscious effort to make it a volleyball-type tip where the player is batting into air for teammate to catch.  The previous few years we have seen a number of these tipped balls from Bills defenders and have heard they practiced it.  I am wondering if some volleyball play would help on this as long as they do not do it beach style on sand.

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, JoeF said:

@Shaw66 great write-up.  One other observation...5 rookies contributed in a tangible way yesterday...EO, Cody, Motor, Sweeney and Knox....EO and Motor stood out...for the rest there was mostly good and some bad, but this is a pretty good sign that the Bills drafted well.

 

I missed Darryl Johnson--how could I??? So six contributed.  Watching the film -- DJ did not look lost out there in his 13 or so snaps on D and 15 on Teams...

Sweeny was all good from what I saw.  Even on plays where he was not target he was contributing unlike former TE with feet of Clay.

[Shaw66]

2 hours ago, Limeaid said:

Sweeny was all good from what I saw.  Even on plays where he was not target he was contributing unlike former TE with feet of Clay.

McDermott is building a team where everyone can play and everyone has a way to contribute.  Every guy on the roster is a player, every guy knows he's going to play, and every guy knows exactly what he's supposed to do.   It's pretty cool.  

[buffalo2218]

4 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

McDermott is building a team where everyone can play and everyone has a way to contribute.  Every guy on the roster is a player, every guy knows he's going to play, and every guy knows exactly what he's supposed to do.   It's pretty cool.  

As always, great write up Shaw. You missed your calling dude, all these people complaining about Schopp and the Bulldog, seems to me you'd make an excellent replacement

[Success]

Football, playoff baseball, foliage, apple cider and the Rockpile Review.  Fall is back!

 

Great write up.  Love the story about Coleman and Oliver.

 

There are so many positives on this team right now.  With Allen, Singletary, Brown, Oliver, Edmunds, White, et al., I feel like we have a young core in place that can give us a long run of success like that ‘90s crew.