ROCKPILE REVIEW - Rolling

[Shaw66]

The Bills are rolling now.  They rolled over the Broncos in Denver on Saturday, 48-19.  In the process, they sent a simple message to the NFL:  We’re ready.  Every game.

 

The Bills now are looking like a premier NFL team.  Except for the last-second loss to Arizona, the Bills haven’t lost in two months.  In a statement game last week, they manhandled the Steelers.  This week, against a beatable team, they needed a win to clinch the AFC East division title.  They dominated. 

 

The Bills’ mistakes were one measure of how good the Bills were.  There was Andre Roberts’ muffed punt, Allen’s sack fumble, the failed fourth and one play deep in the red zone, and stretches when the Bills looked like they were in an NFL officials’ training film, demonstrating rule violations: offensive pass interference, holding, illegal procedure.  The penalties came in bunches, and multiple touchdowns were called back.  Still, even though the halftime score was close, the game wasn’t.  The Bills were in control, and they proved it in the third quarter. 

 

Josh Allen didn’t have his best game, but it didn’t matter.  He missed Knox high, missed Diggs high, too.  He threw rockets when sometimes more touch was needed.  Still, “not his best game” was more than good enough and sometimes breathtaking.  Some of those rockets were spectacular. The touchdown to Knox was one - it was all Knox could do to keep the ball from ripping through his hands before he secured it. The touchdown to Kumerow was another.  For most NFL quarterbacks, that throw was an interception waiting to happen, as two defenders were quickly closing the window.  Allen saw it and knew he could get the ball through to Kumerow before the defenders arrived.  It was a terrific throw.  The deep ball to Diggs was too beautiful for words.

 

Allen managed the pocket well, knowing when he could wait and when he needed to move.  His scramble to the right and throw as he was going down was the kind of play that only elite players make.  Allen ran effectively, too.  He navigated the middle of the field for his first touchdown, and he recognized and took the edge for his second.

 

He’s just so good.

 

And so is Diggs.  Unstoppable in man coverage, with hands that are among the best the league has seen.  It’s only a matter of time before he uncorks a massive run after catch.  Awesome.

 

The defense couldn’t hold after the Roberts’ muff, and they gave up a drive to end the half.  Not perfect.  But other than those two scores, there wasn’t much to complain about.  Leslie Frazier masterfully mixed the calls and kept Drew Lock uncomfortable all afternoon. 

 

One of those calls erased any doubt about who was in control.  The Bills opened the second half with a big return from Roberts and a quick seven-play, 45-yard TD drive.  After the kickoff, Lock dropped back to pass, and Tre’Davious White looped all the way around behind Lock to make the hit and force the fumble.  Jerry Hughes outhustled Taron Johnson for the ball, and then the fun began.  We’ve seen Hughes carrying the ball before.  He sees the field well, and he can change direction.  Weaving through would-be tacklers like a cross between Barry Sanders and a couch potato, Hughes found the end zone. Game over.

 

The rest of the game was fun plays (Singletary’s touchdown run was almost as masterful as Hughes’s).  For the game, the offense piled up more than 500 total yards, more than doubling what the defense allowed.  By the end, the look on Lock’s face said “Get me out of here.” 

 

The fourth quarter saw a series of troubling, apparently small injuries, to White and Diggs and Wallace and Epenesa.  Williams had left the game earlier, and Hyde was returning punts late, in place of Roberts.  The Bills are hoping nothing is too serious, and they’re fortunate to have a couple of games remaining that, although important, aren’t true must-win.  It will be time to get healthy.  Oh, yeah, note to league:  If you think Kumerow looks like a new threat in the passing game, better watch some film of John Brown; he’ll be back. 

 

What’s important about the remaining games?  Well, there’s symbolic importance at Foxboro next week.  McDermott and the Bills don’t care about symbolic importance, but the fans do.  It’s been a great season so far; a win over the Patriots, punctuating the end of Patriot dominance, would indeed be sweet.  What McDermott and the Bills DO care about is home field in the playoffs.  With the division win, they are assured one game in Orchard Park.  If they can win the final two games, and if Pittsburgh loses one, the Bills would be assured two in Orchard Park, and possibly three, if they can keep winning. 

 

It's been a long time coming.  The Bills have arrived.

 

 

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.

 

 

[scuba guy]

Wow shaw great post as always

I was to tired to read virgal post but I,guess,it,was really late

[MiltonWaddams]

2 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

 Weaving through would-be tacklers like a cross between Barry Sanders and a couch potato, Hughes found the end zone.

 

 

 

Beautiful. And definitely appropriate.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

31 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Weaving through would-be tacklers like a cross between Barry Sanders and a couch potato, Hughes found the end zone.

 

Great post.  One minor nit:

Sir, I've seen couch potatoes.  I know couch potatoes.  And Jerry Hughes, Sir, bears no resemblance whatsoever to the genus "Sofa Spud"

[Freddie's Dead]

38 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

The Bills’ mistakes were one measure of how good the Bills were.  There was Andre Roberts’ muffed punt, Allen’s sack fumble, the fourth and one play deep in the red zone that the Bills converted and the refs took away,...

 

Nice writeup as usual, Rockpile.  One minor editorial correction was necessary.

[Shaw66]

4 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Great post.  One minor nit:

Sir, I've seen couch potatoes.  I know couch potatoes.  And Jerry Hughes, Sir, bears no resemblance whatsoever to the genus "Sofa Spud"

Yeah, I know, but I don't think Jerry will read it, so I wasn't worried about offending him.   Truth is, he's a spectacular athlete, and he's grown into a super teammate and leader.  No longer the guy who makes a great play here, jumps offside there, and gets trapped out of position.  The guy is a stud.

1 minute ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

Nice writeup as usual, Rockpile.  One minor editorial correction was necessary.

Well, spotting the ball on running plays like that is really tough.  If you don't gain enough to make it obvious, you're going to be stuck with the occasional officiating mistake.  No question he made, but if you can't see the ball on review, you're not going to get the call. 

 

Personally, I thought the Bills should have taken the field goal and made it a four-score game.   That was the right move.  No harm done, they got the field goal on the next possession.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Awesome post, sir.  This is a Denver team that I've seen play with pride this season.  We took their will away.

[CincyBillsFan]

I read a Denver media summary of the game and they mentioned 34 mph wind gusts during the game!  It might explain why Lock never threw anything downfield.  If it was that windy it made Allen's game even more impressive.

 

 

[JoPoy88]

That’s the good stuff Shaw thanks. I do hope they go hard and stomp the Pats; not caring as much about the Dolphins game unless there’s crucial seeding at stake.

[Shaw66]

21 minutes ago, CincyBillsFan said:

I read a Denver media summary of the game and they mentioned 34 mph wind gusts during the game!  It might explain why Lock never threw anything downfield.  If it was that windy it made Allen's game even more impressive.

 

 

Wow.  Think about the deep ball to Diggs with wind like that.  That ball was absolutely perfect.  

[Big Turk]

If Diggs would have managed to get his other foot in bounds on the free Offside play where Allen hit him for 40+ yards perfectly in stride it would have been another 400 yard game for him...

 

Allen "not at his best" is still possibly a top 10 QB in the league. Rodgers wasn't at his best yesterday and it was not pretty for a lot of the game.

Edited December 20, 2020 by matter2003

[Magox]

I have a slightly different take on Allen.  Early on he was throwing a little high and missed Knox when he was rolling out of the pocket, but he quickly cleaned that up.  Aside that and the attempted pass in the front corner of the end zone that was almost picked off he was damn near flawless and his decision making and command of the game is next level.   I though he played an A game.

[Shaw66]

5 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

If Diggs would have managed to get his other foot in bounds on the free Offside play where Allen hit him for 40+ yards perfectly in stride it would have been another 400 yard game for him...

 

Allen "not at his best" is still possibly a top 10 QB in the league. Rodgers wasn't at his best yesterday and it was not pretty for a lot of the game.

Exactly right.   We've been living with it for three years now, living with the feeling that he can go off at any time.  First and goal from 30, I thought the Bills were going to get the touchdown.  Two plays later, Kumerow scored.   Not since Jim Kelly did any of us expect the Bills to get seven on first and goal from thirty.   In fact, we were just hoping the Bills didn't lose any more yards and miss the field goal opportunity.  

 

Allen is amazing.

 

I have to say, though, that I'm tired of all the announcers talking about this enormous leap he's made this year.   The only enormous leap has been in the stats.   He was amazing as a rookie, and he was amazing in 2019.  He's been learning every week and at least for me, there is nothing surprising this season.   He's doing what I expected.   At the beginning of the season I said it would be this season or next season that he'd be a serious top-10 QB.   The acquisition of Diggs made it happen sooner rather than later.  

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

 

The rest of the game was fun plays (Singletary’s touchdown run was almost as masterful as Hughes’s).  For the game, the offense piled up more than 500 total yards, more than doubling what the defense allowed.  By the end, the look on Lock’s face said “Get me out of here.” 

 

 

The DC also had that expression on his face - no matter what we do, we have no chance.

 

Great review as always.

[Shaw66]

6 minutes ago, Magox said:

I have a slightly different take on Allen.  Early on he was throwing a little high and missed Knox when he was rolling out of the pocket, but he quickly cleaned that up.  Aside that and the attempted pass in the front corner of the end zone that was almost picked off he was damn near flawless and his decision making and command of the game is next level.   I though he played an A game.

Fair enough.   For whatever reason, he missed a few times.   When he's lights out for the game, he completes over 80%.

 

Does anyone know what happened on the near interception.  It was Davis, I think.   My guess is that that Allen was going back shoulder and Davis didn't read it that way.   Allen doesn't miss by that much.  

[Success]

Great write-up.  Watching Allen to Diggs is an almost transcendent experience as a football fan. They're just locked in.

 

But watching Allen just in general is jaw-dropping at times.  He just keeps getting better - in his accuracy, decision-making, release - all of it.  His ceiling is still out there somewhere.  I think this is a guy who could be in the GOAT conversation before all is said & done.  I know that sounds homer, but he has those intangibles, and the work ethic to make it happen.

 

As for the Bills, it's nice to see them not falling in the same old patterns.  I listened to Bill Simmons' podcast last week, and both he & his guest agreed that every time in the past when the country started talking about the Bills and expectations were high, the team would come out flat and lose.  They predicted that for the Broncos game - and we end up with what can only be called a massive statement game, on national TV, to win the division for the 1st time in a quarter century.

 

Life is good.

 

[SoCal Deek]

Shaw? No love for the behind the back Allen handoff for yet another erased touchdown? From your posts I know both you and I have  watched a lot of football in our many years and I don’t recall ever seeing that play. A QB hands the ball off with a no look behind the back using his off hand? I’ve got to wonder how often they’ve practiced that. BRILLIANT! A bit crazy, but still BRILLIANT! 

[Big Turk]

12 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

The DC also had that expression on his face - no matter what we do, we have no chance.

 

Great review as always.

 

Loved seeing Fangio on the sidelines just throwing his hands up in disgust after watching Allen's 2nd TD run where they did everything perfectly on defense and blanketed the screen and downfield options and because Allen simply just made the defender rushing him look silly after rolling out and then running around him to the corner of the endzone they were helpless to do anything...

 

Allen is so frustrating because like Mahomes and Rodgers you can do everything right on defense and make the perfect call and still give up a TD because of their individual greatness.

Edited December 20, 2020 by matter2003

[Magox]

10 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Fair enough.   For whatever reason, he missed a few times.   When he's lights out for the game, he completes over 80%.

 

Does anyone know what happened on the near interception.  It was Davis, I think.   My guess is that that Allen was going back shoulder and Davis didn't read it that way.   Allen doesn't miss by that much.  

 Personally, I believe he had Uber confidence in gunning the ball in there before the window closed and he slightly misjudged the closing window .

[HappyDays]

12 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I'm tired of all the announcers talking about this enormous leap he's made this year.

 

He did make a big leap this year, it just wasn't as unlikely as many analysts made it out to be. He's hitting 0-10 yard passes with lethal accuracy right now. That is something he wasn't doing at all his rookie year and too infrequently last year. The pass to Beasley over the middle where he first pump faked the MLB to hold him for half an second, and the pass was accurate enough to give Beasley yards after catch, that is a sign of progress.