THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Smokin'

[Shaw66]

All right.  Full disclosure.

 

I left Arrowhead at halftime.  I had a good excuse.  Well, I had an excuse.  Okay, there is no excuse. 

 

The upper concourse was absolutely packed with people at halftime, just standing around and waiting out the weather delay.  The concession stands were selling no beer.  It was raining.  The lightning seemed to keep coming and coming, and the weather radar looked bad.  We decided to go.

 

As we began to push our way through the crowd, I stopped beside a big Bills fan who seemed to be enjoying himself.   Why not?  The Bills had dominated the first half, and you could feel the dejection in the KC air.  I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “Will I be forgiven if I leave at halftime?”  He looked me in the eye and sympathetically said something like, “I don’t have that authority, but I don’t think you will ever be completely forgiven.”  We both laughed, and I went on my way.

 

It took ten minutes to get to the gate.  We stopped.  Once I went out the gate there was no coming back.   I thought about it and then decided to continue.  Walking through the parking lots, we heard the cheers from the crowd as they learned they could return to the stadium.  We heard the second half kickoff on the radio in the car.  We heard Hyde’s interception, and we heard Rousseau’s interception.  I was in the hotel lobby restaurant for the final plays of the Chiefs’ TD drive and for the rest of the game as I worked on a drink and a sandwich.

 

I missed the second half downpour.  I missed the end-of-game traffic jam.  But I also missed celebrating with Bills fans at the end of the game.  All in all, it wasn’t a horrible way to have seen/heard the game, but I never leave before the end.  Well, last season, I left a  meaningless game 16 in horrible rain, but that was like leaving a preseason game.  

 

Now that I have that off my chest, what a game!  I mean, really, what a game!!!  In his post-game interview, Josh Allen was very calm and professional, it’s only one win, four wins doesn’t get you to the playoffs, etc., etc.   The Bills’ celebrations on the sideline as Allen took knees said something different.  The mantra is “don’t get too high, don’t get too low, blah, blah,” but those celebrations showed that the Bills looked at this game like the fans did – maybe not redemption for the loss in the Championship Game, but at least a test.  Did the Bills have the secret potion to counter Mahomes’s magic?   Could they stop Hill and Kelce?  Could they slay the dragon? 

 

Hell, yes!  Maybe the dragon’s getting a little long in the tooth, and maybe the dragon will rise to fight again, but for now, this dragon took a fatal sword thrust to the heart and is lying dead on GEHA Field at Arrowhead.  There are new dragons on the horizon – there always are in the NFL, but if the Bills face the Chiefs in the playoffs this season, it’s going to be in Orchard Park, and that’s where the Bills want them.

 

Watching the early games on Sunday, I realized that one thing that makes the Bills defense so great is that the Bills do not, they absolutely do not, let anyone get deep on them.   All afternoon long, one team after another got beat deep, and I kept wondering what was wrong with them.  Finally I realized it – there’s nothing wrong with them; it’s just that the Bills are special.  Somehow, the Bills always have a defender running with the deep threat.  Except for the first play of the game when Kelce got deep and Mahomes missed him.  I began to worry that Andy Reid had found, once again, the cracks in the defense that would allow him to strike deep, but that was it – one play.  After that, the long strikes to Hill or any of those other speedsters KC puts on the field simply weren’t there. 

 

The Bills were fearless.  Sometimes Tre White followed Hill, but sometimes the defensive responsibility fell to someone else, mostly Taron Johnson.  KC seemed to think that they could put Hill in the slot and take advantage of the matchup, but that strategy failed almost completely.  Johnson’s been playing well all year, but it seemed as though he said to the Bills, “if you give me the money, I’ll show you what I REALLY can do.”  With his new contract in hand, Johnson was ready for whatever Hill could bring at him. 

 

The defense is amazing.  There’s always another tackler arriving, someone’s always going after the ball.  They’re tough.  Poyer probably will get fined for that hit on Kelce, but Poyer wanted to send a message.  It probably was a bad idea, because Kelce will remember, but Poyer WANTS him to remember. 

 

The difference this season no doubt is the defensive line.  The Bills don’t come at opponents with superstar talent on the defensive line.  They don’t have a Kahlil Mack demanding double teams, or a Chris Jones.  They just attack with good football players, and the complementary effect of working together is that someone is always making a play.  Last season, all they had was Hughes, Addison, and Oliver, and the total of the three wasn’t enough to threaten the offense consistently.  This season, the Bills have added Rousseau and Star and an improved Zimmer and Basham and Efe, and it seems that any four of them together threaten the QB on almost every drop back.   And they stop the run, too. 

 

Even when the opposing QB has time to look downfield, he has a problem – the back seven.  All night long, Mahomes was looking, scrambling, looking, looking, and more often then not, he threw a contested ball or threw it away. 

 

Did the Bills miss Matt Milano?   Yes, because every game that Milano is on the field, he makes an eye-popping play or two.  No, because AJ Klein made all the ordinary plays that the Bills defense requires.   He seemed never to be out of position, and roaming behind that defensive line, he and Edmunds made tackles all night. 

 

One last thing about the defense:  Rousseau.  Football at its very core is about territory: can you attack their territory and can you defend yours?   The best coaches say, for example, that the offense needs to attack vertically and horizontally, because if you can threaten to attack all over the field, you spread the defense and everything gets easier. 

 

On defense, the better you can defend territory, the easier defense gets.  It’s the point about Edmunds that so many people seem to miss.  Edmunds is valuable because the combination of his size, including his wingspan, his quickness and his speed allows him to cover a much larger part of the center of the field than the average middle linebacker.  Throwing over him and dropping the ball into the middle zones is difficult if not impossible.  He makes it hard to find crossers, because of his unique physical skills, and that helps the entire defense, because the offense has less territory to attack. 

 

Rousseau looks like another Edmunds, and he is.  He stays on his feet, and he can run.  The result is that he is excellent shutting down the run game to his side of the field, and he’s almost equally valuable trailing plays to the other side.   But the point about defenders taking away parts of the field with their size was best demonstrated on his interception.  Mahomes learned, and other quarterbacks are learning, that throws to the right flat are not the gimme outlet passes they’re used to making.  Rousseau is so tall and has such great reach and athletic ability that he makes it difficult to get balls around or over him and still connect with the receiver.  

 

So, there the defense sits after game 5, on the top of the league in yards per game and points per game.  Spectacular!

 

How about the offense?  How does 8th in yards per game and first in points per game sound?   Wow!

 

The Chiefs haven’t gotten the message about not letting receivers deep.   Sanders, Diggs, Knox all burned them.  Josh still hasn’t played his best football, and that’s exactly what keeps defensive coordinators up at night.   Wait until the offense really gets humming. 

 

A few things about the offense.  First, the Bills seemed prepared for the noise.  There had been questions about whether Josh’s success last season stemmed from the fact that he could make adjustments in quiet stadiums on the road.  It seemed that when he faced a full house in KC last January, he struggled.  Well, the crowd was loud on Monday night, as loud as in Orchard Park, but it was no problem for the Bills.  They ran on a silent count, and Josh seemed to make the adjustments at the line that he wanted.  That’s a credit to Brian Daboll.

 

Actually, the entire offensive performance was a credit to Brian Daboll.  He schemed up the right running plays for Josh, so that Josh’s legs were a true threat.  He got receivers deep, and he got them open in the middle, too.  Best of all, he had a great scheme for the running backs.   Moss and Singletary were constant threats.  Particularly late in the game, the running backs were much more patient, getting wide and simply waiting for the blockers to open a seam before attacking.  It’s the style that made Le’Veon Bell a star in Pittsburgh – just be patient and you’ll find a place to go. 

 

The Bills are being rewarded for the their patience with Dawson Knox. 

 

Finally, if you want to be a dragon slayer, you’ve got to confront the claws, the teeth, and the flaming breath fearlessly and fight back.   That’s exactly what the Bills offense did in the second half.  They opened the half going three and out, four and out, three and out.  Micah Hyde gave them some breathing room with his pick six, but the Chiefs roared back, with Mahomes taking them on a classic, quick TD drive to make it 31-20.  The game was on the line.  Fourteen minutes left.  The Bills needed to run clock and keep the ball away from Mahomes.  They needed a field goal to go up 14, which wouldn’t be bad.  What they really needed was a long drive for a touchdown, leaving the Chiefs down three scores without enough time to do it.

 

Josh and the offense were ready to slay the dragon.  What looked like a bogus offensive holding call put the Bills in an immediate hole, but they were bailed out with a roughing the passer call against Clark that probably was the right call – lifting the quarter back off the ground and landing on top of him without Clark breaking his fall.  But they were still deep in their own territory, and there still was a lot of time on the clock.  A first down pass to Sanders got the Bills a fresh set of downs from their own 34.  Moss ran for one, and Beasley made a good run after a short completion for five.  Now it was third and four, still with nine and half minutes on the clock, plenty of time for Mahomes to get two scores.  The Bills needed a first down.

 

And then it happened.  For fans of any other team, it would have been a miracle, but for Bills fans it was just Josh being Josh.  Bills fans had seen it before.  Hard as it is to believe, they’d seen EXACTLY the same thing before.  Josh scrambled and, confronted by a tackler who would drop him short of the first down, he simply jumped over him!  When he did it his rookie season, he said he knew he wasn’t supposed to do it, but the team needed the first down.  Same thing against the Chiefs – his team needed the first down, so he just jumped over the guy. 

 

Nine minutes were left on the clock, maybe still enough time for Mahomes, but Allen’s play ignited the offense.  Allen to Moss for 16 yards, Allen to Davis for another 16, Allen keeps it for 12, Moss runs for 4, and Allen to Sanders for 8 and the TD.  Six minutes left, but the dragon’s corpse was lying on the field.  The celebration began as Allen took three sweet kneel downs and fittingly tossed the ball Micah Hyde, the ever-present safety. 

 

Last season, the Bills were spanked on the road two weeks in a row by the Titans and then the Chiefs.  Coincidentally, the Titans will be waiting for the Bills in Nashville next Monday night.   Just another dragon.

 

Go Bills!

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by Shaw66

[Beast]

I'm convinced those hits at the end of the game were a direct payback from late in the AFCCG where KC was getting very chippy with the Bills.

[muppy]

Shaw66 shame on you mate im deeply disappointd in you........LOL

 

The candor and writeup are great as usual and Bills fans near and far are flying High today and with good reason. A changing of the guard if you will AND HIS NAME IS JOSH ALLEN AND THE BUFFALO BILLS

 

we old timers have waited a LONG time for this revival, and some have never seen a Bills team this dominant. It's uber exciting stuff and Im drinking it in like fine champagne.

 

GO BILLS!~!~!~!!!

 

 

[Success]

I can't help but think of the drought - and how some years, the only praise we had for the team after a game was for Moorman, and maybe Schobel.

 

The OP covers all of the bases, but it's crazy how much credit there is to go around from last night.  So many players contributed - there was talent all over that field, and it showed on every play.  At the end when Davis caught a key pass, I was l like, oh yeah - that guy!  We have talent on top of talent, and I'd argue the best depth in the entire league on both D and O.

 

And all hail Beane.  He started the offseason thinking one thing:  we have to beat KC.  He built the offseason around that, and it came to fruition last night.  We can play w/ that team, we can beat them, and we can win a championship.  He has done a masterful job.

 

We've had a lot of exciting, big wins in the Allen era so far - but last night's was the most meaningful, at least for me.  It's early, but it was one of those "the road to the SB goes through Buffalo" statements w/ the whole country watching that we haven't had in a LONG time.

 

[The Poojer]

I'm gonna give you a pass on leaving, I was watching it and with the delay and the rain, not sure i could have enjoyed myself. Excellent write up. Loved the graphic they showed that of the 69 defensive snaps, we had 9 0r 10 and none had more than 50 snaps and all had at least 20.  That's serious depth

[Virgil]

Did you have the same paranoia writing this I did, fearing you’d leave something out or not capture something appropriately?

 

[Aussie Joe]

Shame you had to leave the game … long way to go for that lousy weather…

 

Rousseau is going to be a good one…

[Pokebball]

Just now, Aussie Joe said:

Shame you had to leave the game … long way to go for that lousy weather…

 

Rousseau is going to be a good one…

IMO, Rousseau is already there. Yeah OK, perhaps premature, but dang what a draft pick our front office made, yet again.l

 

[Do The Reich Thing]

This team is on a mission right now. They're all lasered in. If they can keep the same focus for the entirety of the season we will be celebrating major things at the end of it.

[I'm Spartacus]

The Buffalo Police Department will now be enjoying KC Barbeque with the bet they made with KCPD!

[Shaw66]

39 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Did you have the same paranoia writing this I did, fearing you’d leave something out or not capture something appropriately?

 

You could write all day about it.  Those little dump offs Allen threw over defenders. White and Hyde protesting to the refs.  Diggs not realizing the defender was right there on the deep ball.  Oliver was possessed.  Mahomes side arm stuff not working.  Defense was everywhere.  Pass protection.  

 

Incredible to step up so completely in a big game on the road.  And now to have turn around and do it again.   

Edited October 11, 2021 by Shaw66

[Rick 'r Mortis]

How big was that drink and sandwich?

[Shaw66]

12 minutes ago, Rick 'r Mortis said:

How big was that drink and sandwich?

Ginger ale and a quesadilla. 

 

A drink sounded better, but you caught me. 

Edited October 11, 2021 by Shaw66

[Billsfan1972]

I forgive you for leaving......  Wet, crowded, uncomfortable and no idea when the game would resume.  Sorry I'm not as hearty as some, but am a Bills fan.

 

Frankly the Bills dropped some balls, got no calls on offense and I thought KC's defense played well.  Allen made spectacular passes (btw look how open the Chargers receivers were on their TD's vs a better Cleveland defense).

 

Allen hasn't played his best, the wr's catches are down at this point and last two weeks have been played in rain & wind.

 

   

[jahnyc]

This is a great post.  Thank you.

[hondo in seattle]

A little long-winded but well-written.  Liked the way you kept up with the dragon metaphor.  

 

I left the game when the Bills went up 38-20.  There was no good excuse.  But the kid had school today and the wife wasn't feeling well.  

 

Traffic wasn't too bad since many left earlier and many others would stay till the end.  

 

The Chiefs fans I interacted with, btw, were very gracious despite the circumstances.  In fact, most KC fans I know were predicting a Bills victory.  They felt our D could slow down their O but their D would fail to slow down our O.  Good assessment.  

[BuffalOhio]

Shame on you for leaving.  You too, Hondo!!!

 

It was in Central Time, so it was only 11:35 PM when the game was over!

 

Of course I jest.  I am not as hardy as most and enjoy watching on my big TV from my couch way more than in a stadium.

 

What a game; what a team we finally have.  All Hail Beane and McDermott!!!!

 

#LetsGoBuffalo

Edited October 12, 2021 by BuffalOhio
typo

[TPS]

I only read the first half of your post this week...

[billybrew1]

2 hours ago, Pokebball said:

IMO, Rousseau is already there. Yeah OK, perhaps premature, but dang what a draft pick our front office made, yet again.l

 

What a draft pick? What a draft!!!  Groot, Boogie then Spencer Brown?! C'mon now! This draft is going to compete with the 2017 draft for best draft in the last 20 - 25 years. (Along with the Allen draft, LOL!)

Do not right off Boogie. He's the real deal, too! And so is Espenensa! Three very good DEs.....

And Spencer Brown might be the best pick of all, who knows?

I say we hit the lines again next season! Go DT, then C/G with the first two picks (if their there).

Groot probably ends up being the biggest playmaker of the three, but Boogie And AJ are good, solid picks and football players.

I noticed all three yesterday and it was because they were flashing....

 

Go Bills!

 

PS - Maybe we can afford to draft another big receiver (TE or WR) in the third this year?

If we sign Wallace I think we can. 

Go DT, C/G, WR/TE, CB next year....plus we have a double 6ths, and 7ths....to fill holes as we have a ton of FAs this year (again).

I wonder if there is any chance of signing Star for one more year? For some reason, I don't think he gives us a discount if he decides to play again....And I don't think we can pony up like he has been accustomed to being paid.  We have sizable holes at DT next season....I think ideally, we sign Star for one year and draft a DT #1 and let him play with Star and Ed next season... That also implies we activate Ed O's fifth year option (which is VERY expensive as well). I don't know what we can about Z, Harry or Vernon....Though I think they all are FAs.... maybe not Z? That'd be great if we could keep Z for another inexpensive season.

Anyhoo.....

 

Go Bills!

 

The NFC is looking very tough, imho....We need our offense to continue to grow to compete with the NFC, imho, with the Bucs, the rams, The cards, Dallas and GB all playing pretty darn well now....That's what the season is for though.... We have thirteen weeks to hone our skills, study the enemy and prepare. That Tampa game is a great test....to see where we are then. If we win, we look super, if not, it won't lose us homefield advantage imho, and we'll learn where we have to go.... 

I think our OL can get way better this year both pass but especially run blocking. Three OL have been switched around and one is a brand new rookie. The potential is vast, imho.  Allen And Daboll are seeing how defenses are playing us and they'll work together break how teams are currently playing us.... I still think there is a very real place for our four-wide set, maybe not what I envisioned when the season began but once Allen learns what he has to do to break that defense and once the 

OL really improves look out. Maybe there is even room for our 12 O. Get Sweeney involved more as well? We could go big with our two TEs, Davis and Kumerow perhaps? I guess we did that last night a little I read....

I'd like to see Josh's QBR and QB rating to rise in line with the other great QBs before the playoffs begin....

[WhoTom]

4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Josh scrambled and, confronted by a tackler who would drop him short of the first down, he simply jumped over him!  When he did it his rookie season, he said he knew he wasn’t supposed to do it, but the team needed the first down.  Same thing against the Chiefs – his team needed the first down, so he just jumped over the guy. 

 

In his rookie season, Daboll might have yelled at him for that play. By now, though, Josh has earned the right to pull that kind of move without worrying about what the coaches think.

 

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, TPS said:

I only read the first half of your post this week...

 

Vontae Davis turned off the TV at halftime.