THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Stand and Deliver

[JohnBonhamRocks]

5 minutes ago, Stuartjohn said:

 

I agree 100% what you are saying- 10 minutes into the Game I knew it was a loss!!

Silver lining I’m hoping is McBeane really see where we are weak and address the lines adequately.
 

If 2021 was the OT/DE off-season then I hope 2022 is the OG/DT off-season. 
 

If Diggs or Knox makes their big catch and we win, we might chug merrily along thinking we’re better than we are. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by JohnBonhamRocks

[letsgoteam]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

 

This was a great football game, old-fashioned football, two teams fighting it out in whatever the weather happened to be.  It was the kind of football we played as kids in December.  It was, as others have said, a heavyweight fight, two teams slugging their way to the finish. 

 

I totally (respectively) disagree . This was AWFUL old fashioned football. It would be great if I never had to watch a game I care about involve bad weather again. That includes the Indy snow game which was another gut wrenching game of stupidness. 

 

I dont care about heavyweights, slugs, or "old school" machismo. 

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Buddo said:

Nice job Shaw.

 

I'm pretty down on the team atm, and it's nice to have a somewhat different perspective, which actually isn't far wrong.

 

One thing I am somewhat incredulous about, is the fact that the Bills cannot seem to run block, at all.

 

The Cheats only used really, about 3 or 4 serious run plays all game, but they executed them at a high level, as a unit. The play that got them the TD, was evident all through the game, and quite regulaly got decent yards, for example.

 

Surely it isn't beyond the ken of man, for someone on the Bills coaching staff, to get our O-Line to block a few run plays efficiently, as a unit, and just use those plays.

 

While I don't necessarily think this game was one of them - it was closely fought - I believe we have too many instances where our coaches try to be the 'smartest kid in the room' with their gameplans, and it can result in some right clunkers.

 

People have discussed before that this is a 'finesse' team, and there's obviously some truth in that.

 

Thing is, it shouldn't be.

 

It isn't just that when the time comes around to push for the playoffs, it's autumn going into winter, but also the fact that the Bills play home games out in the open, in an area somewhat notorious for 'changeable' weather. Oh, and add in that two of our divisional rivals also play often in adverse conditions (Jest and Cheats), and being a 'finesse' team, simply isn't going to cut it.

 

I still believe we will get to the playoffs, and we might win in the wild card game, or our first game but I don't see us either getting to, or beyond, the AFC Championship game, again, this year. Well, not unless we suddenly discover some sort of running game.

Buddo - this is really good.  Your fundamental point is well stated and something I've thought about and don't understand.  I don't know understand offensive line play, and particularly the run game.  So far as I can tell, the Bills' run blocking schemes are (1) straight ahead, (2) interior zone blocking (which I don't understand), and (3) outside zone blocking.  One reason I think those are the primary schemes is that every few weeks the Bills run these Allen sweeps with a couple of pulling linemen out in front of him.  It looks so odd to see linemen leading a ball carrier.   Why isn't there more of that?   Or more of something else?

 

I agree with you - there are techniques that have worked for decades.   I don't see them in Buffalo.

 

Belichick, on the other hand, is the master of football history.  He knows every run blocking scheme, every strategy, and whatever defense a team may feature, he knows a run blocking scheme that can exploit it.  

 

And although it isn't directly on point here, I've thought often this season about Belichick and the quarterback sneak.   It is the most basic play in football.  Every kid on every team learns to run a quarterback sneak.  Why is it the most basic?  Straight ahead power, no complications.   It's like learning to walk before you can run.  So, in Belichick's mind, there's something wrong with your team if you can't run the most basic play well.  That's why, in this era of amazingly complex football, the Patriots run the QB sneak better than everyone else, and that's why it's an integral part of their offense, and they run it on 3rd and 4 in four-down territory.  

 

What does that have to do with the Bills?  Well, with the best power running quarterback in football, the Bills aren't very good at running the sneak.   But it also says something about the Bills' mastery of the fundamentals.  

 

There are some pro football coaches, somewhere, who know how to get production out of the run game with the Bills' personnel.  I think it's clear that Daboll isn't one of them.  If he knew, he would have done it by now. 

 

 

[SoCal Deek]

Shaw, I appreciate the word salad (don’t take it too seriously). In the end your $250 million QB has to win the game with an accurate throw. He also needs to win the Jaguars game in the fourth quarter. He also needs to get the ball across the goal line in Nashville. He has to. If he doesn’t, then at least for 2021 he’s not the QB that the Owner paid for. Allen needs to finish! He needs to win these games when they’re in the balance, within reach, in the red zone, on the final possession. He needs to CALM DOWN and play in the moment. The really good ones do. I pray that he will going forward. 

[Reks Ryan]

Excellent write up.  I agree it was high level competition in difficult circumstances for both teams.   As well as Allen played at times, ultimately he had  chances to come through with a decisive game winning play and he didn't. 

 

On some of your specific points. 

6.  Yep, Jones progress was stopped short.  And he only slid forward after the play was over. But you couldn't tell.

5.  Bills got a break on the unnecessary roughness call on Allen's .  Would have been screaming my head off in the roles were reversed.  Is the defender supposed to just allow him to get the first down?

4.  That fumble was on Breida.   He held his hands way too far apart.   I saw a clip after the game of Peyton Manning making of him, exaggerating how far apart his hands were.   Saying that goes in the RB clinic for how not to take a hand off. 

[Buddo]

It might be useful to try and find someone as a ‘run game coordinator’, who actually can implement something that works regularly.

 

Where it appears that coaches understand the differing approaches to running schemes, it also appears they aren’t committed to anything - whether it’s a zone blocking type, or just a ‘hat on a hat’ type.

 

 

 

 

[TheCockSportif]

Love ya, Shaw, but the Bills are simply not good enough to win it all.

 

Hats off to McD and Beane for making them respectable again, and this cannot be overstated.  But when things get ugly for this team, it chokes.

 

I've read comparisons to 1989, and that's probably apt, but one wonders if the issues are due to a HC who has reached his ceiling.  People forget that the 1987 Bills were trash, the 1988 Bills exceeded expectations, and then there was 1989.  This team showed growth over 3 seasons... until this season.

 

The current situation with this team is irksome to say the least.

[fan_in_tx]

Hard to believe the offense and defense had 10 days to plan their attack in the BLO weather and that was the best they could come up with. 

[CincyBillsFan]

3 hours ago, Success said:

Good write-up, but I disagree w/ the focus of this take overall.  

 

4th & 14 is not a winning down, in any situation.  The game was lost in the plays & penalties prior to that.  The game was lost when we couldn't figure out how to get in the endzone w/ a 1st down on the 6.

 

Correct.  Most teams with average RB's can gain 3 yards on 1st and goal from the 6 making it a very doable 2nd and goal from the 3 yard line.  And teams with good RB's see their guy bounce the play to the outside for a TD.

 

On the last drive, a bad false start turned a 3rd & 9, which had QB run options to get us to 4th and short, into a 3rd & 14 obvious passing situation.

 

I would also call out the pass breakup on the throw to Knox in the end zone on the 3rd & 14.  Sure that wasn't a drop and the DB made a great play on the ball.  But there are a lot of TE's in the NFL that would have muscled that ball away from a much smaller DB and scored a TD there.  I see that play made multiple times every Sunday.  And that was a great effort by Allen to escape the sack and put that ball on the money.

 

 

[Shaw66]

2 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

Shaw, I appreciate the word salad (don’t take it too seriously). In the end your $250 million QB has to win the game with an accurate throw. He also needs to win the Jaguars game in the fourth quarter. He also needs to get the ball across the goal line in Nashville. He has to. If he doesn’t, then at least for 2021 he’s not the QB that the Owner paid for. Allen needs to finish! He needs to win these games when they’re in the balance, within reach, in the red zone, on the final possession. He needs to CALM DOWN and play in the moment. The really good ones do. I pray that he will going forward. 

You're right, or at least he has to win some of them.  We saw some great 4th quarter wins in the first couple of seasons, but not so much any more.   A star QB doesn't fall down on the QB sneak, and he makes that throw.  That's two wins that would completely change the outlook right now.   Two out of three would have been good enough. 

 

He could, however, use some help from Daboll. 

1 hour ago, Buddo said:

 

 

Where it appears that coaches understand the differing approaches to running schemes, it also appears they aren’t committed to anything - whether it’s a zone blocking type, or just a ‘hat on a hat’ type.

 

 

 

 

I can't listen to Daboll - he's all just bs when he talks, but in his presser today he as much as said what you just said.   Something like we tried this, we tried that.   It sounded like he doesn't really understand the run game, just knows the styles and puts in a couple of plays from each style.  

[HappyDays]

5 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

So, it came down to one play, on fourth down with two minutes left in the game.  And on that play, after a night full of on-target throws, Allen missed badly.  He wasn’t beaten by a great defensive play, as the television announcers said.  He badly underthrew Gabriel Davis in the end zone; a well-thrown pass would have been out of reach of the poaching defender. 

 

Allen said in his post-game presser that the ball died in the wind. It never had a chance of getting there. He is not the type to make excuses about his play, far from it, so I take him at his word.

 

On the previous down he made a ridiculous play to escape two sacks and then tossed a dart through the wind which hit his #1 TE in the hands in rhe end zone. That was the heroic superstar game winning play that you wanted. He can't throw the ball and catch it too. With 14 yards to go against the best defense in the league into heavy wind you don't get two chances. Knox blew it.

Edited December 8, 2021 by HappyDays

[GoBills808]

5 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Sure.  Red zone lost the game.  That's what McDermott said after the game. 

 

I find in writing these things, I'm getting away from trying to explain why things happened, and what's wrong with the Bills.   I'm just a fan; I'm no expert.  

 

I just have observations about the game.   In this case, you're correct that 4th and 14 is not a winning down, and yet, on 4th and 14, 10 players on the field did their jobs well enough for the Bills to win the down and win the game.  It was an opportunity, an open opportunity, and the Bills didn't execute.  If Allen makes a better throw, we're all celebrating today. 

He did make a better throw, on the down prior. It wasn’t caught, but it probably should have been.

 

I don’t think you can reasonably expect a QB to hit two of those throws back to back in those conditions vs that defense. 

 

 

[SoCal Deek]

8 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

 

I don’t think you can reasonably expect a QB to hit two of those throws back to back in those conditions vs that defense. 

 

 

Here’s the difference. Nobody is touting Allen as ‘reasonable’. He’s being put up there as the decade to come face of the franchise. He needs to make that last throw. The Knox throw was a scramble and in reality nothing more than a prayer. The Beasley throw is all execution and has to be made.

[Billsfan1972]

Great write-up.

 

Again the 65 yard TD was unacceptable.  Third & 5 and you know NE is running & up the middle, as it seemed every play and they broke down.  10 on the line and force Jones to throw into the wind.

 

Why have I not seen one well designed play all year from the Bills inside the 10?  Shouldn't something be hidden for just this situation.  The first down hand-off to Moss at the 6 killed them (then they are panicking and sack the next play, when 30 yard FG's are an issue).....  

 

Allen should have been more involved in the run game.  There was little designed to take advantage of his ability.      

 

Still a playoff team, but Sunday will be big.

 

 

[Shaw66]

12 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

Allen said in his post-game presser that the ball died in the wind. It never had a chance of getting there. He is not the type to make excuses about his play, far from it, so I take him at his word.

 

On the previous down he made a ridiculous play to escape two sacks and then tossed a dart through the wind which hit his #1 TE in the hands in rhe end zone. That was the heroic superstar game winning play that you wanted. He can't throw the ball and catch it too. With 14 yards to go against the best defense in the league into heavy wind you don't get two chances. Knox blew it.

Happy -

 

Thanks for this.  I don't disagree.  A couple comments. 

 

Lately I've been writing these without listening to the postgame press conferences, so I hadn't heard Allen's comment about the wind.  I heard it yesterday.   I agree with you that that means the wind WAS the reason the ball was short, because Allen doesn't make excuses.   He just kind of quietly said it.  I think the ball got knocked down in the same way Bass's kick got knocked down.   I also think Allen took a little off the ball, because (if I I remember correctly) earlier in the quarter Allen airmailed one through the endzone.  It's one of the many problems in throwing in that wind - you always remember the last throw, that didn't fly exactly like the one before that, so your brain is telling you to adjust and readjust every time.  Anyway, I thought he took a little off, wanting drop it in and give Davis a better ball to catch, and then the wind must have stopped it.  

 

And I don't disagree about the play before.  It was, on Allen's end, a championship play.  Knox was completely covered, but it nevertheless wasn't a bad choice to throw there.  Allen had to get rid of it.  It was a tough catch for Knox - the defender actually was in front of Knox when Allen threw, and Knox made a great play just to get in front and get his hands on the ball.   Tough or not, I agree with you and others - that's a catch a championship tight end makes.   He got in position and he had it in his hands.   Shoulda been a touchdown.  

 

I will say again what I said earlier, and this is not directed at anything you said, Happy.   People are angry at or disappointed with or frustrated by the Bills, They seem to want to blame someone.  I'm not there.  I certainly don't want to blow up the team.  The Patriots probably are the toughest team in the league right now, along with maybe the Cardinals.  The Bills played them essentially dead even and as McDermott kept saying, they had opportunities to win.  People complain about the Patriots rushing yardage, but the Bills held the Pats 100 yards below their average total yards.  The Bills gave up one big rushing play - that's it.  One mistake.  

 

It's extraordinarily difficult to be dominant in the NFL for a season.   Every week is a new test.   During this stretch, the Bills have not been doing well enough, but they aren't a disaster.  If they need another season to take another stride forward, I'm okay with that.  A year from now, Spencer Brown is older, there'll probably be a new offensive lineman added to the mix, there may be a new offensive coordinator, Allen will be wiser.  Point is, as I said before, this a good team.   There are maybe 10 good teams in the NFL.  They're all struggling to be better, and some are having more challenges right now than others.  The Bills are one of those.   I don't see that as any reason to be angry with them, or any reason to believe that wholesale changes are necessary, or anything.  

 

If the Bills go 3-2 to end the season, they're 10-7 on the season, and that would be a disappointment, but not a disaster.  If they go 4-1, they're 11-6 and in the playoffs.  That's a successful season - not what we hoped, but a successful season.   And if they have a good run in the playoffs, then I'm happy.   It's not enough, but I'm certainly not going to be suicidal.  

 

If they go 2-3 and finish 9-8, then McBeane and the Pegulas need to have some serious talk about how the Bills are going to get better. 

[HamSandwhich]

18 hours ago, Chaos said:

I appreciate your optimism.  The Bills failed.  Full stop.  From Knox killing the first drive with an easy drop. To letting the Patriots get out as front runners by being blown off the ball, to let them get up 8-0, to the worst set of play calls in NFL history on first and goal from the 6 yard line, the Bills demonstrated they can't deliver.  There is zero evidence to suggest that if the Bills put more points on the board early, that that Patriots would not have been able to deliver more points on their end.   The Pats didn't throw only 2 passes because they were afraid to throw more, they threw exactly the number of passes they needed to win the game. 

Disagree with your point about not passing because that’s what they need to win the game. The didn’t pass because Mac can’t throw in that wind. If the Bills actually went up, the Pats would be in a world of pain if they couldn’t score on the ground. 

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, HamSandwhich said:

Disagree with your point about not passing because that’s what they need to win the game. The didn’t pass because Mac can’t throw in that wind. If the Bills actually went up, the Pats would be in a world of pain if they couldn’t score on the ground. 

Correct.  Rookie QB against the best pass defense in the league in that wind, there was no way he was passing. 

[Chaos]

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Correct.  Rookie QB against the best pass defense in the league in that wind, there was no way he was passing. 

The defense allowing them to score the first eight points definitely allowed the Patriots to stick to their well thought out and well executed game plan. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Chaos

[Hapless Bills Fan]

22 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I'm don't disagree.  I thought it was on Breida.

 

Not that it has anything to do with it, but I saw a clip of Manning, maybe from his show last night, in which he said that in his entire football career he NEVER took a handoff.   I suppose it's understandable - I mean, what pee wee coach is going to tell Archie Manning that his son isn't playing QB?   

 

In your OP write-up, you said it  looked like it was on Allen.

 

Quote

4.  It looked like the fumble was on Allen, but who knows?  Either way, it was a bad mistake in a game where there was no room for error.

 

Not to pick a nit, but that's why I spoke up, was because I disagree with what you initially wrote and so did Peyton Manning (FWIW)

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Correct.  Rookie QB against the best pass defense in the league in that wind, there was no way he was passing. 

 

And yet, that one throw he made in the 1Q where Jonnu Smith made an incredible circus catch to haul it in - I have to believe that was quite calculated.  It was a shot across Frazier's bow saying "don't sell out to stop the run on us, because next Q when we have the wind, we just might have our boy sling it - and we got the guys who can go up and get it, too."

 

Aside: it really chaps my ass that we have guys who apparently can't catch a ball that hits them in the numbers or in the wrists, while the Patriots have several "circus act" pass receivers who have been helping Jones out all season.