THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - No Bills on Sunday Afternoon, No Problem

[Shaw66]

The Bills played the Patriots on Thursday night.  I was tense for hours before the game, because the Patriots can play defense, because Belichick is a football genius, and because the Bills haven’t been dominating, not by a long shot.   Or so it seemed.

 

The Bills beat the Patriots.  They played a solid all-around game, were smart with ball, took what the Patriots gave them and won with what they took.   It was workmanlike.  It was a very good team winning a prime-time game on the road against a solid opponent that the Bills should beat.

 

It was, by the way December 1.  Welcome to December football. 

 

And then someone pointed out that Sunday afternoon’s games lined up to be of particular interest to the Bills and Bills’ fans.  Division rivals Miami and New York, just ahead of and just behind the Bills in the division standings (the Patriots having fallen a bit out of the hunt, thanks to Buffalo) had tough road games at San Francisco and Minnesota, respectively.  The Chiefs, leading in the race for the playoff bye, were at the Bengals, a good team once again in a dogfight in the AFC North.  The Titans, another potential competitor for the bye, was at Philadelphia. 

 

Wow!  One weekend of games falling the right way, and the Bills would lead for the bye, be on top of their division, and have put some distance between them and other competitors.  “Forget it,” I thought.  “Can’t happen.”

 

Well, it did happen.  So, here we are, as the first week of December football is winding down, and the Bills are back in the top spot in the conference.  The only game that didn’t fall the way the Bills would have liked was the Ravens against the Broncos.  Lamar Jackson was injured, but Tyler Huntley rallied the Ravens for a 10-9 win.  But the Bills already have a one-win lead on the Ravens, and they have the tie-breaker, too.

 

I spent all Sunday afternoon watching first the Vikings beat the Jets and then the Bengals beat the Chiefs, while I kept checking the score as the Dolphins failed to keep up with the Niners.  It was a great afternoon of football.

 

Several reactions:

 

1.  There are some really good football teams out there.  Really good.  The Bills, the Chiefs, the Eagles, the Vikings, the Jets, the Bengals, the Titans, Cowboys.  Others, I’m sure.  Teams that are focused, disciplined, and fierce. 

 

2.  The games suddenly are intense, exciting contests.  They’re must-win games for most of the teams that are playing, and the fans and the announcers are into it.  The Vikings and Jets slugged it out.  The Chiefs and the Bengals slugged it out.  The Ravens slugged it out.  The Titans no doubt went down slugging; they don’t know any other way.  Great football.

 

3.  Stefon Diggs is great.  Diggs makes himself great with his brains and attitude.  There some receivers out there who are out of this world.  Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase in particular.  They do things that Diggs literally dreams of. 

 

4.  The Jets simply are no picnic.  Their defense is absolutely for real.  And Mike White?  Few NFL quarterbacks ever have thrown as accurately as White did on Sunday.  Throw after throw, precisely where each should be.  I mean precisely.  If he stands undisturbed in the pocket, he can pick anyone apart. 

 

5.  The Bengals are a bigger nightmare.  They have Chase, Burrows is what Mike White dreams he could be, their running game is excellent, and their defense is tenacious.

 

6.  Bill have losses to the Vikings and Jets, close losses.  No shame in that.  Those are tough teams.  Bills have wins over the Ravens, Chiefs, Titans.  For those teams, no shame in losing to the Bills.  Point is, the Bills have earned the position they’re in, but there’s no easy road to stay there.  The Bills have to play and beat the the Jets, the Dolphins, the Bears, the Bengals and the Patriots.  That’s a tall, tall order.  If they stumble, well, the other teams can stumble, too, but I’d always rather be the lead dog.

 

December football games. 

 

Playoff caliber. 

 

Call it what you will.  It’s time to prove you’ve got it. 

 

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.

 

 

[Jamone]

Love every lost thank you

Post*

[ganesh]

With the teams level being so close to each other, it is going to be super critical to get that #1 seed in the AFC. 

[iccrewman112]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

 

5.  The Bengals are a bigger nightmare.  They have Chase, Burrows is what Mike White dreams he could be, their running game is excellent, and their defense is tenacious.

they are 8-2 in their last 10 games.

 

the completely rebuilt o-line that was putrid the first two weeks, has come together nicely and they have run the ball very well lately, both Mixon and Perine.

[CSBill]

Thanks, @Shaw66  It really was a fun day of football yesterday. I was able to watch most of the three key games (for the Bills: Fish,/49rs Jets/Vikings ending, and Bengals/Chiefs) and enjoyed being invested, but not on the emotional edge I'm usually at when watching a Bills game.

 

And we could not have asked for better results.

 

Its now a five game regular season.

 

LETS GO BUFFALO!

[ProcessTruster]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

With the teams level being so close to each other, it is going to be super critical to get that #1 seed in the AFC. 

Yes, that could easily be the difference.  

[Lost]

7 hours ago, Jamone said:

Love every lost thank you

Post*

 

Why thank you 🥰

 

Love u 2 Jamone

[Billsfan1972]

Home field will be crucial.  Big difference in Cincy, Minny & SF yesterday.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

7 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

3.  Stefon Diggs is great.  Diggs makes himself great with his brains and attitude.  There some receivers out there who are out of this world.  Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase in particular.  They do things that Diggs literally dreams of. 

 

 

 

Jefferson has a chance to be the greatest ever in my opinion and if he has a limiting factor it's Cousins.  He's on an unprecedented statistical pace through fewer than three seasons and the eye test has him as the best player on the field every game.

 

And having said that I still think both sides won the trade equally, as Diggs was the perfect ingredient that Josh needed to get to where he is.

[Stuartjohn]

8 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

The Bills played the Patriots on Thursday night.  I was tense for hours before the game, because the Patriots can play defense, because Belichick is a football genius, and because the Bills haven’t been dominating, not by a long shot.   Or so it seemed.

 

The Bills beat the Patriots.  They played a solid all-around game, were smart with ball, took what the Patriots gave them and won with what they took.   It was workmanlike.  It was a very good team winning a prime-time game on the road against a solid opponent that the Bills should beat.

 

It was, by the way December 1.  Welcome to December football. 

 

And then someone pointed out that Sunday afternoon’s games lined up to be of particular interest to the Bills and Bills’ fans.  Division rivals Miami and New York, just ahead of and just behind the Bills in the division standings (the Patriots having fallen a bit out of the hunt, thanks to Buffalo) had tough road games at San Francisco and Minnesota, respectively.  The Chiefs, leading in the race for the playoff bye, were at the Bengals, a good team once again in a dogfight in the AFC North.  The Titans, another potential competitor for the bye, was at Philadelphia. 

 

Wow!  One weekend of games falling the right way, and the Bills would lead for the bye, be on top of their division, and have put some distance between them and other competitors.  “Forget it,” I thought.  “Can’t happen.”

 

Well, it did happen.  So, here we are, as the first week of December football is winding down, and the Bills are back in the top spot in the conference.  The only game that didn’t fall the way the Bills would have liked was the Ravens against the Broncos.  Lamar Jackson was injured, but Tyler Huntley rallied the Ravens for a 10-9 win.  But the Bills already have a one-win lead on the Ravens, and they have the tie-breaker, too.

 

I spent all Sunday afternoon watching first the Vikings beat the Jets and then the Bengals beat the Chiefs, while I kept checking the score as the Dolphins failed to keep up with the Niners.  It was a great afternoon of football.

 

Several reactions:

 

1.  There are some really good football teams out there.  Really good.  The Bills, the Chiefs, the Eagles, the Vikings, the Jets, the Bengals, the Titans, Cowboys.  Others, I’m sure.  Teams that are focused, disciplined, and fierce. 

 

2.  The games suddenly are intense, exciting contests.  They’re must-win games for most of the teams that are playing, and the fans and the announcers are into it.  The Vikings and Jets slugged it out.  The Chiefs and the Bengals slugged it out.  The Ravens slugged it out.  The Titans no doubt went down slugging; they don’t know any other way.  Great football.

 

3.  Stefon Diggs is great.  Diggs makes himself great with his brains and attitude.  There some receivers out there who are out of this world.  Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase in particular.  They do things that Diggs literally dreams of. 

 

4.  The Jets simply are no picnic.  Their defense is absolutely for real.  And Mike White?  Few NFL quarterbacks ever have thrown as accurately as White did on Sunday.  Throw after throw, precisely where each should be.  I mean precisely.  If he stands undisturbed in the pocket, he can pick anyone apart. 

 

5.  The Bengals are a bigger nightmare.  They have Chase, Burrows is what Mike White dreams he could be, their running game is excellent, and their defense is tenacious.

 

6.  Bill have losses to the Vikings and Jets, close losses.  No shame in that.  Those are tough teams.  Bills have wins over the Ravens, Chiefs, Titans.  For those teams, no shame in losing to the Bills.  Point is, the Bills have earned the position they’re in, but there’s no easy road to stay there.  The Bills have to play and beat the the Jets, the Dolphins, the Bears, the Bengals and the Patriots.  That’s a tall, tall order.  If they stumble, well, the other teams can stumble, too, but I’d always rather be the lead dog.

 

December football games. 

 

Playoff caliber. 

 

Call it what you will.  It’s time to prove you’ve got it. 

 

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.

 

 

 

One Game at a Time Mantra Really Heats up. Buffalo now controls there  OWN destiny!  Win out and Clinch Home field - 2 Games to Arizona!!

GoBills!

[Beast]

Bill Belichick is such a football genius that he is 10 games below .500 in over 150 games when his QB isn’t Tom Brady.

 

Bill Belichick is a fraud and the most fortunate man in NFL history.

 

He is Jerry Glanville minus Tom Brady.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Beast

[Chaos]

People are not too bright.  Belicheks record with sub-par qbs has far more wins than the expected value.  

[Buffalo Junction]

1 minute ago, Chaos said:

People are not too bright.  Belicheks record with sub-par qbs has far more wins than the expected value.  

Yup. The issue for them is that Belichick the coach is cuckolded by Belichick the GM.

[SoCal Deek]

Thanks for the shout out Shaw. With so many incredibly knowledgeable Bills fans on this Board I couldn’t believe that no one had noticed the way the schedule lined up for us yesterday. A great day to sit and watch football knowing we’d already taken care of our own business on Thursday night. I can’t recall that ever happening before. 

Edited December 5, 2022 by SoCal Deek

[Billsfan1972]

1 hour ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said:

 

Jefferson has a chance to be the greatest ever in my opinion and if he has a limiting factor it's Cousins.  He's on an unprecedented statistical pace through fewer than three seasons and the eye test has him as the best player on the field every game.

 

And having said that I still think both sides won the trade equally, as Diggs was the perfect ingredient that Josh needed to get to where he is.

The way he catches & holds on to the ball is incredible.  

 

Again wouldn't give up Diggs and if the Bills didn't pick Jefferson, who was not a lock, this would be a completely different team too.

 

What scared me yesterday was seeing how good the Cincy receivers were in catching the ball in tough situations.

 

Outside Diggs, been a while since I remember a great catch or effort by a Bills receiver.

[chris heff]

1 hour ago, Beast said:

Bill Belichick is such a football genius that he is 10 games below .500 in over 150 games when his QB isn’t Tom Brady.

 

Bill Belichick is a fraud and the most fortunate man in NFL history.

 

He is Jerry Glanville minus Tom Brady.

I went back and watched last two minutes of Bills game, Patriots kick a field goal and then with three timeouts let the Bills run out the clock. Belichick’s reasoning was he didn’t want to risk injury to Mac Jones. At very least a strange decision. Having a mediocre second year QB with no offensive coordinator is idiotic. I think Belichick is done.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

3 minutes ago, chris heff said:

I went back and watched last two minutes of Bills game, Patriots kick a field goal and then with three timeouts let the Bills run out the clock. Belichick’s reasoning was he didn’t want to risk injury to Mac Jones. At very least a strange decision. Having a mediocre second year QB with no offensive coordinator is idiotic. I think Belichick is done.

Belichick’s poor talent acquisition has yielded a bottom-5 roster the last three years, ironically masked by his own good coaching.  You can’t demand vertical integration and then trot out that offense and keep your job.

[Big Turk]

9 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

The Bills played the Patriots on Thursday night.  I was tense for hours before the game, because the Patriots can play defense, because Belichick is a football genius, and because the Bills haven’t been dominating, not by a long shot.   Or so it seemed.

 

The Bills beat the Patriots.  They played a solid all-around game, were smart with ball, took what the Patriots gave them and won with what they took.   It was workmanlike.  It was a very good team winning a prime-time game on the road against a solid opponent that the Bills should beat.

 

It was, by the way December 1.  Welcome to December football. 

 

And then someone pointed out that Sunday afternoon’s games lined up to be of particular interest to the Bills and Bills’ fans.  Division rivals Miami and New York, just ahead of and just behind the Bills in the division standings (the Patriots having fallen a bit out of the hunt, thanks to Buffalo) had tough road games at San Francisco and Minnesota, respectively.  The Chiefs, leading in the race for the playoff bye, were at the Bengals, a good team once again in a dogfight in the AFC North.  The Titans, another potential competitor for the bye, was at Philadelphia. 

 

Wow!  One weekend of games falling the right way, and the Bills would lead for the bye, be on top of their division, and have put some distance between them and other competitors.  “Forget it,” I thought.  “Can’t happen.”

 

Well, it did happen.  So, here we are, as the first week of December football is winding down, and the Bills are back in the top spot in the conference.  The only game that didn’t fall the way the Bills would have liked was the Ravens against the Broncos.  Lamar Jackson was injured, but Tyler Huntley rallied the Ravens for a 10-9 win.  But the Bills already have a one-win lead on the Ravens, and they have the tie-breaker, too.

 

I spent all Sunday afternoon watching first the Vikings beat the Jets and then the Bengals beat the Chiefs, while I kept checking the score as the Dolphins failed to keep up with the Niners.  It was a great afternoon of football.

 

Several reactions:

 

1.  There are some really good football teams out there.  Really good.  The Bills, the Chiefs, the Eagles, the Vikings, the Jets, the Bengals, the Titans, Cowboys.  Others, I’m sure.  Teams that are focused, disciplined, and fierce. 

 

2.  The games suddenly are intense, exciting contests.  They’re must-win games for most of the teams that are playing, and the fans and the announcers are into it.  The Vikings and Jets slugged it out.  The Chiefs and the Bengals slugged it out.  The Ravens slugged it out.  The Titans no doubt went down slugging; they don’t know any other way.  Great football.

 

3.  Stefon Diggs is great.  Diggs makes himself great with his brains and attitude.  There some receivers out there who are out of this world.  Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase in particular.  They do things that Diggs literally dreams of. 

 

4.  The Jets simply are no picnic.  Their defense is absolutely for real.  And Mike White?  Few NFL quarterbacks ever have thrown as accurately as White did on Sunday.  Throw after throw, precisely where each should be.  I mean precisely.  If he stands undisturbed in the pocket, he can pick anyone apart. 

 

5.  The Bengals are a bigger nightmare.  They have Chase, Burrows is what Mike White dreams he could be, their running game is excellent, and their defense is tenacious.

 

6.  Bill have losses to the Vikings and Jets, close losses.  No shame in that.  Those are tough teams.  Bills have wins over the Ravens, Chiefs, Titans.  For those teams, no shame in losing to the Bills.  Point is, the Bills have earned the position they’re in, but there’s no easy road to stay there.  The Bills have to play and beat the the Jets, the Dolphins, the Bears, the Bengals and the Patriots.  That’s a tall, tall order.  If they stumble, well, the other teams can stumble, too, but I’d always rather be the lead dog.

 

December football games. 

 

Playoff caliber. 

 

Call it what you will.  It’s time to prove you’ve got it. 

 

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.

 

 

 

I am not sure I agree on White.  Yes, he made some good throws, but he also made more than a handful of ones that were behind receivers or not in good places that led to interceptions or near interceptions and passes that were not caught that should have been.  He is what he is...reminds me a lot of Fitz.  He is going to try and fit the ball into some places but lacks the arm strength to do so consistently against good defenses. He is a QB that will make some plays but will do just enough to lose most times against good teams.  Look what happened last time we played Mike White after he was lighting teams up prior.

 

This Vikings defense isn't what anyone would call good...they allowed gaudy offensive numbers to the Patriots and allowed Jones to put up almost 400 yards on them.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Big Turk

[Chuck Schick]

1 hour ago, Chaos said:

People are not too bright.  Belicheks record with sub-par qbs has far more wins than the expected value.  

But can you really keep playing that card when you are the one largely (totally?) responsible for having those sub-par QBs on the field?

[Shaw66]

52 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

I am not sure I agree on White.  Yes, he made some good throws, but he also made more than a handful of ones that were behind receivers or not in good places that led to interceptions or near interceptions and passes that were not caught that should have been.  He is what he is...reminds me a lot of Fitz.  He is going to try and fit the ball into some places but lacks the arm strength to do so consistently against good defenses. He is a QB that will make some plays but will do just enough to lose most times against good teams.  Look what happened last time we played Mike White after he was lighting teams up prior.

 

This Vikings defense isn't what anyone would call good...they allowed gaudy offensive numbers to the Patriots and allowed Jones to put up almost 400 yards on them.

The announcers pointed it out early in the game about White, and it was accurate.  When White isn't hurried in the pocket, he's deadly.   When he begins to feel the pressure, he really struggles.  If your pass rush is anemic, the Jets can throw the ball.  

 

As for the Vikings (and the same for the Jets), no team is complete.  The Vikings' offense has big-time potential, even though it may struggle occasionally.  (The Jets' defense is really impressive.)  It's a team game, and the Vikings team is in the game every week.   Plus, their defense was really stout in the red zone yesterday.   

 

If NFL insiders made a list of teams you don't want to play, the Vikings and Jets are both on it.  The Bills, the Chiefs, the Bengals, the Ravens with Jackson, the Niners with Garoppolo, the Cowboys, the Eagles.   Maybe the, Dolphins, but I still have my doubts.  The Titans.  And I'll always put the Belichick Pats on the list.   Looking at that list gives me a better sense of just how tough the Bills' schedule really was this season.   Pats twice, Jets twice, Dolphins twice, Titans, Ravens, Vikings, Chiefs, Bengals.

 

I just check Football Outsiders.   Bills were #1 DVOA last week and the week before.   They've played the 7th toughest schedule, and they have the sixth toughest schedule remaining.  

 

It's a measure of how tough the NFL is.  The Bills haven't looked like world beaters, but so far as FO is concern, no team is better.  

Edited December 5, 2022 by Shaw66