THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now

[Shaw66]

This is my hope for the Buffalo Bills for the 2023 season.  I’d like to say it’s my prediction, but I don’t have a lot of evidence to back it up.  I have a feeling for how the season will go, and I hope I’m right.

 

I expect the Bills to have a very successful season.  I expect they will win the AFC Championship, and I expect they will win the Super Bowl.  No, I don’t feel that way every season.  I believed it could happen last season, but I didn’t expect it.

 

So, what’s different this season?   I think the Bills have a new attitude.  I think they’ve stopped reading and listening to all the people who say how great they will be (in part because a lot of people have stopped saying it). 

 

I think they’re, in a word, pissed off.  Okay, two words.  They know they could have won it either of the past two seasons, and they have developed a mindset for winning.  I told you, I don’t have a lot of evidence, but I think that’s where they are.

 

I think many or most or all of the Bills players have developed an assassin’s mindset.  The Bills are a team full of assets from a Bourne movie – highly skilled, single minded operatives determined to overcome any obstacle to achieve an objective.

 

Why do I think this?  Well, maybe it’s only because that’s what I want them to be, but I think I hear it, or don’t hear it, in what the Bills are saying.  They’re not talking about their greatness, or what they’re going to achieve, or how they want to do this for Buffalo, or anything like that.   All they’ve really said is that they were enormously disappointed with how they finished the 2022 season. 

 

Allen said the other day the captains are holding everyone accountable.  Diggs is telling his teammates they “stink.”  I fully expect Diggs and Allen are telling Dorsey that he has to give them stuff they can execute and hurt teams with.  Dorsey is demanding that Allen play with the discipline the position requires.  I get the feeling they’re still a touchy-feely family, but there’s an element of tough love now.   Guys like Bernard and Kincaid and Torrence are feeling the pressure, because they can see the excellence and the intensity their teammates are bringing.  They know they must match it.  And in a few weeks, Miller’s coming back, and he’s going to take the focus to a higher level. 

 

In their heads, they know they can beat anyone and they know they can win it all.  They know it.  I think they’re coming into the season determined and with an understanding of what it takes:   Everything, every game. 

 

For example, I think they will beat the Jets.  I don’t know the Jets lineup at all, and I’ve seen all the hype.  I know the Jets will be prepared mentally and emotionally.  I don’t think it will matter.  I expect the Bills to be prepared mentally and emotionally to an extent that the Jets don’t yet understand. The Bills know how to win a marquee game like this, because they’ve won and lost them.  They’ve had a few weeks to get ready.  They will come with preparation and intensity that the Jets won’t match. 

 

When week two comes, the Bills will remind themselves that they know what it takes, and they will be prepared again.  And then week three.  And when December and January and February comes, the determination still will burn in them.  The Bills now understand, they know what they want, and they will not be stopped.  

 

All season long they will come at opponents with the quiet, unstoppable ferocity of an assassin.  Occasionally, something will go wrong, the ball will bounce the wrong way, some team will match their intensity, but the Bills will recover and move on. 

 

This will be the year.

 

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.

 

 

[JerseyBills]

2 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

This is my hope for the Buffalo Bills for the 2023 season.  I’d like to say it’s my prediction, but I don’t have a lot of evidence to back it up.  I have a feeling for how the season will go, and I hope I’m right.

 

I expect the Bills to have a very successful season.  I expect they will win the AFC Championship, and I expect they will win the Super Bowl.  No, I don’t feel that way every season.  I believed it could happen last season, but I didn’t expect it.

 

So, what’s different this season?   I think the Bills have a new attitude.  I think they’ve stopped reading and listening to all the people who say how great they will be (in part because a lot of people have stopped saying it). 

 

I think they’re, in a word, pissed off.  Okay, two words.  They know they could have won it either of the past two seasons, and they have developed a mindset for winning.  I told you, I don’t have a lot of evidence, but I think that’s where they are.

 

I think many or most or all of the Bills players have developed an assassin’s mindset.  The Bills are a team full of assets from a Bourne movie – highly skilled, single minded operatives determined to overcome any obstacle to achieve an objective.

 

Why do I think this?  Well, maybe it’s only because that’s what I want them to be, but I think I hear it, or don’t hear it, in what the Bills are saying.  They’re not talking about their greatness, or what they’re going to achieve, or how they want to do this for Buffalo, or anything like that.   All they’ve really said is that they were enormously disappointed with how they finished the 2022 season. 

 

Allen said the other day the captains are holding everyone accountable.  Diggs is telling his teammates they “stink.”  I fully expect Diggs and Allen are telling Dorsey that he has to give them stuff they can execute and hurt teams with.  Dorsey is demanding that Allen play with the discipline the position requires.  I get the feeling they’re still a touchy-feely family, but there’s an element of tough love now.   Guys like Bernard and Kincaid and Torrence are feeling the pressure, because they can see the excellence and the intensity their teammates are bringing.  They know they must match it.  And in a few weeks, Miller’s coming back, and he’s going to take the focus to a higher level. 

 

In their heads, they know they can beat anyone and they know they can win it all.  They know it.  I think they’re coming into the season determined and with an understanding of what it takes:   Everything, every game. 

 

For example, I think they will beat the Jets.  I don’t know the Jets lineup at all, and I’ve seen all the hype.  I know the Jets will be prepared mentally and emotionally.  I don’t think it will matter.  I expect the Bills to be prepared mentally and emotionally to an extent that the Jets don’t yet understand. The Bills know how to win a marquee game like this, because they’ve won and lost them.  They’ve had a few weeks to get ready.  They will come with preparation and intensity that the Jets won’t match. 

 

When week two comes, the Bills will remind themselves that they know what it takes, and they will be prepared again.  And then week three.  And when December and January and February comes, the determination still will burn in them.  The Bills now understand, they know what they want, and they will not be stopped.  

 

All season long they will come at opponents with the quiet, unstoppable ferocity of an assassin.  Occasionally, something will go wrong, the ball will bounce the wrong way, some team will match their intensity, but the Bills will recover and move on. 

 

This will be the year.

 

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.

 

 

Well said.  I literally agree with everything and feel the same exact way. I too felt we could do it last year but I'm expecting it this year for alot of the reasons you mentioned,  as well as upgraded roster.  

I hated the SB talk last year n love the way the media talks

[Chaos]

We all hope your expectations come true. 

A lot in football is unpredictable.  My main hope for this season is that it does not end in an extremely disappointing/embarrassing way, as the last two seasons have.  And I hope we don't end up further cemented as the AFC's third best team.  Your expectations solve all of the problems 

[Shaw66]

5 minutes ago, Chaos said:

We all hope your expectations come true. 

A lot in football is unpredictable.  My main hope for this season is that it does not end in an extremely disappointing/embarrassing way, as the last two seasons have.  And I hope we don't end up further cemented as the AFC's third best team.  Your expectations solve all of the problems 

If the Bills are definitively the third best team in the AFC, then those are two really good football teams.  

[CSBill]

Agree! Go Bills!

[Chaos]

9 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

If the Bills are definitively the third best team in the AFC, then those are two really good football teams.  

Any reasonable analysis puts them behind the Chiefs and Bengals now. If Chiefs and Bengals go further than the Bills in the playoffs this season, then any analysis would put the Bills behind them.  And those are good teams.  

Edited September 9, 2023 by Chaos

[LeGOATski]

They might get stopped, but who cares. This is the most fun I've had watching Bills football my whole life. I just want to be entertained.

[stuvian]

Our window will never be more open than it is now. We know that on a given day we can beat the best teams. While the Eagles and Bengals still scare me, our greatest adversary is complacency. I hope we are angry enough at our near misses to come together and grasp our destiny. McDermott no longer has Daboll or Frazier as buffers. It is up to him to set a tone of achievement and accountability for us to take the next step to the promised land. I think he is up to the task but it will require digging deep on everyone's part.

[Professor Worthington]

Pardon me while I run thru a *****in wall!  Great post that got me incredibly jacked.  “Assassin’s mentality”—I love it!

[ColoradoBills]

23 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Any reasonable analysis puts them behind the Chiefs and Bengals now. If Chiefs and Bengals go further than the Bills in the playoffs this season, then any analysis would put the Bills behind them.  And those are good teams.  

There is a building of very good football players at OBD trying to stop those 2 teams from just that.

If that happens then the analysis would be wrong.

 

Go Bills!

[Dr. Who]

31 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Any reasonable analysis puts them behind the Chiefs and Bengals now. If Chiefs and Bengals go further than the Bills in the playoffs this season, then any analysis would put the Bills behind them.  And those are good teams.  

I don't think that's true. The Chief's RT is a national joke after Thursday night. Maybe he'll get better, but he brought his act to KC. I assume their WRs will improve from abysmal. They are a different team with Kelce and Jones in the lineup. Still don't see them clearly ahead of the Bills. We've beat them in Arrowhead numerous times. Lets see if MLB is a weakness that sinks this D or if age catches up with the veterans. I think they are going to win with guile and aggression and the kind of accumulated intensity that Shaw is talking about.

 

Those perpetual adolescents who have been bad-mouthing Josh Allen and complaining about his preparation are already deeply wrong, but I suspect the offense this year with a much improved IOL, rb room, and slot position is going to thrive. Dorsey is not a dim. We'll see how it plays out. I expect more creativity and innovation and much better RZ production. The Bengals are another story. It's a match-up league and they appear to be a problem. It's also a different year. Teams react to the past. Lot of pundits, for instance, crediting the Jets with improvements and at the same time, talking about the Jets-Bills games last year as if that were etched in stone to repeat, the Bills will automatically have the same problems and the Jets D will automatically be dominant, plus Aaron Rodgers. That's how they figure. At minimum, the Bills aren't going to come right out and say the same damn lines. It's a new episode and we have potentially scheme changes on D and 12 personnel on offense. That is true against all the teams, including Cincy. 

 

I believe your hesitancy is you don't trust McDermott. You think he's substandard or weak when it counts. If you're right, Shaw is wrong or we will have to be so superior that it can overcome mediocre coaching. I'm not sold on McDermott, but I haven't concluded he's a definite energy sink. I've still got an eye on Ben Johnson in Detroit if things go south this year, but I don't think that happens. I like that the Bills are being dismissed by the popular crowd. I want to see the shocked expression on their faces when the Buffalo tanks run right over them.

 

Edited September 9, 2023 by Dr. Who

[Another Fan]

52 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

This is my hope for the Buffalo Bills for the 2023 season.  I’d like to say it’s my prediction, but I don’t have a lot of evidence to back it up.  I have a feeling for how the season will go, and I hope I’m right.

 

I expect the Bills to have a very successful season.  I expect they will win the AFC Championship, and I expect they will win the Super Bowl.  No, I don’t feel that way every season.  I believed it could happen last season, but I didn’t expect it.

 

So, what’s different this season?   I think the Bills have a new attitude.  I think they’ve stopped reading and listening to all the people who say how great they will be (in part because a lot of people have stopped saying it). 

 

I think they’re, in a word, pissed off.  Okay, two words.  They know they could have won it either of the past two seasons, and they have developed a mindset for winning.  I told you, I don’t have a lot of evidence, but I think that’s where they are.

 

I think many or most or all of the Bills players have developed an assassin’s mindset.  The Bills are a team full of assets from a Bourne movie – highly skilled, single minded operatives determined to overcome any obstacle to achieve an objective.

 

Why do I think this?  Well, maybe it’s only because that’s what I want them to be, but I think I hear it, or don’t hear it, in what the Bills are saying.  They’re not talking about their greatness, or what they’re going to achieve, or how they want to do this for Buffalo, or anything like that.   All they’ve really said is that they were enormously disappointed with how they finished the 2022 season. 

 

Allen said the other day the captains are holding everyone accountable.  Diggs is telling his teammates they “stink.”  I fully expect Diggs and Allen are telling Dorsey that he has to give them stuff they can execute and hurt teams with.  Dorsey is demanding that Allen play with the discipline the position requires.  I get the feeling they’re still a touchy-feely family, but there’s an element of tough love now.   Guys like Bernard and Kincaid and Torrence are feeling the pressure, because they can see the excellence and the intensity their teammates are bringing.  They know they must match it.  And in a few weeks, Miller’s coming back, and he’s going to take the focus to a higher level. 

 

In their heads, they know they can beat anyone and they know they can win it all.  They know it.  I think they’re coming into the season determined and with an understanding of what it takes:   Everything, every game. 

 

For example, I think they will beat the Jets.  I don’t know the Jets lineup at all, and I’ve seen all the hype.  I know the Jets will be prepared mentally and emotionally.  I don’t think it will matter.  I expect the Bills to be prepared mentally and emotionally to an extent that the Jets don’t yet understand. The Bills know how to win a marquee game like this, because they’ve won and lost them.  They’ve had a few weeks to get ready.  They will come with preparation and intensity that the Jets won’t match. 

 

When week two comes, the Bills will remind themselves that they know what it takes, and they will be prepared again.  And then week three.  And when December and January and February comes, the determination still will burn in them.  The Bills now understand, they know what they want, and they will not be stopped.  

 

All season long they will come at opponents with the quiet, unstoppable ferocity of an assassin.  Occasionally, something will go wrong, the ball will bounce the wrong way, some team will match their intensity, but the Bills will recover and move on. 

 

This will be the year.

 

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.

 

 

Well I mean obviously I hope you are correct as well  

 

But it's hard for me to really get all in on them at this point before the bullets start flying so to speak.  The tough love element you speak of I think is needed with this team.  I thought the team burnt out physically and emotionally after all they were through last year.  Milano was one of the few guys I thought that brought it in the Bengals playoff game.  The ultimate test of that to me is how they perform come December/playoff time.  To me that's when the tough love of training camp will pay dividends 

[Success]

I am in full agreement.  I think the Cincy game left a bad taste in the mouth of this team that has been festering for months now, and we're going to see the results of that on Monday.  

 

I kind of love that most are writing this team off, and saying things like "they're going to take a step back," and "their window has closed." As I've said often, this is the best, deepest & most balanced team we've had in the JA era.  A few weeks into this season, we're going to see a lot of "how did we forget about Buffalo?" sentiments from the hot-takey media.

[Chaos]

2 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

There is a building of very good football players at OBD trying to stop those 2 teams from just that.

If that happens then the analysis would be wrong.

 

Go Bills!

Chiefs and Bengals both advanced to the AFC championship game twice, in the last two seasons. Until the Bills prove they can advance further in the playoffs, they are behind the Chiefs and Bengals.  Its not complicated. 

[ColoradoBills]

3 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Chiefs and Bengals both advanced to the AFC championship game twice, in the last two seasons. Until the Bills prove they can advance further in the playoffs, they are behind the Chiefs and Bengals.  Its not complicated. 

 

It's a new season, not complicated at all.

[Chaos]

1 minute ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

It's a new season, not complicated at all.

Lets just agree you are wrong, and move on. 

[SoonerBillsFan]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

This is my hope for the Buffalo Bills for the 2023 season.  I’d like to say it’s my prediction, but I don’t have a lot of evidence to back it up.  I have a feeling for how the season will go, and I hope I’m right.

 

I expect the Bills to have a very successful season.  I expect they will win the AFC Championship, and I expect they will win the Super Bowl.  No, I don’t feel that way every season.  I believed it could happen last season, but I didn’t expect it.

 

So, what’s different this season?   I think the Bills have a new attitude.  I think they’ve stopped reading and listening to all the people who say how great they will be (in part because a lot of people have stopped saying it). 

 

I think they’re, in a word, pissed off.  Okay, two words.  They know they could have won it either of the past two seasons, and they have developed a mindset for winning.  I told you, I don’t have a lot of evidence, but I think that’s where they are.

 

I think many or most or all of the Bills players have developed an assassin’s mindset.  The Bills are a team full of assets from a Bourne movie – highly skilled, single minded operatives determined to overcome any obstacle to achieve an objective.

 

Why do I think this?  Well, maybe it’s only because that’s what I want them to be, but I think I hear it, or don’t hear it, in what the Bills are saying.  They’re not talking about their greatness, or what they’re going to achieve, or how they want to do this for Buffalo, or anything like that.   All they’ve really said is that they were enormously disappointed with how they finished the 2022 season. 

 

Allen said the other day the captains are holding everyone accountable.  Diggs is telling his teammates they “stink.”  I fully expect Diggs and Allen are telling Dorsey that he has to give them stuff they can execute and hurt teams with.  Dorsey is demanding that Allen play with the discipline the position requires.  I get the feeling they’re still a touchy-feely family, but there’s an element of tough love now.   Guys like Bernard and Kincaid and Torrence are feeling the pressure, because they can see the excellence and the intensity their teammates are bringing.  They know they must match it.  And in a few weeks, Miller’s coming back, and he’s going to take the focus to a higher level. 

 

In their heads, they know they can beat anyone and they know they can win it all.  They know it.  I think they’re coming into the season determined and with an understanding of what it takes:   Everything, every game. 

 

For example, I think they will beat the Jets.  I don’t know the Jets lineup at all, and I’ve seen all the hype.  I know the Jets will be prepared mentally and emotionally.  I don’t think it will matter.  I expect the Bills to be prepared mentally and emotionally to an extent that the Jets don’t yet understand. The Bills know how to win a marquee game like this, because they’ve won and lost them.  They’ve had a few weeks to get ready.  They will come with preparation and intensity that the Jets won’t match. 

 

When week two comes, the Bills will remind themselves that they know what it takes, and they will be prepared again.  And then week three.  And when December and January and February comes, the determination still will burn in them.  The Bills now understand, they know what they want, and they will not be stopped.  

 

All season long they will come at opponents with the quiet, unstoppable ferocity of an assassin.  Occasionally, something will go wrong, the ball will bounce the wrong way, some team will match their intensity, but the Bills will recover and move on. 

 

This will be the year.

 

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.

 

 

Hell yes!

[Bad Things]

Always love reading your stuff, Shaw.  I agree with you 100%.

 

Let's go Buffalo!

[Dr. K]

I'm with you on this, Shaw66. Of course none of us know really what's going on in the locker room or in the minds and hearts of the players and coaches. Injuries or terrible luck can change the outcome of games and seasons. But I think there are enough committed and experienced men on this team for them to play with the kind of no-talk-just-play "assassin's mindset" you describe. 

 

My feeling about this is based on small evidence and nuances. I think they've heard enough talk over the last three years about them as a team and as individuals, and about other teams and players. In the course of those seasons at various times they've been overpraised or underrated. I think--I hope--that in their minds they are done with talking or listening to the talk. They know what it's going to take no matter what anybody says or thinks.

 

We will of course see if we are deluded about this. It should be an interesting season.  

Edited September 9, 2023 by Dr. K

[90sBills]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

If the Bills are definitively the third best team in the AFC, then those are two really good football teams.  

 Breaking news: Yes those are two really good teams. 

26 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

It's a new season, not complicated at all.

Getting deja vu feelings