THE ROCKPILE REVIEW – Detroit Goes Down

[Shaw66]

It’s been an interesting few days in Detroit.

 

We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel room in Greektown, less than a mile from Ford Field. There is a casino a couple of blocks from the hotel, plenty of restaurants, all sprinkled into an old downtown neighborhood that now is coming alive after probably decades of decay. In some ways it has the same feel as parts of downtown Buffalo.

 

There were a lot of people out and around Saturday night. Plenty of Bills fans, and a lot of Lions fans. Just like in Buffalo, it seemed many people in Lions gear weren’t here for the game; they were Lions fans just excited because a big game was coming to town. Just like Buffalo a month ago the weekend of the Chiefs game.

 

Sunday morning, my wife and I and a friend headed out to Hitsville, USA, the Motown Museum. It was a great visit. They give a nice tour and tell the whole history of Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, and all those incredible groups that came out of these two small old houses in Detroit, old houses and streets that look so much like Buffalo.

 

On one wall they had a plaque honoring donors to their annual campaign and to the capital campaign to support the construction of a new museum building. Near the very top of the list, where the biggest donors could be found, was the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. A good, good man.

 

It was an easy walk to Ford Field from the hotel. Thousands of fans, all anticipating the game. A decent number of Bills fans, but we were way outnumbered.

 

We had great seats, right on the 50 yard line, 40 rows back. We could see everything, and there have been few games in NFL history that have had more to see than that game. Where we were sitting, Lions fans outnumbered Bills fans 10 to 1 or more.

 

The place is beautiful. They do a lot with the lights – off and on, highlighting one thing or another. Once, the whole place was dark and they put a rectangular spotlight on each bench, so the players were the only thing visible in the entire place. Every fan got a wristband, like a plastic white wrist watch. Each “watch” had two LEDs in it, and the director of the show could make your LED light up in various colors. There were times when the whole stadium was blinking different colors on and off. It was cool.

 

It's loud in there. The roof keeps the sound in, and it seemed like there was nonstop sound blasting. Between the lights and the sound, it was a highly stimulated sensory environment.

 

When the game started, the Bills fans didn’t make much noise. Lions had the ball, and we all just watched. When the Bills got the stop, forcing a punt, the Bills fans woke up. But it was nothing compared to when the Bills started on offense. The noise was incredible. Lions fans were nuts, all standing. It got a little quieter after the first first down, quieter still after the second first down. The fans were stunned when the Bills scored. They weren’t ready for this. After the second touchdown, the noise in the place was back to the level of a normal NFL game. The Lions fans got loud only on occasional big third downs or goal-line situations.

 

It's impossible to recap the game from a fan-in-the-stadium perspective, so I won’t try. Why is it impossible? It would be like trying to recap a fireworks display. Boom! Bang! Flash! For almost four hours. And then all the drama at the end. Amazing.

 

I had one impression, an impression that began for me a few weeks ago and that has been growing since then: The Bills are a very good football team, with total emphasis on the word TEAM. The Bills are more like one organism crawling, pushing, running up and down the field against a group of individuals trying to keep up. Other than Josh, there are no stars on this team, but they play as units in ways that rarely have been seen on any football team. They’re scoring 30 points game after game and other than Josh, James Cook is the only player on the field who makes me say “WOW!!!” from time time to time. The rest of the team is just guys doing their jobs.

 

What’s amazing about the Bills is that all these guys are doing their jobs at a really high level, over and over. There are very few mistakes. Negative plays have been banished. Few sacks, few turnovers, few three and outs, few explosive plays by the opponent. Over and over, the team, the individuals together, does the right thing. Over and over, the offense has an answer, the defense has an answer. 

 

On Sunday before the first half ended, it seemed that the Lions fans had accepted the inevitability of the coming loss. It was as though collectively they had realized that the Lions couldn’t beat this team. They just sat there and watched – no more standing for the Lions defense, no more big noise as the Bills came to the line on third and whatever, because it was inevitable that third and whatever was about to become first and ten, and soon the Shout! song was going to be playing in the heads of Bills fans throughout the stadium.

 

The Lions fans watched and cheered as the Lions’ offense got going in the second half, but the hope and excitement after every Lions score dissolved minutes later as the Bills scored again. The only thing that would end this disappointment was the clock expiring.

 

Monday, people in Detroit were going about their business, many wearing Lions gear. But life was subdued. One woman walked into the hotel, maybe an employee showing up for work, and she saw a friend. She put on a sorrowful face and accepted a hug. It hurts in Detroit just like it hurts after a loss on those bleak Monday mornings in Buffalo.

 

What a team!

 

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 every-day 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.

Edited Tuesday at 11:56 PM by Shaw66

[BruceVilanch]

Love these write-ups, sounds like you had a great time. Go Bills!

[Augie]

It was LOUD! That jumped out. I guess Detroit doesn’t draw opposing fans the way Nashville, Vegas, LA,  Miami in the winter and some other places do. I’ve been to road games where it seemed like there were more Bills fans than those for the home team. I’m guessing this wasn’t one of those. 

[US Egg]

Detroit went down, but they didn’t tap.

[Logic]

23 minutes ago, Augie said:

It was LOUD! That jumped out. I guess Detroit doesn’t draw opposing fans the way Nashville, Vegas, LA,  Miami in the winter and some other places do. I’ve been to road games where it seemed like there were more Bills fans than those for the home team. I’m guessing this wasn’t one of those. 

Yeah I think that when the schedule comes out each year, Bills fans circle the road trips they think would be fun to take.

Detroit probably didn't make the cut for most. 

If you're a Buffalonian, it's like "why go to Detroit, when we have a perfectly good Detroit at home?"

[Steve O]

37 minutes ago, Augie said:

It was LOUD! That jumped out. I guess Detroit doesn’t draw opposing fans the way Nashville, Vegas, LA,  Miami in the winter and some other places do. I’ve been to road games where it seemed like there were more Bills fans than those for the home team. I’m guessing this wasn’t one of those. 

My first thought listening to the crowd on TV was that this is our first legitimate road game this year.

[RiotAct]

15 minutes ago, Logic said:

Yeah I think that when the schedule comes out each year, Bills fans circle the road trips they think would be fun to take.

Detroit probably didn't make the cut for most. 

If you're a Buffalonian, it's like "why go to Detroit, when we have a perfectly good Detroit at home?"

plus, the aftermarket prices were INSANE (and only got higher as kickoff drew closer; it seemed).

[turbo044]

Very bad luck for Detroit, but, I think all their injuries are going to be their downfall this year. If they can somehow hold onto the 1 seed, they'll have a decent chance to make the Superbowl, but I still see GreenBay, Philadelphia, even the Rams matching up well vs. them

[mushypeaches]

Interesting to hear the difference in noise levels and overall Detroit fan attendance since the Thanksgiving game just 2 years ago.

 

I was at that game - was my first visit to Detroit.  It was probably about 25-30% Bills fans that day, and we were loud and proud

The sense from talking to Lions fans then was that they were hopeful about the future, but still hedging their bets

I'm sure that Thanksgiving had a lot to do with the fan mix - since Detroit hosts every year, it's not really that unique or special for them as it is for fans of the opposing team.  

[Big Turk]

James Cook is a force...I've been so impressed with how he is dragging tacklers with him and breaking tacklers routinely this year...

 

Then breaking away and taking it to the house 

Edited December 17 by Big Turk

[BillsDad51]

Thanks for the write-up. Always enjoy them.

[Big Turk]

Down goes Frazier...done goes Frazier 

[Cash]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I had one impression, an impression that began for me a few weeks ago and that has been growing since then: The Bills are a very good football team, with total emphasis on the word TEAM. The Bills are more like one organism crawling, pushing, running up and down the field against a group of individuals trying to keep up. Other than Josh, there are no stars on this team, but they play as units in ways that rarely have been seen on any football team. They’re scoring 30 points game after game and other than Josh, James Cook is the only player on the field who makes me say “WOW!!!” from time time to time. The rest of the team is just guys doing their jobs.

 

Great write-up as always Shaw!  I appreciate these columns a lot.  Regarding the above paragraph, I agree.  Last year's team felt like less than the sum of its parts; this year's feels greater than the sum of its parts.

 

RE: the bolded - just my opinion, but I've seen WOW plays from Shakir and to a lesser extent Cooper this year.  Shakir's are mostly RAC based - either bouncing off tacklers or accelerating past them untouched like he did last week.  Cooper has made a couple of really difficult catches look almost routine.  Coleman's also made a couple of plays that were above and beyond "doing his job", but I don't think I'd put any of them in the WOW category just yet.  He'll get there eventually.

[TBBills Fan]

@Jay_Fixit 

[freddyjj]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel room in Greektown, less than a mile from Ford Field. There is a casino a couple of blocks from the hotel, plenty of restaurants, all sprinkled into an old downtown neighborhood that now is coming alive after probably decades of decay. In some ways it has the same feel as parts of downtown Buffalo.

Shaw, glad to hear the downtown is recovering.  Greektown has always been a fun locale.  Thanks for the write-up, well done as usual!

[SoCal Deek]

The Bills have given up 40 points in each of the last two games. In what world does that qualify as everyone ‘doing their job’? 

[Fleezoid]

2 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

The Bills have given up 40 points in each of the last two games. In what world does that qualify as everyone ‘doing their job’? 

 

I agree. But part of it was McDermott's prevent defense which he plays most of the time. The defense actually started out great. They were filling the box, one deep safety at times and the occasional blitzing. Then the Bills got a substantial lead, and it was back to the nickle/dime 2-deeps. It made for an exciting game, but my bajeeberz.........put your foot on the throat for a change. 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 10:41 PM by Fleezoid

[Draconator]

@Shaw66I agree with everything you said. My Lions season ticket holder friend and I had dinner in Greektown after the game. On our way to the stadium, we ate at this place which is the oldest bar in Detroit, that serves German food. And it was amazing! It's the best bratwurst I've ever had in my life. 

 

Sitting at the 10-yard line, 6 rows from the field, it was loud every time Buffalo had the ball. I agree it was louder at the beginning of the game, but down near the field, it was loud most of the time. No way Josh could verbally call an audible in the shotgun. 

 

The lighting effects did make for an outstanding game presentation. They had high-powered Vari-lites over the sideline, in the middle of the field. That is what made for the sidelines to be lit up with the rest of the stadium dark. 

 

Great write-up! It was an amazing time. 

[BearNorth]

3 hours ago, Big Turk said:

James Cook is a force...I've been so impressed with how he is dragging tacklers with him and breaking tacklers routinely this year...

 

Then breaking away and taking it to the house 

Esp breaking away from a hair pull, I suspect the competition committee [McD is on it] will have something to say about that, not much different than a horse collar tackle, and probably just as dangerous with respect to head and neck injuries.

[chris heff]

31 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

Esp breaking away from a hair pull, I suspect the competition committee [McD is on it] will have something to say about that, not much different than a horse collar tackle, and probably just as dangerous with respect to head and neck injuries.

It is completely legal to tackle by grabbing hair, it called “The Ricky Rule”.