Shaw66

This is literally true: I was watching the draft, expecting Darnold and Mayfield to go early, and hoping that if the Bills got a chance to get a QB it would be Rosen. I wasn't a big Rosen guy, but I thought at least he'd stabilize things and move the franchise forward. But like others, his attitude bothered me. He was so smug, so confident in himself and so obnoxious telling us all. Allen's perceived question marks scared me. Then the trade up happened, the message went up saying the pick was in, and suddenly I just flipped. My brain started screaming, "TAKE THE TALENT! TAKE THE TALENT!!! TAKE ALLEN!!!" I'd like to say I knew what was coming from Allen, but I didn't. It was purely my gut, and I have no idea where it came from.

I keep thinking the rookies will improve, and they probably will, and I keep forgetting that two veterans are coming off suspension. If the Bills can be at something close to full strength, they are going to be throwing an amazing variety of skill sets at offensive lines, with different combinations of guys playing, and with them rotating positions. Offensive linemen will be facing three or four or even five different guys over the course of the game, all with different skill sets.

Yes, Hap, you have been kind of a broken record on the subject, and it was hard to argue with you. McDermott's defensive line has been loaded with guys who are very good at handling their assignments but few guys who can create on their own. Rousseau is the highest level example of that - he's really good at his position, consistent pass rush that is a bother but doesn't get home much, excellent run stopping and pursuit, but he isn't a problem. Nobody on the line has been a problem except, as you say, Miller. As I said, my seats were low and I didn't spend much time trying to focus on any particular player - White a little, Bosa a little, but mostly I was just watching the play go by. However, as the game went along and I just watched the plays, I kept seeing someone on the d line flash by, and every time I checked, it was Bosa. He was coming off the line, bursting off the line, immediately putting the blocker on the defensive. He just kept flashing into and out of my view. It was pretty clear that the Jets felt his presence on a lot of plays when he didn't actually make a play. And, of course, he can finish. The punch out to cause the fumble was beautiful, not to mention his pursuit on the play. All of it is what you and I have talked about often - another difference maker beyond Allen, a guy who is disruptive and who forces the offense to account for him on every play. The question is can he harness his creative energy within the system, so that he's both disruptive and responsible for his assignment. He got burned more than once against the Ravens, crashing down the line to pursue the running back while Jackson kept the ball and ran past him to open field. I think he can. He was so animated on the bench in the fourth quarter. He played all those years on a team that was, in my view, mid-level dysfunctional. The Chargers always pretended to be good but never had what it takes to actually be good. Now he finds himself on a team where he's welcome and appreciated, and a team that actually is good. On the bench, he looked like he was celebrating the fact that his career has taken him to what may be the perfect place for him: a contender that will platoon him and that will look for ways for him to use his special talents.

That's amazing. A great way to watch the Bills, and the perty fizzles because the game is a non-event.

You know, I'm not sure there's a perfect place to watch a game. I loved it down there. The problem, of course, is that when you're that low, even if you're on the 50, your perspective on plays inside the 20 isn't good. It's hard to tell if a run went for 2 yards or 8 yards. And stuff gets in your way, like that truck with two TV cameras on it, players on the sideline, and other stuff. On the other hand, as I described, seeing the guys on the bench is interesting. Seeing some the plays up close, like Cook's run, is really special. And something I didn't expect: The kickoffs are really interesting. The speed of the players is awesome, about 20 guys accelerating up to full speed and running into each other, and the return man flying into the pile. It was really cool. Up higher in the lower bowl, where I sit in Highmark, gives a really good view of the whole field, so from a pure game-watching point of view, it's better. But it isn't up close and personal like being low and close. A different experience.

I so wanted Tyrod to grow into a winner. I was even rooting for him on Sunday.

Bengals could have lost one or two. Other than that, great start.

Thanks. Maybe I need to revise the post some, because I forgot to talk about the Jets fans. As I said, I've been to several of these, but this time the Jets fans opened the game with about the same enthusiasm they had at the end of the game. It really seemed like they came to the stadium with no hope (and they were right - there was no hope). They rarely made noise on third down, and they didn't have any plays to get excited about. The lack of noise and the Jets futility made it one of the more boring pro football games I've seen in a while. There was surprisingly little energy in the stadium, right from the beginning. The way I felt, and it seemed the way many people (including Jets fans) in the stadium felt, was that we were just sitting and waiting for the Bills to do something exciting, because the Jets weren't going to.

It was a gorgeous day. Bright blue sky, a little wind, temperature climbing quickly from the 60s to around 80. In less than two hours, we’d driven from central Connecticut to MetLife Stadium. We cruised into the parking lot a little after 11. It was mostly Jets fans tailgating, with Bills fans sprinkled in all around. Two guys were sitting in folding chairs behind their car, which was about as close to the entrance to the stadium as possible. They must have been in line when the parking lots opened. They sat, chatting comfortably. They could have been sitting in their backyard, having a beer, and watching the kids splash in the kiddy pool. Except, one was dressed in Jets green, head to toe, the other completely in Bills red – the famous “color rush” style that the NFL and Nike promoted one year on Thursday Night Football. A few steps further, a Bills fan approached us and offered some Josh Allen MVP Puffs, right out of the box. With a big grin on his face, he said my daughter and I (unmistakably Bills fans in our blue and red caps and clothes and me in my brand-new blue Bills Nikes) could take some, but not our friend, who was decked out in green. We each took a handful—including our friend. We chatted with him for a few minutes, and then we headed into the stadium. My friend has three seats for Jets games at MetLife, and for many of the past 15 years he has shared them with me when the Bills come to town. Usually, he and I go with one of my family members; occasionally he’s given the third seat to someone else. Sometimes, he gives me all three. He’s a generous guy. And these aren’t just any seats. These seats are on the 30-yard line, second row, behind the right-hand end of the Bills’ bench, where the defensive linemen sit. A few hours after we walked into the stadium, the spectacular Rutgers marching band played right in front of us at halftime—they were great. A few minutes after that, James Cook would weave his way through the Jets defense right in front of us and then blaze into the end zone for the play of the day. It's just a great place to watch a Bills game. When we got to our seats, I stood for a few minutes, taking in the view. Only a few thousand fans had entered the stadium. A few players were on the field, stretching and loosening up, and stadium workers continued to set up miscellaneous stuff. A Jets fan from the next section walked along his row and approached me. “Can I ask you a question?” I said, “sure.” And then he asked the only question that matters: “What’s it like to have a quarterback?” He went on. “I mean, we really haven’t had one since Namath. Actually, I’m a Giants fan first, and both the Jets and Giants could have drafted Josh Allen. So, I want to know how it feels.” He knew an old Bills fan was the right person to ask, because Bills fans had a Super Bowl run with a Hall of Fame quarterback, then 20 years of quarterback futility, and now we have Josh Allen. We’ve truly been on the quarterback roller coaster. With a big grin on my face, I said, “It’s great! Having a quarterback is all that matters.” Nothing else needs to be said. I told him that I’d recently heard a Bills fan say, “The Bills used to lose games they should have won. Now, the Bills win games they should lose.” That’s how it feels to have a quarterback. And then he returned to his seat, and he and I sat watching what it means to have a quarterback and what it means to have—well—Justin Fields. Fields, now in his fifth season in the NFL, looked like a rookie as he tried to figure out what to do with the Bills’ defense. He couldn’t. In three quarters of football, he had three completions on nine attempts for 27 yards and two sacks that lost 19 yards. It was abysmal. The Jets couldn’t run the ball, either. Breece Hall, their star running back, managed just 29 yards on 10 carries. Fields and Tyrod Taylor, who relieved Fields in the fourth quarter, broke free on a few big scrambles, but nothing that amounted to anything. Meanwhile, Allen was having a workmanlike day, finding open receivers and delivering catchable balls. Allen’s stats would have been significantly better if Dawson Knox hadn’t dropped two passes. Allen added a few of his own scrambles—like Fields, he averaged 9.8 yards per carry. James Cook was the star ball carrier, with 132 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns, including the highlight-reel 44-yard gem. The Bills defense, which had struggled last week against the Ravens (the Ravens have a quarterback), simply outmatched the Jets everywhere, stopping the run and the pass with equal effectiveness. Tre’Davious White returned to the starting lineup and teamed with Christian Benford, challenging the Jets receivers to make plays against two #1 corner backs. Cam Lewis filled in for Taron Johnson nicely, and the Bills didn’t miss last week’s star, Ed Oliver. Joey Bosa stepped up in Oliver’s absence, flying around the field as he did so often for the Chargers, contributing a sack and forcing a fumble. He was a disruptive force. Sometime after the forced fumble, the defensive linemen sitting on the bench in front of us were enjoying the success they were having on the field. Bosa especially. He was walking around, chatting energetically with first one guy then another, demonstrating how he put hands on the blocker and pulled him forward while jumping to the side and bursting past him. He couldn’t sit down. Finally, he looked at me and the other Bills fans sitting around me and acknowledged us with a smile and wave. Here was a man who was happy to be a Bill. My good-natured friend sat through it all, waiting and hoping for the Jets to give him something to celebrate, but there was nothing. Late in the game, most of the Bills were milling around the sideline, watching the backups finish it up. Two boys and two girls in Bills gear and probably between five and ten years old came down the aisle and stood at the rail, trying to get the attention of any Bills player. They were blocking our view of the game; the ushers usually will move people away from there, but the game was essentially over, and the kids were having fun. They were calling out players’ names, calling especially for Josh. A lineman turned and waved at them, and they yelled back. A minute later Josh waved to them, and the four kids exploded in screams and shrieks before scrambling back to their seats to tell their parents. That’s how it feels to have a quarterback. 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.

Thanks. If you had to guess, where do you think the Bills might rank in terms of fans not from the team's city? I mean, I'd guess that the Packers, Steelers, and Cowboys in some order are at or near the top of the list. Do you think the Bills are in the top ten?

So cool to hear from fans who've never been to Buffalo. It's hard to imagine being a fan of this team if you didn't grow up there. Just so cool. I'll be there Thursday in 212 with my son. He spent his childhood in Connecticut and became a Bills fan, but he had an excuse - me. His children are growing up in Connecticut, too, and they're Bills fans. Have a great time! GO BILLS!

People were standing in front of us. Bummer.

I agree. There is a lot of Coleman's game that still looks like he's a rookie. I'm hopeful that his dedication and McDermott's leadership will help him continue to mature, both personally and as a player. There were times during the game on Sunday where I thought," if this guy gets serious and develops his game, he will be one of the best receivers in the league." He's not the same body type as Mike Evans, but I can see him being as valuable a weapon. He's learning ways to get open, and he has great but inconsistent hands. It's also quite clear that Allen already is looking to him. Allen is going to be pressuring him to get better and better, and I'm hopeful we are going to see some special things from him. But for now, he does some head scratching things. He certainly didn't look like he was paying much attention to where the back of the end zone was on that play.

Thanks. I didn't know the rule. Seems unfair to be ineligible if you were pushed out. Should be able to re-establish eligibility. DB can still make first touch if he has been pushed out.

I'll say it again: Look at Thurman's post. Bills have been top ten in two-point conversions for three straight seasons.