Shaw66

Evans is one of my favorite receivers. He fights for everything, and he's such a good athlete, he wins most fights. He's an absolute workhouse. I thought when he came out of college that he was too slow, but that was obviously wrong. Forget that it was the same year as Sammy. What a blunder Sammy turned out to be.

That's certainly the way it looked through six games. We'll see.

Several people jumped on here, piled on in fact, with the notion that the Bills are bad or in need of serious talent upgrades. I'm not there yet. What I wrote about is how the Bills have looked through six games compared to what I've seen from some good teams in the last couple of weeks. The comparison doesn't look good for the Bills. However, as I've kept saying, the season is about winning enough games to be relevant for the first half of the season, and then being downright good for the second half and into the playoffs. I don't think the season is lost, not by a long shot. I think McDermott's overarching plan always is to have a team full of guys who are intense competitors and to put them in a system where, when they're all competing at a high level, the system makes them better than their collective individual talent. That's what he's trying to do, year after year. I think McDermott expects his coaches to build those competitors in a high functioning team in the second half of the season. What's troubling this season is that a lot of different areas of the Bills' game all seem to need to be turned up a couple of notches. It seems like it's more than a tweak here and there. They need a win at Carolina, and they need to beat the Chiefs. The outcomes of those two games will say a lot. We'll see.

Three weeks ago, at the one-quarter mark of the season, I was reasonably pleased with the Bills. Now, two losses and a bye later, I’m really wondering whether the Bills are a team that can’t compete at the highest levels. First, a disclaimer: I’m not paying as much attention to the Bills and pro football this season as I have in the past. Last season, if the NFL was on, I watched. This season, I’m watching or attending every Bills game but watching only bits and pieces of other games, sticking with a game if I’m interested, turning it off if it’s boring, or even not watching at all. There’s a sameness to the games that is making me feel like I’m watching the NBA, and the ads are mind-numbing. Point being, I’m writing about my impressions rather than from some deep knowledge and understanding of the NFL. So, what’s bothering me about the Bills? In no particular order: Speed. I’m seeing teams put a lot of pressure on their opponents with raw speed. I’ve seen clips of the Chiefs, and they’re doing it with Rice back and with Worthy. Gibbs is doing it for the Lions. I guess Elijah Moore and Curtis Samuel are supposed to be the speed element with the Bills, and James Cook, but it doesn’t look the same to me. Power. Several teams, particularly the Eagles and Lions, can consistently drive defensive lines off the ball. They can pound at opponents with good success, and they can protect their quarterbacks in part because they can’t be overpowered. The Bills haven’t shown that kind of power; they’re built to be mobile with enough power to get by, but I haven’t seen them dominate with either mobility or power yet. Strong defensive linemen can overpower them in the passing game. Mike Vrabel brought a powerful, aggressive attitude to the Patriots, and the Bills couldn’t handle it. Fiercely aggressive defense. Some good defenses are coming at the offenses, threatening on every play. The Seahawks seem to be attacking the quarterback and pass receivers relentlessly. The Lions are playing an entire defensive backfield of backups and practice squad guys and still, they play consistently tighter man-to-man defense than the Bills starters ever show. I get that the Bills’ philosophy is shut down the big gains and to make enough plays on the short stuff to stop drives, but other teams are killing the explosive plays AND attacking all over the field. Struggling with mediocre opponents. Michael Penix, Jr. looked like a franchise quarterback against the Bills. A week later the 49ers made him a non-factor. The Dolphins and the Saints pretty much can’t beat anyone, and the Bills were unable to put either team away decisively. Offensive stagnation. In previous seasons, we grew accustomed to seeing the Bills put together long drives, converting on multiple third downs, relentlessly attacking the short- and intermediate areas of the field. This season, the offense has yet to find that kind of consistency. The league seems to have caught up with the defensive style the Bills have featured, and now there are several teams that make that it difficult to sustain drives like that. The Bills offense is struggling against defenses that play the McDermott style, but play it more aggressively. The Bills have been unable to attack weak spots in those defenses, and drives are stalling more frequently. I continue to think that it’s a long season and that the best teams play their best football beginning in December. The Lions, the Eagles, and the Chiefs each are showing signs of becoming dominant teams, and several other teams are emerging as serious opponents. Maybe what we’ve seen is all part of Sean McDermott’s plan for the season: Play vanilla offense and defense to the bye, then begin to ramp up. Maybe his plan was to go 5-1 before the bye and the plan bit him a bit. Maybe those big cushions the Bills cornerbacks give receivers are going to start tightening up, maybe the unexpected blitzes are coming, maybe the offensive line will begin to flash in the run game, maybe Josh Allen will come out of his funk and begin slicing and dicing defenses with the precision we’ve seen in past seasons. I don’t really know. What I do know is that the Bills we’ve seen through six games do not look very much like the teams that are emerging as dominant forces in the league. It’s time to get going. 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, Tuco. I appreciate that you posted. A little history. Tuco and I were involved in a Bills-related charitable project 20 years ago, and he and I have chatted off and on for years. In earlier years, he posted under another name. We also sat in the same section when I first had season tickets. He's a good, good guy. His avatar changes from time to time, and I noticed his latest avatar, Innocent Possessions; It's the cover of his latest novel. I've enjoyed reading both of his books.

Well, I don't know who his replacement would be, but I agree very much with the observation. The defense does look uninspired. And, for that matter, so does the offense.

People say Benford is having a bad year. The safeties aren't lighting it up. Taron Johnson looks average. White is "unrosterable"! And yet, the Bills are fourth in the league in passing yards per game allowed. Ninth in completion percentage allowed. Second in longest pass allowed. 15th in passer rating allowed. McDermott must be an absolute genius, getting that kind of performance out of five DBs who suck.

I haven't read much of this thread, but it relates to something I've been thinking about. I agree there's too much panic. Of course, we'd like the Bills to be dominating every game instead of looking so suspect, but that isn't reasonable. Teams rarely do that. I agree with starry, that it's all about making the playoffs and playing well then. Ideally, you win the home field throughout, but homefield isn't as important as playing well when you get to the playoffs. I wrote last week about how the preseason is coming to an end. Many people got on my case, saying that's ridiculous, but this past week has me even more convinced. Who are the favorites to get to the Super Bowl? Bills and Eagles, and that was AFTER both teams lost on Sunday. Nobody thinks the Bills and Eagles are playing like big winners - they both are struggling. But the question is who's most likely to put it together, and based on the bones of each team, the experience, the QB, most everyone still thinks those are the two leaders. I was watching the Eagles struggle against the Giants last night and could help but think two things: Right now, the two teams looked similar, bumbling around the field, too many penalties, certainly not firing on all cylinders, leaky defense. Very similar. The other thing I thought is that the Bills played a tough team on Sunday, a team that looked like it was coming together, got smacked around a bit, and lost by a field goal on the last play. The Eagles completely fell apa, rt against a team that had shown very little except a wish about their rookie QB. Eagles took a much worse beating. If the Eagles still are the team to beat in the NFC, then the Bills are struggling less. The offense clearly hasn't come together yet, but all the pieces are there. The passing game will be fine, especially when the oline tightens up the pass pro. Cook is doing fine. The defense hasn't found itself, but I think it's by design. I think, for example, that when we get to December we'll see the Bills' zone tighten, and they'll be tough against that underneath stuff that's killing them now. And the d line will get reinforcements and will be battle tested. Can I prove that we saw last week will fade as the team gets sharp in December? No, but it looks to me as though the Bills are doing this consciously. They will be cranking things up beginning after the bye, being 4-1 at this point will have been certainly good enough.

Wow. Third fewest passes attempted against the Bills, and the two teams ahead of them have played one fewer game. So, the Bills are essentially leading the league in passes attempted against. Makes sense. Bills invite you to run the ball, and teams have been doing that. And it's worked as a strategy. Bills are 4-1 doing it the way they do. Still, I can't say it gives me much confidence.

I'm back home from Buffalo. Haven't read this entire thread, so I don't know if anyone has said what I'm about to say. I agree. No more white outs. And no more silly special unis. And it's not because it's some kind of jinx. It's because the Bills are who they are, and they shouldn't try to be something trendy. Guy in front of me wore his standard blue Josh Allen game jersey. He said he's been wearing for three seasons, and he wasn't going to change for some silly white out thing. Same thing with the towels. Every time they pass out towels, it's stupid. Towels are a Steelers thing, and we look like junior high school trying to be cool like the high school kids when management tries to generate excitement by copying the Steelers. The Giants play in their standard blue just about all the time. They're happy to be who they are. The Bills are the Bills. The fans are proud of who the team is, and who the Bills are. We don't need gimmicky BS. We're blue collar, and we wear the same stuff every week. Team should too. And one more thing: The Bills are raking in millions with their seat licenses. They don't need to gouge us all for another $200 selling us special white game jerseys.

Yes. I think in December, when we ask ourselves who the really good teams and why, those teams we'll be talking don't exist yet. If the Bills are one of those teams, the December Bills will be a lot tougher than the version we saw last month. It'll be playing tough, hard-nosed defense, even though they will have suffered some injuries. We haven't seen that defense yet, for sure. And we haven't seen the full variety and power of the offense. It's all coming, I hope.

Thanks, pal. CDL and I have had some good times together, as he's noted. Fanhood just feels good. It's a great way to feel connected to others. So CDL are connected, even though we're decades apart in age, even though the ONLY time we see each other is the six hours it takes to drive to the game, watch the game, and drive back. We don't work together, we don't drink together, we don't play bridge together. The only thing we do is go to games together once or twice a year. But that alone makes us friends, for sure. And CDL will have write a book one day about his fan adventures. Oh, and I'm definitely in for next year at the new Highmark.

I was watching last night and thinking about how the 49ers in particular, and the Rams generally, are designed the same way the Bills are. The announcers, as usual with those two, completely missed the point. The 49ers weren't good last night because some substitutes had incredible games. The substitutes, like Jones, had incredible games because of how the 49ers are designed. They have a true team philosophy. Like the Bills, the 49ers expect every player at every position to execute his job, and his job is designed to blend with the jobs of the other 10 guys. Every starter and every starter learns the same job for his position. What that means is that when a player goes down, they have another guy to plug in who executes the same stuff the starter executed, only just not quite as well. It's a great system, because every team loses guys to injury during the season, but when a guy goes down, the team isn't designed around his special talents. There's always a guy behind him who knows the same job. So, when Purdy goes down, he can be replaced not because he isn't very good in the first place, but because another NFL-quality guy has been studying and practicing the exact same role. The 49ers were missing all those guys, but it's a team designed as a true team, so next man up works pretty well. Compare the 49ers to the Bengals, who are designed around have a QB and two great receivers. When one of the receivers goes down, the offense begins to struggle, because his part of the design cannot be replaced. When the QB goes down, well, that's a huge problem. What does that say about the Bills? Well, first, for 21 positions, if a guy goes down, he can be replaced. We see it every week. That's why a guy like Cam Lewis is so valuable - he can play multiple positions, and he knows exactly what he's supposed to do. But what about Allen? Obviously, he can't be replaced. But look at how his game has evolved. This season, the team is relying even less on his greatness, and more on his ability to execute the offense at a high level. And that's why they have Trubisky. He is a veteran, smart QB, and he can come in to execute the same offense. He can't make every throw and every run Allen can, but he can play the position as it's designed to be played, so the whole playbook remains open. It's a good style to play for the regular season. As we've seen, both with the Bills and with the 49ers, it doesn't necessarily work so well in the playoffs.

Did you have to sign up for it, or did it come without any request from you? I'm asking because I haven't received one, and I'm wondering if I missed the notice. Or if it's only for people who bought seasons in the new stadium.

Thanks for this. It relates to how I feel about the book. I imagine someone asking me why what I have to say in the book is relevant to anything, what makes it special, what credentials do I have? And I've realized that I wrote a book that's just about one fan's experience with Buffalo and the Bills. My experiences are different from yours, but they aren't better or worse. There are tens of thousands of people who have been fans of the Bills for decades, and they each have their own experiences. The only thing that makes me different is that I like to write, so I compiled a bunch of my experiences and put them on paper. If we were talking over a beer, we could go on all night, sharing yours and mine, big moments, crushing moments, funny moments, all of that. Maybe you need to pour a cold one before you start reading.