Shaw66

I didn't look at the numbers, but my impression watching other teams has been that there generally are more balls being tipped at the line. It's becoming a trend, I think. I also think that's why we're seeing the QBs developing their side-arm deliveries. More defenders are getting their hands up, for the reasons others have stated, and QBs know that they're losing completions on throws that should be easy to complete. So, the QBs are paying more attention to where the d line is where the throwing lanes are between the d line. Sometimes, to get the ball into a lane and on the right trajectory, they drop down to side-arm. Allen has begun doing it this season. Historically, we've said that tall QBs have an advantage because they can see downfield better, and they also had the advantage of throwing over more guys. But with the d linemen (who are pretty tall themselves) getting their hands up more often, even tall QBs find some of their passes are getting knocked down. The fact that Allen has been doing some side-arm deliveries tells us that he's aware of the problem and adjusting. In some ways, I think the trend toward more balls being knocked down at the line of scrimmage tends to help the better QBs. When a d lineman raises his arm, he becomes easier to block. It allows the o lineman a bit of time to recover and to push his man off the path to the QB. That means that the pocket will stay clean longer, and the Bradys, Peytons, and Breeses made whole careers playing out of clean pockets. It also tends to open up running lanes for mobile QBs, and for running backs on draws. It's all an ongoing evolution of techniques and routes and play-calling, and it's that complexity to allows the master QBs to thrive. Josh has demonstrated already that he's a master at running his offense, and he will continue to get better. It's batted balls this season, it'll be something else next season. Josh will just continue to adapt, and the problem the defenses will have is that he not only has the brains to adapt, he has the physical skills to do whatever it takes. Now, I'll go way over the top, but it's not crazy. Recall in your mind an image of Peyton in his heyday, absolutely dominating knowing what to do, all the time. Recall Brady in his heyday - same thing. Rodgers, too. Well, Mahomes and Allen already are showing that kind of mental mastery of the game - they maybe haven't ascended fully to the level that those other guys have reached, but they already are doing it at a very high level. Allen is better physically than all of them. Rodgers at his best is the only guy who's close - excellent arm, great running ability, good escapability. But Allen is better - better arm, breaks more tackles. Peyton had a great arm and great accuracy, but he was immobile. (So immobile, in fact, that he might have difficulty playing in this NFL - he would really have problems with batted balls.) Brady couldn't hold a candle to Allen physically. Allen has a real shot at being the GOAT. He may never put up the career stats of the others - that will depend on how the league evolves and whether passing once again becomes more difficult, but he could be the most dominant player at his position, ever. When he was coming out of the draft, there were lots of questions about him, but everyone agreed that he had a high ceiling, really high. He's way up there already, and he still isn't close to hitting his head.

Yup. I think the Pegulas are smart (and wealthy) enough to understand that money should never be the reason to lose either one of those guys. It's crystal clear that they know how to do their jobs at a high level, and those are extremely difficult jobs. They may not always get the results we're seeing, because there's some luck involved, but there is no question that these guys are at the top the game. Very few others are able to do what they do.

Good points. And that's certainly the case on the first INT, because by making a bad decision, Mahomes gave up points. Exactly the same as Lamar Jackson two weeks ago. It's also somewhat true on the second INT. However, certainly on the second INT, they were at the point in the game where the QB understands that he has to make plays. The problem Mahomes had on Sunday, compared to the playoffs last season, was that the defense was making it very difficult for him to make plays. He couldn't run the ball himself, and because the Bills were getting pressure on him with four, he found his receivers weren't giving him the wide-open targets he's used to. The INTs were split-second decisions that weren't the right decision. But that's different from Josh's fumble and McKenzie's gaffes. The Bills defense forced Mahomes into situations where he had to decide. The Bills miscues were self-inflicted.

You know, it certainly felt that way, but when I think about the game I don't agree with your conclusion. Josh's fumble on the pitch to McKenzie was a stupid mistake; Mahomes' first interception was the result of really solid defense and Mahomes having nowhere to go. Yes, it was a bad decision, but not a pure blunder like Allen's. The Chiefs' touchdown in the first half was lousy tackling by the Bills - the defenders were there to make the play and they just didn't. Josh's three touchdown passes all BEAT solid defensive play. McKenzie's plays cost the Bills points. Even though the stats were even, I think the Chiefs played about as well as could be expected, and the Bills left points on the table. The difference was that the Bills defense is better.

Richie Lucas, Baby!!!!

I think the decline in scoring is driven by the defenses catching up with the offenses. The NFL changed the rules, and how penalties are called, in ways that help offenses pass the ball. They have protected the QBs, and they've protected the receivers. (There's no concept call a "defenseless runner.") Over fifteen or twenty years, the offensive coaches figured out how to take advantage of those rule changes to gain more yards and score more points. It's exactly what the NFL wanted to have happen, because the NFL knew that an explosive game is more attractive to more viewers than a 16-9 kicking and defensive duel. That's why there's been such a tremendous explosion in the stats. Completion percentages are way up, and QBs sometime throw 50 TD passes. That stuff all was unheard of. Even the stars of the Kelly-Aikman era weren't putting up anything like the numbers passing stars do now. So, the defenses have been trying to catch up. The game is still 11 on 11, and defensive coaches have slowly begun developing techniques to stop the offensive explosion. One thing they did was stop being obsessed with stopping the run. Speed and agility on defense is more important that beefy guys stuffing the line, because the offenses beat the defenses with speed and agility, not beef. So, for example, a guy like Rousseau, whose body looks nothing like the bodies of defensive ends 30 years ago, is valuable precisely because his body ISN'T like DEs 30 years ago. Well, the defensive changes are starting to gain some traction. McDermott is an early adopter. One thing that he and a lot of other defensive coaches are doing is going back to cover 2 concepts to absolutely shut down the long ball. Rule 1 is don't give up big plays, and cover 2 is a fundamentally good way to do that. Another thing they're doing is disguise - make presnap reads difficult, and actually cause your defense to change based on what the offense does presnap. Play zone in parts of the field and play man in other parts, on the same play. I was impressed yesterday watching the Jets and the Patriots. They both looked a lot like the Bills on defense. The model is have two or three studs, and eight or nine fast, agile athletes who like to hit. Let your studs make some plays for you, and have all the other guys running around, scrambling to cover their assignments. It works. It forces the offense to dink and dunk up the field, and the defense is loaded with people who are attacking the dink and dunk zones. All the while, job one is stop the explosive play. The offenses made some big leaps forward, and the defenses have been working their way back into the games. The playing field is getting pretty level again, and eventually the defenses will be making the game boring again. Then the league will tinker with the rules. One rule that I think may go by the wayside is offensive holding. Those holding penalties, on run plays and pass plays, are serious drive killers, and drives are what's necessary to keep scoring up. The league will recognize that it doesn't make sense to allow an offensive lineman to hold the defender in front of him, but then when in a split-second the defender changes direction to chase the play, the exact same holding that was permitted now becomes illegal. The offensive linemen will need more leeway to hold, because the strength, speed and quickness of the defenders will continue to make stops and the scores will continue to drop.

I agree about the health issue. Beyond that, that's not what a weather homefield advantage should be about. A weather homefield advantage is that you're used to playing in the cold and your opponent is not, or you're used to playing in the heat and your opponent is not. The point about home field advantage is that everyone is playing on a level playing field, every is playing in the heat or the cold. If you're team is more accustomed to playing in that weather, great, you have an advantage. But it's not about playing a tipped playing field, where the weather on your side of the field is better than the weather on the other side of the field. That is not a level playing field, and it shouldn't be allowed. I once concocted a purely hypothetical Cheatriot plot. Bob Kraft had secretly hired a company with the right manufacturing skill and built a mechanism inside the goal post cross bar. It extended or contracted the length of the cross bar. Battery operated, remote control, silent. It allowed the home team to make the goal posts a foot wider or a foot narrower than regulation. It worked slowly. So, every quarter they could adjust the goal posts so the Pats had wider goal posts and the opponent had narrower goal posts. It worked quietly and so slowly that no one would notice it changing. That's a homefield advantage that is not a level playing field. So is sitting in the shade while your opponent is in the sun.

I think they're coached not to close on him unless they him contained. So, yes, it almost looks like they don't want tackle him.

I really don't like to complain about the refs, but this is true. Brady got his phantom roughing the passer call last week, and Jones got away with the trip that the whole world could see.

Over the past few seasons teams have been developing the approach to neutralizing the mobile quarterback. The Bills were an early adopter, and I think they are continuing the development of the technique. The basic approach is that the pass rushers have to maintain lane discipline, so that none of the usual escape routes are easily available to the QB. Murray beat the Bills on the Hail Mary because someone bit instead of holding the edge. The Bills used the technique beautifully against Lamar Jackson in the playoffs, and they did it to him again last week. Essentially, the way the Bills play it, they're willing to let the guy scramble around back there and even complete some passes, and they will just try to shrink the net around him until he throws it or runs someplace where there isn't a good lane. The philosophy is that the big QB runs simply must be stopped. It was interesting, for example, that on the big 4th down play in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago, Miller wasn't in the game, because Rousseau and Shaq are more natural players in that kind of scheme. Miller's strength is his ability to attack from different angles with different techniques, and if you force him to maintain the edge at all costs, you're taking away his strength. The Bills used the same techniques against Mahomes, because he is an elite scrambler. He wasn't able to escape much, and the Bills were willing to contain him even if it meant he'd make an occasional play (including one for a touchdown). The Bills won, so the technique worked. The interesting wrinkle the Bills added was what forced the Johnson interception. Someone on NBC or ESPN explained it. They had Miller on the left side of the defense, and they had Milano spying Mahomes. The spying technique is, I gather, that the spy stays even with the QB laterally, and if the QB breaks contain, then the spy closes. Running Milano as the spy allows the Bills to turn Miller loose, so that he can take whatever path to the QB he wants, because Milano can read Miller and shut down the gap that Miller leaves exposed. The Bills ran that defense on both of Mahomes' two plays with under a minute left. Miller looped to the inside on both plays, and as Miller's rush forced Mahomes out to the right, Milano attacked and protected the edge that Miller abandoned. The second time, Milano was coming fast enough that Mahomes knew he needed one of his side-arm specials to get the ball past Milano and to the receiver. Mahomes misjudged the geometry - he knew he had to throw the ball to the right of Milano's line of attack, and he thought he could still get the ball enough toward the middle of the field so that his receiver could keep the defenders on his back. There wasn't room to do that, so he ended up leaving the ball a bit to the right, in a place where Johnson could make his play. The more important part of the play was that Mahomes threw it because he knew that Milano wouldn't allow him to continue running to the sideline and perhaps downfield for nice gain, maybe a first down. That is, coming from behind the line of scrimmage, Milano provided the edge protection that Mahomes. The other interesting part of this approach is that the Bills rushed three on the interception - Milano was effectively the fourth pass rusher, but his pass rush duties were delayed until the other three rushers forced Mahomes to commit. The Bills can do this because of Milano's speed and quickness and because of his open-field tackling ability. Because they can rush three with Milano waiting, the Bills still can drop seven into coverage. If the cover guys do their jobs, Mahomes maybe scrambling around back there for a while, but the seven pass defenders can make it difficult for him to find an uncontested throw. It was an excellent scheme to throw at Mahomes. He'll be ready next time, and the Bills will come at him with some other wrinkles. It's a creative defensive adjustment that is part of the growing arsenal used to stop the QB from hurting you with his legs. And it's part of the reason that the only way a running QB can survive in the NFL is the same way all other QBs survive in the NFL - you have to be a premier pocket passer. When the Ravens play the Bills, they can use the same techniques on Allen that the Bills use on Jackson. The difference is that when the QB is contained in the pocket, the Ravens have Jackson throwing and the Bills have Allen. No contest.

A couple of things about that drive: For all those years, I'd see Brady in that position, or Manning, or Brees, or Rodgers, and think, "Uh, oh. He can do this." For all those years, I never had that thought with the Bills. But sometime a couple of years ago I started thinking, "Allen can do this." Yesterday, like the rest of you, all I had to do was think back one week to the opening drive that began and the 2. It's just so unusual to me to have those kind of thoughts with the Bills. And to the AmishRIfle - thanks. I'd forgotten how loud it was, even on TV. There was Josh, standing in the shotgun in the end zone, and seemed like 1000 people were all crowded around him, screaming as loud as they good. Josh just looked around and - BINGO! - first down. One other thing, to give Romo (or his crew) his due. Later in the game he explained how the blitz was giving Allen trouble in the first half, but the Bills adjusted, changed Allen's reads, and the result was the touchdowns to Davis and Diggs. The coaches had the answer, and Allen executed. Amazing team.

Thanks for the detail. I appreciated it. I agree with you. I was defending him in those days, too. His decision-making has always been driven by maximizing the chances to win. Sometimes that requires taking risks, sometimes it's about being conservative. I've never had a problem with his balance on those decisions.

Hey Dawg, is there some kind of measure of this that you're relying on? My recollection is that in the early years his decision making was much more conservative. Not that I cared; I think McDermott is always driven by what he thinks is the best way to win the game. I think he's gotten more aggressive on decision making as his team has developed into a team that can handle adversity. His defense, especially, seems to be really dependable late in games, and that allows him to take more chances offensively.

That is the honest-to-God's-truth. It's a brutally tough game now, but nothing like what it was.

That's right, and unless I missed it, Tirico and Collinsworth failed to comment on that point. When the Chiefs took that timeout, the announcers commented that this was the kind of game where that timeout was important, and it was. Of course, the Bills were really humming, and if they'd needed a first down on that last possession, they would have gotten it.

This is a great example of how much different the game looks to the coaches and players than it does to the fans. I was okay on the 4th down decision, but I would have taken the field goal, and I don't think you ever should run a new, gadget-type play if you cannot execute it correctly. Those things stick out in the fans' minds. But to the coaches and players, they are just one of hundreds of plays and decisions, and they know that they aren't all going to work. One or another not working doesn't matter; all that matters is that when you add up all the players, did you win or lose. The addition was clear yesterday: The Bills won.

Yes, age has a lot to do with it. My perspective on games keep changing. And although I was pretty quiet sitting at home, watching with my wife, put me in Arrowhead or the Harp or Kitty O'Shea's and I'd be as loud as anyone.

Thus is a very good point. I didn't notice it. This was an all-hands-on-deck game, and guys were coming out of every medical situation. No way McKenzie wanted to sit this one out.

I’ve changed as a fan. When I was younger, I would was very vocal while watching the Bills on TV, expressing joy or frustration or feelings of anger. Now, I’m much more passive, and sometimes I even have a different take on what’s going on. I used to “prepare” for games as the weekend approached. I’d think about what the Bills needed to do to move the ball and to stop the opponent. I don’t do any of that any more. I just feel myself become increasingly anxious as the game approaches, even though I think I’m not thinking about the game. The Chiefs being a big game, I think I became anxious earlier. In Connecticut, CBS carried the Jets in the 1:00 slot, so I watched that game. The Jets are very good. They really get after it. And every time I switched to the Patriots, well, they were getting after it, too. (That’s four games on the Bills’ remaining schedule that look tougher today than they looked a month ago.) The game ran long, and I didn’t realize that the Bills already had started. When the Jets game ended and CBS cut over to the Bills, Josh Allen had just hit Davis for the first first down of the game. Somehow, I wasn’t upset that I’d missed a few plays. At some point I realized I’d watched the first half, and then the third quarter, without much concern about whether the Bills would win or lose. All that seemed to matter was whether the team was playing effectively against good competition, and the Chiefs are certifiably good competition. I just wanted validation that the Bills were solidly competitive. Then, when the fourth quarter came along, my focus shifted to winning the game. In the end, the Bills checked virtually every box through three quarters, then won the game in the fourth. The Bills beat the Chiefs, 24-20. It was an impressive display of football excellence. At this point in the season, this a really good football team. Championships aren’t won in October, so the Bills have a lot of work ahead of them in the coming couple of months. Nobody is laying down for the Bills, and good teams continue to emerge. Still, the Bills are doing special things. The Bills just execute. Play after play, on offense and on defense, every guy knows his assignment and every guy executes. Sure, the opponent gets their share of wins in one-on-one battles, but they don’t win because the Bills are making mistakes. Each man is where he’s supposed to be, each makes the block or makes the tackle or applies the pressure or makes the catch. So, as the game moved from the first quarter through the second and then on through the third, I felt better and better. No matter the outcome of this particular game, the Bills were showing they are the force that the preseason prognosticators said they would be. Then the time came to win the game, and the Bills seemed to say, collectively, “We’ve got this.” Down 20-17 with less than eight minutes to go, the defense forced a three-and-out. The offense went on a twelve-play, 76-yard drive to go ahead 24-20 with a minute left in the game. The winning touchdown drive, featured a solid catch by Diggs, a highlight-reel run and leap by Allen, and a sweetly executed sideline throw and an equally sweet catch by Knox for the score. There was a feeling of inevitability to it all. Of course the Bills would find a way, because, well, that’s what they practice. The defense came in and shut the door, with Miller forcing Mahomes out of the pocket and into the sights of Matt Milano. Milano’s closing speed forced Mahomes to throw a bit wide of his mark, and Taron Johnson intercepted to end the game. Comments about some players: The improvement of the D-line over last season is probably the biggest and most important change. A guy as good Mahomes is going to get you sometime, but this D-line made his life miserable. Tremaine Edmunds is a different hitter this season. For once, the ground game wasn’t upside down. Singletary outgained Allen, and he outgained the Chiefs. Isaiah McKenzie may be playing his way out of a starting role. Interesting that Terrel Bernard and Siran Neal saw real playing time. McDermott wants to be able to play different ways, and both guys offered the opportunity to give different looks to Mahomes and Kelce. James Cook saw the field on a few important plays. Zack Moss didn’t. It’s not a bad time for the bye. Those guys who scrambled to get back into the lineup for the Chiefs game now get some time to work themselves back to where they really want to be. White perhaps gets an opportunity to work back in. The team gets to take a breath before diving into the weekly grind of the meat of the season. A breather that feels good, having gone 5-1 in what once had looked like the toughest stretch in the schedule. There’s a lot of work ahead, but for now, things look about as good as it could get. 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. Interesting comments, and I don't disagree. For everyone experiencing an event in the past that is very difficult, if not downright shattering, it's a mixed bag. Some people bring it up to them, others avoid it. But the person experiencing the loss notices people avoiding it, and the simple fact of noticing the avoidance reminds them of the loss. Other people, as you say, understand the situation and make an appropriate comment, which allows them both to move on. Over time, the pain the loss subsides. li I think one of the interesting things the article says is that athletes seem to be both better and worse in handling this stuff. To the extent the athlete is focused on the present, and that's how good athletes operate, their minds aren't dwelling on the past. That's interesting. Of course, photos just capture an instant, and maybe something completely different was going on in his head, but the I think the guy seems to be thinking, "Who IS that dude?"

And one other thing about moving on from 13 Seconds. I'm sure others have commented on it, but I never thought much about the parallel with Wide Right. Great young team emerging on the scene, suddenly is hit with a heart-breaking loss, a loss that that is so momentous it becomes part of not just Bills history but NFL history. The question is, "how does the great young team respond after experiencing such a loss?" The answer comes only as the weeks, months, and years play out. We know the positives and negatives of how the Kelly Bills responded. The Allen Bills have gone 4-1 so far, and the Chiefs game will be an interesting piece of evidence, but we're months or even years away from knowing how well they will process 13 Seconds.

Thanks, Thurm. It's a deeper look into the Bills mindset. Processing 13 Seconds is, for the players, one of those things that's easier said than done. They can try all they want to take the growth mindset approach, but they still have (1) their own memories of a painful mindset and (2) people asking them about it all the time. It's like having a death in the family - you can process it all you want, but every morning when you wake up the feeling of loss is still there, and people keep bringing it up - "I was so sorry to hear about your _______'s passing." It takes strength and personal discipline to move on from bad memories. And that's why McBeane focus so much on the character issues when they evaluate players. I was interested that Taiwan Jones showed up in the article as a process leader. It's been obvious that McDermott wants him on the team, but I always assumed it was simply that he brought the right attitude to special teams. The article makes it sound like Jones in a team leader - he was one of the true disciples of McDermott's process.

Thanks for this. Interesting that NexGen takes that approach. It makes their numbers not very useful. I too am not worried about Josh's "problem" in the middle.

Remember all the angst about Tyrod Taylor not throwing effectively in that middle zone? People were obsessed with Tyrod killing the Bills because his numbers over the middle were low.

Yes. It's also why people have said for years that Allen is more effective scrambling right than left. And that's what it is incredible about Mahomes. Because of his almost endless throwing motion variations, he can scramble left and throw right with accuracy.