Shaw66

Gunner - This may be the best single statement of what's happened here that I've seen. McDermott will be the first to tell you that it's all about each and every person, and he's correct, but none of it happens with McD. Thanks for saying it.

Wow. What a look at how it feels on the inside. He says a lot of things that I've wondered about. I especially like the thing about E-Wood and the o line and how this team understands that they are playing for the veterans who came before them. I've always thought that Kyle Williams knew that he was a building block for a winning team - that was his role, playing for McDermott. They both understood it. When the McDermott wins the Super Bowl, Kyle is going to feel like the win is his too. Cool stuff.

That's cool. I knew I liked the Outsiders. Thanks.

Well, I don't know Daboll, and I have no idea what he will do, but I won't be surprised if he stays. Why? 1. He's a Buffalo guy and he gets, completely, what winning a Super Bowl in Buffalo means. He probably wants to be a part of that, maybe wants that more than anything else. 2. This season is the first real success he's had as an OC in the NFL. He had a lot of one and done failures in bad situations. He may want to keep building this, to keep learning, to prepare himself better. 3. As someone said, the Pegulas may give him a lot of money to stay. There's no salary cap for coaches, so they can pay him whatever they want. Remember, he's been making six figures for several years, and probably now making seven figures. He already has millions of dollars saved. He has 19 years in the NFL as a coach, which means, I believe, he needs one more year to qualify for the full coach's pension, which I understand is very nice (mid-six figures). This is a West Seneca kid who probably never dreamed of being set for life by time he reached 45 years old, but that's where he is. If the Pegulas start dropping, say, $5 million a year on him, it's quite conceivable that Daboll decides, like a lot of other guys have decided, that they don't need to be a HC to be satisfied. Remember, he coached with Josh McDaniels, and he saw McDaniels leave an OC job to be a head coach, then come back to his OC job. I'm not convinced Daboll is going anywhere.

Interesting addition. He's a guy who can play. And he's a guy who can get up to speed quickly. Still, even with Beas out, I'm not sure where his role is. Diggs, Brown, Davis, McKenzie seem to be locks for playing time. Maybe Stills was added to cover the possibility of another injury.

Maybe he just isn't cut out for it yet. Spend a few more years as an assistant and a coordinator, and maybe it will be a different story next time around. The mistake the Jets made with Gase, and the Bills made with Ryan, is hiring a guy hot off his failure as a HC someplace else. Coaches need time to recover from the experience first time around, to reflect on it, to learn more about the game and what it takes to be the HC. After they've learned, they have a better shot the second time around. Obvious example is Belichick. Which is not to say that it isn't possible to succeed the first time around. Obviously, plenty of coaches do that. But failing the first time doesn't mean you'll never succeed at it. The only point is if you fail once, you'd best go back to the job you have succeeded at and learn some more things before you take your second shot. Someone mentioned Gase to Chargers. For the reasons I just gave, Gase is the absolute worst possible choice. He failed, immediately tried again, failed. If he has any future as a head coach, it's after he's had a colling off period.

Happy, this is exactly right. Exactly. I've been watching this happen for a couple of years now, and it's why I've been so optimistic about the Bills. Others have seen it, too, I'm sure. And I didn't really understand the power of this process until yesterday. It was football on another level. So I was getting to the end of what you wrote, and got to "Well, that and our superstar QB." The instant I read that, before I read another word, I thought "but Allen is the product of the same process." Then I read on, and there it was. It's an amazing thing. (And as I've been saying for a couple of years now, it's what the Patriots learned to do with their team, year after year.)

I just have to comment on how extraordinary it is for someone who understands the game to be saying this about our team. I mean, I read it and my first reaction was "that's ridiculous, how could the Bills be so good that they shouldn't fear anyone?" These are my Bills, the team I've always wanted to be good but never believed they could be. So I read it and at first thought you had lost your mind. And then I thought about what I wrote about the Bills after yesterday's game, and I realized I was saying the same thing. This team has risen from what some were calling a dumpster fire in 2017 to a powerhouse in 2020. It's not that there are no teams who can beat the Bills. There are good teams are out there, but none of them is obviously better than the Bills. An extraordinary thing has happened to us Bills fans.

This is good stuff. You know, I wonder if I had just gone off my rocker, talking about how dominant the Bills were, but it turns out that others were feeling the same thing. Interesting comment about the screen to Knox. I didn't notice that it mimicked a Miami play, but what you say is completely plausible. Daboll was just a kid, playing with his toy - his offense - in the second half. There was one shot of him in the press box, leaning against the wall in his chair, watching the game. He didn't have any of the intensity we usually see when they show him. This time, his posture seemed show a guy comfortable as this machine he'd created was operating almost on autopilot. In the locker room after the game, every guy on the Bills must have felt invincible. For the second week in a row, they'd demonstrated that together they were on a completely new level. Amazing. In the playoffs, they're going to see some teams who are at a different level, too, and it won't be so easy. But getting to and understanding that level is another step in the progression toward being a great team.

Technically, yes. That ended it. But as I look back at the game, the Bills had established who was in charge by halftime. There were plays that still had to be made, and the Dolphins might make the score a little closer, but no one thought the Dolphins really had a chance, not with an offense that could score at will.

My, my, my, what have we here? It’s been a long, long time since Buffalo had a team that exceeds all expectations. Fans didn’t dare dream of a truly dominant team, a team that checks all the boxes. Well, let’s see: Make the playoffs. Check. Win the division. Check. Win a bye. Check, until the league added a team to the playoffs. So the bar moved, but the standard was to get to the top 2 – did it. Win home field. Nope, but close. Sweep the division. Check. Come from behind to win? Check. Win big games along the way? Check. Play your best football in December? Check. Begin to dominate games late in the season? Check. The Bills beat Miami, 56-26, Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park. The Dolphins are a pretty good team. They came to town needing a win to get to the playoffs. The Bills needed the win, too, but wanted to balance the benefit of securing the second spot in the playoffs against the risk of injury to a quality player. In other words, the Bills would try to win, but not too hard. The game was jaw-dropping. Just as they had done to the Patriots, the Bills spent most of the first quarter sizing up the Dolphins. The Bills offense started the game interception, punt, punt. Then they went to work. Touchdown, touchdown, punt return touchdown, touchdown. It was as explosive as the Chiefs at their best. And it wasn’t Diggs, it was Isaiah McKenzie, running routes, getting open, making catches, flashing his speed. Then it was McKenzie on a truly dazzling punt return, featuring his vision, his quckness, his change of direction and his speed again. The defense did its part. Over those final ten minutes of the half, the defense gave up one field goal and forced two three and outs. This was masterful football. This was a team that knew it was in control. For fans who in the past criticized Sean McDermott for being too conservative at the end of the half, consider this: Was McDermott planning to end Allen’s day by giving Barkley the last snaps of the first half?. It sure seemed like 21-6 was the right time for a conservative coach to let the air out of the ball. Oh, no! Not this team! Here comes Allen for a final drive. Four plays, 75-yards. BAM!!! Oh, by the way, John Brown is back. The game was over at half time. Miami wasn’t going to score enough to win, even if the Bills throttled back the offense. And then, almost unbelievably, here comes the second string! Here comes Antonio Williams, pounding and slashing and bursting through the line!. Here comes Barkley throwing 6 for 13 for 164 yards and a TD! Here comes Gabriel Davis with a spectacular run and catch. Here comes Matakevich, a tackling machine! Here comes Josh Norman with a pick 6! Here comes Dane Jackson, with a great goal-line tackle and two passes defensed Here comes Dean Marlowe with two interceptions. This is what football looks like when 60 players are playing together, completely together. On offense, the pieces are great, but it wouldn’t be happening like this without Allen. He is in command. He understands the game, he understands his role. And he’s physcially able to execute whatever the team needs him to do. He throws from the pocket, he throws on the run, he sees the opportunities, and he delivers the football flawlessly. His teammates know if they do their jobs, Josh will take care of the rest. And Josh knows his teammates will do their jobs. All of them. That’s what he saw from McKenzie and Brown and Williams and Bates and Davis and Winters and from all those swarming second string defenders. Everyone is ready to do their job, and everyone does. Two weeks in a row, the Bills have dismantled a credible opponent. They’ve done it without breaking much of a sweat. It’s magnificent football. And now the real challenge begins: to win as the opposition gets better. Can this team continue to practice and prepare and play in ways that can overcome anyone? 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.

Yes, I agree about that. That's how it's being built. But Beane has added some talent each year out of free agency. Two types of guys - guys with 4-5 seasons in the league, good solid players (that's the objective - they don't succeed each time) and the occasional veteran for special skills and leadership. I'd put Lee Smith and Josh Norman in that category. There will be some free agent signings this season. Bills will replace some of the guys playing this year with free agents. So yes, the objective is that the youngsters will grow into stars, but I think we'll see some free agent vets sprinkled in every season.

Lots of places he might sign. I was just painting one picture.

I think he has a point. A lot of people would like to know. Obviously, they can tell us whatever they want, within the league rules, but it would be nice to know, for example, the nature of the injury.

You're a piece of work! Love ya.

It's up to Josh.

1960. Me too. A few comments about this. First, the salary cap doesn't permit accumulation of talent like in those days. Smith, Bennett, Talley, Tasker, Reed, Thomas, Lofton, Kelly are the equivalent of $150 million against the salary cap. That wouldn't work today. Second, I'm a big believer that the game is more about coaching than talent. Yes, you have to have talent, but you just can't have enough talent to be better than everyone else. The Bills can use a little more talent, sure, but it's coaching that makes them a top team. A QB and coaching. Third, and notwithstanding what I just said, how would JJ Watt do? He'd be a nice addition. He's a free agent at the end of the year. Too expensive? I don't know; maybe not. Here's my pipe dream: Allen extends and gives a significant hometown discount, like Brady did. He's worth $40 million per year or more, but suppose he agreed to $30 million. Why would he do that? Because he's a team guy, because he knows that everything he earns over $100 million is just funny money, because he'd like the Bills to get other talent. It's not inconceivable to me that Beane asks Allen how he'd like to have JJ Watt as a teammate, and Allen says "I'll take less if you can get Watt." Maybe Milano and Edmunds give a discount, too, but I'm not sure it's fair to ask them - they aren't going to get mega-bucks. Okay, with Allen on board, you go to Watt and say: You want to play for a winner. That's us. You want to play with guys who are as committed to the game as you are. That's us. You're from the midwest and would like to get back home, and nearer your brothers in Pittsburgh. That's us. You're ten years into your contract and you realize that if you want to extend your career, you have to take fewer snaps (you were over 90% in 2020). That's us - we platoon. We have a great QB, maybe better than the one you're playing with now, and he's taking less money because he wants guys like you to come here. So we're offering less than you can get elsewhere (but those other teams want you on the field 90% of the time), and we're offering exactly the kind of football culture that you're dying to play in. You're a superstar, like Allen, and it will say a lot to Allen, and to your teammates, if you take less to be here, like Allen did. Lots of reasons that might not happen, and there are 32 teams trying to put together the pitch and the package that wins him, but Watt in Buffalo is less far fetched than we think.

Theres something like euphoria here that's a little premature, but it's fun to celebrate the excitement. Enjoy it!

But both completion percentage and TD to INT ratio are some indication of accuracy. Virtually all inaccurate passers are low in this categories. That doesn't necessarily mean that a guy who's low in those categories are inaccurate, but it's an indicator.

I was stunned when I looked at Elway several months ago. He played, I believe, NINE seasons where his passer rating was average to below average, compared to the rest of the league. Then he played four seasons where he was in the top 5. We are not seeing that, at all, with Josh. Just a steady climb, taking big steps. Big, big steps.

Yeah, the point about Jordan is correct. He was that way. And I agree, not everyone finds motivation that way, but some do. My point is that Allen is not one who does. He just doesn't seem that way. When he said it about Denver, it was in response to a question on exactly that point. He answered kind of matter-of-factly, as if to say, "sure, I remember that they didn't draft me." He's not one of those guys who marked the Denver game on his calendarlast April. I think his entire history, from high school on, has been a career where he's worked as hard as he can and applied himself as well as he can to be as good as he can be. He's naturally self-motivated.

You know, Bradshaw was very much like Allen coming out of college. He was a number 1 pick overall in the draft, which is what Allen was projected to be. He was a number one pick because he hadn't play college ball at a high level, but he had unbelievable upside. Steelers took him and just stuck him out there and said "play!" They were willing to live through the pain of getting him the learning curve. Bills made the same draft-day decision but planned to give Allen the opportunity to grow on the bench for a while. But soon they just put him out there and said "play!" In both cases, the organization said "we'll live with the pain because we believe the guy will grow in ways that will give us the upside of his talent without the downside of things he has to learn." Steelers were rewarded, and the Bills are being rewarded. You're right - it's interesting that Bradshaw doesn't seem to recognize that.

Not exactly right, but a good point nonetheless. Allen's had a much bigger relative jump in completion percentage than Aikman had. But you're absolutely right about Bradshaw. Bradshaw actually had a negative TD to INT ratio - wow! 6 TDs and 24 INTs as a rookie. Positively Peterman-esque!

Not that it matters, but this is what I said in the post that you quoted: I was referring to what he said about Denver, and what I've heard him say before. When Allen says it, he doesn't say it with any passion. He is self-motivated, just like McDermott is. I'm not sure I agree that they all use slights to motivate themselves. I don't think there's any noticeable difference in how JJ Watt plays from game to game that is attributable to the opponent one of ten teams that didn't draft him. Does he really play differently? Gronk had 31 teams to carry a grudge against - do you think that even ten minutes of his weekly game preparation involves thoughts about showing them what a mistake they made? I think there are guys like that, and from reports I understand that Rodgers is one of them. I just think there are more guys, the truly self-motivated guys, who already are 100% motivated to do their best. Allen seems to be one of those.

Exactly. Once they figured out what would work, Allen was air-mailing special delivery.