Shaw66

I like this. I think we do see some things when we are older. I will say this about th we announcers. I think part of their falling for this mechanics stuff is they just don't do their homework. They weren't paying attention last year to what Josh was, and now this year they feel a need to explain why they didn't see it last year. The great jeap forward is a better explanation than "I didnt know what was going on."

He had five games this season with a higher passer rating. By that measure, it was sort of an average game. There are many measures of Josh's greatness. This game is one of those. If Fitz or Tyrod had that game, we'd be excited about it. Josh has it, and it's just an average game. After all, he didn't even complete 80% of his passes! Only two TD passes! The guy is amazing. His average games are excellent.

Virg - In your closing, you talk about whether anyone thought New England-Miami would be two meaningless games. I certainly didn't. Last year, the Bills had one meaningless game, but that was because the wildcard was assured, not the Division. It really is the measure of how good the Bills are. Of course, they aren't completely meaningless. There's still a lot to play for. The Steelers have the Colts and the Browns, so they could easily lose one or two. Chiefs aren't likely to lose two to the Falcons and the Chargers.

As I said, I think the leap was statistical, and it's startling, but I think his skill set is progressing linearly. That is, I think his improvement from year 2 to year 3 isn't all that different from his improvement from over the summer year 1 to year 2. He's down to learning and executing little things, like the pass to Beasley. Being able to do that has big impact on the game, but the actual improvement in his skills to be able to do that is pretty small. Just learn to recognize the situation and execute. He's been making those little improvements, lots of them, since he came into the league. I think what we see is that the cumulative effect of mastering little things like that has some kind of multiplier effect. He masters that kind of play, and the Bills get more first downs. More first downs means more plays for the offense and eventually more offense. That stresses the defense more, and creates other opportunities that Allen already knows how to take advantage of. My point is, I think he just keeps working and keeps getting better, but the impact on his stats hasn't happened in a straight line. Also, I think all this stuff about Allen changing his mechanics is way, way overblown. Yes, apparently he's looked at his mechanics. But if I recall correctly, over the summer Palmer said all they did was tweaking of mechanics. I've said all along that Allen has always been an accurate passer, just inconsistent. He would recognize a situation late and not be in optimal position to make the throw, and he'd be inaccurate. Next time, same situation, if he recognized the situation more quickly, he'd be right on the money. I think what they did with him was to get him aware of his mechanics so he understands better how to make the throw correctly even when his body isn't in the right position, but what's really happening is mostly that his recognition of what's going on keeps improving. He sees the defense better, he understands the routes better, so he isn't surprised. When he isn't surprised, he's accurate. Again, these are little, incremental growth items that are having cumulative effect. I think that's exactly what's going on with his short-yardage accuracy. He's learned over three years to get away from hero-ball, down the field stuff and accept the short pass as the right decision. That means he's coming to the short receiver on time, instead of late, and he's prepared to make the throw. He's prepared not because his mechanics have changed - he's prepared because he has the time to make the throw properly that he's always made when he's prepared. Finally, there simply is no denying the impact Diggs has had on the passing game. Diggs and Beasley together in the short game is what the Patriots would have looked like with Welker and Edelman on the field at the same time. One of those guys is ALWAYS open, and Josh usually knows which one will be open when the play starts. Josh gets a lot of easy throws, in position, in rhythm, because those guys are so good. And, of course, because those guys are so good, Davis and Knox get open more. The amazing thing to me, and to a lot of people, is that Josh is still learning. I've said all along that we aren't going to be seeing the full-blown Josh for another year or two. And that's why he could end up being better than Mahomes. Josh is on his way to being Aaron Rodgers in Cam Newton's body.

Yes, it was brilliant. I've seen it before. That's the way the classic Statue of Liberty play is run, with the QB holding the ball behind his back for the back to take. It was beautifully executed, and as someone said somewhere, the holding call was pretty weak, if not non-existent.

Fair enough. For whatever reason, he missed a few times. When he's lights out for the game, he completes over 80%. Does anyone know what happened on the near interception. It was Davis, I think. My guess is that that Allen was going back shoulder and Davis didn't read it that way. Allen doesn't miss by that much.

Exactly right. We've been living with it for three years now, living with the feeling that he can go off at any time. First and goal from 30, I thought the Bills were going to get the touchdown. Two plays later, Kumerow scored. Not since Jim Kelly did any of us expect the Bills to get seven on first and goal from thirty. In fact, we were just hoping the Bills didn't lose any more yards and miss the field goal opportunity. Allen is amazing. I have to say, though, that I'm tired of all the announcers talking about this enormous leap he's made this year. The only enormous leap has been in the stats. He was amazing as a rookie, and he was amazing in 2019. He's been learning every week and at least for me, there is nothing surprising this season. He's doing what I expected. At the beginning of the season I said it would be this season or next season that he'd be a serious top-10 QB. The acquisition of Diggs made it happen sooner rather than later.

Wow. Think about the deep ball to Diggs with wind like that. That ball was absolutely perfect.

Yeah, I know, but I don't think Jerry will read it, so I wasn't worried about offending him. Truth is, he's a spectacular athlete, and he's grown into a super teammate and leader. No longer the guy who makes a great play here, jumps offside there, and gets trapped out of position. The guy is a stud. Well, spotting the ball on running plays like that is really tough. If you don't gain enough to make it obvious, you're going to be stuck with the occasional officiating mistake. No question he made, but if you can't see the ball on review, you're not going to get the call. Personally, I thought the Bills should have taken the field goal and made it a four-score game. That was the right move. No harm done, they got the field goal on the next possession.

I love him, but for now he and Mahomes have to doff their caps and bow to Rodgers.

Of course they did it for the money. But when we look back at this time and how we survived, we will remember that the NFL soldiered on. We really will remember how health care insititutions and workers soldiered on how, people helped each other, how we grieved together but kept moving forward. We didn't need the NFL like we needed a lot of more important things, but the NFL has helped us through.

Great, Chevy! Really nice. The parents and grandparents got me. For some reason, my grandfather never was much of a Bills fan, but my father was. And my sons, and now my grandsons. Magic moments.

The Bills are rolling now. They rolled over the Broncos in Denver on Saturday, 48-19. In the process, they sent a simple message to the NFL: We’re ready. Every game. The Bills now are looking like a premier NFL team. Except for the last-second loss to Arizona, the Bills haven’t lost in two months. In a statement game last week, they manhandled the Steelers. This week, against a beatable team, they needed a win to clinch the AFC East division title. They dominated. The Bills’ mistakes were one measure of how good the Bills were. There was Andre Roberts’ muffed punt, Allen’s sack fumble, the failed fourth and one play deep in the red zone, and stretches when the Bills looked like they were in an NFL officials’ training film, demonstrating rule violations: offensive pass interference, holding, illegal procedure. The penalties came in bunches, and multiple touchdowns were called back. Still, even though the halftime score was close, the game wasn’t. The Bills were in control, and they proved it in the third quarter. Josh Allen didn’t have his best game, but it didn’t matter. He missed Knox high, missed Diggs high, too. He threw rockets when sometimes more touch was needed. Still, “not his best game” was more than good enough and sometimes breathtaking. Some of those rockets were spectacular. The touchdown to Knox was one - it was all Knox could do to keep the ball from ripping through his hands before he secured it. The touchdown to Kumerow was another. For most NFL quarterbacks, that throw was an interception waiting to happen, as two defenders were quickly closing the window. Allen saw it and knew he could get the ball through to Kumerow before the defenders arrived. It was a terrific throw. The deep ball to Diggs was too beautiful for words. Allen managed the pocket well, knowing when he could wait and when he needed to move. His scramble to the right and throw as he was going down was the kind of play that only elite players make. Allen ran effectively, too. He navigated the middle of the field for his first touchdown, and he recognized and took the edge for his second. He’s just so good. And so is Diggs. Unstoppable in man coverage, with hands that are among the best the league has seen. It’s only a matter of time before he uncorks a massive run after catch. Awesome. The defense couldn’t hold after the Roberts’ muff, and they gave up a drive to end the half. Not perfect. But other than those two scores, there wasn’t much to complain about. Leslie Frazier masterfully mixed the calls and kept Drew Lock uncomfortable all afternoon. One of those calls erased any doubt about who was in control. The Bills opened the second half with a big return from Roberts and a quick seven-play, 45-yard TD drive. After the kickoff, Lock dropped back to pass, and Tre’Davious White looped all the way around behind Lock to make the hit and force the fumble. Jerry Hughes outhustled Taron Johnson for the ball, and then the fun began. We’ve seen Hughes carrying the ball before. He sees the field well, and he can change direction. Weaving through would-be tacklers like a cross between Barry Sanders and a couch potato, Hughes found the end zone. Game over. The rest of the game was fun plays (Singletary’s touchdown run was almost as masterful as Hughes’s). For the game, the offense piled up more than 500 total yards, more than doubling what the defense allowed. By the end, the look on Lock’s face said “Get me out of here.” The fourth quarter saw a series of troubling, apparently small injuries, to White and Diggs and Wallace and Epenesa. Williams had left the game earlier, and Hyde was returning punts late, in place of Roberts. The Bills are hoping nothing is too serious, and they’re fortunate to have a couple of games remaining that, although important, aren’t true must-win. It will be time to get healthy. Oh, yeah, note to league: If you think Kumerow looks like a new threat in the passing game, better watch some film of John Brown; he’ll be back. What’s important about the remaining games? Well, there’s symbolic importance at Foxboro next week. McDermott and the Bills don’t care about symbolic importance, but the fans do. It’s been a great season so far; a win over the Patriots, punctuating the end of Patriot dominance, would indeed be sweet. What McDermott and the Bills DO care about is home field in the playoffs. With the division win, they are assured one game in Orchard Park. If they can win the final two games, and if Pittsburgh loses one, the Bills would be assured two in Orchard Park, and possibly three, if they can keep winning. It's been a long time coming. The Bills have arrived. 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.

Once again today, Knox is the only serious pass-catching tight end active. Regardless of what several of us may think if him, it's pretty clear that he's McDermott's man.

I live in Connecticut. I was wearing my Bills hat in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine this summer and two Bills fans from Texas stopped to say hello.

He's been injured, for one. I thi k he also has been getting overpowered I. Pass protection. I've never thought he was a solid anchor there.

Particularly Morse. Between injury and weak play, the Bills may want Morse out of there, and they think Harrison and Feliano at guard is better than Felicuano and Winters at guard. Winters hasn't exactly gotten rave reviews. When will Bates be more than potential?

Yeah, I expect that McDermott and Frazier will have Lock confused, and he will make some mistakes. There no easy outs in the NFL. Well, a couple, but Denver, New England, and Miami are not among them.

Thanks for this.

Thanks. One of the things I think we hear McBeane saying about how they evaluate players in the draft and free agency is that they're looking for guys who already have the growth mindset. I used to think that McDermott's plan was to get guys and teach it, but I think they've made the management decision that it's easier to limit themselves to guys who already have it. They do that because not everyone can just easily flip into the growth mindset, and every guy on the roster who isn't successful transitioning is a guy who's a problem. They evaluate players for the growth mindset by asking coaches and teammates about them. They find out how the players responds to adversity. They find out how the players treat other people, because people with the growth mindset tend to work cooperatively rather than competitively. They collect secondary evidence of the growth mindset, and I suspect it's one of their fundamental screens for players. They can see on film whether the player has the raw physical skills - if you don't have the raw physical skills, you just can't play in the NFL. But once you have the basic physical stuff, I think McD care less about how good those skills are and care more about the growth mindset. I listen to McDermott talk, and sometimes I think he's not the brightest lightbulb in the IQ drawer. Still, he gives the impression that his future is limitless. If he's smart enough, and I think he is, his mindset is going to take him places. I think Beane has the mindset, too, but he isn't the disciple for the process that McDermott is.

Thanks. It is a good article.

Thanks. I didn't know about her, and I don't recall having heard McD talk about her. But what you and Wikipedia say about her theories clearly is at the core of McD's process. (I should note that Wikipedia says that other psycologists have not been able to replicate her clinical results, and there is a healthy debate about what the consequence is of her work.) It's interesting, too, that someone who works for Lexus (Toyota), chimed in above, because the Japanese were onto the growth mindset, apparently before Dweck wrote about it. Danaher is also famous for strictly seeking this kind of personal development, too. The growth mindset vs. the fixed mindset is at the core of a lot of discussion about McDermott and the Bills on this forum. Some people here show they believe in the fixed mindset when they say that McD isn't good at challenges or isn't good at managing the clock or other similar comments. They say it as if the fact that he didn't do those things well last year mean that he won't do those things well next year. In fact, McD is a believer in the growth mindset, which means he has in place systems to evaluate how well he does things, like challenges and clock management. If the evaluation is that he is doing those things poorly, McD views it as an opportunity to improve, so he studies, seeks advice, changes his behavior and reevaluates. The growth mindset is very much what he wants in his players. He wants his players not so much to celebrate what went right, but to question and evaluate what went wrong so it won't happen again. I think we see the result of the process in his defense. It's very rare that we see defenders after a play looking at each other and making gestures that say, "I thought you had that guy." The Bills know where they're supposed to be on defense, so they're rarely out of position. Still, of course, plays work against them, so when they watch film, they're always asking, "what could we do so that doesn't happen again." Working and practicing like that every day makes the team better and better. It's called continuous improvement. And, as I just said, continuous improvement. That's the real key. Continuous improvement means Hyde and Poyer get better as a safety tandem, year after year. It stops only after their pure physical abilities begin to decline. Continuous improvement your quarterback in the same system gets better, year after year.

Thanks. I'm sure I needed that.

Incredibly incredible.

How about the Giants beating the VIkings 41-0 in the playoffs AND holding the ball for the last 12 minutes! That's incredibly.