Shaw66

Ooh, I hadn't noticed that. If the oline pass blocked, it means it was an audible. THAT's what Lynn was arguing with the officials about? He thought they'd gotten the first down? Did anyone signal a first down or ask that the sticks be moved? Why would have thought they got the first down?

I thought Nantz did some of it too. At one point they had a long dialog about how hard it is to adjust to different style of offense, to develop communication with receivers, etc., when you don't have all the off-season training opportunities, blah, blah, blah. Well, if all of that makes it really difficult to be successful in the first year, why have you, CBS, and every other media outlet hyped the guy like he is going to tear up the leak. It was pure excuse-making for the fact that Brady, great as he was, needs to play in the system the Pats developed, a system that played to his considerable strengths. Justin Herbert didn't have any of those off-season training opportunities, either, he'd never seen an NFL defense until he replaced Tyrod Taylor, AND he doesn't have Evans, Godwin, Antonio Brown and Gronk, yet he's far outplaying Brady at QB. Why doesn't Romo say that?

There always are 6 or 10 or 12 kickers with NFL experience (some game experience, but at least significant practice experience) bagging groceries somewhere, staying in shape and practicing their kicking. When your kicker goes down, you just go sign one of those guys. I don't see the need to keep kickers on the practice squad. Practice squad players are essentially free agents - they can leave any time to take a roster spot elsewhere. If the Bills have a kicker on their practice squad and almost any NFL team offers him a contract to be on the active roster, he's going. If the Bills don't have one and they need a kicker, a kicker on someone else's practice squad would take the job in a heartbeat.

That's an interesting point. I actually was pleased to seem drive his shoulder into a couple of ball carriers yesterday, but in general I think you're correct about this. If you watch good safeties, and this has been true from George Saimes to Jim Leonhard to Micah Hyde, they give up yards when they tackle because they're the last line of defense - they'd rather be sure to take the guy down and give up the yards than to try to save the yards and miss the tackle, giving up a score. Edmunds tackles more like a safety; he doesn't seem to be looking to stop a ball carrier dead in his tracks, let alone punish him. Sooner or later, I have to stop cutting the guy slack for being young, but I do think that continues to make a difference. I suspect, I hope, he's still in the process of learning to play the position AND the process of building body mass. I also think he was slowed by the injury earlier this season - yesterday he looked like a different guy. He was playing with more abandon. Finally, as some of us talked about last week, Edmunds may be the guy who misses Star the most. What makes Edmunds special is his speed and quickness, and what limits him is his strength. When a 290-pound offensive lineman can get his hands on Edmunds, his strengths tend to be neutralized by his weakness. Keeping those linemen off Edmunds is much more important that keeping them off a prototypical monster MLB; the monster MLB can handle the lineman. Edmunds isn't that kind of guy - it's almost as if Edmunds is a safety playing in the middle. He can do great things, but his teammates have to protect him a little.

Big deal? Maybe not, but not insignificant. The problem with Monday games, unlike Sunday afternoon games, is that you don't get the night of the game to decompress. Play on Sunday, unwind on Sunday night, rest on Monday, then use Tuesday through Saturday to get ready for Sunday. Play on Monday night, and all of Tuesday is lost to unwinding. So you get Wednesday through Saturday to prepare. So the Dolphins truly get at least two days extra prep time, as well as two extra days to recover from minor injuries. It's unfortunate, but COVID is creating difficult situations for some teams. It's just luck.

Well, I thought Lynn could have managed the clock better than he did. There was only one way to win the game at that point, and that was to put points on the board and try an onside kick. In retrospect, at some point in that last drive he should have spiked the ball and kicked the field goal. That kind of creative clock management is something a coach needs to master. As I've said elsewhere, not taking the field goal in the third quarter was a huge mistake. Still, I agree, he's likely to get fired, and it's unfortunate. I think he's a talented guy, and the team is just coming together. Unless you've been a total disaster, I think HCs are entitled to a little more sympathy in this COVID season. The HC's job every season is to figure out how to win games, but if they can't figure out how to win during COVID, I wouldn't hold it against them. Finally, I think the sneak was a called play. I think the shift from shotgun to under center followed by a quick snap was designed to cause a moment of indecision that would make it easier for the interior oline to push the Bills off the goal line. The Bills are just unusually tough in that situation.

Everything McD and Daboll say comes back to a simple, over-arching objective - to be a good football team, the Bills need to be able to play all styles. They need to be able to attack everywhere on the field, with the run and with the pass. They've obviously struggled running this season, and I think that as they develop each game plan from week to week they're looking for ways to win the game, obviously, but also for ways to succeed running the ball. They need to be able to run, and they need to put a good running game on film to force future defenses to respect the run. So, I'd guess that the Bills looked at this game as one of those opportunities. They were facing a decent but not dominant run defense, and they didn't have John Brown to help attack a pretty good pass defense. To his credit, Daboll saw enough in the first half to keep attacking with the run, and the success that Singletary and Moss had was a significant factor in controlling the game. Also, this was the first opportunity to get the newly configured interior offensive line playing together in the run game, with Morse and Feliciano and Winters playing together. I went back and looked at some video of the play. It's possible his arm was hit, but Allen's throwing motion wasn't upset by any contact on his arm. He was backpedaling, about to be hit by two defenders, and he floated a ball into double coverage. In a game where you're supposed to be protecting a lead, it was the wrong decision.

Muppy - I've kind of been rooting for Lynn, because of *****-storm he went through in Buffalo when the Bills asked him to step in for Rex at the end of the season. I've wanted him to have some success. As I said in my write, I think the Chargers are one of the better 3-7 teams you'll see in the NFL. Now that he has a QB, I kind of hope Lynn survives. Still, I have a general dislike for owners who abandon their fan-base, so I don't mind having piled onto the Chargers' crappola of a season.

Oh, that's interesting. I didn't know that, but he did miss the PAT early in the game. But still, it was a 43-yard kick. McDermott's approach is to expect your players to do the job they've been asked to do. What is the kicker on the team for if you aren't going to use him to kick field goals? Even if Lynn has doubts about his kicker, he also has to be thinking (because he's watched the film from this season and earlier) that the Bills are particularly tough on goal-line stand type running plays. The Bills have stopped a lot of them. Lynn should have been asking himself "What's easier, getting a yard against this defense or kicking the field goal?" Given the Bills defense, I'd say that even with a struggling kicker, the field goal looks good me. After all, getting the first down doesn't mean you're going to get the touchdown. It wasn't fourth and goal from the one.

That was just plain stupid, and I don't see that their record had anything to do with it. There was a ton of time left in the game, and the Bills weren't throwing points up on the board in big chunks. A field goal makes it a one-score game. At multiple times during the rest of the game I thought, "I'm glad they didn't kick the field goal." My rule is this: Take the points the game is giving you, unless there's an actual reason you need to risk giving up those points. The game was giving Lynn three points, and he essentially said to the game "I don't need your points." Then the game proceeded to slap him in the face, saying "here's what you get for not taking what I was giving you."

I think you misstate the proposition a bit, but you're generally correct about this. I for one haven't said they "found a way to win," I just said it was kind of ugly. I think you're correct, however, by encouraging we fans to look at the game for a minute and ignore the stretch from about 4 minutes left in the third quarter to until about 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter. That's about 9 minutes of clock time, or about 15% of the game. During that time, the Bills had a four-and-out and three turnovers - that was ugly. But if we ignore that for minute and look at the rest of the game, you're absolutely right - the Bills were solidly in control, outplaying the Chargers. Maybe not explosive or dominant, but the Bills won those 51 minutes, easily. Even in the nine-minute stretch, which featured not only the turnovers but several of the penalties, the defense (1) stopped the Chargers with a nice stand in Bills' territory (when the Chargers should have kicked a field goal), (2) held the Chargers to a field goal after the Bills lost a fumble, (3) forced a three-and-out after a second Bills fumble, and (4) intercepted after a Bills interception. Visually, that stretch of the game definitely was ugly offensively, but the defense held onto control of the game. It was what McDermott calls "complementary football." When one of your units is struggling, you need another unit to pick them up. In that stretch, the defense said to the offense, "we got your back," in the same way Allen and the offense have sometimes covered weak stretches the defense has had this season. I'm really glad you pointed this out. The Bills were better yesterday than I thought.

I agree about Bass. I thought the opening kickoff was a good sign. Bills had decided they could eat up the Chargers on kick coverage, so they called the directional kicker to corner. Bass executed, the Bills got a good stop. Then the penalty force the Bills to kick off again. Kickoff team had just sprinted the length of the field, so they told Bass to kick it out of the end zone. He did that (with the wind). The kick at the end of the game seemed routine for him. Just like the three fifty yard+ jobs two weeks ago. All good signs. Maybe I'll have to look for a replay. It looked very much like hero ball to me.

Yeah, I know. But if you watched the Chiefs today, they had absolutely no fear letting Mahomes when they were trying to run clock. By that point in the game, Allen had made enough questionable plays that I didn't want to see him throwing any more.

What bothers me about the officiating is the horrible inconsistency. A couple examples: Ending plays because forward progress has stopped. Today, in the Bills game and others I saw, sometime officials whistled plays dead when a running back was being held by two guys, but his legs were still moving. Other times, they let plays go with the ball carrier surrounded and unable to move at all, and all the officials just looked and watched. There is no consistency at all on how that is called. Illegal motion. Chiefs had two plays within about five minutes when they had a receiver in motion who turned upfield before the snap - no call. Then they had one where Hill seemed to continue parallel to the line of scrimmage, then step back, and they called it. It's ticky-tack stuff. I don't think they're always looking for it, and then they call when they think they saw it. Delay of game. We've all gotten used to the clock getting to zero and beyond before the call is made. Thursday, an instant BEFORE the clock hit zero, they called it. It's just dumb. If they can't get that stuff right, why should be surprised they get the harder stuff wrong?

Multiple body parts were hit. I suppose if his arm hadn't been hit, maybe it would have been a highlight reel play, with Diggs making the catch going to the sideline. Maybe we'd be pointing to that play as more Allen magic. That's not what I saw. I saw a QB in serious trouble, a QB who was supposed to be thinking that the only thing worse than a sack would be an INT. Take the loss and move. White's INT bailed him out. Want a sign of how bad it was? When the Bills got the ball back, Daboll called five straight running plays. The message to Allen? If we can't trust you with the ball, we're taking the ball out of your hands.

The Bills beat the Chargers on Sunday, 27-17, improving to 8-3 and staying a game ahead of the Dolphins and three games ahead of the Patriots. After a promising start to the game, the Bills finished ugly. For many fans, the operative word is ‘ugly.” For the Bills, the operative word is “finished.” With a 24-6 lead, the Bills had an opportunity to coast to an unusual easy victory. Instead, in a scene familiar to Bills fans this season, the Bills gave up a touchdown, went four and out and then turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions. Throw in a series of bad penalties and the second successful hail Mary in two games, and the game turned ugly and uncomfortably close. Forget that, or at least don’t obsess over it. The Bills are a Sean McDermott team, and Sean McDermott teams finish. He builds his teams to finish. He trains them to finish. He expects them to finish. Against the Chargers, the Bills finished. They closed the game with an interception by Tre’Davious White, a short drive (including a couple of penalties), a clutch Bass field goal, and excellent bend-don’t-break prevent defense (including the 4th and 27 hail Mary short of the end zone). On the final play of the game, the Bills stuffed a quarterback sneak, beating the spread. The Bills finished. The Chargers are one of the better 3-8 teams you’ll see. Justin Herbert has been having a lights-our rookie season at quarterback, and they have a credible defense. Against the Bills, both were no-go, more or less. The Bills harrassed and confused Herbert all game, and the Bills defensive backfield offered him few big throwing windows. Many of Herbert’s completions were close or contested catches. He finished the game with a passer rating of 76. In other words, the Bills pretty much stopped him. And by the way, the Chargers have a decent run game, but the Bills stuffed that, too. The Charger defense did okay trying to stop the Bills, but there simply was no way they could hold the Bills under 20. The Bills attacked relentlessly with their running game, and in the second half they began having more success. Singletary and Moss shared the load, each taking advantage of occasional seams to move the chains. Allen was efficient, when he wasn’t playing like a rookie. He mishandled a snap and lost the fumble, he made a foolish desperation throw under pressure for an interception, and he avoided near-disaster on a couple of other low-reward high-risk plays. He hasn’t learned that sometimes the right play is to take your lumps, even if it means you’ll punt. Unless you’re in the final minute, there’s always another play. Still, Allen was in control, made several good throws and managed the game. A few observations: 1. The Bills need to play under control. Poyer’s unnecessary roughness, Oliver’s roughing the passer, Allen’s unsportsmanlike conduct all hurt the team. There’s a difference between playing with an attitude and playing stupid. One of the problems with playing stupid is that the team develops a reputation with the officials. When the officials think your style is chippy, in-your-face, over-the-edge, you get calls like the taunting call on Moss – an obviously bad call except for the fact that Bills had spent the previous 20 minutes showing off their poor sportsmanship. It’s been aing problem with Poyer all season, and now he seems to be infect other players. The Bills need the officials to be on their side and not looking for flags to throw against them. 2. Stephon Diggs didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet, but that’s because they don’t keep stats about penalties drawn. The first-half pass interference that set up the Bills’ first touchdown was created by Diggs and Allen’s arm. Every bit as good as a completion. Through the second half, Diggs’s deep threat left him available to Allen repeatedly for easy five- to seven-yard gains. 3. Tremaine Edmunds continues to makes plays. He’s tackling more solidly, he’s getting off blocks, and he’s beginning to regain his form as an elite pass defender. He’s in on a lot of plays, and he’s around even more. He looks a lot better than six weeks ago. 4. AJ Klein, too. 5. I watched the game with my adult daughter, a good athlete but she’s never watched much football. She’s a Bills fan, but she probably can name only two Bills players other than Allen. When Lee Smith caught that three-yarder, she said “Who’s that? Do the Bills actually give that guy the ball?” Even my daughter could see that Smith is about as unlikely a tight end as you’ll see in the 2020 NFL. 6. Seems to me the Bills would have done better to pay a little attention to Joey Bosa. 7. Allen should have left the pocket more often. He got in trouble and sacked on a couple of occasions when he should have sensed that it was time to go. For many years during the drought, Bills fans asked that their team just play one meaningful game in December. Bills fans lived to see the Bills name and logo listed under “In the Hunt” when networks showed the playoff possibilities. We knew it was a matter of days or a week or two before the Bills fell off the list, but expectations were low. Just be in the hunt a week or two in December. Now, the Bills are looking at five meaningful games in December and January. The Bills are building for the playoffs. You can see it in the defensive backfield. Hyde, Poyer, White, and Wallace are getting stingier by the week. Edmunds and Taron Johnson are part of it. You can see it in the run defense - not dominant, but week after week the Bills seem to be plugging the leaks. You can see it in the defensive aggressiveness and disguises. The defense is getting tougher to handle. The run game is becoming more productive. Allen’s in control, except when he isn’t. The special teams are excellent, except when Bojorquez isn’t. This is the time Bills fans asked for: Meaningful games in December. We have a lot be thankful for. 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.

Epenesa's coming out party.

I couldn't resist. I can't hear Graham's name without thinking about Wilson. And you're so right - the ain't nothing like it.

I remember watching the Stevie drop live on the TV. The first time they showed the replay, in my heart I was still expecting Stevie to catch it. I was thinking, "this time he'll catch it." He dropped it on the replay, too. That's when the reality of it sunk in. In no particular order, Stevie catch, wide right, music city miracle, hail Mary, Cowboys' field goal on Monday night. Each one left me with this horrible empty feeling the moment it happened.

Good point. I kept thinking about Jameis and didn't know who his coaches were. Jameis really should be better than he is. And maybe EJ Manuel never would have good anywhere, but the Bills certainly didn't do him any favors. On the other hand, substitute Mahomes or Allen for EJ, and the Bills would have been a lot better, almost instantly

Reading this story about Stevie makes me want to tell the story about Stevie and another epic loss. I've told this story a couple of times, and each time I tell it, people accuse me of blaming the loss on Stevie. I'm not. Well, sort of I'm not. It was November 3, 2013, and the undefeated Chiefs were at the Ralph. It was the second start in Jeff Tuel's career, and it would be his last. The Bills were up 10-3 at the half, and Tuel led the Bills on a great drive to open the third quarter. The Bills had the ball inside the Chiefs' five yard-line, about to go up by at least 10, probably 14. Tuel took the snap and immediately threw to Russell Wilson (no, just kidding) T.J. Graham on a quick, hard slant. Sean Smith stepped in front of Graham, intercepted on the goal line and went 100 yards the other way. The Bills later managed a third-quarter field goal and lost 23-13. Bills fans heaped it on Tuel. Johnson was wide open over the middle - why didn't he throw it to him? How could he possibly throw the ball directly at the defender? Didn't he see the guy standing there? No, he didn't. Quarterbacks look at the receiver, not at the spot where they want to throw the ball. Tuel's job was to see if Graham broke inside his defender, and once Graham did, Tuel, looking at Graham to time the throw, threw the ball to the spot where Graham would be in another step or two or three. The problem was that Smith was standing in that spot. What was Smith doing there? Ah, here's where Stevie comes in. Stevie was lined up in the slot on the right side, maybe seven yards inside the wideout. Smith lined up opposite Stevie, just off the line. Stevie burst off the line with a big, hard jab step to his right, then cut hard to his left into the middle of the end zone. He was open. The move was so big and so quick, it forced Smith into a quick back pedal and step to his left. In fact, Smith reacted so aggressively to Johnson's fake to the right that Smith stumbled and lost his balance a bit. By the time he regained his balance, Johnson was two steps ahead of him over the middle. Unfortunately for Tuel, the fake left Smith standing right where Tuel threw the ball. The play was designed for Stevie to take Smith with him, and I'm not sure that Doug Marrone considered the possibility that Stevie would come off the line so aggressively that the defender simply wasn't able to follow him. If Stevie just runs a straight, hard slant to the middle, Smith would have trailed him, and Graham would have had a touchdown. Give the Bills that TD, and take away Smith's TD, and the lowly Bills and Jeff Tuel beat the undefeated Chiefs. All because Stevie was too good.

Great story. Good for Stevie.

This is good stuff, Hap, and I'll go to one more: McDermott is growing, too. I'm sure Allen will be great. I think McD will be great, but he needs to develop. I simply dont know about Daboll.

What you say makes sense, but what about the guys at the other extreme, like maybe Rex and Marrone? I can imagine a young QB who needs work, like Allen, just running around like Allen did his rookie year and just never getting in the harness. In fact, I think guys are both extremes would have hurt Allen's development. He needed to be nurtured, and McDab were good for him. Still, I have to say it's an interesting question: Is Allen so good that whatever circumstance, whatever coach, he got drafted into, once he survived his rookie deal he'd turn into a great QB somewhere else? That's essentially what some people are saying about Mahomes, and I think it's probably true. Heck, his rookie year Favre went 0 for 4 passing for Atlanta (Jerry Glanville coaching and the legendary Chris MIller at QB), a 0.0 passer rating, and the next season he went 8-5 for the Packers in 13 starts, with a passer rating of 85, which was 6th in the league. One year in Atlanta didn't ruin him.

This is an interesting point. I think he is a generational talent. I've compared him to Elway and to Ben in terms size, strength, guts, pocket awareness. But he is a better student of the game. No back stories in his way. He is going to be field general to match Peyton. I believe it. As for coaches, I do think it is possible for a coach to screw him up, but it would be pretty hard to do. Rex might have just turned him loose without any quality coaching, let him run wild. That could have developed a lot of bad habits. But generally I'd say you're right - most coaches would have been fine for him. Still, I think Daboll has done a good job with him.