Shaw66

I can't remember a weekend when four names that big went down for the season. Each one of those guys is a big-time contributor to his team. We all love watching this game, and I'm regularly reminded that what we're watching is a stylized version of war. Boxing and MMA are more directly violent, one on one, but football is like watching two armies in battle. Part of what makes it similar to watching a battle is that the combatants actually are at risk. Weekends like this make that risk all the more apparent.

Yes. I think the point is that every year, the season is fluid, and the league never looks the same in November as it did in September. So, as you say, where Buffalo stands in the grand scheme of things remains to be seen. If the playoffs were held today, the Bills would be in. Unfortunately, that ain't the way it works.

Good points. I think we don't really know what we have yet, for several reasons: haven't played any elite teams yet, haven't really emerged from preseason mode, don't know what the injury story is yet, etc., etc. I didn't write about the power outage and lightning delay, because I didn't know exactly what to say about them, but it's a good bet they both contributed to the uneven defensive performance. Of course, the question is why those things had an effect on the defense while they didn't seem to affect the offense (other than the third quarter). The whole point is that it's early in the season. I'm excited about what I've seen, but just like every season, we won't know what we have until at least November. It's a shakedown cruise for the whole league until then. What I do know is that the Bills have a lot of opponents on their schedule who look very good. The Patriots plus the entire AFC West and NFC West. That's ten tough games. However, I keep reminding myself that those nine coaches are looking at scores and highlights and realizing that the Bills are one of the tough games on THEIR schedule, too.

NIce job, VIrg. Good stuff here. I particularly liked you comment about the replays reviews. I thought the Davis TD was fine - replay showed clear possession, and if the ball touched the ground, it certainly had nothing to do with the catch. Diggs' catch was, as you say, the kind of play that the review team has overthought in the past. You can look at that replay all day trying to figure out if Diggs got possession before the first foot left the ground, I suppose eventually one might conclude that it did and the pass should have been incomplete. But it was so close that the review team needs to stick with the call on the field and go back to the game, which is what they did. Similarly, the deep ball against Tre White on the right sideline just short of the goal line. I didn't hear a discussion of it during the broadcast, but the way that play was being called a couple years ago, that was an incomplete pass. He got two feet in grounds, but the rule apparently says, and the NFL was interpreting strictly, that the receiver had to maintain possession through his collision with the ground. On that play, the receiver had to go down to make the catch - he dragged his second foot, so he couldn't stay on his feet and run out of bounds, and when he hit the ground the ball came out. Incomplete. But as far as I'm concerned, that interpretation has always been wrong. The guy caught the ball, no question, got two feet down, and that should be the end of it. Completion. Even though it was bad for the Bills, that's the way that play should be called. Did I miss the NFL announcement that they've changed the way they're calling it? In any case, I like how the review process seems to be working so far this year.

I've said for a couple of years, it's too early to tell about anyone. Andy Reid retires, Mahomes loses Kelce and Hill, who knows? The interesting questions, however, are these: What would Chiefs-Chargers looked like with Allen at QB for Chiefs? What would Bills-Dolphins have looked like with Mahomes at QB for Bills?

Did you notice the Dolphins defender giving him a little pat or shove as Davis was getting up. It looked like a grudging "nice catch" gesture. It was a great catch, no doubt. Everything about it was text book. And the play by Allen was just as good. I love that he changed hands with the ball - great awareness. Then to see that opening - it was a risky pass, but he knew he could put it in the right place. And (I'm speculating here) he threw because he knew he had a guy with those hands on the receiving end. Beautiful all around.

Did Allen throw any ball away today? I missed a lot of the first half with the power outage, but while I was watching I don't think I saw a throw away.

Interesting. They'll need those bigger rosters and practice squads. I think the shortened training camps have contributed to the injuries, but they could go back to more normal training camps after COVID.

Yeah, that's a different take on what I said. It's tough to win in the league. But what you say is correct, too. Division games always seem to be tough. Still, it would be nice to coast through a win once in a while. McDermott's D gets very passive, and it gives up scores quickly at the end of the game. And end of the half. They have trouble keeping the opponent off the board on their last possession of the half.

One of the most amazing performances I've ever seen!

They don't say that about Kyler Murray. They have him in the HOF already. But I agree - good as Allen was, greatness is defined by sustained excellence. Allen has what it takes - now he has to show it consistently.

No

Turns out there were a lot of substitutions on the offensive line. Speculation is that it was the heat and humidity. There's a thread about it. Cody Ford Benched

I say it often. It isn’t original to me. Sean McDermott says it. Others say it. It’s tough to win in the NFL. It’s tough to win in the NFL because of parity – the league is full of good players, and they’re spread around the league. It’s tough to win because there are a lot of good coaches, and there are plenty of good quarterbacks. It’s tough to win because everyone competes; everyone is desperate to win. And so it was that the Bills let the Jets hang around last week, making the end of the game less comfortable than it should have been. Again this week, the Bills let the Dolphins hang around, and the game came down to an onside kick. It shouldn’t be that way; the Bills should have put those games away. Sean McDermott knows that. He also knows it’s hard to win in this league, so he prepares his team to play every play and to win. The Bills didn’t play defense as well as they wanted against Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins. They went without Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, and as many had predicted, the Bills had trouble defending the passing game over the middle. Had trouble is an understatement; Fitzpatrick is a pro’s pro, and he lived over the middle. He threw often and accurately, and he reeled off first downs and extended drives all afternoon. Fitz was just short of brilliant all day. He had little trouble figuring out the Bills defense. He scrambled effectively. He did enough to win some games. But this wasn’t just some game. This was the 2020 Buffalo Bills, this was the 2020 Josh Allen, and a good performance from a good journeyman quarterback wasn’t enough to win. Allen was superb. 400 yards, 4 TDs, no interceptions, no fumbles. A fourth quarter come-from-behind touchdown drive and second fourth quarter touchdown drive to put the game out of reach. Spectacular throw after spectacular throw. Beyond all that, everything about Allen said he was in control. No confusion, no unnecessary timeouts. You could see it in his eyes: “I got this.” Was every throw perfect? No, but come on! So many were perfect that no one cares about the few others. Pick any one. How about the fourth-quarter scramble to his right, change the ball from right hand to left and back to make the TD throw to Gabriel? Spectacular. How about the fourth quarter throw to Diggs on the right sideline? How about the deep crosser to Beasley on the left? Fabulous. And Allen was making the right reads, which resulted in a lot of easy throws and uncontested catchs. Allen was special, but if you’ve been watching Allen grow up in the NFL, it wasn’t surprising. He didn’t make any throws that he hasn’t made many times in the past two years. All that’s happened is that he’s making them more consistently, and that’s what happens when a young quarterback matures. Of course, Allen didn’t do it alone. He had Stefon Diggs. STEFON DIGGS. Are there any doubters now? My goodness! Any pattern out of any formation, he gives his QB a chance, and if he’s close to open, he catches it. He outplayed the defender nicely on Allen’s big throw on the right sideline, used his body to beat him to the ball, and then made a tough catch. Fans haven’t seen a receiver like that in a Bills uniform in a decade and more. And, as we already knew, Beasley and Brown are right behind him What a trio! Oh, and Gabriel Davis. What was he doing on the board in the fourth round of the NFL draft? The defense clearly missed Milano and Edmunds. Those guys make important individual plays, usually in the passing game, and those plays were noticeably absent. The Bills looked vulnerable. On the other hand, Klein and Dodson made plays in the running game – they’re solid tacklers. The defense had some three and outs, and they made the big stop after the Bills had scored the go-ahead touchdown. They also had what is becoming the customary goal-line stand; they really are tough with their backs against the wall. By the way, I haven’t changed my mind yet – teams are foolish not to take the points the game is giving them. Chargers should have taken that field goal, and it cost them in the end. Ford left the game, maybe the heat, maybe because the Bills are looking for more than he’s giving them. Knox got a concussion. Moss left the game. The defense didn’t dominate. Who knows when Edmunds and Milano will be back? The defense needs to toughen up. Next week a real football team comes to town, homecoming for Robert Woods. But forget all of that. Sean McDermott will deal with it. For now, just find the best video highlights package of Josh Allen’s afternoon and watch those throws. Then watch it again. And smile. 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.

Read the posts in this thread and what stands out is the part of the defense that no one is talking about - the front five. The Bills clearly will be weaker in the back seven - can't lose Milano and Edmunds without losing some talent, some speed and some savvy. In the back 7, Bills will do all the things people are talking about here. They'll use their usual sets and defenses and they'll add some wrinkles. There will be six DBs on the field more often than we've seen in the past. There will a variety of things. But the key will be the front 4-5. Solid run defense and consistent pressure on Fitz is what will minimize the damage suffered by losing the two linebackers.

L - I'm generally of this view, too. But... Like Yolo said, it's just a review. It's someone looking at the film and giving his opinion. My sense of Joe is that he's pretty even-handed, and he seems to make sense. Given his job, his probably spends more time looking at film than I do, and he seems smart enough, so he's probably learned some things along the way. As with anyone else, the more often a guy seems to make sense, the more confidence I have him, the less he makes sense, the less. Joe's on the plus side. Those guys who do Cover One, they don't have long coaching resumes, but they seem to be pretty good at reviewing film and understanding what was happening. So, for me, they're on the plus side. As much as anything, I like reading these things not so much for the actual conclusions as for little things the author may have noticed that I didn't. For example, on the Moss TD, I didn't know Moss was Allen's sixth read. That's pretty cool. Well, my friend, applying the same standard I just said I apply to Joe B and Cover One, as between you and ScottLaw, one's a plus and one's a minus.

I gotta say I don't really know, but I agree with you. There's a definite loss of physical talent on the field with those two guys out, but I don't think it will be critical. In a sense, the replacements are protected by the talent in front of them and the talent behind them. They will be out there doing their jobs, but they will have help from that other talent, and they will have help from the schemes Frazier and McD devise. Biggest problem will be Fitz, who has the experience and smarts to take advantage weaknesses resulting from these injuries. On the other hand, we all know Fitz has his limitations. I agree - the Bills should be okay Sunday.

Wow. I thought this was coming. Better to sit and get well than to play and make it worse, especially given the relative strength of this week's opponent and next week's. This is a major test for the "process." It's also the kind of situation where the Bills are fortunate to have the long-term experience of McDermott and Frazier. They've been here before, and they will have responses. If the next men up respond to the challenge, it's a good thing for the coming weeks. It's a good opportunity to develop some depth at a position where the Bills don't have much.

Uh, Burrow shows promise but still makes rookie plays. Browns are explosive.

Well, if you want a quasi-scientific analysis, the kick was not good. If you watch the replay looking that's posted in this thread, looking straight on from behind the kicker, the replay that is about 7 seconds long, you can pause it and then scroll back and forth to follow the flight of the ball. It hits the net and then drops straight down. It's hard to see, but it looks like it hits the net right about the 4 second mark in the video. Okay. A field goal kick travels about 50-55 mph when it leaves the foot. It slows down as it travels because of air resistance, but it slowed down less than usual on that kick, because the wind was blowing pretty hard. Say it was going 45 mph when it passed the back end of the end zone. That's 66 feet per second, about 20 yards per second. The distance between the back end of the endzone to the edge of the stands, where the net is, is only about 15 yards. So if you scroll the replay back from 4 seconds to 3 seconds you can see where the ball is at about the time it crossed the end line. It's easily outside the post. If you scroll back to 2 seconds, you'll see where the ball was about when it crossed the goal line - right in line with the right upright. That analysis isn't very accurate, but if you do it you'll see that it's pretty unlikely that the kick was inside the post.

Excellent commentary. On the Beasley underthrow, I would also have mentioned that Josh probably still is learning to deal with the wind. It's tough to have the confidence to lead Beasley downfield with the wind howling from Josh's backside. I think Josh is overestimating the effects of the wind, on that throw and on the overthrow of Brown in the open end zone.

I think Tune-In radio is the best option. I have a six and a half hour drive home after Bills games, and I like to listen to the 4 pm and 8 pm games while I'm driving. Trying to tune the radio to pick local feeds of ESPN radio or that other network is a pain. For about $10 a month, I bought Tune-In radio premium. You can cancel anytime. It gets you all the radio broadcasts, so you can listen to every game, and you can pick the broadcast team of either team (so, for example, I don't have to listen to those really obnoxious Patriots guys). It works great. I also often listened to it on the way to the games, because you can almost any radio station you want. I'd find a station playing a collection of jazz or classical or classic rock that I liked; with the right station, the collection of music is better than Pandora.

I think you're right about this. Guys CAN and DO move back and forth, but they are veterans. Any young guy in the league needs to learn to survive and thrive at one position; that's when flipping to a related position makes more sense. So what they've done with Ford isn't ideal. However, I still think many people here are underrating Ford. He's a big-time talent, and pretty much all offensive linemen need time to learn to play in the league. I think he will prove more difficult to move out of the starting lineup than people here expect. For different reasons, around here Ford is the whipping boy on the offensive line that Murphy has been on the defensive line. All of a sudden people are saying, "Wow, Murphy is better than I thought." I think people will be saying those things about Ford a year from now, or less.

I guess the time has come to question the true depth of my fandom.

Wow! I feel much better now. As bad as I've had the Bills sickness for decades, I don't dream about them. I don't think the Bills are losing to Miami.