Shaw66

I simply don't understand how they could not reverse it. Only thing I could think is that the league has decided that they aren't overturning the call on the field unless it is completely and obviously wrong. But that play even met that standard. There was no video evidence whatsoever that the defender had clear possession at any time, and there was clear video evidence that Kroft did and that the defender went after the ball after Kroft's catch. I suppose the analysis is this: Ruling on the field is interception. That means that some official saw the defender with clear possession of the ball. There was no video evidence that that was incorrect - their bodies were locked together and we couldn't see the ball, so it's theoretically possible that in mid-air the defender actually took it from Kroft. Since there was no video evidence of Kroft actually taking the ball to the ground, or the two of them taking the ball to the ground simultaneously, the ruling on the field stands. That's ridiculous, of course, because it was clear (1) that Kroft caught it, (2) the defender went after the ball as Kroft was putting it away, and (3) the defender couldn't possibly have taken the ball away because the ball and their arms were all instantly pinned together with no movement of anyone's arms or shoulders. When they hit the ground and we first could see the ball again, it was still possessed by both. It's simply amazing that the NFL has so much trouble getting this stuff correct.

That's true. But I thought the analysis the broadcast expert - some retired ref, was on the money. The corner engaged Davis within the first five yards and Davis just kept running his route. In that situation, it's the corner's job to disengage before five yards or it's an illegal contact penalty. It's a continuing penalty until he does disengage, and if the ball is in the air before he disengages, it turns into pass interference. That's how they call it. When you understand that, you can see that the call was clearly correct. If the corner had backed off at five yards, Davis would have been able to make his cut properly and it would have been a touchdown. What was so good about Davis's play was that he just kept running his route hard. The corner couldn't back pedal fast enough to disengage - what the corner had to was move out of the way, giving Davis either the inside or the outside. It sucks for defensive backs, but that's effectively what the rule require. If you imagine the corner giving Davis the inside, it's easy to see the touchdown. If you imagine him giving Davis the outside, then when Davis cut for the ball he would have run right into the defender and it would have been pass interference. The only way the defender possibly could have defended it was to guess the ball ws going inside and break ahead of Davis, so he became a receiver with inside position. But that would have been purely guessing, because the route could have been, maybe was, and option route. So if the defender had disengage early and guessed inside, Davis cuts out and catches an easy throw from Josh. Davis made it all possible by running the route hard.

I gotta add a postscript. I meant to include this in my column, but I forgot. My wife and I were watching the game. This season, I've been jotting notes on my computer as the game goes along, and my wife usually is looking at stuff on her tablet, half-paying attention to the game. Sometime a few minutes after the non-interception interception, my wife said "listen to this," and started reading something she'd found she thought was interesting. I asked her to stop, because it already was obvious that the game was getting pretty intense. I couldn't be distracted. I think that made her realize the game was getting interesting, so she began paying more attention, too. We sat there for the rest of the game, just taking it in, groaning as the Rams came back, hoping somehow someone would step up to save the day. My notes were saying things like "total meltdown." Then the game ended - did I mention the Bills won? - and we sat there in stunned silence. I was having trouble processing everything that had just happened. The my wife said "that was a like a horror movie." And I realized she was right. Every horrible thing that could happen to the Bills was happening (short of having their heads sliced off by a machete-wielding crazed Jack Nicholson with a maniacal smile), and in the end the good guy walks away, hugs his girlfriend, smiling and saying "well, let's not do that again." A horror movie - disaster, disaster, disaster, happy ending.

Thanks for this analysis. Just watching it, it was obviously an awesome, un-quarterback-like play, but breaking it down with stills shows just how amazing it was. Allen is unique, and everyone is starting to see it.

That's great!!! Fabulous job.

King has his pluses and minuses, as we all do. But he is a good writer, tells a good story, gets his facts right, and gets good material from others, like the stuff from Romo about Josh. What gripes me, and this is just personal, is that so many people are talking about this big jump Allen has made and how all the off-season work transformed him. I think that's a false narrative. Like Romo said, he didn't tell Allen much of anything at all. And like Palmer said, they just worked on a little things. What gripes is that people write like what's happening to Allen is some great surprise. It was perfectly obvious that Allen was on his way to near the top 10 of the passer list - not obvious that he'd be a premier QB, and he hasn't shown that yet - but obvious that he was not going to stay mired around #20 or worse. Why was it obvious: (1) physical talent, (2) work ethic, (3) brains, and (4) leadership. That all was on display his rookie season. Before the end of the rookie season it was clear that McDermott and Beane had identified in Allen all of the necessary ingredients to success before they drafted him. They said it the night they drafted him, and we all could see it his rookie season. Now, everyone's saying how great he is and talking about what a big jump he's made, when what that really means is that they didn't see in Allen what has been there to see for two years, so it feels like a surprise to them. What it really means is that their analysis of who's good is based on stats and wins and nothing much else. People who were watching and thinking, like Chris Simms, saw it earlier. The most interesting comment I've seen about Allen was in some column someone posted last week where the writer said that the league is waking up to the fact that Josh Allen can do things on a football field that no one else can. He's a talent on a whole different level. I hadn't thought about it that way, but I think yesterday's game showed it. That play he got called for the face mask? He's a monster. What other QB in the league stands up to an assault like that (completely legal assault) and fights back like that? He was getting chased and knocked around back there on a lot of plays, and he stayed upright longer than any QB has a right to expect. That quality makes him different - BIg Ben was like that, but Allen is better than Ben was in terms of just being too big and tough to handle. But what's really special about Allen, what makes him unique, is his arm strength, and I do think that this is where the tinkering with his mechanics has helped. Allen's arm strength is so great that he threw the ball any way he wanted and it pretty much always got to where he wanted it to go, but he didn't have the accuracy he wanted. What seems to have happened is that he's focused on getting his body positioned so that he can get good hip and shoulder rotation. He doesn't really need the rotation, he's so strong, and on several throws yesterday you could see that if he got to the right position, he didn't rotate a lot, but having that mechanical discipline gets his arm to the right place, and his accuracy has improved. What we're seeing now is that Allen can identify a crosser 18-20 yards down field and almost instantly release a dart with accuracy, because he doesn't need a full throwing motion to do it. Guys like Rodgers and Mahomes have a quick release and a decent arm, so they make some similar throws, but Allen now can release the ball just as quickly and throw it with clearly more pace. And those deep crossers to the sideline, like the throw to Davis yesterday (yes, it could have been a better throw, but it was darn good), by getting his hips and shoulders even partially set Allen now can just flip the ball down there, give it plenty of air and drop into tight windows. There simply isn't a QB in the league who can match him physically. As I said, Ben earlier in his career. Vick wasn't as strong but was a better pure runner, and he had an arm nearly as good as Allen's. Point is, athletically, Allen is a rare talent. What's happening, what's been happening now for three seasons, is that Allen's other characteristics - his brains, his work ethic and his leadership skills, are driving his performance. So we see glimpses for a half of what is going to become more and more regular - a QB who just slices and dices defenses. A QB who has every answer in his head and who has a body that can deliver. I've said all along that he's likely to really hit his stride around his fifth season - that's when he'll really be processing the game in his head, when he'll see much more than he's seeing now, when he'll be running into trouble less, seeing the best target more often. We're just seeing the beginning of Allen's greatness.

I agree. It's too early to know what the offense is going to bring at you, so your defense often is not well prepared for what hits them. By November, what teams are doing on offense has become clear, and defenses are prepared.

Thanks. Nice to hear.

Simple. Couldn't believe the call wasn't reversed.

I saw it the same way. Troubling. He rarely hits people with authority.

I think the offenses all around the league are ahead of the defenses. Jalen Ramsey looked like an idiot on one TD pass. The OCs know how to attack the defenses right now. Give it a few more weeks, it's going to get tougher to pass. For the Bills, too. These are important games to win, before the season turns into the usual November December dogfights.

This is a really interesting point. That's an amazing point. It's true. It doesn't matter what the situation, the Bills always seem to have an answer.

That's an interesting comment. I didn't notice they were doing that. I thought it looked like Allen had been told to stay in the pocket. I thought there were several plays where in previous weeks he would have escaped earlier and made a play on the run, either passing or carrying the ball. But maybe you're right, maybe he just couldn't see how to escape.

I think you're exactly right. It was an impressive effort. He created the penalty. Playing hard makes all the difference.

I don't know if it was the playcalling, but it did feel like the Houston game. They seemed to get away from what had been working. But the Rams defense also showed up. The offensive line was having real trouble protecting Allen. It was a dogfight.

He was in trouble. The receiver was covered. That's a play where the seasoned QB throws it out of bounds and knows he has another play. It was a critical time in the game. The Bills need to put together a drive and run clock to keep the Rams offense off the field for a few minutes. Shouldn't risk the turnover there.

“The Test” This was it. This was the test. This was the game, the first game in 2020 where the Buffalo had to show they could be a premier team. There’s only one question on the test: Can you win against premier competition when your opponent is bringing it? That’s what premier teams do; win big games simply by refusing to lose. When the bully is stealing your candy, do you put him on his back? Sunday afternoon, the Bills took the test. When the Rams asked the question, the Bills’ answer was “Go ahead. Punch me. Do it again. Kick me. In the end, we’ve got this.” You know what that game was? That was the Comeback Game. Same stadium, same first half blowout, same amazing comeback, similar lead changes at the end. Only difference was it was the Bills blowing the big lead, but that didn’t matter – miracle Bills win in the end. It’s hard to overstate the significance of the Bills’ 35-32 win in Orchard Park. So many things stand out. At one level, if you’re just a football fan with no rooting interest in the outcome, it was a spectacular football game. Big, big plays. The absolute poetry of the Bills offense clicking from the beginning of the game straight through their first offensive possession of the second half. The dramatic turn-around, including a horrible call that changed the course of the game. The sheer dominance of the Rams through most of the fourth quarter – they were as brilliant as the Bills had been. The gut wrenching, desperation touchdown drive. It was one great, great football game. Beyond all that, if you are a Bills fan, or even a Rams fan, it was a big game on your schedule. It was the first test. The Rams have passed the test their share of times in the last few years. They’ve had the answer. And they looked like they had the answer on Sunday afternoon, until the Bills said, “We got this.” Do you remember math class, when you took a test? There’d be a question, and the instructions would say “show your work.” Well, if a math teacher was correcting the Bills test, the first thing the teacher would see is that the Bills got the right answer. But when the teacher looks at the work, how the Bills got to the right answer, the teacher says, befuddled, “What in heavens name are you doing? This is one of the biggest messes I’ve ever seen, but yeah, you Bills got to the right answer.” The fact is, the Bills were failing the test, failing badly. The offensive magic was gone – the Bills couldn’t execute much of anything. The players looked gassed; the fourth quarter, which the Bills like to think is theirs, certainly was not. The defense couldn’t make a stop, anywhere. They were a step behind, play after play. The Rams offensive playbook was too much. And then there was Josh Allen. Josh Allen is the kid in math class who said the most brilliantly stupid things. The smart kids would snicker at the really dumb stuff he said. And, then, somehow, when the test came, he got the A. No. Not the kid in math class. Josh Allen is the underdog kid, the star in some only semi-entertaining Hollywood sports-feel-good movie who, in the championship game makes the most absurd, the most bone-headed plays in the game, only to win on the final play by throwing a pass to himself and breaking four tackes on his way to the end zone. He’s like Rocky in shoulder pads. Allen’s fourth quarter decision-making screamed :THIS GAME IS TOO BIG FOR ME.” He broke every rule in the book: dumb penalties, horrible sacks, ill-advised throws. It was rookie hero-ball play after rookie-hero ball play. The confidence had left his face; the pressure was grinding on him. Still, Allen was that underdog kid, the kid with the will to win that is so big, so irresistable, that in the end Allen was not going to lose. Allen is so much more than that kid. This wasn’t some Hollywood movie. This is an extraordinary football player. He’s just that good. You know when the game came apart for the Bills? When Aaron Donald, one of the few non-QBs in the league who can simply impose his will on the game, took it over. Donald did it on a few plays, but the most important play was Donald’s first fourth-quarter sack. He was lined up on the right defensive end of the line, the Bills faked a run to the right, Allen tucked the ball in his gut, and dropped for what was supposed to be a big play left. On the fake, the Bills essentially left Donald unblocked, assuming that he would trail the run fake down the line. Major mistake. You simply can’t leave a player of that calibre unblocked, ever. Either the Bills outsmarted themselves, or Allen failed to get out of that play. Donald was on Allen instantly, and Allen couldn’t get rid of it. Big sack. I think something else happened on that play. I think Josh Allen got up off the turf and thought to himself, “Okay, I have to be that good.” So, after what seemed to be a total team and personal meltdown, here comes Allen onto the field with four and a half minutes left saying. “I got this.” Here he was, good-Josh and bad-Josh, all over the field for four minutes, as suspenseful, as improbable, as maddeningly great and dumb as ever. At the heart of the matter, here was Josh Allen, going back to what works for the Bills, finding Beasley a couple of times, scrambling nicely to buy time to get the ball into Diggs. Then Allen found Kroft crossing the end zone and dropped a beautiful catchable ball to him, up and away from the defense, to win the game. A few miscellaneous thoughts about the game. 1. Ford at left guard. Seemed to hold his own against Donald, but sooner or later Donald’s going to get you. 2. McKenzie was featured a lot, like last season. In jet motion five times for every one the Bills actually give him the ball. 3. Allen’s arm strength is unprecedented. He just flips the ball, 35 yards downfield. Amazing. 4. Ram’s offensive attack is really special. They have an answer for everything. 5. Epenesa’s playing a role on a play here and there. He’s in the learning process. 6. This was the Singletary we saw last season. Pretty dangerous guy. 7. Taron Johnson was around the ball a lot. 8. Maybe Gabriel Davis actually IS Larry Fitzgerald. Tough, tough wideout. 9. Daboll’s first half play calling was fabulous. 10. Did anyone mention Allen’s three straight carries culminatiing in a touchdown. The spin move for the first down? Really? The answer the Bills had on Sunday is NOT the answer you’re supposed to have when a premier team tests you. You’re not supposed to let the bully beat you up before you win. But first, you have to win, somehow. And that’s what the Bills did. You know what felt good? The final play, the endless lateral play the Rams ran. It was well-schemed and executed beautifully. Why’d it feel good? Because Sean McDermott’s, rational, well-prepared football team, the process-driven team McDormott wants, the play-all-60-minutes team, reappeared. Every defender making a play, every defender running, every defender patiently executing until they ended the play. It was beautiful. At the end of the day, the process said “we got this.” That was a big test. 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.

This, although I think it's too early to tell about Jones. He does some excellent things on the field. I was just so pleased that the Giants decided to take a running back, leaving the QB field more open for the Bills. It's kind of amazing that Gettleman is screwing things up there while Beane, his student, seems to understand the job very well.

Good stuff. Thanks. This is excellent too. It's a good summary of the young QBs. I just think that as the league adjusts to the new offenses, not all of them will survive on top.

I'm not talking about this week or next week. I'm talking about what the next ten years will look like. Some of these young QBs are the Mannings and Bradys of the future, and some of them are the Flaccos. Carson Wentz was everyone's can't miss Wunderkind two years ago. Not so much today. I think Jackson will come back to the pack. I could be wrong, for sure. If I need a QB for next week's game, he's one of a half dozen I want. But if I need one for the next ten years, I don't think he's my guy. Mahomes? Yes. Watson? Yes. I wouldn't trade Allen even up for Jackson. Allen is the better long-term prospect.

I've never liked Cam. We'll see.

I know. I just think that when we get later in the season, when the defenses are better and the games are tougher, Newton won't execute. Newton's got better physical skills than Fitzpatrick. Fitz has better thinking skills than Cam. They're both top 10 today; I don't think either will be top ten in three months. Newton has had two seasons where his passer rating was better than Brady last season, and he's had one season when he's never thrown for more yards than Brady did last season. Newton now gets the benefit of the best coaching he's ever had, but the question remains whether he can take advantage of it.

I don't agree with this. I didn't watch much of Sunday night, and when I did watch, Newton looked really good. But I don't think that means Newton is a top quarterback, and I don't think anyone is ever going to say he's better than Brady. I don't think that in December anyone will be saying Newton is better than Brady a year ago. As I said, I think the game is relatively easy for QBs right now. The way receivers can run free in the defensive backfields is completely different than the old days. If you have a QB with good protection or good mobility, he can complete over 60% of his passes. Fitzpatrick looks like a star, but nobody is going to convince me that he's made this big jump in ability over the last two years. It's just that we're in a period when it's relatively easy to pass. Admittedly, we're also in a period when there are a bunch of young guys who can both run and throw - Watson, Allen, Murray, Jackson, even Mahomes. That's new. But the defenses will adjust - they always do, and the QBs who stay on top will have the same qualities that the QBs on top always have - brains, serious understanding of defenses, ability to read pre-snap and post-snap, all of that. Toughness, leadership. As the defenses adjust and those important qualities rise to the top, I think Newton will fall off the leader board. If Newton had those skills, he would have been dominant five years ago, and in my mind he never was. What we're seeing from Newton right now is what we always have seen with Belichick - give him a player with a special skill set and Belichick will find ways to use those skills. But at the end of the day, Belichick, any coach, needs a QB who can run an increasingly complex offense, a QB who can keep his cool and keep his ego in check. I don't think that's Newton.

I think you're right. The style of play is changing, and it looks like it is pretty easy for QBs right now. But it won't continue. The defenses will catch up, and who seem to be standing out right now will fall back to mediocre. I think that will happen to Jackson. But some guys will time it just right and get big money. Then the league will catch up to them, and they'll be overpaid. I think, for example, that's what happened with Flacco. He looked like the perfect QB, and then he wasn't.

You know, I was beginning to wonder if I was the only person who thought this about Moss. I thought he had some of the quickness and shiftiness that Singletary has, with a little more power. But Singletary is just barely quick enough to make himself effective, and so far Moss has looked to me to be just short of being quick enough. He doesn't out-quick anyone and he doesn't outpower anyone. Maybe it's the blocking, maybe it's the scheme, maybe he hasn't adjusted yet, maybe it's a lot of things, but I don't think missing him for a week is a huge loss. Losing Knox hurts more - he HAS shown that his skills can make a difference on the field, but still, I'm not too concerned about it. Receivers get open because of scheme - Knox isn't one to get open by using special separation skills. He gets open because the the offense is attacking the called defense in a way that leaves an opening that the tight end runs to. Knox is good at it, but Gilliam can do it well enough. Will there be a drop off? Sure, but not one that should matter all that much. Plus, I think we'll see Davis on the field in some of the tight formations where we were seeing Knox in the slot or split out just a couple of yards. Obviously, Davis isn't the blocking threat Knox is in the running game, but Knox's blocking isn't striking fear in the hearts of linebackers around the league, either.