Shaw66

Good point about Jones. The two Brown plays, the one he missed and the nice catch on the sideline, were right in front of me, looking down from the upper deck. The one he missed was placed perfectly. I mean, EXACTLY where the receiver wants the ball to be. I saw the throw and was amazed how flat it was - there was no loft on it at all. I don't recall ever seeing a QB throw a pass that far that flat. I think some of it was adrenalin - he had just escaped, he saw Brown and he wanted to get it out of his hands. Brown got his hands up, but there was something about it that looked like he needed a split second more to get ready for it. It just looked like the ball arrived before he expected it. He got his hands up, but his fingers weren't quite ready, and then the ball was gone. It wasn't one of those plays where he looked away, or was afraid he'd get hit, or anything. It just looked like it surprised him. Then, a few minutes later, there was the play on the sideline. You know Brown was thinking "I'm NOT going to miss this one." The second one didn't have the same velocity, but it was a tougher catch. Brown's a pro.

Nice stuff, Virgil. I was at the game. That punt definitely was a shank. The moment it came off his foot/leg it was a disaster. My view of Bojo is that he has a big leg and no technique. He doesn't have any of the finer skills that Moorman had and that many current punters have. For example, I didn't see a replay, but I wouldn't be surprised if he shanked that punt because the ball was windblown as he dropped it. That is, he was taking his usual big swing at the ball with his usual drop, and with that big swing he couldn't adjust as the ball moved. That's completely a guess. But if that's what happened, it shouldn't. He needs a shorter drop and a shorter leg swing. And he needs to keep the kick low - get it up into the wind and it's going to come back to you. And the punt coverage has to adjust to the fact that there will be less hang time but probably more roll. Bojo seems like he just wails away each time and hopes for the best. Allen was really good. He just didn't throw a lot. He managed pretty well in the wind.

Yup, Brown will tell you he has to make that catch, and he does, but I learned a long time ago, listening to receivers in their first year playing with Elway, that it was real adjustment. The ball arrives faster than any ball you've ever seen, so you aren't quite ready when it arrives, and it goes through your hands faster, so you have less time to react to it. Receivers said that it often took most of a season to adjust to it. On that play, it was remarkable how fast the ball got to Brown. Allen didn't really get set, he was hurried and he wanted to unload it. The pass flew practically on a straight line, and it looked to me like Brown was ready for it. You can say Brown's a #1 NFL receiver, but there are practically no NFL #1 receivers who have fastballs coming in like that. Allen has whistled some past Beasley too. Beasley talked about it earlier this year, trying to get Allen to take a little off balls that didn't need to be shot out of a cannon. We saw it on the TD pass to Beasley on Sunday. I could almost hear Allen saying to himself "no need for mustard, just float it in there."

The Bills had another grind-it-out win against an underperforming team Sunday, stopping the Redskins at New Era Field, 24-9. There was what’s become the typical collection of encouraging plays and puzzling shortcomings, but in the end the Bills had enough to win comfortably. In these wins, the Bills are more in control of the game than the score indicates, which is little comfort to fans. A one-score game in the third quarter is still a one-score game, even if, in retrospect, it seems clear that the Bills were in charge. No one is comfortable waiting for Tre’Davious White to make his play of the game and seal the victory. Put another way, week after week it becomes clearer that the Bills are not a dominant team. They’re a team that goes about its business seriously, works hard, comes ready to play and beats teams that can’t or don’t bring the same level of commitment to the field. They understand well that it’s a long game and in the course of the game some things are going to go badly. They work hard to keep those bad things from happening, but their real strength is in how they respond to adversity. And so it was on Sunday, when Adrian Peterson was being Adrian Peterson, putting up a Hall of Fame afternoon, at least for a half. The Bills were in charge on the scoreboard, 17-6, but the fans were restless. The Bills were ugly in short yardage in the red zone, settling for a long field goal after being first and goal from the two and barely sneaking into the end zone on fourth down after failing three times from the one. In fact, the Bills were in charge. At the half, Washington hadn’t found the end zone and wouldn’t for the rest of the day. It was classic bend-don’t-break defense. Statistically, many of Washington’s numbers were similar to the Bills, but the Bills wouldn’t let Washington finish. The Bills got the critical third-down conversions and Washington didn’t (6 of 12 for the Bills, 2 for 11 for the Redskins). Buffalo finished in the red zone and Washington didn’t (3 for 4 vs. 0 for 2). Wins or not, these games show off the those areas where the Bills just aren’t good enough yet to be a premier team. The offensive line, for one. In the off-season, the Bills signed a collection of marginal NFL linemen, hoping to put together a line that would outperform the 2018 version. That’s what the Bills got – some journeymen who were better than a pretty bad 2018 starting line, but who are still journeymen. Cody Ford hasn’t stepped up, Dion Dawkins isn’t dominant, and so the Bills struggle on the line. Sunday they failed miserably in short yardage. When asked about it after the game, Sean McDermott essentially said “well, I’ll have to look at the film, but I don’t have to look at the film to know that no one was moving his man off the ball.” Wide receiver, for another. After last week’s game, I said the Bills need better playmakers on offense, including more speed. This week, Duke Williams went to the sidelines and the Bills inserted their speed into the lineup, with McKenzie, Foster and Roberts getting much more playing time. It didn’t help much. Brown, Singletary, Knox and Beasley still were the pass catchers; the speed boys didn’t contribute much. And the pass rush, for another. The Bills recorded four sacks against the Redskins and got occasional good pressure, but the pass rush wasn’t enough to make the rookie uncomfortable in his first start . He was able to stand in the pocket and complete plenty of passes. One of the sacks was White’s. It was a crucial play emotionally for the Bills. They continued to nurse their one-score lead, unable to manage a lot of offense for themselves. Washington had the ball deep in their own end, and Bills could use a stop for field position and a chance to put up a field goal to create some breathing room on the scoreboard. On third and ten, White came off the corner, stayed under control as Haskins tried to escape, and made the tackle, forcing the punt. Energized, the Bills offense drove for the touchdown that essentially ended the game. White’s sack was a good example of why the Bills’ defense is so good. Their defensive style isn’t what I’d call aggressive, but they aren’t afraid to change things up. The safeties are in the offensive backfield often, and the Bills will rush a corner off the slot occasionally, but I don’t recall a true corner blitz all season. The Redskins had no reason to have prepared for that rush, and the surprise element is what made it so effective, along with White’s flawless execution of the play. Devin Singletary sparkled once again. Having been elevated to the starting role, he gave the Bills exactly what they’d hoped for: a big play threat who repeatedly sparked drives with his elusiveness and quickness. The screen pass was perfectly executed and caught Washington off guard. Singletary has what Gore lacks – the ability to create something when it appears there’s nothing there. It was surprising that the Bills had the lead with the half that Adrian Peterson had. He was unstoppable, plowing into the line and staying upright until something opened up for him. It wasn’t classic Peterson from earlier in his career, but his strength was always underrated. It was on display Sunday, play after play. Once Levi Wallace had Peterson in his sights for a big loss. They were both upright, face-to-face, with Wallace wrapping his arms around Peterson. Peterson broke free for a short gain. A fan behind me yelled “HE’S GOTTA MAKE THAT TACKLE!!!” Well, yes but that’s not just any running back. That’s Adrian Peterson, and he’s been doing exactly that for a long time. There’s no shame in being beaten by Adrian Peterson. Tremaine Edmunds was nowhere to be seen on many of Peterson’s first-half runs. He was either trapped in the wrong gap or unable to get off one-on-one blocks, left to try to chase down Peterson from behind. McDermott said after the game that the Bills needed to adjust their run fits to respond to Washington’s running game, and it worked. Edmunds seemed to become more of a factor in the second half, and Peterson was shut down. Edmund’s problems in the run game notwithstanding, it’s a thing of beauty to watch him close on running backs and receivers. His combination of size and speed is awesome, and although his isn’t a big hitter, he’s become a solid tackler. Impressive dude. Jordan Phillips was promoted to the starting lineup Sunday, and he didn’t disappoint. Besides being cheerleader No. 1, Phillips was a disruptive force on multiple plays. In an injury-conscious league, big hits don’t happen too often any more. His ferocious sack of Haskins electrified the crowd. And there was Josh Allen. I’ve said Allen will be a star in the NFL, and I continue to believe it. The big name draft choices from 2018 are struggling, and Lamar Jackson is outplaying them all, but of the top four, Allen is the only one who seems to be steadily improving and showing signs that he will be elite. Allen keeps getting better in the pocket, hanging in until he has to move, then moving enough to give him the time to make a quality throw. His escape and throw through Brown’s hands was almost magical; the ball got on Brown so quickly that he couldn’t handle it. Brown made amends with a great catch on the sideline a few minutes later on another superb Allen throw. The touchdown to Beasley was beautifully executed, with Allen in complete control. The back shoulder throw to Brown up the left sideline was a gem, too. Allen didn’t throw a lot, but when given the opportunity, he looked like a winner. Ball security obviously is a concern with Allen, as are a half dozen other issues that his coaches see but aren’t obvious to me. Allen is working and learning, and we continue to see the improvement. It was a solid win against a struggling team. Now the schedule gets tougher, and we will see just how well the Bills can play. The Browns won’t be easy, and the Ravens, Cowboys, Steelers, and Patriots are waiting down the road. It’s been fun so far, and we’ll see what the next month brings. 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.

Great story. Love ot.

I have a lot of confidence in the DVOA. If it says 25, then the Bills might be 20, but not 15 or 10. It's a well done stat, generally. Early in the season it is largely driven by their subjective view of teams, so it's less useful then. I think at this time it still has some of that subjectivity to it, but it's based largely on this year's performance. Bills are improving, but they have plenty more to work on.

I was in the stadium, too. Miss the replays, but I think I see more in the stadium. Although I'm not really disciplined at studying the receiver routes, I didn't see a lot of free runners that Allen missed. I'm convinced the Bills were outcoached.

the point about SIngletary is really key. That's one of those plays where the Bills film study paid off. They knew they had that play and yet, as you say, we saw very little else like it. Meanwhile, the little crossing patterns that Allen got his yards out of early in the season were covered completely by the Eagles. That's what they took away, and the Bills never seemed to attack the holes they left.

Ayj - you show up right after Logic. I really enjoy the things you say, both of you. I hadn't really focused on it, but this notion of Allen being the Bills short yardage back is troubling. It's just a bad idea. I mean, I get that he has the size and the speed, I get the extra blocker thing, but I also get the injury thing. He shouldn't be put at risk like that. Plus, it's already become unimaginative. You know where his running skill is valuable? On roll-out pass plays, that's where. Don't stick him into the line on some power running play where he'll get popped from angles. Roll him out and let the back seven deal with the run THREAT and try to cover the receivers at the same time. Allen has good vision out there, which he showed again finding Beasley for the TD. I think he knew Beasley would be there, but he found him nevertheless. As for playing to protect the lead. That IS what they doing, and I generally don't mind that. I know that most people around here are of the go-for-it mentality, but I'm not. I believe what I heard some coach say - the reason you play the first half is to get to the second half. You can't win the game in the first half, but you can lose it. The Dolphins lost the game last night in the first half with that colossal defensive blunder. But if you're going to be conservative, give it to Gore. Conservative means don't give up the ball, so you don't let you QB carry it. McDermott is fundamentally conservative. I'm sure of that. I've hoped he would open up the offense as time goes by. He might still. But he might not be willing to take more risks with the offense until he has a QB who plays like a veteran and until he has offense that is more consistently effective. It isn't such a good bet to take chances with an offense that executes like the Bills offense has been. Thanks for posting.

I'm always saying I don't know anything about football compared to what the coaches know. And I believe that. What you say makes a whole of sense. For the reason just stated, I don't know if you're right, but it sounds right. I've always said this was and 8-8, 9-7 year, and next year is the year they should be good, and they now look like they're falling back into about that spot. We will see. I like what you say about Singletary, particularly, Foster and McKenzie. The Bills need some flash on offense, not to be flashy, but to create problems for the defense. Defenses know Gore will get his yards, but they also know the Bills don't run well enough for Gore to beat anyone with 170-yard games. The threats are Beasley, Singletary, McKenzie, Foster and Roberts, and all of them seem to be after thoughts in the offense. What bothers me most is how easily teams seem to be able to watch the film and implement strategies that are very effective against the Bills. Watching Fitzpatrick last week was horrifying. There's a smart, veteran, journeyman QB whose coaches said to him "this will work," and Fitz did it all day long. Then it happened again against the Eagles. Pro football teams self-scout to figure out where their weaknesses are and to prepare on the assumption other teams will figure it out too. Well, the Bills self-scouting sucks. If the Eagles know they can run like that against the Bills, then the Bills should know too and have an answer. The Eagles also knew Wentz could run scramble against the Bills, but one they did is keep his scrambling under wraps until the second half. Thanks for posting. Always interesting takes on the game.

I usually don't pay attention to the inactives. I agree about McKenzie. I'd expect him to fight for the ball Foster watched. Or Roberts, for that matter. Roberts obviously has ball tracking skills.

So we did. Sorry. Read yours too fast. That's what's so disturbing. For the second week in a row they were poorly prepared. McD and the coaches have to be better.

I'm the opposite. I believe they were doing exactly what they were coached to do. I think the coaches failed - miserably - to prepare them for that game. I agree with some who say that the Eagles were the better team. That may be true. But the Bills were steamrolled, and the Eagles aren't that much better.

Thanks. As for Foster, I was hesitant even to say anything about it, because it isn't easy to put on the breaks going flat out downfield. But I like Zay a few weeks ago, I didn't even see him try. It was weird to me. And I and others complain that Josh needs to get air under the ball to give his receiver a chance, but that one was in the air plenty long enough. What I do know is Foster and the coaches will be talking about what happened and whether he could have caught it.

This is also very good, and I don't really disagree. First, I agree completely about Allen, as is evident from all my posts about him. This is still a growth year for him, to be sure. Still, I think he could have played better. And I think you're probably right - the Eagles are a good team that has underperformed. As I said, I was prepared for the Bills to lose, but not to be outclassed. The Bills shouldn't allow teams to run on them like that, and the Bills offense should be able to put up more than 253 yards. That's 100 less than their average. I've never expected 11-5 or 12-4. I HAVE expected them to be competitive, as they were against the Patriots. They weren't against the Eagles.

his is really cool. thanks. I need to look what Graham wrote. The wind was at Allen's back, so I don't know how that would happen, but wind is tricky and you may be right. The play was right in front of me. When the ball was just past half-way there I could see it was short, and I think Foster should have been able to see it then, too. He never stopped running. As I said, the wind is tricky.

True. And the blowout losses tend to come in the middle of the season.

It's not doom and gloom. You only can write about what you see, and what you saw yesterday wasn't quality football. I'm not discouraged. My view all along has been that 2020 is the first year to expect the Bills to be really good. The Bills need young guys, particularly Allen and Edmunds, to continue to grow into the stars I expect they will be, and the Bills one more infusion of talent through the draft and free agency. Anything better than 9-7 this season would be great, but it won't surprise me if that's all the Bills can do. The Bills need the next three games.

Tell me about it. I drive six and a half hours after the game, and usually by the time I get home I have a good idea about what I want to say. I got home last night and didn't have a clue.

As I said in the Rockpile Review, good teams do two things: They win the games they should, and they win some of the games against quality opponents. Pre-McDermott, the Bills didn't consistently win the games they SHOULD win. Now at least they're doing that. Qualiity wins, as you point out, are the next step.

I don't agree with all of this, but the general point is correct. There's no need to panic. Allen is in the middle of his second season learning to play QB in the NFL. Personally, I think at this point he should be better than he's been playing, but learning and growth doesn't occur in a straight line. Yesterday was another game where he made some mistakes and learned some things. I'm confident he'll get there.

“Uninspired” Apologies to all who read this. I’m uninspired today, and I’m afraid this Rockpile Review is uninspired, too. The Buffalo Bills inspire me. They energize and excite me. Almost everything about the Bills’ 31-13 loss to the Eagles on Sunday was uninspiring. So today I’m uninspired, too. If what follows is as disappointing as the Bills were on Sunday, I apologize. Come to think of it, the Bills should apologize, too. That performance was pretty bad. I don’t mind losing. I went into the game thinking there was a good chance the Bills would lose. I mind not showing up, and that’s all I could think about the Bills’ performance on Sunday. Were there bright spots? Oh, yes, I’m sure there were bright spots, and I’ll probably think of a few to talk about, but the fact that I, a confirmed homer, have to work to think of positives in that game is some evidence of how poorly the Bills performed. Note to Bills: In order to win football games at home, it is not enough to stand on the sideline, waving your arms to get the fans to make more noise. You actually have to play football. I’m working on a theory: Sean McDermott’s teams go flat in the middle of the season. McDermott is 20-19 in his career as a head coach. In games six through ten in his career, he is 4-8. I know, there are too many variables to draw any serious conclusions, and it’s probably too small a sample size, but nearly half of his losses have come in the middle third of the season. Think of it this way: Two-thirds of the season, McDermott has a winning percentage that matches the career winning percentages of guys like Pete Carroll, Mike Holmgren, and Bruce Arians. In the middle third of the season, his winning percentage puts him in a group with Jay Gruden, Eric Mangini, and Mike Mularkey. Recall for a minute these lowlights: In 2017, in the middle third of the season and after not competing in a loss to the Jets, the playoff-bound Bills lose at home to the Saints, 47-10 and follow it up with a loss on the road to the Chargers, 54-24. In 2018 they lose four out of five in the middle of the season, including blow-out losses to the Bears and the Colts, not exactly powerhouse teams. This season they don’t show up against the Eagles after a lackluster win over the winless Dolphins. It seems like McDermott figures out how to win games early, his opponents discover how to stop the Bills in the middle of the season, and McDermott reinvents the team to finish the season strong. Two thirds of that formula is pretty good. One third isn’t. Many people put these losses on the players, but I don’t. I think it’s a coach/QB driven league, and although Allen didn’t play well enough, Allen wasn’t the difference in the game. You can’t blame the Eagles’ 218 rushing yards on Allen. Here are a few examples of why coaching is so important: 1. When a team is well-prepared for a game, they get a lot of easy plays. Fitzpatrick got a lot of easy throws against the Bills last week, and the Eagles got a lot of easy runs this week. I haven’t studied the film, but I noticed on several of the Eagles’ successful runs up the middle of the Bills defense, Edmunds was nowhere to be seen. Often he was stuck in the wrong gap, just watching the ball carrier go by. That happened to Edmunds often last season, but it wasn’t happening very much this season. Now, maybe Edmunds all of sudden reverted to his rookie bad habits, but it’s much more likely he was handling his assignment as coached and that the Eagles figured out how to take advantage of how the Bills defense attacked gaps. It happened too often to be an accident. On Sanders’ 74-yard touchdown, on the other hand, Edmunds just didn’t work hard enough to beat the block. 2. Here’s something the Bills did well. Sometime in the third quarter, the Eagles put Agholor in motion from the left. He was sprinting hard. The instant he went in motion, three Bills defenders shifted quickly and by the time Agholor got the handoff, Milano was sprinting past the line of scrimmage and made the tackle for a loss. The Bills knew exactly what was coming. It wasn’t football instincts; they were prepared. 3. Same thing on Singletary’s touchdown. The Bills knew something. 4. For the second week in a row, the Bills passing attack was not generating many easy throws like the Singletary TD. Allen got some, to be sure, but more often than not he was in the pocket wondering where he could go with the ball. Often, he threw to guys who were tightly covered. That tells me that once again this week, Daboll failed to identify successful ways to attack the Eagles defensive schemes. Sunday, the wind was fierce but the rain held off for most of the game. The ball probably was wet often, but the wind seemed to be the only factor that seriously affected play. There were a lot of Eagles fans in the crowd, and they made a lot of noise, especially as their team got the upper hand, just like Bills fans have performed on the road a few times in the past couple of seasons. It was odd to see green McCoy jerseys in the stadium. A few one-shot comments: 1. I’d be really excited about Josh Allen if he were a rookie and played that game. He isn’t a rookie, and he needs to be better. 2. The Eagles’ offensive line dominated in the run game. The Bills’ offensive line didn’t. In the passing game, it was more or less a standoff – some nice pockets, some pressures and some sacks, both ways. 3. What in the world was Foster doing on the deep throw in the second quarter? Sure, it was underthrown, but Allen’s been overthrowing deep balls all season, and with that wind at his back, I’m sure he took something off it. Foster seemed to make no effort to make a play on the ball. 4. I seriously under-appreciated Milano for two seasons. No more. Dude is a stud. 5. The Bills still are short on offensive playmakers. Beasley and Brown get open when the scheme creates openings, and good as he is, Gore just gets everything that’s there, but not much more. Singletary needs more touches, because he’s the only guy who looks like a true playmaker. 6. And Kroft. Kroft looks like he could be special at TE, one who can exploit defenses. 7. The greatness of the Bills’ defense was a myth. It’s good, but great defenses don’t get outplayed like that. They repeatedly failed to make the stops they needed. Ultimately, though, it was the offense that lost the game. Despite the offensive struggles, the game was more or less even at the half. The Bills trailed at the half because of Allen’s fumble and the missed field goal, but the stats and time of possession all were more or less even. In the second half, after one touchdown drive the Bills offense had nothing and the Bills defense had no answer for the Eagles. Good teams win the games they should win, and they win some of their tough games. The Bills have five wins because they’ve won the games they should win, and they have two losses because they haven’t been able to win tough games. The Bills now have three in a row that they should win, but it’s the middle third of the season, so we’ll see. 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.

I gotta admit, I sort of feel the same you do. But the truth is that if he's going to be the great QB I want him to be, he has to connect on an appropriate percentage of those balls. I actually think we've seen more rookie jitters in Allen this year than last year. He plays like he's thinking too much, and he didn't play that way last year.

About the onside kick: I was hoping someone would explain the Lee Smith thing to me, and you have what I think is a part of the explanation. I think that you are correct that Hyde is the "primary" receiver on the play, but that didn't used to be the case. Teams used to put the equivalent of Hyde on one side and Beasley or the like on the other side, because the onside kick could go either way. Remember how they used to line up with two potential kickers, so the play could go either way? I think that was something in the onside kick rule changes last year (?) that either requires that the kick only go to the right or that makes it practically impossible to kick it the other way. Whatever it is, no one ever seems to kick it to the left any more. I was hoping someone would show who knows why this is.

Wow. Born intense, and able to shape and control that intensity. Amazing.