Shaw66

I have a theory about your team chemistry concern. I don't think team chemistry will be hurt by the Shady's departure. Here's why: McDermott doesn't miss anything. As part of the continuous improvement concepts that are at the core of the process, he teaches his coaches and his players that there always will be competition and there always will be guys who lose their jobs because the best interests of the team dictate that their time is up. Everyone understands that it's just part of the process, and the process is about getting better all the time. I'm sure that McDermott spoke to the team about Shady and reminded them to view the Shady move in the context of the continuing improvement of the team. He said it didn't mean any of them, coaches or players didn't like him or didn't appreciate him - it ju meant that the collective unanimous decision of the decision makers was that the move would tend to improve the team over the long term. The players accept that message because it is completely consistent with the general message they're getting all the time - compete, do your job, support your teammates, get better. I think that the kind of environment he's created is one where the players have complete confidence in the process, because the players were chosen precisely because they believe in the process. If they have confidence in the process, they trust the coaches and don't second guess them. So I don't think they will have a team chemistry problem.

Really. I don't see how you can build a quality roster with that much invested in a running back.

I really disagree with this view about Allen. I think it completely ignores how smart he is and what a team-oriented guy he is. It's completely obvious that he is dedicated to learning his craft as the Bills are teaching it to him. He is disciplined, hard working and attentive. He's a leader, and a leader knows that his play has to set the example. I also think the "hero-ball" narrative is the same as the "accuracy" narrative. I think those things are a couple of things repeated so often by the press and fans that they've taken on a life of their own. Where was "hero-ball" on display last season? He made a couple of ill-advised throws? EVERY QB makes some all-advised throws, even Brady. Young QBs make more than veteran QBs. And the notion that it was somehow different for Montana, that he "earned" the right to make mistakes, is simply backward. The way anybody learns how to do anything, and particularly the way QBs learn how to play QB, is to try things and make mistakes. That's the only way you learn what you can do what you can't do. If Allen never made that throw he made a couple of weeks ago, he'd never learn when he CAN make that throw and when he can't. In his fourth season in the NFL, Joe Montana attempted 350 passes and threw 11 interceptions. In his first season in the NFL, Josh Allen threw 320 passes and had 12 interceptions. Young QBs make mistakes; Montana made his share of mistakes, too. I think this is exactly correct. They saw Singletary as the future, they knew that Gore already was going to take touches from Shady and that Singletary would take more. They knew Shady was okay sharing with Gore, but doubted he'd be okay with a full-blown rb by committee approach. So they decided to bite the bullet, make the cut now, and, by the way, save $6 million.

As I've been saying for a year, I think 2020 is the year the Bills should be a solid playoff team. I think the two key players, Allen and Edmunds, have a lot to learn, and this is the year they learn it. I expect them to be polished vets (still learning, but polished vets) next year. I think there's still improvement to be made along the o line and d line, and the Bills still need a serious #1 receiver. Maybe Brown emerges, and maybe Foster, but probably not this year. So I think 8 or 9 wins would not be an indictment of the process. I think it would be evidence of a team headed in the right direction. Having said that, I seriously believe this is a team that COULD win 10 or 11. I don't think four AFCE wins is the upper end of realism; I think it's 5. I think the Bills could challenge for the division title - and actually be one of the most credible teams to do it in the AFCE in a decade. Two wins over the Dolphins should happen, and if things go well two wins over the Jets, too. And if things go well I think the Bills can be good enough to take one from the Pats. Three AFCE wins would be disappointing, but the Jets could turn out to be really good.

True. You've been working with 90 guys for six weeks to get down to 53, and it takes a lot to convince yourself that some guy you haven't seen at all deserves to take the spot of one of those 53. It's a tough call. Not surprising that it was Carolina that took Ray Ray. They had a week of joint practices and a game to evaluate the guy, which is at least something to go on.

Connecticut is a great place to live, but there are conditions. 1. It's expensive. Taxes, gasoline, housing, food, everything. 2. It's not a great job market. Except in some pockets, the economy here is pretty stagnant. 3. It's quiet - if you're looking for an exciting nightlife, Connecticut isn't it. 4. It's east coast, all the way. They drink soda here, not pop. More importantly, there's the east-coast elitest air of superiority - many people here can't understand why anyone would want to live in Buffalo or anyplace in the midwest. 5. Did I say it's expensive? I've been here 40 years and I love it, despite the shortcomings. There's a lot to do, people are nice, New York City and Boston are short drives away - I can drive to either city in less time than it takes a Buffalonian to drive to Syracuse or Cleveland. Not knocking Syracuse or Cleveland, but .... Wheels, are you still in CT? Wasn't the Danbury place Billy Beane's?

Gunner, I gotta say I love the idea of Williams and so I defend him every way I can. I think what you've said makes a lot of sense - that the league just doesn't value his skills as much as it used to, in much the same way that the league doesn't value top-end running back skills as it used to. I get that. Because I want to believe in Williams, I have an alternative theory about why he's on the Bills' practice squad, and that is because he WANTS to be there. 1. My view (which may be way off base) is that a receiver's speed is important only if he has top-end speed. That is, if you're going to be a true #1, you need deep speed. If you're going to be a #2 or #3, deep speed is nice but not essential. If you don't have deep speed, the fact that you're a little faster or a little slower than some other guy who doesn't have deep speed just doesn't matter that much. Why? Because unless you're an Edelman, you're not going to be able to get separation against NFL corners. To get separation, you need either to outrun the defender, or you need good moves plus speed to maintain the advantage you create with the moves (that's why I think Brown can be a #1 - speed plus moves). If you don't have the speed, you aren't getting separation (again, unless you're an Edelman). Most NFL receivers get separation based on scheme - they get separation by being the guy in a particular play who has an advantage over the defense, because of formations, routes and the defense the opponent is in. Better speed helps, but knowledge and route discipline is more important. 2. I've said before, I think Williams is like a recovering alcoholic. Williams made a really bad turn in his life several years ago and then stumbled along failing at his job, until something happened, like getting introduced to AA, that got him back on track. It seems he did it himself - I haven't seen any stories that say he got religion, or he had one great mentor. The things I read about him suggest he shows some of the same behaviors that some recovering alcoholics show - he has a path, a set of rules that he is determined to stick by, every hour of every day, because he knows those rules work and he knows that if he doesn't follow those rules he's likely to revert to his former life. I got that impression largely from reading what his coach in Canada said about him. 3. So Williams gets another shot at the NFL and he knows it's absolutely his last shot. He's not Josh Gordon; if he doesn't make it this time, he's done. And he desperately wants to make it. Some teams are interested in him. He chooses the Bills. Why? I think for two reasons. One is that at the time he signed with the Bills, the Bills had Zay Jones as their feature receiver. He didn't need to be a rocket scientist to see that there was a good opportunity to make the squad. But I think the second reason was more important. McDermott was the second reason. McDermott preaches a personal self-control and self-improvement philosophy that is, I think, exactly the philosophy that Williams learned to get his life going in the right direction again. In McDermott he found the mentor who would help him continue on the journey. He recognizes, I think like many recovering alcoholics, that he continues to need help along away and that McDermott was the perfect guy to do that. 4. On top of that, Williams sees that Buffalo's passing offense is all about scheme. It's all about creating mismatches where ANY receiver who recognizes the defense and runs his route probably will create the window the quarterback needs to throw into. It's much more about scheme than about speed. The offense isn't built with particular physical attributes in mind, it isn't designed for one player or one style of player. Yes, the player has to have some attributes, like speed, but if he has the minimum speed necessary, other attributes are going to determine whether he plays. 5. The Bills are way into setting objectives and constant evaluation. Williams has had a whole summer of meetings with coaches critiquing his play, showing him the things they want him to do. He had some success, I'm sure, and he's learned a lot of things. What he's seen is a nurturing, supportive environment in his goals are always clear, right in front of him. The path, for each week, each day, each hour is clear and well-defined. 6. So now it's last Friday or Saturday and someone sits down with Williams. Maybe it's Daboll. Maybe it's McD. Maybe it's the receivers coach. I'm guessing McDermott. They tell him here's the progress he's made, here's the stuff he needs to continue to work on. They tell him they're cutting him. They tell him they really want him on the practice squad, because they think that he will continue to get better and can grow into a contributor on the team. But they tell him if he wants to move on to another team, they will help in any way they can and they will wish him well. 7. Now Williams has a choice. (Well, maybe he doesn't have a choice. Maybe NO team is willing to take a chance on him and add him to their 53. If that's true, I'd suggest it's only partially about speed. I think other teams can live with his speed limitations, but the lack of speed plus the lack of experience plus the ugliness in his past makes him too big a risk to take.) But assuming he has a choice, I think Williams thinks this: "It's my last chance. I know now that McDermott is exactly the kind of coach and mentor I need in my life. I know I was close to making it. I know what it is that I have to learn and improve on to make the team, because they've been telling me all summer and helping me improve. I believe I can do it and I believe these coaches want me to do it. I don't know whether this other coach who is calling will be a mentor, will be willing to teach me the things I still need to learn, and since this time around is my last chance, I don't want to roll the dice on a new team and a new coach. I need to continue the process that I began when I came to Buffalo. If I can't make the NFL in this environment, I'm just not going to make the NFL." Do I know any of this true? Absolutely not. But I think it is. And I think we will see Williams on the field in a Bills uniform in 2019.

As to your first point, I'll admit to being lazy and using a tired cliche to open my piece. However, there is nothing wrong with using battle as a metaphor for football. It's been done for decades. Beyond that, it's a really good metaphor, because there is nothing in real life that more closely approximates war than football. In fact, that's why a lot of people like watching it - it's a complex contest between two teams involving intense hand-to-hand combat, strategy and the acquisition of territory, which is exactly what war is. It's a stylized war that my city can excited about when we play some other guy's city. We can watch it but be spared the actual killing that goes on in war. The players prepare for games like they prepare for battle. That's what "putting your game face" on is about. It's about getting ready emotionally to defeat, within the rules, the guy across the line of scrimmage from you. We have rules, like "no knives," so the battle happens but without the killing. George Carlin aptly pointed out that football uses the war jargon regularly. The bomb, the blitz, contest in the trenches. What's the highest compliment a player can give to a teammate? Call him a "warrior." Marv's quote was about what's important in life, and he was correct. Football isn't important, and war is deadly serious. But that doesn't mean that the metaphor doesn't work. The metaphor captures the intensity of football very well. As for your second point, where is it written, in the Code of Conduct or elsewhere, that we can't discuss next year? If you think Brandon Beane is not thinking about 2020 and 2021 EVERY DAY, you are sadly mistaken. Building a football team is a multi-year process, and the process doesn't stop when this year's season begins. And there ARE indications that next year's talent will be better than this year's talent. One such indication is how young the team is today. If there are no new players added to the roster, the team will be better next season simply because many of the current players will be better. All the young guys have more to learn, and they will. Josh Allen, in particular, will be a better QB in 2020. In addition, once again the Bills have more than their share of draft picks, and they are in very good salary cap situation, so they will be in position to acquire new players, some of whom will be more talented than the players on the current roster. Is it possible that won't happen? Sure, it's possible. Is it likely? Not very likely at all. The Bills will have 53 players in 2020 who are, collectively, more talented than the 53 they have right now. The Bills don't "need" to win ten or more games. They don't "need" to do anything, because this is football, not war. If what you're suggesting is focusing on 2020 takes the focus away from 2019, well, sure, if I'm a coach or a player, my mind has to be 100% on today and this week, and any thought of 2020 is an unhelpful distraction. But I'm a fan, and if my focus shifts from time to time to 2020, that has absolutely no impact on how the players and coaches perform this week. Ten wins or more may be some marker that you think is important, and maybe you think that some consequences should befall McDermott or Beane if the team fails to reach that threshold, but that's your marker, not theirs. However, nothing McDermott, Beane or the Pegulas have said suggests in any way that the Pegulas have set the 2019 bar at 10 wins. I fully expect that the Pegulas will view 8 or 9 wins as a positive season, assuming they're seeing the right kind of growth and improvement.

Sad but true. Anna Liffeys in New Haven used to have a small contingent of Bills fans there. I'm in Hartford, and if I want a real Bills experience I go to the Harp in Boston. From Stamford, that makes less sense. McFadden's in NYC is where I'd go from Fairfield County. I know it's a trip, but it's so much more fun watching the game in room full of Bills fans.

Yes, the trajectory is right. Well put. There will be more talent on the 2020 Bills than 2019. And the 2020 Bills will have more experience at key positions. 2019 will be about growth. If the growth happens fast, it could be a great season. If it's slow, 2020 is the year.

Let the Games Begin It’s all fun and games until the shooting starts. The shooting starts now. Bills fans have had eight months of anticipation and excitement. Free agency went well. The draft looked good. The Bills looked good in training camp. They went 4-0 in preseason games. Add it all up and what do you have? 0-0 and a lot of questions. Do you want the dream scenario? Here it is: the offensive line is stout, Gore and Singletary combine for 2000 yards, the defense lives up to expectations. And Josh Allen is a top-10 passer. In other years it was a dream, but this season it’s more than that – it’s an actual possibility. Over the past month, the Bills have looked like a team without glaring weaknesses, a team that is, in a word, capable. They block, they tackle, they complete passes, they finish drives. Up until now, all the things we hoped for about Josh Allen have happened. He got first-team reps through OTAs, training camp and preseason. He focused on the shorter, high percentage passes. He connected regularly with Cole Beasley. He found John Brown (when Brown was on the field) on those long, mid-range crossing routes that take advantage of Brown’s speed and Allen’s ability to make that throw. Allen looks poised and comfortable. The Bills’ other 2018 wunderkind, Tremaine Edmunds, also appears to have taken a big step forward. He’s step for step with receivers, just like last year, but he’s also attacking the run game with quickness, energy and solid reads. He could be one of the big stories in 2019. It all looks promising. Still, the Bills are 0-0, just like every other team. And just like every other season, the competition will be fierce. The Jets want game one just as badly as the Bills do, and they have their own star quarterback. The Giants won’t lay down, the Bengals are unknown (but we’ll give Dalton one ovation) and then the Patriots come to town. Nothing will be easy, nothing will be given to the Bills. They’ve fought and clawed every day to make the team and to come together, and now that process continues, every day, every week. Get better or get beat. There are no second chances. The Bills must do everything possible to win game one, because once the final whistle blows, that game will forever be a win or a loss. And they have to do it again, and again. The season is brutally difficult that way, with disappointments and injuries along the way. Welcome to the season we’ve been waiting 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.

I think this is right. Not necessarily about the right reads; I'm sure there were times when he made the right reads and no one was open. And he was taught that if the D was man to man in certain plays, he should take advantage of the opportunity - sort of a pass-run option. But whatever the reason, he is not a gifted ball carrier, not like Tyrod or like some others around the league. I think his rushing yards will be way down this season.

Right. This is a HUGE game for both teams. They both hope to challenge the Patriots this year. They both want the playoffs. It's important because it's the first game. It's important because it's an important division rival. It's important to see your young QB can deliver. Winner has a big leg up over the loser in the division race and the playoff race. Big game.

McDermott is all about best practices. He's a student of everything that works, and he incorporates everything that works into how he runs the team. Beane, too. A lot of what McD does looks like what BB does. And if the question is does a little thing like this matter, the answer, as far as McD and BB are concerned, is EVERYTHING MATTERS.

Thanks to everyone posting here. It's interesting information. I gotta say, even after reading a variety of posts here, I'm losing interest in paying attention to the PS, etc. I'm losing interest because I have great confidence at this point in Beane. He and McDermott have a reason for everything they do, it's a carefully considered reason, and it seems to be proven right over time most of the time. They know what they want, and they have the courage to make the moves they need to make. Jaquon Johnson, Singletary/McCoy, McKenzie, Ryan Bates, Tyron Johnson. McBeane see things that most of us don't, and they find performance where we tend think guys are busts. All the while, the talent keeps getting better and better. Look at Duke Williams. I really want him to make it. I love the idea of how he plays. Well, he signs with the Bills, thinking he's got a shot, and all of a sudden Brown and Beasley show up. So he signs with the practice squad, thinking his opportunity on the 53 is around the corner, and Tyron Johnson shows up. It's compete, compete, compete or you're gone. Go Bills!

It's build through the draft, fill holes in free agency. And when you have young guys who can play, get rid of the old guys (McCoy). Relentless and merciless competition.

It's hard to get to 10-6 and beyond. The competition is fierce. I've been saying for a couple of seasons now that 2020 is the target year, the first year we should expect the Bills to be 10-6 or beyond. 2019 is possible. As for rebuilding the roster, it's pretty clear that this season will be the first where the roster is fully theirs. But that doesn't mean the roster is as good as they want it to be. Even before the season starts, it seems clear to me that the Bills need an upgrade at receiver, an upgrade on the d line and probably an upgrade at linebacker. McBeane may have a roster of their guys, in the sense that they all fit the McBeane mold, but although they may have the KIND of talent they want, they don't necessarily have the LEVEL of talent they want. On top of that, they're going with a second year QB. 2020 is Allen should play like a true franchise QB. 2019 there still will be some inexperience showing.

In Buffalo, we love our running backs. It’s a tradition more or less unrivaled in the NFL. LeSean McCoy was the latest of the great, and I will miss him. We say it all the time, but I truly mean it today: Shady, I wish you nothing but the best, in football and in life. I wish you another 5,000 yards, dozens more highlight-reel runs, a championship. You deserve it all. We know you didn’t want to leave Philadelphia and if you had to go, Buffalo certainly wasn’t the place you would have chosen. But we loved you from the beginning, and soon you loved us back. We loved your talent, to be sure, but we also loved your heart, your willingness to get up and get going no matter how many times the hole didn’t open. In a way, your departure isn’t a surprise. Sean McDermott says everyone has to compete for his job, and there are no exceptions. It was interesting when the Bills brought in Frank Gore and then drafted Singletary and acquired Yeldon, but, we thought, that was for the locker room leadership and for the future. You were still the man. But McDermott is true to his word, always, and in the end, you weren’t part of what he thinks is the best plan moving forward. We will remember you always, along with Cookie and OJ and Joe and Thurman and Fred, for being one of those special guys who carried the ball and often the team. Good luck to you always.

Too bad. I wanted it to work out for the Bills advantage. But McBeane know what they want and how they want to build. I expect Duke will be appreciative of the time the Bills spent and the opportunity they gave him. I'm guessing that we will see Duke on someone's 53.

Christie. And Gogolak.

Oh, well.

Wow. I couldn't see the game so I watched Giants Pats. Listening to you describe it is exciting. Thanks.

Creative theory. Probably not right, but who knows?

Well, that's a piece of evidence right there. Either they've agreed to a trade that will happen tomorrow or he's the 4th receiver. So is it a Duke/Foster battle?

I think this true. It's because of Brown's speed. He gets mote of a cushion, which allows him to separate more consistently. Hard to be a one without speed.