THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Ramblings of a Madman

[Shaw66]

The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66

 

Ramblings of a Madman

 

A clever writer could produce a great faux Edgar Allan Poe short story about a man who gradually loses his mind watching the Buffalo Bills for too long.  What’s “too long”?  Well, lately, “too long” might be five minutes.  For the deep-seated, complex psychosis of a Poe protagonist, it takes 30 years or more. 

 

I won’t write the story, at least not today.  However, if what follows seems incoherent, inconsistent, out of touch with reality, okay, flat out insane, well, it’s because I suffer the kind of madness that can come from over-exposure to the Buffalo Bills.

 

I drank the Sean McDermott Kool-Aid.  Looking back a few months, I see now that I was so desperate for the Bills finally to get it right, I was ready to believe in anyone.  I was ready to believe Al Franken would take us to the Super Bowl.  So I drank the Kool Aid, and it hasn’t flushed through my system.  I still believe. 

 

Why do I still believe?   I don’t know.  I can’t explain it.  Having watched most of the first half of the latest Bills disaster, a 54-24 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers (I missed Nathan Peterman’s first two interceptions), any rational person would not, could not believe that Sean McDermott could lead anyone to the Super Bowl, even if he were an Uber driver using Google maps.  

 

The man actually said that he believed that Nathan Peterman gave the Bills the best chance to win.  How could a man who has spent every day of his adult life studying football and every day for the last six months watching Nathan Peterman not see that, at least right now, Nathan Peterman couldn’t possibly be the best option?  And yet, I still believe.  Call me crazy.  

 

I can tell you what makes me believe, but I can’t expect you to think I’m sane.  I believe there is a process, and the process will work.  McDermott is a student, and he’s been studying how to do this for a long time.  He’s smart, he’s determined, and he isn’t a quitter.  He will push the process.

 

Beane is cut from the same cloth.  They will add talent and mold the talent to fit their systems. 

 

I believe that McDedrmott can lead, that men will follow him.  Maybe not these men.  There has to be more than one man on that team today who is wondering what he got himself into as he watches the total implosion of the team and the bewilderingly bad decision to start Peterman.  It may be that McDermott needs new men, different men, men who haven’t lived through the past three weeks. 

 

Those different men are coming.  In July it didn’t look like this team was being rebuilt, but it’s inevitable now.  The list of players who have left is long, and retiring and departing free agents will make it longer.   Now, with the Peterman fiasco, McDermott has orchestrated the inevitable departure of Tyrod Taylor.

 

Brandon Beane had a feasible route going forward: build a team around Taylor, replacing him when the opportunity arose.  Maybe get an offensive coordinator willing to play to Taylor’s strengths (now that everything is lost, Dennison finally started calling Taylor’s number in the second half, letting him move behind the line of scrimmage and run the ball).  Use all of those draft picks to build an offensive line and a defensive line.  Take some time to find the next quarterback. 

 

That’s all out the window now.  Taylor will leave as soon as possible.   Why would he stay?  McDermott and Dennison have so little faith in Taylor’s talents that they actually believed Peterman was better.  Can you imagine McDermott going to Taylor, hat in hand, saying “I made a mistake.  You’re my man from now on.”?  Taylor’s response?  “See ya!”

 

So it’s a total rebuild.  Unless Peterman has a miraculous turnaround, the Bills need a quarterback right now.  There no longer is any reason to pay McCoy, and there’s no reason McCoy would want to stay.  There’s no reason for Incognito to want to stay.  Matthews has been a forgotten man since he got to Buffalo.  Kyle will retire.

 

I give McDermott credit.  He has guts.  He had the guts to make the Peterman move, and he had the guts to bench him after a disastrous half.  I can believe in a guy with courage like that.  McDermott has made a mess for himself to clean up.

 

Fun fact:  Nick O’Leary is Fuzzy Zoeller’s bocce partner.

 

The game was lost by halftime.  And the outcome wouldn’t have been different if Taylor had started, because for the third straight week the Bills defense failed to show up.  (It’s becoming clear that the Bills just don’t have a defense.)  But Taylor showed what he is: a professional quarterback.  He played under control, he threw well, he ran well, he threw no interceptions.  Once he stayed in the pocket too long and fumbled when hit; otherwise, he scrambled well and got some things done. 

 

When the Bills got down to the goal line, when Taylor couldn’t run it in and when McCoy couldn’t, when Clay took a penalty and then dropped a touchdown pass, Taylor still hung in and threw it to McCoy for the score.  Two professionals, doing their jobs. 

 

Call me crazy, but I like McDermott.  He and Beane got rid of Watkins, got rid of Darby, let Woods go and Gilmore go, got rid of Dareus.  And now they have, seemingly nothing.  By all rights, Terry Pegula should hold a press conference on Wednesday and announce that he’s decided that Al Franken gives the Bills the best chance to win and ship McDermott out.   

 

But I believe the Pegulas believe in McDermott, too.  They believe they have to give McDermott and Beane the time to implement their process.  They believe, I suppose, starting Peterman was just a mistake that the coaches and the team will move on from.

I’m not ready to chain someone to the wall in the basement and brick up the doorway, but, man, watching this stuff can drive a man crazy. 

 

 

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.

[Elite Poster]

I usually love your posts. This is Chip Kelly all over again. It's pretty simple. They value their own guys and believe scheme > talent. 

 

Unless they adapt, we are toast. Dead. 20 years is inevitable. 

[jaclynrea21]

20 minutes ago, Elite Poster said:

I usually love your posts. This is Chip Kelly all over again. It's pretty simple. They value their own guys and believe scheme > talent. 

 

Unless they adapt, we are toast. Dead. 20 years is inevitable. 

yeah then the next coach comes in and it's three years after that making it 23 years of crap football.I wish Trump bought the team

Edited November 20, 2017 by jaclynrea21

[Rubes]

When we let all those talented draft picks go, it seemed like genius when their cheap replacements were playing and producing almost as well. We had decent, cheap players who were learning how to win, and the future looked bright.

 

Now that the bottom has fallen out, and those cheap players are showing their true value, we're finding that we have a huge talent void on the team with nobody to build around, and a grim future because we have to find all new talent and hope we get it all right.
 

Man, it really sucks to be a Bills fan.

 

[Maine-iac]

I think they made a few moves too many, at least for this season.  Every move right up until trading Dareus seemed almost genius but they went to the well one too many times.  Dareus left and the defense left with him.  No defense means the games aren't even close.  Tyrod can get you a play or two in a close game.  McCoy can get you a play or two in a close game.  We aren't going to win games where the other team is scoring 30 plus points and certainly not if they are doing it on the ground.  They got full of themselves and walked the team over the cliff for this season.  Then next season ........... what then?  Literally rebuilding the roster?  Getting that franchise QB?  Dennison will groom him on offense?  When was the last great Dennison QB, maybe Schaub in Houston 2012?  I think it got good and then it got out of control and maybe it's all a little bigger than McDemott can handle right now.

[Peace Frog]

27 minutes ago, jaclynrea21 said:

yeah then the next coach comes in and it's three years after that making it 23 years of crap football.I wish Trump bought the team

Oh, hell no!  I'm not even going there. 

 

I think what happened to this team is the original plan was for them to tank but after some wins by the Bills and the crappy play of a lot of other teams in the AFC, it made sense to make a run for the playoffs.  Of all of the players that were traded/cut/not resigned the only one I had a problem with is Mike Gillislee.  I thought he and McCoy were a nice 1-2 punch and would've been happy if the Bills found a way of keeping him. 

 

Anyways, the right side of the O-line has been bad for a while so no surprises there.  The D-line has been the biggest disappointment, IMO, and the main reason for the avalanche of points and yards allowed.  To those saying it's been like this since Dareus was traded I say "Balderdash!".  It isn't like Marcell was in on every play or playing every game.  When I think of Dareus being difference maker on the line, it was pre-fat contract.  

 

Besides QB, I'd say this team needs help on both lines.  Cordy is always hurt, Kyle will probably retire, Shaq is a bust, etc.  This team needs our future QB and some beef on both lines.  Until that happens, expect more of the same.

Edited November 20, 2017 by Peace Frog

[BadLandsMeanie]

It's ok you can have faith. Why not?

 

The defense is as you say. Maybe teams figured it out and now it is child's play.

As for the offense, I think they didn't know they could not pass block. In practice they only have to block our defense. And in games Tyrod is able to stay on his feet pretty much no matter what happens. I don't think they knew how bad they are. I know I didn't.

 

I remember you made a post about how far back Tyrod drops. And he can't get the ball out fast because of how far back he drops. 

Well, now I know why Tyrod drops back so far.

 

The snark remarks teams have made is they make Tyrod Taylor be a quarterback.

 

Now we see what happens when they make our Offensive line, be an offensive line. There is no pocket.

 

This one was not fun. It seems we need defensive backs, linebackers, defensive linemen, offensive linemen, running backs, wide receivers and a quarterback. We are good at kicker though.

 

 

 

 

[Rocky Landing]

I had this vision of McD locking himself in the bathroom during halftime and staring at himself in the mirror, muttering to himself, and trying to figure out how he could end the game without looking like an idiot.

"If I bench Nate, and put in Tyrod, I'll look like a bumbling fool who doesn't trust their own decisions... If I leave him in, I'll look like a stubborn jackass..."

 

I think what it came down to is:

"What if I leave Nate in there, and HE KEEPS THROWING INTERCEPTIONS???"

[26CornerBlitz]

Still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny?   These guys (McDermott and Beane) have shown me primarily arrogance and miscalculations in their personnel decisions.  Who cares if they have a millon picks if they don't utilze that draft capital wisely after jettisoning talent that they should have been able to manage irrespective of difficult personalities. 

Edited November 20, 2017 by 26CornerBlitz

[transplantbillsfan]

To be fair, Taylor can't just say "see ya" until next offseason if the Bills actually decided to pick up his option on his contract. I don't think they will, and if they do, I think they'll try to trade him on draft day. Regardless, he's still under contract until the end of next year for Buffalo at a relative bargain if we want him.

[yungmack]

From one lunatic Bills Forever to another too far gone for rehabilitation, great post, oddly enjoyable to read.

[HamSandwhich]

I think you're right on the money with how I'm feeling too Shaw.  It's tough being a Bills fan but we weren't supposed to win this year, and we had a hot streak to start the season.  That makes the pill harder to swallow when we regress back to where we probably should have been this year (that was hard to type).  I think it's because these two actually seem to have a vision/plan.  I'm going to "trust the process" and see what we come out with in about 3-5 years.  Hopefully it's not wasted time and energy like it's been over the last 17 years.

[Avisan]

2 hours ago, jaclynrea21 said:

yeah then the next coach comes in and it's three years after that making it 23 years of crap football.I wish Trump bought the team

Look, I'm going to make a statement here that has nothing to do with politics, despite its unfortunate tangential relationship to the current state of US affairs:

 

Trump is a moron.

 

He's always been a moron.

 

He will never not be a moron.

 

He's been understood to be a moron for decades.  DECADES.  He drove an entire football league into the ground.  He's been lampooned and satirized as an icon of corrupt, selfish idiocy since at least as far back as the 80s.  He bizarrely tried to claim credit for the Pegulas buying the Bills when that whole thing was going down.  He's that kind of moron.

 

Whatever misgivings you might have about the Pegulas, the current situation is much, much better than it could have been.

[HamSandwhich]

1 hour ago, Avisan said:

Look, I'm going to make a statement here that has nothing to do with politics, despite its unfortunate tangential relationship to the current state of US affairs:

 

Trump is a moron.

 

He's always been a moron.

 

He will never not be a moron.

 

He's been understood to be a moron for decades.  DECADES.  He drove an entire football league into the ground.  He's been lampooned and satirized as an icon of corrupt, selfish idiocy since at least as far back as the 80s.  He bizarrely tried to claim credit for the Pegulas buying the Bills when that whole thing was going down.  He's that kind of moron.

 

Whatever misgivings you might have about the Pegulas, the current situation is much, much better than it could have been.

I took it to mean that he wished Trump bought the team so that he could move it to another city and he wouldn't have to care anymore.  Perhaps I was giving the poster too much credit?

[mead107]

11-5 Baby 

[Billzgobowlin]

8 hours ago, BadLandsMeanie said:

It's ok you can have faith. Why not?

 

The defense is as you say. Maybe teams figured it out and now it is child's play.

As for the offense, I think they didn't know they could not pass block. In practice they only have to block our defense. And in games Tyrod is able to stay on his feet pretty much no matter what happens. I don't think they knew how bad they are. I know I didn't.

 

I remember you made a post about how far back Tyrod drops. And he can't get the ball out fast because of how far back he drops. 

Well, now I know why Tyrod drops back so far.

 

The snark remarks teams have made is they make Tyrod Taylor be a quarterback.

 

Now we see what happens when they make our Offensive line, be an offensive line. There is no pocket.

 

This one was not fun. It seems we need defensive backs, linebackers, defensive linemen, offensive linemen, running backs, wide receivers and a quarterback. We are good at kicker though.

 

 

 

 

I really think the thing that ails this defense is LBs.  They are not instinctive and look behind on every player.  QBs, RBs, WRs, FBs, TEs.  Any player on offense they can't react.  Now is that a coach issue or player?

[SoCal Deek]

Shaw, this isn't Hoosiers and McD isn't Gene Hackman....and Jimmy Cheatwood isn't in the locker room. There is no process!

 

The dumpster is in full melt down.

[Helpmenow]

9 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66

 

Ramblings of a Madman

 

A clever writer could produce a great faux Edgar Allan Poe short story about a man who gradually loses his mind watching the Buffalo Bills for too long.  What’s “too long”?  Well, lately, “too long” might be five minutes.  For the deep-seated, complex psychosis of a Poe protagonist, it takes 30 years or more. 

 

I won’t write the story, at least not today.  However, if what follows seems incoherent, inconsistent, out of touch with reality, okay, flat out insane, well, it’s because I suffer the kind of madness that can come from over-exposure to the Buffalo Bills.

 

I drank the Sean McDermott Kool-Aid.  Looking back a few months, I see now that I was so desperate for the Bills finally to get it right, I was ready to believe in anyone.  I was ready to believe Al Franken would take us to the Super Bowl.  So I drank the Kool Aid, and it hasn’t flushed through my system.  I still believe. 

 

Why do I still believe?   I don’t know.  I can’t explain it.  Having watched most of the first half of the latest Bills disaster, a 54-24 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers (I missed Nathan Peterman’s first two interceptions), any rational person would not, could not believe that Sean McDermott could lead anyone to the Super Bowl, even if he were an Uber driver using Google maps.  

 

The man actually said that he believed that Nathan Peterman gave the Bills the best chance to win.  How could a man who has spent every day of his adult life studying football and every day for the last six months watching Nathan Peterman not see that, at least right now, Nathan Peterman couldn’t possibly be the best option?  And yet, I still believe.  Call me crazy.  

 

I can tell you what makes me believe, but I can’t expect you to think I’m sane.  I believe there is a process, and the process will work.  McDermott is a student, and he’s been studying how to do this for a long time.  He’s smart, he’s determined, and he isn’t a quitter.  He will push the process.

 

Beane is cut from the same cloth.  They will add talent and mold the talent to fit their systems. 

 

I believe that McDedrmott can lead, that men will follow him.  Maybe not these men.  There has to be more than one man on that team today who is wondering what he got himself into as he watches the total implosion of the team and the bewilderingly bad decision to start Peterman.  It may be that McDermott needs new men, different men, men who haven’t lived through the past three weeks. 

 

Those different men are coming.  In July it didn’t look like this team was being rebuilt, but it’s inevitable now.  The list of players who have left is long, and retiring and departing free agents will make it longer.   Now, with the Peterman fiasco, McDermott has orchestrated the inevitable departure of Tyrod Taylor.

 

Brandon Beane had a feasible route going forward: build a team around Taylor, replacing him when the opportunity arose.  Maybe get an offensive coordinator willing to play to Taylor’s strengths (now that everything is lost, Dennison finally started calling Taylor’s number in the second half, letting him move behind the line of scrimmage and run the ball).  Use all of those draft picks to build an offensive line and a defensive line.  Take some time to find the next quarterback. 

 

That’s all out the window now.  Taylor will leave as soon as possible.   Why would he stay?  McDermott and Dennison have so little faith in Taylor’s talents that they actually believed Peterman was better.  Can you imagine McDermott going to Taylor, hat in hand, saying “I made a mistake.  You’re my man from now on.”?  Taylor’s response?  “See ya!”

 

So it’s a total rebuild.  Unless Peterman has a miraculous turnaround, the Bills need a quarterback right now.  There no longer is any reason to pay McCoy, and there’s no reason McCoy would want to stay.  There’s no reason for Incognito to want to stay.  Matthews has been a forgotten man since he got to Buffalo.  Kyle will retire.

 

I give McDermott credit.  He has guts.  He had the guts to make the Peterman move, and he had the guts to bench him after a disastrous half.  I can believe in a guy with courage like that.  McDermott has made a mess for himself to clean up.

 

Fun fact:  Nick O’Leary is Fuzzy Zoeller’s bocce partner.

 

The game was lost by halftime.  And the outcome wouldn’t have been different if Taylor had started, because for the third straight week the Bills defense failed to show up.  (It’s becoming clear that the Bills just don’t have a defense.)  But Taylor showed what he is: a professional quarterback.  He played under control, he threw well, he ran well, he threw no interceptions.  Once he stayed in the pocket too long and fumbled when hit; otherwise, he scrambled well and got some things done. 

 

When the Bills got down to the goal line, when Taylor couldn’t run it in and when McCoy couldn’t, when Clay took a penalty and then dropped a touchdown pass, Taylor still hung in and threw it to McCoy for the score.  Two professionals, doing their jobs. 

 

Call me crazy, but I like McDermott.  He and Beane got rid of Watkins, got rid of Darby, let Woods go and Gilmore go, got rid of Dareus.  And now they have, seemingly nothing.  By all rights, Terry Pegula should hold a press conference on Wednesday and announce that he’s decided that Al Franken gives the Bills the best chance to win and ship McDermott out.   

 

But I believe the Pegulas believe in McDermott, too.  They believe they have to give McDermott and Beane the time to implement their process.  They believe, I suppose, starting Peterman was just a mistake that the coaches and the team will move on from.

I’m not ready to chain someone to the wall in the basement and brick up the doorway, but, man, watching this stuff can drive a man crazy. 

 

 

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.

Shaw how many years you got for another rebuild?

[Helpmenow]

Both franchises are a joke under Pegula, why

[Shaw66]

29 minutes ago, Helpmenow said:

Shaw how many years you got for another rebuild?

Three. I thought they needed help on the two lines.  They could live with Taylor and Benji and Matthews if they kept him.  

 

Now I think it's a total rebuild.  The team that goes to the playoffs will have essentially no one left from the Whaley years.