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THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Taking Care of Business at MetLife


Shaw66

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4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

It’s been years, maybe decades, since Orchard Park has seen a home opener like the one we’ll see this Sunday.   It’ll be like a Monday night game.   Bills will want and should get non-stop noise.   Bengals are 0-2, and yes, they could also be among the five worst teams in the league.   The schedule is outside the Bills’ control; how they play is squarely in their control, and so far, the Bills are doing just fine.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Great review.

 

I think there have been a lot of home openers with enthusiasm in last 20 years. Maybe we need a little less enthusiasm for when I was able to go to home games the fans could not shut up when Bills go on offense.

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5 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

He made at least 2 throws today that less than 5 QBs in the league can make. If he stays consistent on the regular plays and makes 2-3 star plays every game he will be a top 5 QB before long.

 

I still think this team is missing one star on each side. The offense needs a true #1 receiver and the defense needs a stud edge rusher. I expect Beane to find both missing pieces next offseason and then the Bills will be ready to compete for a deep playoff run. This year I'm having fun watching the young players grow into themselves.

I was thinking the same thing.  If we keep winning, that may attract some potential player signings before the trade deadline.  Success attracts talented players.  See New England.

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15 minutes ago, Peace Frog said:

I was thinking the same thing.  If we keep winning, that may attract some potential player signings before the trade deadline.  Success attracts talented players.  See New England.

 

Yea but not many willing to go route he went to get off Raiders making himself look like mental impaired.

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As ever, thanks for the write up.

 

Good observations about the young guys. Knox in particular showed up - in both columns, but the good far outweighed the bad. Some terrific blocking by him, and he got on the end of the best throw of the game by Allen.

 

Ford is still a work in progress, but attitude wise, I think he's got what it takes.

 

Johnson is going to become a steal on the edge. He was all over Eli on one play.

 

Singletary is going to be a minor star, I just hope if he is injured, they are very sensible about bringing him back. The kid has a long career ahead of him, and shouldn't be rushed back. W can always find someone else to add to the mix in the meantime,  to back up Gore and Yeldon.

 

Just about every rookie has contributed somewhere in the first two games, which is impressive both from a drafting standpoint, and a coaching one.

 

A quick shout out for the play of Siran Neal, both on STs and when on D. Kid really stepped up.

 

Allen is still growing, and the good news is there's plenty of room or him to do so - that isn't a criticism, but an observation based upon just how special his athleticism and arm are.

When he gets the timing down on the deep ball, he is going to crucify people, with Brown. I suspect adrenaline was the problem when he missed him deep, but by how much he overthrew him, was rather extraordinary, as Brown has him some wheels.

 

Allen obviously gets it, but he needs to keep working. There will be times when it's a few steps forward, and one back, the secret will be to have a much greater number of steps forward, before the hiccup. ;)

 

While there are plenty more things that could be discussed, one thing I felt watching the team, was that they were a team. Guys from every side were congratulating each other on a play made - it was both good to see, and a good sign for the future.

 

A 2-0 start to the season is not to be sneezed at, no matter who you are playing, and certainly not on the road.

 

Bigger tests are around the corner, but I feel good about this team being competitive in all of them.

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8 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Teams don’t often dominate the play for a full 60 minutes, unless, it seems, you’re playing the Dolphins.   What good teams do is dominate enough of the game to be the clear winner.  The Bills did that to the Giants.   Yes, the Giants, opened the game with a powerful drive, but the Bills responded with a punt and then three straight touchdown drives.  Yes, the Giants control most of the third quarter and scored early in the fourth, but the Bills responded with a touchdown drive of their own.   After that, the Bills shut down the Giants to end the game.

 

 

Yes, this! Thanks Shaw, another job well done. But it's always done well when we're winning ?

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7 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Go 6-2 at home and win two more on the road (remember, Bills still get a trip to MIami), and the playoffs could be a reality.

 

This is the formula.  In my 10-6 prediction the Bills needed to win their first three.  Two down, one to go.  The remaining road games are Tennessee, Cleveland, Miami, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and NE***.  If this team continues to improve it is not hard to imagine two (or three) of these as Ws -- traveling to Pittsburgh suddenly seems much less daunting.  The home games are the three in division plus Cinci, Philly, Washington, Denver, and Baltimore.  Again, if the team continues to improve they will be favored against all but NE***, Philly, and (perhaps) Baltimore.  The path is clear if they stay grounded, hungry, and continue on the current trajectory.

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8 minutes ago, eball said:

 

This is the formula.  In my 10-6 prediction the Bills needed to win their first three.  Two down, one to go.  The remaining road games are Tennessee, Cleveland, Miami, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and NE***.  If this team continues to improve it is not hard to imagine two (or three) of these as Ws -- traveling to Pittsburgh suddenly seems much less daunting.  The home games are the three in division plus Cinci, Philly, Washington, Denver, and Baltimore.  Again, if the team continues to improve they will be favored against all but NE***, Philly, and (perhaps) Baltimore.  The path is clear if they stay grounded, hungry, and continue on the current trajectory.

Sounds good! The titans and ravens are playing well right now and with these 2 road wins it makes me think that the cowboys game on thanksgiving will be a great matchup!! One game at a time!

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3 hours ago, eball said:

 

This is the formula.  In my 10-6 prediction the Bills needed to win their first three.  Two down, one to go.  The remaining road games are Tennessee, Cleveland, Miami, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and NE***.  If this team continues to improve it is not hard to imagine two (or three) of these as Ws -- traveling to Pittsburgh suddenly seems much less daunting.  The home games are the three in division plus Cinci, Philly, Washington, Denver, and Baltimore.  Again, if the team continues to improve they will be favored against all but NE***, Philly, and (perhaps) Baltimore.  The path is clear if they stay grounded, hungry, and continue on the current trajectory.

I think so. 

 

And I have a recurring thought, which is that 2019 is all part of the process to get to 2020.   There are a lot of lessons the Bills will learn this year, and they will learn some of them by losing.   Next season, they will take another step.  

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Good stuff, I like this team a lot and really loved the way Allen played overall yesterday.

 

A couple of small things...even though it's been a McDermott staple...I'm hoping the conservativeness yesterday was because we were playing a bad team, but even that almost came back to bite us. I just don't think you can take the foot off the gas pedal in this league. You leave that door open and teams are going to come back on you, especially the mediocre to top teams. Really not a fan of kneeling with 45 seconds left and 2 timeouts at the end of the half and the really conservative offense in the 3rd quarter. Lets put these teams away when we have a chance!

 

The other thing is maybe Gore makes sense in a goalline situation...but I feel like we're wasting a lot of other plays with him. He looks really slow. I don't want to waste those plays against good teams. 

 

But overall the team looks good and outside of Allen, the improvement with the D-line is really encouraging. QB and D-line are the keys to closing out games. 

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11 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

He made at least 2 throws today that less than 5 QBs in the league can make. If he stays consistent on the regular plays and makes 2-3 star plays every game he will be a top 5 QB before long.

 

I still think this team is missing one star on each side. The offense needs a true #1 receiver and the defense needs a stud edge rusher. I expect Beane to find both missing pieces next offseason and then the Bills will be ready to compete for a deep playoff run. This year I'm having fun watching the young players grow into themselves.

The Bills may already have the best D in the NFL and WR by committee results in better ball distribution IMO.

 

I'm with you on enjoying what we are seeing now without getting to carried away with high expectations.

 

On the other hand 28 points combined with stellar D is going to win a high percentage of the football games Buffalo plays.

 

Combine that with the Bills are still a ways away from firing on all cylinders.

 

Why not this season.

 

Game 4 should be a good indicator of where we are now IMO. 

 

Thanks OP for the nice read, much appreciated.

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1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

I think so. 

 

And I have a recurring thought, which is that 2019 is all part of the process to get to 2020.   There are a lot of lessons the Bills will learn this year, and they will learn some of them by losing.   Next season, they will take another step.  

 

Yes and no.  A GM and HC need to be careful not to put too many eggs in the "future" basket because things can and do change from year to year that are outside of their control.  That said, with this regime we know that they are trying to prime the pump for sustained, high level success so it is always a process of getting better.

 

They're good enough to make waves in 2019, though.

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1 hour ago, eball said:

 

Yes and no.  A GM and HC need to be careful not to put too many eggs in the "future" basket because things can and do change from year to year that are outside of their control.  That said, with this regime we know that they are trying to prime the pump for sustained, high level success so it is always a process of getting better.

 

They're good enough to make waves in 2019, though.

Good point eball,

 

Get er done McBeane!

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4 hours ago, Figster said:

The Bills may already have the best D in the NFL and WR by committee results in better ball distribution IMO.

 

I'm with you on enjoying what we are seeing now without getting to carried away with high expectations.

 

On the other hand 28 points combined with stellar D is going to win a high percentage of the football games Buffalo plays.

 

Combine that with the Bills are still a ways away from firing on all cylinders.

 

Why not this season.

 

Game 4 should be a good indicator of where we are now IMO. 

 

Thanks OP for the nice read, much appreciated.

Why not this season?  Well, it could be this season, but my own sense is that they aren't ready yet.   

 

I think we'll see Allen make some bad plays out of inexperience.   

 

I think receiver by committee works until you run into a good pass defense.   Then it's likely the whole committee gets shut down.  

 

I think the running game, even when Singletary is back, will be inconsistent, partly because of the backs and partly because of the line.  

 

I think McD himself is still learning.  

 

Now, having said that, the oline COULD gel and Beasley and Brown COULD be a handful for most teams and Allen COULD learn faster than I expect.   Peter King said, as others here have, that the Bills could be 6-2 at the halfway point, and if they are improving, this COULD be the year.   I'd love it.  

 

I'm expecting a lot of growth this year, some new talent next year, and then it'll be rolling. 

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15 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Why not this season?  Well, it could be this season, but my own sense is that they aren't ready yet.   

 

I think we'll see Allen make some bad plays out of inexperience.   

 

I think receiver by committee works until you run into a good pass defense.   Then it's likely the whole committee gets shut down.  

 

I think the running game, even when Singletary is back, will be inconsistent, partly because of the backs and partly because of the line.  

 

I think McD himself is still learning.  

 

Now, having said that, the oline COULD gel and Beasley and Brown COULD be a handful for most teams and Allen COULD learn faster than I expect.   Peter King said, as others here have, that the Bills could be 6-2 at the halfway point, and if they are improving, this COULD be the year.   I'd love it.  

 

I'm expecting a lot of growth this year, some new talent next year, and then it'll be rolling. 

 Good points Shaw,  I agree with you on all of them.  The last point you made on McD whom is constantly driving home the need for improvement. Learning more ways in which to achieve it. Combined with a locker room full of intelligent athletes.

 

One more good draft is the logical assumption.

 

 The New Era Buffalo Bills football team is gearing to beat the Patriots. 

 

The process in a nutshell...

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Shaw66

 

Thanks for the review.

 

I didn't like the offense in general. I think they all played OK. Still got the W though. 

 

OL allowed 3 sacks. Giants defense was nothing to be impressed about.

Allen got a fumble. But we were REALLY lucky the ref blew the whistle, otherwise it would've been a touchdown and the score 21-14 that's an entirely different ball game.

a few false starts and other dumb penalties.

 

I am very cautions about the 2-0 start. In 2008 Trent Edwards started the season 5-1 and the rest of the season they went 2-8. Don't get me wrong I am happy because I am seeing improvements specially from the offense but it doesn't matter how you start you have to be consistent and finish strong. Hopefully this team will do it.

 

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12 minutes ago, Figster said:

 Good points Shaw,  I agree with you on all of them.  The last point you made on McD whom is constantly driving home the need for improvement. Learning more ways in which to achieve it. Combined with a locker room full of intelligent athletes.

 

One more good draft is the logical assumption.

 

 The New Era Buffalo Bills football team is gearing to beat the Patriots. 

 

The process in a nutshell...

I gotta say that when McDermott arrived, one part of me believed that he was selling snake oil.   He was sincere and all, but come on, what is this stuff he's talking about.  But someone last spring I started to see a little bit of what he was doing and how it was working.  I kept seeing it more clearly, listening to what he was saying and watching how the players perform.  Then against the Jets, when the Bills went down, I realized I got it, that I could see how he was preparing the team for anything, and I thought the Bills not only had a chance, but actually were going to come back.  Then I saw it.  Then the Giants rolled over the Bills on the first possession, and I wasn't worried.  The rest of the half I saw it happening, including the the problems they still have to fix - like end of half execution.  

 

Now I'm fully on board.   Something special is going in Buffalo.  We've all been sitting here waiting for a winner and a championship.   I think we're getting something more.   I think we're getting a team that will dazzle the league like the Pats do, but with character as well as with consistent winning. 

 

I'm really excited.  

4 minutes ago, toto8 said:

Shaw66

 

Thanks for the review.

 

I didn't like the offense in general. I think they all played OK. Still got the W though. 

 

OL allowed 3 sacks. Giants defense was nothing to be impressed about.

Allen got a fumble. But we were REALLY lucky the ref blew the whistle, otherwise it would've been a touchdown and the score 21-14 that's an entirely different ball game.

a few false starts and other dumb penalties.

 

I am very cautions about the 2-0 start. In 2008 Trent Edwards started the season 5-1 and the rest of the season they went 2-8. Don't get me wrong I am happy because I am seeing improvements specially from the offense but it doesn't matter how you start you have to be consistent and finish strong. Hopefully this team will do it.

 

This is not an offense that is going to overpower teams.   It needs some more talent worked into the lineup before it can do that.   But it's an offense that can perform and be part of a winning team.   Last season, the team couldn't win because the offense was so weak.  That isn't the case this season. 

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