THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Cruisin'

[Shaw66]

The Bills cruised to 20-3 win over the Denver Broncos Sunday, moving to 8-3 and leaving their fans pinching themselves in disbelief. Eight and three?  The Buffalo Bills?

 

Fans around the country may still be discounting that record, or ignoring it altogether, claiming that the Bills have piled up wins against many of the worst teams in the league.  They may be correct, but there’s still something, a lot actually, to be said for piling up wins in the NFL.  There are only eight teams in the league with three or fewer losses, and the Bills are one of them.  At this point in the season, the Bills are in the position that all teams want to be.

 

The win over the Broncos was satisfying on many levels.   It was good, finally, to have a win where the Bills took control of the game early and followed good play with good play, winning without being the least bit threatened in the second half.  They didn’t dominate on the scoreboard in the first half, but they were in control of the game.  They’d gone on two 80+ yard drives for field goals – you’d rather have seven, but long, clock-eating drives ending in points are good.   Then they opened the second half with the rarest of Bills rarities – a begin-the-half touchdown drive, and the game was over.    The Bills were a good team taking care of business.

 

It was fun to be in the stadium to watch Frank Gore pass Barry Sanders to move into third place in career rushing yards.  It’s just good to be around greatness, even if we only have Gore on loan from the Hall of Fame.   He doesn’t belong to Bills fans in quite the same way as Cookie and OJ and Cribbs and Thurman and Fred and even Shady, but he’s ours for now, and we’ll take him.   If this is his last season, or his last in Buffalo, he still will be part of Bills history for what he accomplished on Sunday, and for how he modeled the perfect teammate as Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott build the culture they want.   

 

The Bills finally put up four quarters of stifling defense.  Total yards – 134.  Third down conversions – 2 for 11.  After the Bills opened the second half with a touchdown, the Broncos went on a ten-play drive to the Bills 22 – as close as they’d get to the red zone all day – and kicked a field goal, their only points of the day.  After that, the Bills held the Broncos to five consecutive three and outs to end the game.  Five.

 

Yes, it was only the Broncos, and they may turn out to be the worst team in 2019, but the Bills gave them nothing.  That’s what good teams do. 

 

I realized Sunday what makes the Bills’ pass defense so good: they play six defensive backs in their base defense.  Really.  Six.  Two of them, Edmunds and Milano, just happen to be built like linebackers.   Those two just keep making plays in the passing game, Milano particularly.  I’m surprised that teams actually keep throwing at him.   He defended three passes on Sunday, to go along with a fistful of tackles.  After Tre’Davious White, Alexander, Edmunds and Milano have defended more passes than any other Bill.

Plays, players and other things of note:

 

1.  I’ve been on the Josh Allen bandwagon since early in his rookie season, and he keeps progressing nicely.   Sunday, he played the way a good, young, growing QB should.  Statistically Denver has one of the best pass defenses in the league, and Allen beat them by putting up the same stats they’ve been allowing all season.  The Broncos have given up twice as many TDs passing as they’ve gotten TDs, and Allen went 2-1.  They’re giving up 207 yards per game, Allen got 185.  Opponents complete 65% of their passes against the Broncos, Allen completed 60%.   Allen didn’t slice and dice the Broncos like a star QB would; he just did what you’d like to see out of a second-year quarterback. 

 

By the way, when your rushing offense is pounding out 244 yards, you don’t need your QB to do more. (Except, of course, contribute to the 244.)

 

What did I like?  The Bills ran a lot of no huddle – not hurry up, just no huddle, which meant Allen was calling plays at the line of scrimmage.  He handled those duties calmly, completely in control.  He made only two really bad throws – the interception and a possible INT along the left sideline.  Apparently, he misread the defense on the interception; he didn’t see and didn’t expect the safety to be back there.  I suspect a receiver read it correctly and cut off his route.  I think Allen probably threw it to the spot where the receiver would have been if the Broncos had been in the defense Allen thought he saw.  The result was an amazingly ugly throw.   But Allen’s good throws way outweighed the mistakes.  He hung in the pocket nicely and found Beasley for the first touchdown, he read the defense and found Brown for the second, both beautiful throws.  He consistently hit crossing routes to all of his receivers.  He’s fearless in the pocket – on the Beasley TD he was a split second late in deciding to throw it, and he was hit just as the ball left his hand, but he didn’t get happy feet.  He stood his ground and made the throw. 

 

I like how the Bills are using Allen in the running game.  By giving him a few designed runs every game, the Bills force defenses to plan and prepare for his running.  He isn’t particularly productive on his designed runs – his big gains on Sunday came on scrambles, but the scrambles demonstrate that he’s a threat running, so defenses have to account for Allen as part of the run game. 

 

2.  Between them, Shaq Lawson and Ed Oliver had three tackles and three sacks.  All nice plays – Shaq’s came on third downs, and Ed’s pinned the Broncos on the goal line, which resulted in the Bills getting good field position that led Brown’s TD catch.  I would love to see those guys celebrate with their teammates, rather than their look-at-me post-sack dances.  Yes, you made the play, but often it was your teammates who put you in that position.

 

3.  It’s fun to watch White.  The Broncos targeted Courtland Sutton eight times, and he caught one for 27 yards.  White picked one and could have had two more.  Amari Cooper on Thursday.

 

4.  The Bills had an American flag that covered the entire field for the opening ceremonies.  100 yards long, 53 wide.  They had a couple hundred people around the flag to hold it up.  When it was unfurled, about 40 people had to run across the field holding the bottom side of the flag.  About half way across the field, one of the runners around the 30-yard line stumbled and fell and was covered immediately by the flag spreading across the field.  I assume he scrambled on all fours under the flag to the sideline and resumed his duties holding the flag.  One of life’s embarrassing moments that you hope no one saw.  Well, I saw it.     

 

5.  The fans hate McDermott’s conservative decision making, but the wisdom in his choices was rewarded Sunday.  At the end of the first half, he decided to run and let the clock run out instead of passing and using the timeout in his pocket.  But the Bills had looked kind of ragged on the drive, taking three penalties, and the Bills were getting the ball to start the second half.  Turned out to be a good move.  The Bills regrouped at half-time and came out cooking, getting the touchdown to make it 13-0 and, it turned out, to end the game.

 

Later in the second half, it appeared that McDermott would go for it on fourth and four from Denver 36.  It would have been a 54-yard field goal into the wind, so that wasn’t an option.  Instead of snapping the ball, the Bills did what they regularly do – try to draw the defense offside, then take the delay of game penalty and punt.  It’s a conservative, field-position approach, disliked by the fans but smart when the wind is affecting play and when your defense has been in control.  McDermott’s players rewarded him, with a nice punt to the 11. After the fair catch, Oliver got his sack, the Broncos went three and out, and two plays later Allen hit Brown for the touchdown. 

 

With a better team or a worse team, taking those chances makes more sense.  A better team can afford to take risks, a worse team has nothing to lose. 

 

6.  The Bills seem to be blitzing more than earlier in the season.   They don’t get consistent pressure rushing four and the threat of the blitz complicates things for the offense, like Allen’s running does to the opponent’s defense. 

 

7.  Not many Bronco fans in the stadium, and they didn’t make much noise.   Of course, when the team is playing like the Broncos are, it’s a serious fan who goes on the road to watch that show.

 

8.  For the second season in a row, Robert Foster seems to be emerging as a threat late in the season.  Awesome speed. It looked like he pulled up with a serious hamstring problem – not surprising for a thoroughbred who can run like that, and that’s unfortunate for him and for the Bills.   The door appears to be open again for Duke Williams to be a factor in the offense. 

 

The Cowboys are desperate for a win, and the Bills have an opportunity to make a statement on the national stage.  Are the Bills just another team, or are they among the best?  Can they beat a good team on the road?  We’ll see. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

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.

 

[wvbillsfan]

Good read as always. 
 

Get well Robert Foster. Signed your number one fan

[Figster]

To me Shaw, it was the most well executed play in all 3 phases of game Buffalo has experienced so far this season in my humble opinion.

 

With the cold weather settling in, good time to get the motor running and hitting on all cylinders,

 

Next up, Jerry's Cowgirls on Thanksgiving!

 

Play fearless Buffalo!!

 

MERCY!!!

Edited November 25, 2019 by Figster

[GoBills808]

28 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I realized Sunday what makes the Bills’ pass defense so good: they play six defensive backs in their base defense.  Really.  Six.  Two of them, Edmunds and Milano, just happen to be built like linebackers.   Those two just keep making plays in the passing game, Milano particularly.  I’m surprised that teams actually keep throwing at him.   He defended three passes on Sunday, to go along with a fistful of tackles.  After Tre’Davious White, Alexander, Edmunds and Milano have defended more passes than any other Bill.

Plays, players and other things of note:

There are particular things a McDermott defense relies on and you nailed one of the main ones; Kuechly and Davis were both able line-to-line pass defenders as well as all world LBs. Combine that w/a White (Norman previously) and it's almost impossible to throw against as we've seen. I get excited thinking about defensive development because McDermott never had the quality at safety as Poyer/Hyde in Carolina, esp against the run when you can bring them down to LOS and play man outside...the possibilities are pretty much endless if they can keep this group together and playing hard for the next few years.

 

Edmunds and Milano aren't quite the physical presence in the run game yet re: crashing gaps and stacking blockers, but their ability to defend against the underneath stuff is already there imo. As they get more experience they have the opportunity to be every bit the core you can build a 10 year defense around.

[RiotAct]

to your point #4 - the EXACT same thing happened at a home game last year... I think it was the Titans game early in the season?  haha

[Shaw66]

13 minutes ago, Figster said:

To me Shaw, it was the most well executed play in all 3 phases of game Buffalo has experienced so far this season in my humble opinion.

 

With the cold weather settling in, good time to get the motor running and hitting on all cylinders,

 

Next up, Jerry's Cowgirls on Thanksgiving!

 

Play fearless Buffalo!!

 

MERCY!!!

Right.  I didn't mention special teams, except for Bojo's punt to the 11.  He punted pretty well all day. 

 

And it's pretty clear now why Andre Roberts is a league leading kick returner.   Some guys just have a knack for that job, and he has it.  He reads the oncoming tacklers really well and sees the openings.  

[whatdrought]

Good post! The excitement level is building. This is, historically speaking, when they would lay an egg and twist a knife into all of our hearts... This team feels different to me. We'll see. 

[Seasons1992]

It's all about D and the running game during cold-weather playoff games. Let's hope we go somwhere crappy/non-dome and just grind it out, provided we make it into the dance.

[ILBillsfan]

Have to see if that was a hamstring injury for foster on that sweep because if so then the Duke will be activated imo

[Franco_92]

10 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

Good post! The excitement level is building. This is, historically speaking, when they would lay an egg and twist a knife into all of our hearts... This team feels different to me. We'll see. 

It kind of isn't where they lay the egg historically speaking, to be honest. When Billsy was being defined, it was because we'd take 5-2 and turn it into 7-9, or take something like 6-5 to something like 6-10.

Historically, the Bills aren't 8-3 often, and when they are, they get their 10/11 wins. 

[whatdrought]

1 minute ago, arcane said:

It kind of isn't where they lay the egg historically speaking, to be honest. When Billsy was being defined, it was because we'd take 5-2 and turn it into 7-9, or take something like 6-5 to something like 6-10.

Historically, the Bills aren't 8-3 often, and when they are, they get their 10/11 wins. 

 

I meant in regard to fan feelings and expectations. Whenever we feel good about a team, they implode or lose stupidly. 

 

But you're right... This is new territory for this generation (my generation) of bills fans. It's a great experience!

[BuffaninSarasota]

31 minutes ago, ILBillsfan said:

Have to see if that was a hamstring injury for foster on that sweep because if so then the Duke will be activated imo

 

it was absolutely a hamstring injury......has anyone heard an update from Sal ?

[Shaw66]

32 minutes ago, ILBillsfan said:

Have to see if that was a hamstring injury for foster on that sweep because if so then the Duke will be activated imo

There aren't a lot of injuries that can be diagnosed just by watching it happen, but hamstrings are one.   Of course, it's possible it's something else, and I hope it is, but that sprinting, then hopping on one foot and grabbing the thigh is the classic look.  

 

I remember the one time I did it, running, hopping and grabbing the thigh.   My first thought, besides the pain, was "oh, that's what those guys are feeling when you see that on TV."

 

I doubt it was a cramp, but maybe it was.  

[Tenhigh]

39 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

 

I meant in regard to fan feelings and expectations. Whenever we feel good about a team, they implode or lose stupidly. 

 

But you're right... This is new territory for this generation (my generation) of bills fans. It's a great experience!

Interesting, I thought you were referring to us playing terribly in nationally televised games.  

Edited November 25, 2019 by Tenhigh

[Seasons1992]

21 minutes ago, Tenhigh said:

Interesting, I thought you were referring to us playing terribly in nationally televised games.  

 

 

[GETTOTHE50]

1 hour ago, Seasons1992 said:

It's all about D and the running game during cold-weather playoff games. Let's hope we go somwhere crappy/non-dome and just grind it out, provided we make it into the dance.

 

this team was meant to play in the cold

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Between them, Shaq Lawson and Ed Oliver had three tackles and three sacks.  All nice plays – Shaq’s came on third downs, and Ed’s pinned the Broncos on the goal line, which resulted in the Bills getting good field position that led Brown’s TD catch.

 

For me the game changing defensive play didn't show up on the stat sheet. Late in the 1st quarter the Broncos ran a naked bootleg and Shaq had a wide open path to Brandon Allen. Allen got off the pass and it even turned into an 18 yard completion. But Shaq put a massive hit on him as he threw the ball and he hit the ground awkwardly. That play set the tone for the rest of the game. I think Allen was really shaken up after that hit and the offense wasn't able to function after that. Nice work by Shaq to hit the QB hard without drawing a flag. It was worth giving up the 18 yards.

[freddyjj]

@Shaw66 Thanks for the typical succinct and accurate review of the game.

 

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I realized Sunday what makes the Bills’ pass defense so good: they play six defensive backs in their base defense.  Really.  Six.  Two of them, Edmunds and Milano, just happen to be built like linebackers. 

Never heard it put this way but it does afford us an unusual amount of flexibility.  Truth be told, Bills have only 3 outside CBs (Tre, Levi and KJ) a slot CB (Taron) and 6 S  (Hyde, Poyer, Johnson, Marlowe, Coleman, Neal) on roster.  

 

The position flexibility of Neal and Marlowe and the aforementioned coverage capabilities of Milano/Edmunds let Frazier game plan specifically with some nice chess pieces.  

 

A question for you @Shaw66.  What type of NFL player or college player do you see OBD looking for to replace Lorenzo if he hangs them up at year's end?  Do you see him losing a step out there?

Edited November 25, 2019 by freddyjj

[Figster]

1 hour ago, Seasons1992 said:

It's all about D and the running game during cold-weather playoff games. Let's hope we go somwhere crappy/non-dome and just grind it out, provided we make it into the dance.

On the road against the Patriots meets the criteria,

 

and tests the process... 

[toto8]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

What did I like?  The Bills ran a lot of no huddle – not hurry up, just no huddle, which meant Allen was calling plays at the line of scrimmage.  He handled those duties calmly, completely in control.  He made only two really bad throws – the interception and a possible INT along the left sideline.  Apparently, he misread the defense on the interception; he didn’t see and didn’t expect the safety to be back there.  I suspect a receiver read it correctly and cut off his route.  I think Allen probably threw it to the spot where the receiver would have been if the Broncos had been in the defense Allen thought he saw.  The result was an amazingly ugly throw.   But Allen’s good throws way outweighed the mistakes.  He hung in the pocket nicely and found Beasley for the first touchdown, he read the defense and found Brown for the second, both beautiful throws.  He consistently hit crossing routes to all of his receivers.  He’s fearless in the pocket – on the Beasley TD he was a split second late in deciding to throw it, and he was hit just as the ball left his hand, but he didn’t get happy feet.  He stood his ground and made the throw. 

 

First of all thank you for your reviews I have been a fan since the BBMM and I look for it every week.

 

Did you know that Browns TD catch was actually an adjustment due to smoke telling his coaches that Harris was constantly jumping the slants? He said that in an interview. He told coaches about it and they adjusted to make a double move on a go route that's why on that play Allen pumps the ball twice trying to make Harris move.