ROCKPILE REVIEW - Just Another Patriots Game

[Shaw66]

It was what Bills fans expected.  It was what Bills fans feared.  In the end, it was what Bills fans wanted. 

 

The Bills beat the Patriots 24-21 in Orchard Park on Sunday.  It wasn’t the dominant performance Bills fans would have liked, but it was the win the Bills needed.

 

Division games are tough.  It seems they’re always tough.  The Bills are 4-0 in the AFC East, and none of the wins was a cake walk.   They have return engagements with the Dolphins and Patriots on the schedule; they will be important games, and they won’t be easy.

 

The cold and the wind and the coaches dictated the style of play.  The Patriots can’t throw the ball all over the field, and it was predictable that they wouldn’t let the Bills do that, either.  It was ground and pound for the entire game.   Both offensive lines won enough of their battles to spring an array of running backs for nearly 400 total yards.  It didn’t hurt that both teams had running quarterbacks. 

 

Josh Allen and the guy many people compare him to, Cam Newton, had similar, limited outings.  Complete 60% of your throws for seven or eight yards per attempt, one turnover.  Allen had a turnover that led to a score, Newton had a turnover that cost the Pats a score. 

 

It was about as even as a game can be.  It was the kind of game that good teams win and bad teams lose, and that is exactly what happened.  After the Bills had taken the lead late in the fourth quarter, they needed one defensive stop.  But the Patriots had had long TD drives on each of their two previous possessions, and now they were marching down the field again.  The 2020 Bills just don’t seem to be able to get a stop when they need one, and they weren’t close to stopping Patriots. 

 

Then Justin Zimmer made the play that good teams make to win games.[MK1]  On second and ten at the Bills 19, Newton made a nice five-yard run. Zimmer trailed the play, tackled Newton. and drove the ball out of Newton’s grip.  Dean Marlowe was there to fall on it, and the game was over.   

 

The Bills are 6-2, the Patriots are 2-5, and the Dolphins are the team that threatens the Bills in the AFC East.  Even the Jets are celebrating. 

 

The Bills don’t look like an elite team, but they’re building.   The defensive line looked solid if not spectacular.  Edmunds showed up to play.  Zimmer, Phillips, Oliver, and Hughes all played like the game meant something.  Still, it wasn’t a championship defense, not close. 

 

Allen looked like a veteran.  He was cool, under control, managed the pocket well and threw well.  The sideline completion to Diggs was really pretty.   Allen found Diggs and Beasley open repeatedly. 

 

Allen deserved better stats.  Davis dropped a sure touchdown, which would have put the Bills up by 7 at the end.  (Still, it was another fourth-quarter game-winning drive for Allen.)   Based on Diggs’s reactions on the sideline, it looked like the interception was on him, not Allen.  If Davis catches the touchdown and Diggs makes the right cut, the Bills would have had a ten-point lead. 

 

Singletary and Moss showed, finally, what had been expected from them from opening day.  Pretty as it was to see them pop through holes and do their things in the open field, the biggest change in the offense seemed to be the presence of Jon Feliciano.  I can’t say I studied his play (at center, no less, with the Morse concussion), but everything seemed crisper along the offensive line with Feliciano out there.

 

Tyler Bass could have crumbled in the fourth quarter.  That was a pressure kick – not long, but into the wind.  Everyone knew this was a big game and this was the kick that could win it.  It looked like business as usual for him, routine, a stroll in the park.  Maybe he turned a corner last week against the Jets, and now we’re seeing Bass the pro.

 

Six wins at the halfway point of the season are nice, but not the schedule gets tough.  Four more wins should make the playoffs, but if the Bills are going to be a team to be reckoned with, they need to find a way to five or six wins in the second half.   That will be tough, but no one said it would be easy.  Seattle and Arizona both will be serious tests. 

 

 

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.

 

 

---

 [MK1]

[GETTOTHE50]

6 n 2. ILL TAKE IT

[PUNT750]

I strongly disagree with your takes on "The Bills don’t look like an elite team, but they’re building.   The defensive line looked solid if not spectacular.  Edmunds showed up to play".  Building - - how long can that go on?  Edmunds was awful and the DL is a mess!

[RiotAct]

I agree on Edmunds. He only had a couple plays today that  made me go “wtf”... which is, you know, quite an improvement!

[Shaw66]

1 minute ago, RiotAct said:

I agree on Edmunds. He only had a couple plays today that  made me go “wtf”... which is, you know, quite an improvement!

Plus he actually hit some people.  

 

There's more Edmunds hate around here than he deserves.  

[y2zipper]

6 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Plus he actually hit some people.  

 

There's more Edmunds hate around here than he deserves.  

 

Yeah I couldn't agree more with this.

[Figster]

30 minutes ago, PUNT750 said:

I strongly disagree with your takes on "The Bills don’t look like an elite team, but they’re building.   The defensive line looked solid if not spectacular.  Edmunds showed up to play".  Building - - how long can that go on?  Edmunds was awful and the DL is a mess!

 

 

Myself personally, I agree with OP's overall assessment of where the Bills are now and where the Buffalo Bills are going.  Each game is a learning experience and a McD football team is going to make progress IMO. Take the good with the bad and get better in all 3 phases of the game. Its all we can do...

 

The run game looked very strong today ...

 

(To me it looks like Edmunds is playing at around 70% ) I'm not questioning the mans heart or talent. More his health...

Edited November 2, 2020 by Figster

[Heathcliff]

It was awesome to see the running game get on track with 8 or 9 Pats**** in the box. This bodes well for games we want to keep the opposition offense off the field. Also should greatly improve our play action plays. 

[ILBillsfan]

Allen managed the game beautifully with some key audibles....the sweep for Moss that got a first and the WR screen to Brown both key plays/  I'm sure there were others but those two stood out to me.

 

I thought he understood the moment and executed the plan well.

 

You hit on the two plays that put the Bills up by even more.  

 

It feels good to be 6-2 and just as important 4-0 in the division.

[Virgil]

Agree 100%

[hemma]

I wonder if anyone has revisited enough of the game to have a solid guess as to why Bates was pulled for Feliciano at Center + Feliciano replaced at LG with Boettger.

 

Can't argue with the end results, but curious given that all seemed 'ok' before the switch.

[letsgoteam]

14 minutes ago, hemma said:

I wonder if anyone has revisited enough of the game to have a solid guess as to why Bates was pulled for Feliciano at Center + Feliciano replaced at LG with Boettger.

 

Can't argue with the end results, but curious given that all seemed 'ok' before the switch.

I've thought about it some (IDK the answer). I cant remember, was Bates starting before the injury to Morse? 

 

If so, here is my best guess. With Feliciano just coming back from injury (and I think I heard somewhere during the postgame show that it was possible he was going to be on a pitch count before the game started), would it be possible that Bates then would have been the only other player who could play C? If that's the case, maybe they put him on the bench after that series to prevent some kind of weird nightmare scenario where if Bates gets hurt and Feliciano gets hurt/reinjuried/pitchcount then they would be without a C.

[BillsIsrael]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

Plus he actually hit some people.  

 

There's more Edmunds hate around here than he deserves.  

He's not playing like last year, don't know if it's health or what - maybe it's the lack of supporting cast, Milano is not 100% and Klein is a missed tackle waiting to happen

[bmur66]

I like Feliciano at center. I thought he filled in there great last year when Morse was out and he stepped right in there again. Could he actually be an upgrade? I'm also guessing that Boettger may be a better run blocker than some of the other guards. 

[Bleedbuffaloblue]

Completely agree with your assessment Shaw. Hopefully improvements will continue to be seen as more players get healthy and adjustments are made.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

7 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

It was what Bills fans expected.  It was what Bills fans feared.  In the end, it was what Bills fans wanted. 

 

The Bills beat the Patriots 24-21 in Orchard Park on Sunday.  It wasn’t the dominant performance Bills fans would have liked, but it was the win the Bills needed.

 

Division games are tough.  It seems they’re always tough.  The Bills are 4-0 in the AFC East, and none of the wins was a cake walk.   They have return engagements with the Dolphins and Patriots on the schedule; they will be important games, and they won’t be easy.

 

The cold and the wind and the coaches dictated the style of play.  The Patriots can’t throw the ball all over the field, and it was predictable that they wouldn’t let the Bills do that, either.  It was ground and pound for the entire game.   Both offensive lines won enough of their battles to spring an array of running backs for nearly 400 total yards.  It didn’t hurt that both teams had running quarterbacks. 

 

Josh Allen and the guy many people compare him to, Cam Newton, had similar, limited outings.  Complete 60% of your throws for seven or eight yards per attempt, one turnover.  Allen had a turnover that led to a score, Newton had a turnover that cost the Pats a score. 

 

Allen deserved better stats.  Davis dropped a sure touchdown, which would have put the Bills up by 7 at the end.  (Still, it was another fourth-quarter game-winning drive for Allen.)   Based on Diggs’s reactions on the sideline, it looked like the interception was on him, not Allen.  If Davis catches the touchdown and Diggs makes the right cut, the Bills would have had a ten-point lead. 

 

 

(I read the rest, I'll just reiterate on the opening points)  

The Bills are 4-0 in the division. 

Division games are tough. 

Allen had a turnover that led to a score, and made it his 11th Game winning drive. 

 

 

The return engagements with the Dolphins is week 17.  Will there be something to play for? And Patriots in week 16 (Prime Time?)  Will probably have checked out. Yes, Un Belichick like) 

Edited November 2, 2020 by SlimShady'sSpaceForce

[Billsfan1972]

It's a fair review, but again this "building" crap needs to stop.  Will it stop only when they win the SB?

 

We saw tremendous growth in Allen weeks 1-4 and now again he appears neutered by the the offense.

 

Seems teams have again figured out Dabol, or he doesn't adapt.  

 

Always the same cliches trotted out about division games.  This was a wounded NE team, the weather actually much better then forecast and took a TO in the last 30 seconds to win.  This was a game I wanted to see the Bills win by 2 TDs.

 

Yes we are Bills fans, but I do not see growth yet again this year.  The Offense has regressed after being near the top and the Defense still is not very good.

 

Oh & Tennessee lost to Cincy, the Jets who too had the ball with a chance to tie the game in the last two minutes lost by 26, Rams (the Bills best win dominated by the resurgent Phins)......   

 

But I'll take 6-2.... 

[Kwai San]

8 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Plus he actually hit some people.  

 

There's more Edmunds hate around here than he deserves.  

 

Agree on the undeserved Edmunds hate.  He wasn't and never will be the second coming of Dick Butkus....

6 hours ago, BillsIsrael said:

He's not playing like last year, don't know if it's health or what - maybe it's the lack of supporting cast, Milano is not 100% and Klein is a missed tackle waiting to happen

 

THIS......I would rather folks beat up Klein than Edmunds......Klein is stealing money out there.....needs to be dropped asap.

[Kwai San]

2 hours ago, bmur66 said:

I like Feliciano at center. I thought he filled in there great last year when Morse was out and he stepped right in there again. Could he actually be an upgrade? I'm also guessing that Boettger may be a better run blocker than some of the other guards. 

 

Me too - I worry that Morse might have used up his 9 concussion lives if that is what he truly left the field for.  We may be seeing Mongo at C more than we bargained for.

[Taro T]

8 hours ago, RiotAct said:

I agree on Edmunds. He only had a couple plays today that  made me go “wtf”... which is, you know, quite an improvement!

 

He did have a better game though still did have more WTF's than the stud trade up to draft in the 1st MLB should have in his 3rd season.  Still hoping it's the shoulder that's the reason.

 

Either way, he's better than Klein.  Now, if THAT guy could tackle ...