Popular Post Shaw66 Posted January 17, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted January 17, 2021 You get into habits when you go to a lot of Bills games. How you dress and eat, where you park, where you sit, how you interact with fans, where you get information during the game, information like down and distance, stats, roster numbers. The games are different, but there’s a routine. Saturday night the Bills beat the Ravens 17-3 to advance to the AFC Championship game. For me, all the habits were out the window. I hadn’t been to a football game for a year, and I had fallen out of my routine. Everything about the experience was unique. There was COVID-19, of course. We had to be in Buffalo by Thursday morning to swabbed. Lot 4, 10 a.m., drive through. The streets were empty. There were just a few dozen people, directing traffic through the empty lot to stations where nurses did their thing and we were gone. Then there were two days in a hotel room, waiting for Doordash to arrive from one restaurant or another, and a lot of TV watching. Everything about game day was different. First, we had to wait all day, because it wasn’t the usual 1 p.m. start, or even 4. I checked my phone about four times. Is it charged? Are the tickets on it? Are my COVID test results on it? What should we wear? We bought club seats for the game, in part because they’re covered and there’s radiant heat. Do we need all those layers? I don’t know. We never parked in Lot 6 before. Some things don’t change. The fans in the lots were fired up. They hadn’t forgotten what it’s like to be at a Bills game. They were happy, loud, energized. No lines to get into the stadium. Even the stadium name is different, Bills Stadium. Everything about it said that this is a new era. The temperature was in the mid-30s, the wind was blowing. The flags atop the stadium were flapping and waving and sometimes standing straight out, whipped mercilessly by the wind. Sometimes during the game, the officials’ pant legs flapped violently. The streamers at the top of the goal posts were blown in all different directions. Then there was the characteristic sign of a bad wind day – the goal posts were moving, swaying here and there. Those radiant heaters in the club seats are nice. I took off my parka. By late in the first quarter, as the wind blew through the club seat area, I put it back on. Radiant heat is no match for Buffalo wind chill. It was cold, damn it. The fans were ready. There was a lot of excitement. We weren’t side by side, but we knew we were in a crowd. They were excited. Some of us had learned during the week that the empty benches and the empty seat backs beside you make a lot of noise if you pound on them hard enough. If you struck the seat back with force on a scale of 1 to 5, it made noise on a scale of 1 to 20 – if you really whacked it, it was like pounding a drum. On some plays, with thousands pounding, it sounded like a nonstop thunderstorm. And then there was the game. One of the strangest games I’ve seen. Nothing happened. It was all anxiety. Can we stop Jackson? Can we stop Jackson? Come on, stop Jackson. The Bills stopped Jackson, but it always felt like he was about to explode. The great Justin Tucker, Mr. Automatic, couldn’t make a field goal. Can the Bills move the ball? Can they score? No, they can’t run the ball at all. In fact, they didn’t even try. Can Allen throw it? Well, not like Josh Allen, he can’t. If there is skill involved in throwing in the Buffalo wind, and I believe there is, it’s a skill Josh hasn’t developed yet. Still, when he was throwing in rhythm and relatively short, there were completions to be had. Stefon Diggs catches everything he touches. Gabriel Davis, for some reason, was hobbled, and he couldn’t catch the tough balls – was it the wind? The cold? His injury? Four targets, no catches. This was two tough, tough teams screaming “NO!!! YOU CANNOT!!!” all night long. There were no gimmicks, no trick plays, no jet sweeps. Both teams knew that this was a head-to-head slugfest where gimmicks could be disastrous. There had been 11 possessions by the two teams in the first half, back and forth, trading punts, missed field goals. Nothing much happened. Then, in the third quarter the Bills had the ball only once, and the Ravens had the ball only once. The Bills put together a solid drive to open the third quarter and got to the red zone. Fortunately, Brian Daboll had a play for the goal line. On second and goal from the three, Allen threw quickly to Diggs on the left sideline, and Diggs found his way into the end zone through two blockers and what looked like four tacklers. 10-3, Bills. The Ravens responded with a drive of their own. Slow, methodical, relentless. They were on their way to tie the game again, to continue the grim battle of wills. And then it was over. One play, and it was over. On third and goal from the nine, Lamar Jackson stood in the pocket and threw into the heart of the Bills’ zone defense, looking for his tight end. There is one immutable truth about quarterbacking in the NFL, and that is if you want to be great, you have to be a great passer from the pocket. You can be the best running quarterback, you can scramble beautifully, but if you want to be great, you have to be able to run the game from the pocket. Lamar Jackson’s coaches have designed an offense to take advantage of his extraordinary ability to run with the football, and as a result, he hasn’t been forced to learn excellence in the pocket. And so it was that, standing in the pocket, looking over the field, Jackson failed to see Taron Johnson in his shallow zone a yard deep in the end zone, watching Jackson and waiting. Jackson threw, Johnson took a step to his left, directly in front of Jackson’s intended receiver, and intercepted the pass. Relieved that the scoring threat had ended, I wanted Johnson to take a touchback and not risk being tackled at the two or the five. From his place in the end zone, Johnson saw a lot of running room to the right, so after regaining his balance, he took off, evading one tackler and cutting to his right. Suddenly, to the absolute astonishment of the 6,700 Bills fans who had been feeling the way Bills fans feel when the game could be slipping away, Johnson was free and heading upfield. There was no one there, no one except Tre’Davious White, who had broken upfield as soon as he saw Johnson catch the ball. Johnson had one man to beat, Lamar Jackson, the fastest man on the field and probably the only man who might catch him. Johnson veered toward the sideline, and now White was in position to provide the screen that Johnson needed. 101 yards for the touchdown. The entire Bills defense mashed Johnson against the stadium wall in celebration. A joyous riot broke out in the stands. We couldn’t stop yelling, laughing, high-fiving (well, COVID air-high-fives), smiling at each other behind our masks, hugging. I wasn’t at the Comeback Game, but this must have been how it felt. This couldn’t possibly have happened, and yet it did. It was 17-3, and the game was over. The Ravens made a couple of big mistakes in the fourth quarter (a snap over Jackson’s head that resulted in a concussion that ended his night, and a running into the kicker penalty that left the Bills’ offense in victory formation). The Ravens turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory; the Bills offense couldn’t move the ball and Bass missed the field goal. It didn’t matter. The Bills defense was not going to allow the Ravens to score 14 points in less than a quarter. After the game, for the first time, it occurred to me that the Bills would be playing in the AFC Championship game. For more than a decade, the AFC Championship game has been an unimaginable dream. Through three quarters of intense football on Saturday night there had been no time to contemplate such a prospect. And then the game ended, and the reality sank in. The Bills are going to the AFC Championship game, one win away from the Super Bowl. Everything about Saturday was unique. 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. 29 40 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaDigital Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Amazing review as always, Shaw... What time's we're living in, Bros... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltonWaddams Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Great work @Shaw66. Happy that you got to experience the game at the stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoTom Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Nice write-up, as usual, Shaw. And I just realized what's been missing from the Rockpile Review this season: the stadium experience. Glad to have you back to full strength, as it were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ta111 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Thanks for the awesome write up and stadium perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedbuffaloblue Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Nice summary of the whole game experience Shaw. Would loved to have been there. The noise from the crowd was impressive on the tv. Really was a factor. Maybe we get one more home game. That would be awesome! Go Bills!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddo Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Excellent stuff Shaw, and thanks. It seemed to take the broadcast commentators, a long time to figure out the wind was a problem, yet you could clearly see the flags were horizontal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSBill Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 20 minutes ago, Shaw66 said: A joyous riot broke out in the stands. We couldn’t stop yelling, laughing, high-fiving (well, COVID air-high-fives), smiling at each other behind our masks, hugging. I wasn’t at the Comeback Game, but this must have been how it felt. This couldn’t possibly have happened, and yet it did. You nailed that, Shaw. I was not there either, but I remember where I was watching the game in my living room and the chair I was siting in--I couldn't leave it once the comeback started, didn't want to jinx them. You're right, that moment and elation came back last night. Thanks for the unique write-up. Glad you were able to attend. Here's hoping fans get to go to the stadium again next week. You people who were there, made your presence felt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Lightning Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 God I wish I could have been there. Great write up Shaw. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Was getting into the stadium any different now? I was wondering about the bunching of fans trying to get into the gates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notwoz Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Great summary. For those of us who couldn't attend the game, your observations were the next-best thing to being there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Great write up Billy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Rotary Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Thanks for bringing us along to the stadium with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuba guy Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 One thing i noticed right away about the,Diggs td was there were only 2 dbs out there covering with 3 wrs Did the Ravens just miss the boat or did they not see the extra we Even the announcers did not say anything 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logic Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Good stuff. You painted a nice picture for those of us who desperately wish we could have been there (which, frankly, is probably ALL of us). I can't imagine the jubilation after Johnson's pick-six. It must have been "Fandemonium". I just keep coming back to this: the Bills defense held Lamar Jackson to 34 yards rushing, sacked him four times, and picked off an end zone pass and returned it for six points. On national TV. In the playoffs. I still can't believe it. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Otreply Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Awesome perspective Shaw66, great read as always! Go Bills!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoTom Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 4 minutes ago, Logic said: I can't imagine the jubilation after Johnson's pick-six. It must have been "Fandemonium". There's another thread with a ground-level view of the play. You can see the fans going nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Success Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Nice! Very cool that you were there. Great write-up. Last night felt like a prize fight to me, where you go in expecting a slug-fest, and instead both fighters spend most of the rounds feeling each other out & staying in a defensive posture. Then, one guy out of nowhere just delivers a knockout blow. Playoff football. Gotta love it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFBillsfan Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Always enjoy your perspective on the game. The crowd was absolutely amazing last night, but wouldn’t expect anything less from BillsMafia! It’s surreal thinking I was 24 years old, spoiled by 4 straight AFC championship wins and Super Bowl appearances. NEVER would I have thought it would be another 26 years before we’d get back. I’m so happy and proud from last night’s win, but fully BILLIEVE this team can go all the way. LETS GO BUFFALO! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st Ammendment NoMas Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Man, it had to be a dream to be there. Covid B.S. and all. Thanks for the write up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Great write up. You made us feel that we were in the stadium. I have pinched myself multiple times to check whether it is really true that we are one of the four teams remaining to vye for the Lombardi trophy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwai San Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 @Shaw66 another excellent recap. Really liked the depth you provided from your arrival to Buffalo and onward. Having been to the comeback game I can attest that was one of the wildest games I attended. Not sure how many people I hugged and highfived but safe to say it was alot! Of all the games I saw - 22 seasons worth that was the craziest but there were others for sure. On the TV down here in FL I could feel the intensity of those fans. Not sure why they were so much louder than last week against the colts but they sure seemed like it. Sitting in the Jim Kelly club seats before they had the radient heaters above it was heated seats.....those were awesome and I always dressed much lighter than when I used to sit under the scoreboard. The cold Buffalo wind is a force to be lived to be believed. Go BROWNS! I selfishly want to see yet another game in The Ralph and then the next game will be in my backyard.....Tampa. Somehow, someway I will be there for this one. Been to both the Cowpokes blowouts and I need to see a win b4 I leave this mortal coil...... GO BILLS!!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralonzo Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Shaw66 said: 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. Best Rockpile yet. As if James Michener wrote a short essay called "Orchard Park" 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figster Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Must confess, got a little teary eyed reading this review. So proud of our 12th man last night. I love you guys... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukestreetking Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 @Shaw66: you are truly a national treasure (yes, I said "national"). cc: @SlimShady'sSpaceForce@Hapless Bills Fan@YoloinOhio, others. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProcessTruster Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Buddo said: Excellent stuff Shaw, and thanks. It seemed to take the broadcast commentators, a long time to figure out the wind was a problem, yet you could clearly see the flags were horizontal. All part of the drought. Broadcasters haven't been in the stadium in Dec/Jan for 20 years. You forget. For all of us current or (me) former season ticket holders, every one knows the wind mostly roars from left to right the entire game, more and more the later in the season you get. I was explaining to my 20-something son how it works and by the end of the 3rd Q, he's like ".. righhhtttt, I get it now). Allen over throws by 10 yards going left to right, same thing for the Balt backup guy.. those were probably good balls without the wind. I've seen well struck right to left FG attempts miss for 40 years in that place in Dec/Jan. Bass expected his kick to get pushed right to left as it should have, but the wind laid down just when he hit it and it went straight. poor kickers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Buddo said: Excellent stuff Shaw, and thanks. It seemed to take the broadcast commentators, a long time to figure out the wind was a problem, yet you could clearly see the flags were horizontal. At one point Al Michaels said it was blowing about 8mph. They cut to the flags that looked liked they’d been starched. Oh and thanks Shaw great writing. Edited January 17, 2021 by chris heff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rochesterfan Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 1 hour ago, scuba guy said: One thing i noticed right away about the,Diggs td was there were only 2 dbs out there covering with 3 wrs Did the Ravens just miss the boat or did they not see the extra we Even the announcers did not say anything I believe the Ravens were trying to get the Bills to run a specific play out of that formation. You see the guy coming out from inside and I believe they were trying to bait a slant with an undercut. I think the Bills saw the set-up and had a quick screen option and Josh checked to that giving them an easy TD. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Great write up as usual. Congrats on being at such a momentous game! The amazing part to me was that ripping wind didn’t stop the team that threw almost exclusively, and didn’t really help the team that ran almost exclusively. Holding them to 3 points still has me shaking my head, in a very good way! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyDays Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Shaw66 said: After the game, for the first time, it occurred to me that the Bills would be playing in the AFC Championship game. For more than a decade, the AFC Championship game has been an unimaginable dream. It really is surreal. I tend to be a very optimistic fan, but over the last how ever many years whenever I imagined the Bills making it this far it wasn't truly real. It was the same sensation as buying a Mega Millions ticket. Fun to think about what if... but knowing deep down it isn't realistic. I think even before this season started it was the same. I was genuinely optimistic, I knew that if the Bills progressed the way they did from 2018 to 2019 that a deep playoff run was possible. But in retrospect it was still just something to imagine, it wasn't something I felt. So about 5 seconds after Taron Johnson stepped in front of that pass and it became obvious that he was going to score, for the first time this millennium I finally felt it. What a moment. What a season. Edited January 17, 2021 by HappyDays 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figster Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Augie said: Great write up as usual. Congrats on being at such a momentous game! The amazing part to me was that ripping wind didn’t stop the team that threw almost exclusively, and didn’t really help the team that ran almost exclusively. Holding them to 3 points still has me shaking my head, in a very good way! One of our more football savvy posters ( think it was @Rochesterfan ) Had commented earlier in the season when everyone was questioning the Bills overall level of talent on D. Not in these exact words. Buffalo has the talent and it had more to do with the proper scheming to match player personnel then lack of talent. (Prophetic words of wisdom IMO) Edited January 17, 2021 by Figster 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyDays Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Kwai San said: On the TV down here in FL I could feel the intensity of those fans. Not sure why they were so much louder than last week against the colts but they sure seemed like it. I think I know why. As Bills fans we became so used to the team being good this year that we felt entitled in the Colts game. Who cares, it's just the 7th seed. The Bills won't have any problem beating them. Just another step to take before the real challenge. So I think Bills fans at the stadium didn't go there to watch a football game, they went there for the experience of a Bills playoff win. And of course the game didn't follow that script so I imagine it was a bit deflating until the very end. This time around everyone came in anxious. The fans expected a tough game and they got one. That mindset and nervous energy probably upped the intensity in the stands. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fasteddie Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 1 hour ago, scuba guy said: One thing i noticed right away about the,Diggs td was there were only 2 dbs out there covering with 3 wrs Did the Ravens just miss the boat or did they not see the extra we Even the announcers did not say anything What a surprise! NBC has turned into the 4th best NFL broadcaster before our very eyes. They are so busy talking about Lamar Jackson that they don't help you feel that you are there for the game. I couldn't help but laugh hearing Michele Tafoya report that the wind had just about stopped when the flags were whipping around and the uprights were waving back and forth. Clueless! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukestreetking Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 3 hours ago, Ralonzo said: Best Rockpile yet. As if James Michener wrote a short essay called "Orchard Park" I'm honestly not trying to wash balls here but... that is a freaking genius comment. Never ceases to amaze what can be found at TSW. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw66 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 7 hours ago, Virgil said: Was getting into the stadium any different now? I was wondering about the bunching of fans trying to get into the gates Walked right in. Our entry time was 6:45. No lines at all. It was like walking into Home Depot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Just now, Shaw66 said: Walked right in. Our entry time was 6:45. No lines at all. It was like walking into Home Depot. Ah, so they scheduled when you could enter the stadium. That makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LABILLBACKER Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Great visual description Shaw. Glad you could experience that. We at home screaming in our living rooms had the same anxiety. I agree Lamar will struggle losing the running qb moniker. I'm still rooting for a dome for Josh. No matter how strong your arm is, no qb likes throwing in the wind. And its always windy in Buffalo. This can be a special season from a special team. One thing I know for sure is they'll always play hard for each other because they're a family. I think the process is about being a family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw66 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 7 hours ago, Logic said: I just keep coming back to this: the Bills defense held Lamar Jackson to 34 yards rushing, sacked him four times, and picked off an end zone pass and returned it for six points. On national TV. In the playoffs. I still can't believe it. Thanks for this. Last night I tried to write the review, and I realized I didn't know much about what actually happened. The experience was really intense, but as everyone knows, it didn't have many exciting plays. No big, clear momentum shifts. For me, the game really was all about one play. But I knew there had to be another story. This Jackson stat line you recite is the other story. The Ravens only go where Jackson goes, and we saw what happens when he gets stopped: 3 points. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewPort71 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Great review of the game and the stadium experience. A++ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw66 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 Here's an interesting piece of pointless trivia: If you go to the games, you know they list fantasy football stats and other modern, pseudo-analytic stuff on the video display from time to time. One of the lists they show is the top five fastest runs during the game. Late in the game, the fastest run on the field was Andre Roberts. Second was Taron Johnson. Third was Huntley. Fourth was Josh Allen. Fifth was Josh. Earlier in the second half it had been Roberts, Allen, Allen, Lamar, Lamar. Interesting that the Bills defense contained Lamar so well that he never had a chance to turn on the after-burners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts