THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - The Complete Package

[Dr.Sack]

Belichick tried to make Allen impatient and force the issue. Allen carved him up with the right mix of check downs, crossers, and QB scrambles. 

[LABILLBACKER]

Mac Jones is a child and will never be a long term qb. Josh Allen is an absolute freak. Count the Sanders and Kumerow TD drops and JA has 5.  Thrilled for Bates and Lil Dirty playing well. Best game of the year for the OL. Must have been good presents from Josh.

    Defense play very well and our safeties shined.  We still need to find a bigtime pass rusher. And as usual the refs tried to keep NE in that game far longer than necessary. Great day for Buffalo. Now take care of business against ATL and I'll see the brethren for my first Bills game ever against the Jest.

[NickelCity]

2 hours ago, Billznut said:

Yep can’t wait to watch the moronic national media try to gracefully backpedal all their Patriots ball washing tomorrow. Should be amusing if nothing else. 

 

I wouldn't bet on it.

[HappyDays]

If you want to see just how far Allen has come, look at his stat line in the first Patriots game of 2019:

 

13/28, 153 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT, 5 rushes for 26 yards, 1 fumble

 

That's what Belichick did to him just 2 years ago. Allen has solved him. Once you've solved Belichick's defense, you've solved them all.

[LABILLBACKER]

20 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

If you want to see just how far Allen has come, look at his stat line in the first Patriots game of 2019:

 

13/28, 153 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT, 5 rushes for 26 yards, 1 fumble

 

That's what Belichick did to him just 2 years ago. Allen has solved him. Once you've solved Belichick's defense, you've solved them all.

Those shovel passes were brilliant. Pretend your about to run then shovel it to a wide open player just before crossing the LOS. I counted at least 6 drops today or Josh's stat line would've been sick.

[SactoBillFan]

Bills never punted. That was awesome.

[Punching Bag]

Reminds me of no punt game except our opponent did not do so well.

 

[Nextmanup]

6 hours ago, AlfaBill said:

I thought the same thing today regarding JAs facial expression. He was calm and determined. There was a replay they showed of a 4th down play. JAs face was stone as he scanned the field and delivered the strike. 

I wonder if he benefitted from the game being in Foxborough, or if that aspect of it mattered at all.  

 

He seemed calmer than he would have been at home, and you could really sense his confidence and experience, etc...like the "veteran" Josh Allen is here now.

 

 

 

[Buddo]

 

 

I think that that is possibly the perfect summation of Josh's play yesterday.

 

Something else that I've either read, or heard, but cannot remember where, is that Josh announced to teammates that when he woke up yesterday, he felt violent.

 

Quite possibly something in the way of a motivational speech.

 

On the UK broadcast, they also had Jordan Palmer at some point, talking about Allen, in referene to one of the presenters calling him a 'dawg' .

 

Palmer basically said that off the field Allen is one of the nicest people you could wish to meet, but on the field, that whole different animal surfaces, making him one of the toughest guys you would ever not wish to meet, on the football field.

 

I think we can all see it, it just is nice to have it confirmed by people who are genuinely in the know.

 

The Bills might have won the game more handily, but for all the Patsies just about hung with, for a fair time, it took just about everything in their trick play book on offense, to do so.

 

Allen ended up with a QBR of 104, which isn't shabby, yet doesn't account for at least 3 drops (2 for what should have been TDs), and how viciously he gashed the Patsies D with his legs. It was a man amongst boys performance.

 

For all of the deserved superlatives Josh will get, this was still a complete team performance (well, apart from Haack, who didn't have to do anything, lol), with plenty of good performances around - good gameplans, coaching, and, by the players, execution.

 

The D simply wasn't going to be passed on, and while they did give up rushing TDs, when the Patsies are using an extra lineman often, it isn't going to be easy to stop a team completely. Thing is, they always looked like they could stop them enough, with the offense almost scoring at will.

 

I'm sure the Patsies idea of how to win was TOP (rushing) and stopping the Bills from scoring. Their problem with doing that was that they didn't have gale force winds to help them stop Allen.

 

Have we found, by accident rather than design, our best O-Line combination? After Boettger had to go off, it seemed as though with Dawkins back in, Bates at LG with Williams at RG and Brown at RT, we had an O-Line that was all on the same page.

 

One last big shout out to Knox, whose blocking skills were evident a lot, often going against Judon. He was a beast out there, and if he continues to catch the football consistently, he might just become the answer we have needed at TE. He just needs to replicate that performance on a regular basis, and he can become a star in his own right.

 

Great win, just need to keep the performance levels up for the next two games to get a home field for the playoffs.

 

Found where the 'violence on his mind' came from, and it's Peter King. So it must have been the UK broadcast, as he regularly does a segment there.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Buddo
Added source for 'violence' quote.

[Billsfan1972]

Pump the brakes..... Yep this was the Bills offense we expected, however let them get through Atl & NYJ and get ready for the playoffs.  

 

Still thought the defense a little soft, only one real turnover and while NE was 1-10 on third down, they conversely were 5-6  on fourth and were still within 5 in the fourth quarter.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Billsfan1972

[ChevyVanMiller]

Thanks for the great post, as usual, @Shaw66. I really appreciate the effort that you make to get your write-up to the board in a timely manner, while the game is still fresh in our minds.

 

I agree with the players that you singled out for platitudes and would like to add that Singletary ran hard yesterday and has really stepped up in the last month.

 

Go Bills!

[bmur66]

The meanest dog got his piece of meat back

Edited December 27, 2021 by bmur66

[Sherlock Holmes]

My my how the tables have turned!! What the Bills did to the Cheaters and Refs yesterday:

 

[Billsfan1972]

Shaw you commented on the defense starting the game with a very impressive 3 & out, but frankly three times the Bills scored TD's and each time NE responded with 75 yard TD drives of their own.

 

The reason NE was held under their averages was because the Bills offense was so good and kept them on the sidelines.  

 

The defense was not that good.

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

12 minutes ago, bmur66 said:

The meanest dog got his piece of meat back

 

I was just thinking that.  Josh was the lead dog on the pack that got dinner.

[BrainwashedBillsFan]

12 hours ago, Iiiiiiiiive Got a Feeeelin said:

I dont know if this was ever discussed previously you bring up some new and intriguing points

 

Hahaha I’m hoping if it’s said over and over that McDermott will see 😂

12 hours ago, HoofHearted said:

I assume you think the big 31 yard gain was his fault?

Just one of the many 

[Shaw66]

I have a friend who sends me clips from the Boston Globe occasionally.  He sent two this morning.  The first is from Dan Shaughnessy, who writes well but who has been a merciless Bills basher and Brady/Belichick jock sniffer for years.   Here's what my friend sent me.:

 

Quote

 

Remember how we laughed at Buffalo just three weeks ago? Nervous Nellie coach Sean McDermott was badly outcoached by Bill Belichick, then refused to give the Hoodie credit in a bizarre postgame presser. 
 

It was a mirage. It turns out that the Pats are not as good as the Bills, certainly not without a hurricane wind serving as New England’s 12th man. 

 

Allen is a much better quarterback than Jones (two more interceptions), and New England’s defense is something of a myth. The Bills were good for a whopping 428 yards of total offense Sunday and never punted. Not once (for the first time in Belichick’s career as a head coach). If not for a couple of end zone drops by Bills receivers, this would have been an embarrassing rout.

 And then he sent this, from Christopher Gasper at the Globe:

 

Quote

Here’s a scary thought: This is what life is like for Belichick and the Patriots when they’re on the other side of the Quarterback Gap in the AFC East. For all those years, the Patriots prospered because they had You Know Who at quarterback and Belichick on the sidelines. They still have the sideline sorcerer, but he couldn’t conjure up any spell to combat Allen’s magic.

 

Alarmingly, that’s becoming a trend. Allen was once the quintessential million-dollar arm, budget-brain QB that Belichick could befuddle. But the only way the Patriots have stopped him in the last three meetings is relying on the wind to do it, the case in the teams’ first meeting Dec. 6 in Orchard Park, N.Y.

 

Now 3-4 in his career vs. the Patriots, Allen threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns last year here. He has thrown eight touchdowns and zero interceptions in his last three games against Belichick. He has turned the ball over once, a fumble on a botched handoff to Matt Breida in the first meeting this season that was charged to Allen’s ledger.

 

The Bills quarterback is the acting gatekeeper in the AFC East, and the Patriots no longer have the key to slowing him down. The NFL is a quarterback league, and the AFC East is not a territorial exception to that rule.

 

Bills players and fans have waited forever for this type of divisional deliverance, living on the positive side of the franchise QB equation where their franchise passer outweighs whatever advantages the opposition wields.

 

[HoofHearted]

30 minutes ago, BrainwashedBillsFan said:

Hahaha I’m hoping if it’s said over and over that McDermott will see 😂

Just one of the many 

Check this out then.

[Shaw66]

51 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Shaw you commented on the defense starting the game with a very impressive 3 & out, but frankly three times the Bills scored TD's and each time NE responded with 75 yard TD drives of their own.

 

The reason NE was held under their averages was because the Bills offense was so good and kept them on the sidelines.  

 

The defense was not that good.

 

There's a reason I ignore your posts.    

 

Was Mac Jones on the sidelines when he posted that glowing 31.4 passer rating?   

 

The Bills team passer rating this morning is 95.5, and the Patriots is 93.4.   For all I know, before yesterday's game, the Patriots had a better passer rating than the Bills.   As you point out, a lot of the time it was a one score game, so the Patriots were free to run a balanced offense and not rely exclusively on the passing game.  That meant the Bills had to defend the whole field for most of the game.   So, that's what they did, and the Pats had a 31.4 passer rating.   The defense forced the Pats to be one dimensional, and one dimension was not good enough to beat the Bills.  

 

The Bills' defense is #2 in the league in third down efficiency at 33%.   Pats were 1 for 10 on third down.   Even when you throw in the 5 for 6 on fourth downs, the Pats were 6-16, and that average is still one of the best in the league.   The defense did that to the Patriots, not the offense.  

 

There is one reason the Pats finished the game behind in time of possession, and that reason is that the Bills defense took the ball away from the Pats in the first half, and the Bills ended the game with, effectively, one more possession than they should have had.  Take away the INT, and the time possession would have been much closer to equal.  Why did the takeaway happen?   It was 100% on the defense - that's how. 

 

Don't tell us the defense wasn't good.  

[Billsfan1972]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

There's a reason I ignore your posts.    

 

Was Mac Jones on the sidelines when he posted that glowing 31.4 passer rating?   

 

The Bills team passer rating this morning is 95.5, and the Patriots is 93.4.   For all I know, before yesterday's game, the Patriots had a better passer rating than the Bills.   As you point out, a lot of the time it was a one score game, so the Patriots were free to run a balanced offense and not rely exclusively on the passing game.  That meant the Bills had to defend the whole field for most of the game.   So, that's what they did, and the Pats had a 31.4 passer rating.   The defense forced the Pats to be one dimensional, and one dimension was not good enough to beat the Bills.  

 

The Bills' defense is #2 in the league in third down efficiency at 33%.   Pats were 1 for 10 on third down.   Even when you throw in the 5 for 6 on fourth downs, the Pats were 6-16, and that average is still one of the best in the league.   The defense did that to the Patriots, not the offense.  

 

There is one reason the Pats finished the game behind in time of possession, and that reason is that the Bills defense took the ball away from the Pats in the first half, and the Bills ended the game with, effectively, one more possession than they should have had.  Take away the INT, and the time possession would have been much closer to equal.  Why did the takeaway happen?   It was 100% on the defense - that's how. 

 

Don't tell us the defense wasn't good.  

Go ahead & ignore.....  Mac Jones is a rookie & was playing from behind the entire game.  

 

Yes there were a few big plays by the Bills.  The Int (and frankly the second meant nothing as it was on fourth down and a hail mary) was a great tip drill and let's give them credit.

 

The big play was after the Sanders drop, the Bills did what you want a defense to do.  First down was what everyone knew was coming the 1 yard run to give them breathing room.  The second a completion and then the important play to stop them on third down.  I give them credit.

 

Next possession an iffy RTP call and then regardless of the refs picking up the marker on the Hughes' late hit, the undisciplined 15 yard penalty on NE turned 2nd & 3 to 18 and that was the real backbreaker. 

 

The second half NE effectively scored when they needed to on both their possessions and then  the second int.

 

Sorry the defense was okay at best.  

 

Shaw your posts are great however sometimes you are overly complimentary on the Bills & particularly McD.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by Billsfan1972