THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - First Draft, Second Draft

[Shaw66]

Yeah, yeah.  I said I wouldn't write these every week, and here I go, for the second week in a row.  I actually wrote two this week.

 

FIRST DRAFT

 

“You Call that Football?”

 

How long are we going to have to put up with this sorry excuse for football?

 

I mean, year after year, it’s the same old story.  Turnovers, miscues, bad clock management.  When will the Bills get a coach who will eliminate the mistakes, and players who do more than ask the crowd to make noise?

 

Look at their game against the Steelers.  Where should I start?  Well, let’s start at the start: Taiwan Jones butchering the opening kickoff.  Caught it, dropped it, picked it up, dropped, picked it up again and got tackled at the two.  The two!  Three plays later, the Bills’ offense was back to the bench and the defense was on the field. 

 

All game long, the Bills struggled to put together those long, clock-eating drives that all the best teams use to control the game.  It was embarrassing:  Three possessions that lasted just three plays, four possessions of just two plays, and one possession for one play.  Eight possessions of three or fewer players!  Really?  And when they finally put together nice-looking long drives, nine- and ten-play drives into the red zone, they gave the ball away, once on an Allen interception and once on a goal-line fumble. 

 

If you think I’m exaggerating, look at the stats:  The Steelers had 23 first downs compared to the Bills’ 21.  The Steelers dominated time of possession 36 minutes to 24.  The Bills are going to wear out their defense, asking them to be on the field all the time. 

 

The Bills have to learn to be opportunistic.  They can’t let great opportunities turn into missed opportunities.  The Bills had only two takeaways and squandered both.  The first was a fumble recovery at the Steelers’ 21.  They managed to get into the red zone for one play, then bumbled their way out again and missed the field goal.  The second was an interception when the game was already out of reach, and after the pick they managed -6 yards before giving up the ball.  Pitiful.

 

It seemed every player bungled something.  Dion Dawkins had his customary procedure penalty, Von Miller jumped so far off-side he practically needed a timeout to return to the defensive huddle.  Kahlil Shakir had a long run called most of the way back because – get this: he stepped out of bounds.  And he let a punt get past him and roll inside the five.  Gabriel Davis had only three catches on six targets.  Tremaine Edmunds was invisible, literally; I didn’t see him make one play all day.  James Cook had four measly touches, and Zach Moss had one. 

 

By halftime, the crowd had given up and stopped making noise.  They did come alive for an occasional play in the second half, but most of the time they just stood around laughing, like they thought they were at a party or something.  They weren’t taking the Steelers seriously at all. 

 

Some people will say I’m just too critical, but everything I’ve said is absolutely true.

 

At least the lady who sang the national anthem was great.

 

SECOND DRAFT

 

“Now, That’s What I Call Football!”

 

Have you ever seen such amazing football?

 

The same old story seems like such ancient history.  Turnovers, miscues, bad clock management, nothing matters.  When you’re good, you can overcome your mistakes and still dominate.. 

 

Look at the Bills’ game against the Steelers.  Where should I start?  Well, let’s start at the start: Taiwan Jones butchering the opening kickoff.  Caught it, dropped it, picked it up, dropped, picked it up again and got tackled at the two.  The two!  Three plays later, Josh Allen drops an absolute dime on Gabriel Davis for a 98-yard TD.  And that wasn’t even Davis’s best play of the game. 

 

All game long, the Bills struggled to put together those long, clock-eating drives that all the best teams use to control the game.  Why?  Because, get this: The Bills had a three-play touchdown drive, TWO two-play touchdown drives, and one ONE-play touchdown drive.  Add in two kneel-down possessions (to end the half and the game) and two three-and-outs in the second half, and the Bills had eight possessions of three or fewer players!  The Bills had only three long drives – one for a touchdown and two that ended with turnovers.

 

The game was so lopsided that some of the statistics were upside down:  The Steelers had 23 first downs compared to the Bills’ 21.  The Steelers dominated time of possession 36 minutes to 24.  The Steelers ran 72 plays compared to 54 by the Bills.  The Bills are going to wear out their defense, asking them to be on the field all the time. 

 

Of course, some other stats were equally lopsided:  The Bills averaged 10.2 yards per play!  The Bills gained 552 yards and would certainly have gotten to 600 and maybe even 700 if they hadn’t taken their foot off the gas in the third quarter.

 

The Bills have to learn to be opportunistic.  They can’t let great opportunities turn into missed opportunities.  When the game was still in doubt (which wasn’t long), the Bills recovered a fumble at the Steelers’ 21.  They managed to get into the red zone for one play, then bumbled their way out again and missed the field goal.  There wasn’t much else to complain about.

 

Kahlil Shakir looks like he’s a keeper, even with a drop of a picture-perfect Allen throw.  He had multiple sure-handed catches, including one for a touchdown.  I don’t like having a rookie return punts, but he looked like a veteran back there, with a solid fair catch and with a really smart move to avoid fielding a wind-blown ball (even though the ball eventually was downed inside the five).  Gabriel Davis almost had a one-handed catch, but as he pulled it in the defensive back grabbed it, too, and both ran with the ball for several strides before Davis ripped the ball free for his second score. James Cook had a scintillating touchdown run, taking advantage of a big hole and then running away from the defense.  Kair Elam had an interception.  Stefon Diggs was Stefon Diggs, and Stefon Diggs is fabulous.

 

Josh Allen deserves his own paragraph.

 

By halftime, the rout was on.  The Steelers had no answers for the Bills defense, and they couldn’t stop the Bills’ offense.  All things considered, rookie Kenny Pickett played pretty well.  Our old buddy Levi Wallace got finger tips on what would have been a beautiful long completion, and maybe a touchdown, to Diggs.

 

It seems too good to be true.

 

Even the lady who sang the national anthem was great.

 

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.

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by Shaw66

[CSBill]

Always fun Shaw. Thank you. And when they're winning, you can't help but contribute. I like the creativity, well done!

[Warcodered]

12 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Tremaine Edmunds was invisible, literally; I didn’t see him make one play all day.

[slipkid]

Thanks for the multiple encores, Shaw. My weekly reading for years.

 

Even by your high standards, this is brilliant!

[RiotAct]

LOL - awesome!

[Dr. K]

You are very clever.

 

Thanks!

[GETTOTHE50]

i dont get the point of the first draft

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Well done OP!!

[JoPoy88]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

Yeah, yeah.  I said I wouldn't write these every week, and here I go, for the second week in a row.  I actually wrote two this week.

 

FIRST DRAFT

 

“You Call that Football?”

 

How long are we going to have to put up with this sorry excuse for football?

 

I mean, year after year, it’s the same old story.  Turnovers, miscues, bad clock management.  When will the Bills get a coach who will eliminate the mistakes, and players who do more than ask the crowd to make noise?

 

Look at their game against the Steelers.  Where should I start?  Well, let’s start at the start: Taiwan Jones butchering the opening kickoff.  Caught it, dropped it, picked it up, dropped, picked it up again and got tackled at the two.  The two!  Three plays later, the Bills’ offense was back to the bench and the defense was on the field. 

 

All game long, the Bills struggled to put together those long, clock-eating drives that all the best teams use to control the game.  It was embarrassing:  Three possessions that lasted just three plays, four possessions of just two plays, and one possession for one play.  Eight possessions of three or fewer players!  Really?  And when they finally put together nice-looking long drives, nine- and ten-play drives into the red zone, they gave the ball away, once on an Allen interception and once on a goal-line fumble. 

 

If you think I’m exaggerating, look at the stats:  The Steelers had 23 first downs compared to the Bills’ 21.  The Steelers dominated time of possession 36 minutes to 24.  The Bills are going to wear out their defense, asking them to be on the field all the time. 

 

The Bills have to learn to be opportunistic.  They can’t let great opportunities turn into missed opportunities.  The Bills had only two takeaways and squandered both.  The first was a fumble recovery at the Steelers’ 21.  They managed to get into the red zone for one play, then bumbled their way out again and missed the field goal.  The second was an interception when the game was already out of reach, and after the pick they managed -6 yards before giving up the ball.  Pitiful.

 

It seemed every player bungled something.  Dion Dawkins had his customary procedure penalty, Von Miller jumped so far off-side he practically needed a timeout to return to the defensive huddle.  Kahlil Shakir had a long run called most of the way back because – get this: he stepped out of bounds.  And he let a punt get past him and roll inside the five.  Gabriel Davis had only three catches on six targets.  Tremaine Edmunds was invisible, literally; I didn’t see him make one play all day.  James Cook had four measly touches, and Zach Moss had one. 

 

By halftime, the crowd had given up and stopped making noise.  They did come alive for an occasional play in the second half, but most of the time they just stood around laughing, like they thought they were at a party or something.  They weren’t taking the Steelers seriously at all. 

 

Some people will say I’m just too critical, but everything I’ve said is absolutely true.

 

At least the lady who sang the national anthem was great.

 

SECOND DRAFT

 

“Now, That’s What I Call Football!”

 

Have you ever seen such amazing football?

 

The same old story seems like such ancient history.  Turnovers, miscues, bad clock management, nothing matters.  When you’re good, you can overcome your mistakes and still dominate.. 

 

Look at the Bills’ game against the Steelers.  Where should I start?  Well, let’s start at the start: Taiwan Jones butchering the opening kickoff.  Caught it, dropped it, picked it up, dropped, picked it up again and got tackled at the two.  The two!  Three plays later, Josh Allen drops an absolute dime on Gabriel Davis for a 98-yard TD.  And that wasn’t even Davis’s best play of the game. 

 

All game long, the Bills struggled to put together those long, clock-eating drives that all the best teams use to control the game.  Why?  Because, get this: The Bills had a three-play touchdown drive, TWO two-play touchdown drives, and one ONE-play touchdown drive.  Add in two kneel-down possessions (to end the half and the game) and two three-and-outs in the second half, and the Bills had eight possessions of three or fewer players!  The Bills had only three long drives – one for a touchdown and two that ended with turnovers.

 

The game was so lopsided that some of the statistics were upside down:  The Steelers had 23 first downs compared to the Bills’ 21.  The Steelers dominated time of possession 36 minutes to 24.  The Steelers ran 72 plays compared to 54 by the Bills.  The Bills are going to wear out their defense, asking them to be on the field all the time. 

 

Of course, some other stats were equally lopsided:  The Bills averaged 10.2 yards per play!  The Bills gained 552 yards and would certainly have gotten to 600 and maybe even 700 if they hadn’t taken their foot off the gas in the third quarter.

 

The Bills have to learn to be opportunistic.  They can’t let great opportunities turn into missed opportunities.  When the game was still in doubt (which wasn’t long), the Bills recovered a fumble at the Steelers’ 21.  They managed to get into the red zone for one play, then bumbled their way out again and missed the field goal.  There wasn’t much else to complain about.

 

Kahlil Shakir looks like he’s a keeper, even with a drop of a picture-perfect Allen throw.  He had multiple sure-handed catches, including one for a touchdown.  I don’t like having a rookie return punts, but he looked like a veteran back there, with a solid fair catch and with a really smart move to avoid fielding a wind-blown ball (even though the ball eventually was downed inside the five).  Gabriel Davis almost had a one-handed catch, but as he pulled it in the defensive back grabbed it, too, and both ran with the ball for several strides before Davis ripped the ball free for his second score. James Cook had a scintillating touchdown run, taking advantage of a big hole and then running away from the defense.  Kair Elam had an interception.  Stefon Diggs was Stefon Diggs, and Stefon Diggs is fabulous.

 

Josh Allen deserves his own paragraph.

 

By halftime, the rout was on.  The Steelers had no answers for the Bills defense, and they couldn’t stop the Bills’ offense.  All things considered, rookie Kenny Pickett played pretty well.  Our old buddy Levi Wallace got finger tips on what would have been a beautiful long completion, and maybe a touchdown, to Diggs.

 

It seems too good to be true.

 

Even the lady who sang the national anthem was great.

 

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.

 

 

keep it going shaw good stuff 

[Virgil]

46 minutes ago, RunJoshRun said:

Elam stunk today even with the INT.  How many times were passes thrown at him??

It felt like the entire first quarter 

[BigAl2526]

I really enjoy watching the Bills win in blowout fashion.  No stress.  No worry.  I suppose it's too much to ask for a blowout of the Chiefs next weekend.  

[BruceVilanch]

Good work!

[WyoAZBillfan]

Thank you Shaw, great write up as always. They last two weeks have been pleasant surprises for those of us that have looked forward to this material for ages. 
Thanks again and well done. 

[Thurman#1]

Nice. 

 

Thanks, as usual.

[Shaw66]

7 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

i dont get the point of the first draft

I don't, either, but it was fun to write. 

[JMM]

Loved your first draft! 😁😁😆

[WhoTom]

That was one of your best ever, Shaw! I loved the first draft as a "trolling the trolls" piece. All you needed was a complaint about our backup QB and a comment about how the starting defense is made up of overpaid "system" players.

[machine gun kelly]

I started reading youre first draft and thought “what happened to our Rock in the Rockpile”. It took all of five seconds to start belly laughing.

 

you’re the best buddy.  I’ve been busy so not sure if we have our Virg rendering yet, but is always welcome.

[RiotAct]

11 hours ago, RunJoshRun said:

Elam stunk today even with the INT.  How many times were passes thrown at him??

Agree - and he mentioned as such in his postgame interview.  He was pretty brutal, INT notwithstanding.

[dock581]

4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I don't, either, but it was fun to write. 

It was perfect! The perspective of a negative nancy to a T. Obviously we have a terrible coach, a blind GM and a quarterback who takes too many chances😀

[Shaw66]

18 hours ago, RunJoshRun said:

Elam stunk today even with the INT.  How many times were passes thrown at him??

I really don't get this.   I don't have the advanced splits on the Steeler game, so I don't know what his defensive passer rating was, but it had to be pretty good.  Why?   Because he gave up 0 TDs and had one pick.  

 

So far as I remember, he didn't get beat for a completion deep the entire game.  That's his number 1 objective.   He was around the ball all the time.  That's why he had ten tackles.   What he didn't do well enough is find the ball when it was arriving, because if he'd done that he would have had some passes defended.   He missed a few tackles, but he always slowed the ball carrier down or got him to change direction, both of which make it easier for others to make the tackle.  

 

If he had stunk, they would have scored on him.  They didn't come close to scoring on him.  

 

Look at it this way:   When his man caught the ball, he was closer to the receiver than Levi Wallace used to be, and then he made the tackle.  That's doing his job, not stinking.  

[Dr. Who]

32 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I really don't get this.   I don't have the advanced splits on the Steeler game, so I don't know what his defensive passer rating was, but it had to be pretty good.  Why?   Because he gave up 0 TDs and had one pick.  

 

So far as I remember, he didn't get beat for a completion deep the entire game.  That's his number 1 objective.   He was around the ball all the time.  That's why he had ten tackles.   What he didn't do well enough is find the ball when it was arriving, because if he'd done that he would have had some passes defended.   He missed a few tackles, but he always slowed the ball carrier down or got him to change direction, both of which make it easier for others to make the tackle.  

 

If he had stunk, they would have scored on him.  They didn't come close to scoring on him.  

 

Look at it this way:   When his man caught the ball, he was closer to the receiver than Levi Wallace used to be, and then he made the tackle.  That's doing his job, not stinking.  

You're replying to a fella for whom intellect is his kryptonite.

[Shaw66]

6 minutes ago, Dr. Who said:

You're replying to a fella for whom intellect is his kryptonite.

I don't pay much attention to personalities here.  If I did, I'd put myself on the ignore list. 

[Don Otreply]

That was great! Thanks for the read, 👍

 

Go Bills!!!

[LeGOATski]

54 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I really don't get this.   I don't have the advanced splits on the Steeler game, so I don't know what his defensive passer rating was, but it had to be pretty good.  Why?   Because he gave up 0 TDs and had one pick.  

 

So far as I remember, he didn't get beat for a completion deep the entire game.  That's his number 1 objective.   He was around the ball all the time.  That's why he had ten tackles.   What he didn't do well enough is find the ball when it was arriving, because if he'd done that he would have had some passes defended.   He missed a few tackles, but he always slowed the ball carrier down or got him to change direction, both of which make it easier for others to make the tackle.  

 

If he had stunk, they would have scored on him.  They didn't come close to scoring on him.  

 

Look at it this way:   When his man caught the ball, he was closer to the receiver than Levi Wallace used to be, and then he made the tackle.  That's doing his job, not stinking.  

That's a good way to look at it. He struggled making a play on the ball against Pickens, but I think it was a good learning experience.

[Bob in STL]

19 hours ago, RunJoshRun said:

Elam stunk today even with the INT.  How many times were passes thrown at him??

Is your goal to make this comment in every thread?

 

He was introduced to the NFL in this game.  Every cornerback has a few bad games in their career, even Pro Bowlers.   If this was one of his then he will be just fine.  Listen to his post-game interview and learn about the player.  This kid will work very hard, and he has the potential to be a shutdown corner.  

[FLFan]

20 hours ago, RunJoshRun said:

Elam stunk today even with the INT.  How many times were passes thrown at him??

Are you planning to post this in every thread this week?

[NC Lifelong Bills fan]

Thanks for being back the past few weeks. Didn’t know trolling could be so much fun, and how incredible it is to watch our team almost make it boring. After all the lean years, it’s amazing to have no drama for most of the game. I’m curious what you might think about a McCaffrey trade, since he’s on my radar (moved to Winston-Salem NC from Buffalo in 1982.) Panthers are such a mess, reminiscent of the past 20 or so years before Josh. I really liked your two tales.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, NC Lifelong Bills fan said:

Thanks for being back the past few weeks. Didn’t know trolling could be so much fun, and how incredible it is to watch our team almost make it boring. After all the lean years, it’s amazing to have no drama for most of the game. I’m curious what you might think about a McCaffrey trade, since he’s on my radar (moved to Winston-Salem NC from Buffalo in 1982.) Panthers are such a mess, reminiscent of the past 20 or so years before Josh. I really liked your two tales.

Thanks for your comments.  

 

Frankly, I don't want McCaffrey.  Apparently, he'll cost a lot, so that's one reason I'm not interested.   But that's for Beane to figure out. 

 

Second, he seems to be injured a lot.   But, I don't care about that much either. 

 

The real reason I don't want him is that I think running backs are overrated.  If the offensive line was good enough, Motor, Moss, and Cook would be good enough.   If the line isn't good enough, McCaffrey will be neutralized.   More importantly, the Bills are never going to give a running back enough touches to be a real star.  With Allen's passing ability, the Bills are going downfield with the ball.  Sure, they'll throw it to McCaffrey once in a while, but he is not going to be the feature guy in the offense.  

 

Titans have been trying to win with Henry, Panthers try to win with McCaffrey, Giants have had four seasons with Barkley.   Cowboys and Elliott.  Featuring a running back is simply the wrong way to go in the NFL these days, and paying a lot to get a fragile all-purpose back seems like a bad idea.  

 

 

[Ayjent]

Good stuff Shaw. It really is surreal watching these Bills have games like this and Titans. They aren’t even playing clean, mistake free games.  Turnovers, miscues, dropped passes still happened as you pointed out but only changed the margin of victory.   This team is also fiery and feisty which hasn’t really been their DNA in the previous years.  I think with a few exceptions (namely 17) this team was a bit soft against physical teams, especially defensively in the past few seasons.  Not anymore.  They played hard all game even when it was long decided.

 

I’m sure the coaches aren’t thrilled with Lawson and Epeneza letting their emotions get out of control, but as a fan what I saw were guys taking exception to Pickett being a punk, especially after kicking Epeneza as he was coming off the pile.  They wanted to dominate and they didn’t want to give the coaches any reason to limit snaps.  The refs missed an easy call on Pickett kicking and it escalated over the next few plays, which is why I’m sure Epeneza was irritated with the ref ( no excuse for what everyone knows is off limits).  Pickett was getting hit hard and he seems like competitor but he also seems like pretty overconfident A-hole.  The Bills had some nasty bang bang plays on Pickett but they don’t give you red Jersey for game day (at least not yet) and if you try extending plays or running for yards good luck.  If you don’t like getting hit then don’t take those chances.  
 

The offense looks more dynamic with Shakir out there and I think it opens up the field more for everyone.  That kid looks like a mix between Woods (his slight and deceiving cuts) and Reed (long upper body with good body control) but he has a long way to go before being in the conversation with anything other than physical traits. A healthy Gabe is a huge difference maker as well.  He is so good on the deep ball and you can see how much work he has done over the years to become the player he is. 
 

I’d love to see the Bills get more going on the ground but seeing Cook finally have a big play to totally ice it was really nice.  Motor had a few good runs.  They aren’t really committed to running but I thought we’d see more runs in the fourth quarter.   I think they know running is not their bread and butter but I’d like to think they are going to try to evolve as the seasons change. 

[FTLBillsfan]

On 10/9/2022 at 11:26 PM, GETTOTHE50 said:

i dont get the point of the first draft

Simple. Even in a blowout there are things that can be improved. Love the 2 opposing glass half empty glass overflowing views.

How many fans on both sides thought Tomlin was a genius for deferring when it was 3rd and 10 at the 2?

[Shaw66]

2 hours ago, Ayjent said:

Good stuff Shaw. It really is surreal watching these Bills have games like this and Titans. They aren’t even playing clean, mistake free games.  Turnovers, miscues, dropped passes still happened as you pointed out but only changed the margin of victory.   This team is also fiery and feisty which hasn’t really been their DNA in the previous years.  I think with a few exceptions (namely 17) this team was a bit soft against physical teams, especially defensively in the past few seasons.  Not anymore.  They played hard all game even when it was long decided.

 

I’m sure the coaches aren’t thrilled with Lawson and Epeneza letting their emotions get out of control, but as a fan what I saw were guys taking exception to Pickett being a punk, especially after kicking Epeneza as he was coming off the pile.  They wanted to dominate and they didn’t want to give the coaches any reason to limit snaps.  The refs missed an easy call on Pickett kicking and it escalated over the next few plays, which is why I’m sure Epeneza was irritated with the ref ( no excuse for what everyone knows is off limits).  Pickett was getting hit hard and he seems like competitor but he also seems like pretty overconfident A-hole.  The Bills had some nasty bang bang plays on Pickett but they don’t give you red Jersey for game day (at least not yet) and if you try extending plays or running for yards good luck.  If you don’t like getting hit then don’t take those chances.  
 

The offense looks more dynamic with Shakir out there and I think it opens up the field more for everyone.  That kid looks like a mix between Woods (his slight and deceiving cuts) and Reed (long upper body with good body control) but he has a long way to go before being in the conversation with anything other than physical traits. A healthy Gabe is a huge difference maker as well.  He is so good on the deep ball and you can see how much work he has done over the years to become the player he is. 
 

I’d love to see the Bills get more going on the ground but seeing Cook finally have a big play to totally ice it was really nice.  Motor had a few good runs.  They aren’t really committed to running but I thought we’d see more runs in the fourth quarter.   I think they know running is not their bread and butter but I’d like to think they are going to try to evolve as the seasons change. 

McDermott's approach continues to amaze me. He wants a lot of players who can play all styles.  The result is the Bills o and d lines aren't as powerful as some and aren't as quick as some others.  The running backs aren't the biggest or the fastest, but they're big enough and fast enough.  

 

There are only a few constants.  Competitiveness, commitment to team and winning, intelligence.  And so, he expects his team to fight like hell on every play, because they aren't the biggest or the fastest.  That fight has been emerging over the past three seasons.  The hitting and tackling has improved season after season, and the never-back-down attitude has emerged.  

 

What's so unusual about this team is the QB is the leader when it comes to that tenaciousness.  Brady may tell his guys to be tough.  Allen doesn't have to tell them anything. - they're all motivated to keep up with him. 

 

I always think about how Mike Tomlin said he hated lining up against McDermott in college practices, because McD did everything he could every play.   I thought of it Sunday when Davis ripped the ball from Fitzpatrick.  Pure, endless determination.