THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - I Just Love the Bills

[Shaw66]

Not that anyone cares, but I’ve reached a new plateau in my fandom.

 

I’ve been a Bills fan since 1960.  When I was a kid, there was nothing more important to me than whether the Bills (and the Browns) won.  There was no greater weekend in my life (to that point) than when the Bills and the Browns won the AFL and NFL championship games on successive games.  A friend of mine came over to my house that Sunday night, and we talked and talked about one game, then the other, then the first, over and over.  It was great.

 

In the Super Bowl years, I absolutely ached for a Lombardi.  It hurt each year when they lost, and it hurt doubly as I watched my kids suffer through the losses, too. 

When I began writing the Rockpile Review, I allowed the anxiety associated with the games to grow, as I watched and studied and reviewed, analyzed data, read other columns.  Every season was a disappointment.

 

Somehow, this season, a lot has changed.  I’m still a fan, I look forward to every game, and I’m thrilled when the Bills win.  What’s changed is that I’ve gotten more or less non-judgmental.  I don’t think much about why some play didn’t work, and I don’t think much about who’s to blame.  If the Bills win, great.  If they lose, I feel bad for the players, but I tend to let it go.  My attitude is sort of like watching my ten-year-old kid’s game – great if they win, sorry for my kid if he loses. 

 

I don’t how this transition happened, but I definitely seem to have entered a new stage to my fandom.  And it’s nice.

 

And so it was that I was sitting in Highmark Stadium, desperately wanting a win but knowing all along that if the Bills lost, I’d just drive home the next day and hardly give the game a second thought.  When Bass missed the field goal, the irony of it being wide right didn’t even occur to me.  I just knew the game was over, and the next day would be a nice day. 

 

So, if you’re looking for in-depth analysis, it ain’t here.  Someone else can fret over whether Allen should have thrown underneath to Diggs, why they tried the fake punt, who blew the coverage on Kelce, but I don’t worry about it.  It happened. 

 

Here are some thoughts about the game:

 

I love going to those games.   Crowd was amazing.   Plays were amazing.  It's actually better to go to a game like that if you aren't a fan of either team, because then you can enjoy the plays that BOTH teams make.  

 

Fundamentally, the Bills weren't good enough.   KC's offense was fabulous - scored on every possession but one.  The book on KC was to beat them you have to hold them under 20.  That's when they lose.  The Bills defense wasn't good enough.  The real killer was the end of the game.  Bills miss the field goal, they need the Chiefs to go three and out, everyone knows the Chiefs are going to run the ball, and the Bills gave them 8 yards on a run up the middle.  Game ended right there.   Just horrible.  

 

Do you want to know what the worst sound is that I’ve every heard in that stadium?  Bass’s kick went up, and whole stadium went silent, except for the sound of about 1000 people cheering under the scoreboard.  That’s where the Chiefs fans were, and they could see the ball sailing wide.  It sounded like people cheering in some imaginary stadium next door.  Horrible sound. 

 

I think the problem with the defense is that although it's very effective, it's very predictable.  It's a bend-don't-break defense.   They gave up a lot of yards during the season, but they were fourth in points allowed.   That's a great defense for the regular season, but when you play against the best offenses, and the best offensive coordinators, it puts you at a disadvantage.   The Bills need a playoff defense, and that’s something I’m sure McDermott will work on.

 

Andy Reid is a special offensive coach, with decades of experience.  With Mahomes at QB and against a predictable defense, Reid gives the Chiefs a big advantage.   Reid always had a play to run, he seemed always to be a step ahead of the Bills.   The result was all of those explosive plays, and the Bills didn't have answers.  The Bills needed some defensive stops, and they couldn't get them.  The best stop they got was a prayer, the fumble out of bounds in the end zone. 

 

On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs had one of the best defenses in the league this year, but there was nothing to complain about with the Bills offense.   Well, James Cook dropped what should have been a touchdown in the red zone.  Diggs should have caught the incredible bomb from Allen - I haven't seen the replay, but I think that was a 65-yard throw that hit Diggs on the run. 

 

Joe Brady wasn’t great in the red zone.  He needed better answers.

 

Allen was great.   I think he's matured, and we're finally starting to see the complete package.   Mahomes is the only guy who throws as well as Allen, Jackson is the only guy who runs better than Allen.  He now is running the offense with discipline and intelligence.   The mature Josh Allen began to emerge this season, and it was a sight to behold.  He is an incredible gift to Bills fans. 

 

How about the future?  It’s bright. 

 

Yeah, yeah, Bills have an old roster and cap issues, but it's all just talk.   When you have an old roster, you have more experience.   I'll take Josh Allen now over Josh Allen four years ago because, well, he's older.   All that young roster stuff is baloney.   Rosters turn over all the time.  Rams only had two guys on the roster from the team that won the Super Bowl two years ago.  Think about that!   

 

So, yeah, some of the Bills will be gone.  Hyde will be the biggest loss, but they have his replacement on the team.  Poyer probably will be back.   Von Miller is old, but he's still recovering from his ACL, and he can still play.   Bills had one of the best offenses and one of the best defenses in the league, and they'll turn over parts of the lineup like they always do, and they'll be fine.  They'll get two or three rookies who will play, and two or three free agents will play.   Allen, Cook, Diggs, Knox, Kincaid, Shakir are all back, so they have their skill guys on offense, and the whole offensive line will be back.  Milano and Bernard will be back at the linebacker spots, and the Bills should have both starting corners back, too.  

 

I listened to McDermott’s and Beane’s season-ending pressers, and it encouraged me.  They’re on the job.  They’re working actively to make the team better.  They don’t talk so much about it anymore, but there’s a process, and they’re sticking to it.  When McDermott talked about Josh and Bernard and Shakir and Kincaid, I could hear the excitement in his voice – those are the kinds of guys he wants on his team and he can build around.  He didn’t talk about White or Milano, because they weren’t with the team at the end, but they’re the guys he wants, too.  And Taron Johnson and Dawkins and, well, keep naming them. 

 

When Josh Allen finished his junior season in high school, do you think his coaches sat around bemoaning the loss of their seniors and wondering what they were going to do?  No.  All they thought was, “We have Josh Allen and the other teams don’t.  All we have to do is work with the guys who show up at tryouts, and we’ll be fine.”  That’s essentially what Beane and McDermott were saying.  “We may not have Davis, but we’ll have someone.  We may not have Jones at tackle, but we’ll have someone.  We may not have Hyde at safety, but we’ll have someone.  We have Josh Allen and the other teams don’t.”

 

It’s incredibly difficult to win the Super Bowl.  By the divisional round in the playoffs, all the teams are good.   Packers were good.  Texans were good.  Every game is a tough game.  All you can do is work at getting better, every day, every week, every season.  That’s what the Bills do. 

 

The Bills will keep getting better.  

 

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 every-day 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.

[Success]

Such excellent perspective here.

 

And the proper one.  I was telling my kids - as a fan, I did literally everything I could possibly do to help them win by wearing my lucky shirt. Which is to say, as fans, we can't really do or change anything.  The coaches coach, the players play, and all we can do is deal with and hopefully accept the results.

 

I'm also older, and feel my attitude changing.  I'm not less of a fan at all, but I accept losses like this one more easily.  I have no power over what happens.  I plan to just enjoy watching Buffalo Bills football, which is pretty easy w/ one of the most entertaining players in the league, and hoping that we eventually get one.  And if we don't, it's not a tragedy.  A lot of things in the world are tragedies.  Never seeing your team win it all is kind of a bummer, but it's minor in the scheme of things.

 

I love my Bills, and always will.  

 

 

[WhoTom]

6 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

It's a bend-don't-break defense.   They gave up a lot of yards during the season, but they were fourth in points allowed.   That's a great defense for the regular season, but when you play against the best offenses, and the best offensive coordinators, it puts you at a disadvantage.   The Bills need a playoff defense, and that’s something I’m sure McDermott will work on.

 

Great post, Shaw, and I agree overall. Regarding the quoted part, our D was decimated by injuries. Even some of the more capable backups were injured, leaving us with third-stringers to defend against the Chiefs' high-powered offense. I know it's supposed to be "next man up," but there's a reason the "next man" is a backup and not a starter. With a slightly better performance by our LBs and CBs, I think we'd be celebrating a victory this week.

 

 

[Forward Progress]

Your Rockpile Review is my favorite read each week.  It provides the perfect balance of passionate fan with level-headed perspective that I really enjoy. 

 

As much as every playoff loss hurts, these are the glory years to be a Bills fan.  In a strange way it was easier to be a fan of a team with no expectations, where every win is a pleasant surprise.  Learning to enjoy the down days of a perennial contender takes a different mindset.  I'm ready to fast-forward through the off-season and start 2024.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

 

[Punch]

21 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Not that anyone cares, but I’ve reached a new plateau in my fandom.

I care, and I'm not alone. Thanks for posting this, and Go Bills.

[The BLUES Brothers]

 

42 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

but I definitely seem to have entered a new stage to my fandom.  And it’s nice.

 

My support group  (my family lol) expected me to take the loss worse than it has. I am disappointed in the loss, but very grateful for the 2nd half of the season  (especially when  we turned it on), and optimistic for the future.

 

 

[Scott7975]

41 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Not that anyone cares, but I’ve reached a new plateau in my fandom.

 

I’ve been a Bills fan since 1960.  When I was a kid, there was nothing more important to me than whether the Bills (and the Browns) won.  There was no greater weekend in my life (to that point) than when the Bills and the Browns won the AFL and NFL championship games on successive games.  A friend of mine came over to my house that Sunday night, and we talked and talked about one game, then the other, then the first, over and over.  It was great.

 

In the Super Bowl years, I absolutely ached for a Lombardi.  It hurt each year when they lost, and it hurt doubly as I watched my kids suffer through the losses, too. 

When I began writing the Rockpile Review, I allowed the anxiety associated with the games to grow, as I watched and studied and reviewed, analyzed data, read other columns.  Every season was a disappointment.

 

Somehow, this season, a lot has changed.  I’m still a fan, I look forward to every game, and I’m thrilled when the Bills win.  What’s changed is that I’ve gotten more or less non-judgmental.  I don’t think much about why some play didn’t work, and I don’t think much about who’s to blame.  If the Bills win, great.  If they lose, I feel bad for the players, but I tend to let it go.  My attitude is sort of like watching my ten-year-old kid’s game – great if they win, sorry for my kid if he loses. 

 

I don’t how this transition happened, but I definitely seem to have entered a new stage to my fandom.  And it’s nice.

 

And so it was that I was sitting in Highmark Stadium, desperately wanting a win but knowing all along that if the Bills lost, I’d just drive home the next day and hardly give the game a second thought.  When Bass missed the field goal, the irony of it being wide right didn’t even occur to me.  I just knew the game was over, and the next day would be a nice day. 

 

So, if you’re looking for in-depth analysis, it ain’t here.  Someone else can fret over whether Allen should have thrown underneath to Diggs, why they tried the fake punt, who blew the coverage on Kelce, but I don’t worry about it.  It happened. 

 

Here are some thoughts about the game:

 

I love going to those games.   Crowd was amazing.   Plays were amazing.  It's actually better to go to a game like that if you aren't a fan of either team, because then you can enjoy the plays that BOTH teams make.  

 

Fundamentally, the Bills weren't good enough.   KC's offense was fabulous - scored on every possession but one.  The book on KC was to beat them you have to hold them under 20.  That's when they lose.  The Bills defense wasn't good enough.  The real killer was the end of the game.  Bills miss the field goal, they need the Chiefs to go three and out, everyone knows the Chiefs are going to run the ball, and the Bills gave them 8 yards on a run up the middle.  Game ended right there.   Just horrible.  

 

Do you want to know what the worst sound is that I’ve every heard in that stadium?  Bass’s kick went up, and whole stadium went silent, except for the sound of about 1000 people cheering under the scoreboard.  That’s where the Chiefs fans were, and they could see the ball sailing wide.  It sounded like people cheering in some imaginary stadium next door.  Horrible sound. 

 

I think the problem with the defense is that although it's very effective, it's very predictable.  It's a bend-don't-break defense.   They gave up a lot of yards during the season, but they were fourth in points allowed.   That's a great defense for the regular season, but when you play against the best offenses, and the best offensive coordinators, it puts you at a disadvantage.   The Bills need a playoff defense, and that’s something I’m sure McDermott will work on.

 

Andy Reid is a special offensive coach, with decades of experience.  With Mahomes at QB and against a predictable defense, Reid gives the Chiefs a big advantage.   Reid always had a play to run, he seemed always to be a step ahead of the Bills.   The result was all of those explosive plays, and the Bills didn't have answers.  The Bills needed some defensive stops, and they couldn't get them.  The best stop they got was a prayer, the fumble out of bounds in the end zone. 

 

On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs had one of the best defenses in the league this year, but there was nothing to complain about with the Bills offense.   Well, James Cook dropped what should have been a touchdown in the red zone.  Diggs should have caught the incredible bomb from Allen - I haven't seen the replay, but I think that was a 65-yard throw that hit Diggs on the run. 

 

Joe Brady wasn’t great in the red zone.  He needed better answers.

 

Allen was great.   I think he's matured, and we're finally starting to see the complete package.   Mahomes is the only guy who throws as well as Allen, Jackson is the only guy who runs better than Allen.  He now is running the offense with discipline and intelligence.   The mature Josh Allen began to emerge this season, and it was a sight to behold.  He is an incredible gift to Bills fans. 

 

How about the future?  It’s bright. 

 

Yeah, yeah, Bills have an old roster and cap issues, but it's all just talk.   When you have an old roster, you have more experience.   I'll take Josh Allen now over Josh Allen four years ago because, well, he's older.   All that young roster stuff is baloney.   Rosters turn over all the time.  Rams only had two guys on the roster from the team that won the Super Bowl two years ago.  Think about that!   

 

So, yeah, some of the Bills will be gone.  Hyde will be the biggest loss, but they have his replacement on the team.  Poyer probably will be back.   Von Miller is old, but he's still recovering from his ACL, and he can still play.   Bills had one of the best offenses and one of the best defenses in the league, and they'll turn over parts of the lineup like they always do, and they'll be fine.  They'll get two or three rookies who will play, and two or three free agents will play.   Allen, Cook, Diggs, Knox, Kincaid, Shakir are all back, so they have their skill guys on offense, and the whole offensive line will be back.  Milano and Bernard will be back at the linebacker spots, and the Bills should have both starting corners back, too.  

 

I listened to McDermott’s and Beane’s season-ending pressers, and it encouraged me.  They’re on the job.  They’re working actively to make the team better.  They don’t talk so much about it anymore, but there’s a process, and they’re sticking to it.  When McDermott talked about Josh and Bernard and Shakir and Kincaid, I could hear the excitement in his voice – those are the kinds of guys he wants on his team and he can build around.  He didn’t talk about White or Milano, because they weren’t with the team at the end, but they’re the guys he wants, too.  And Taron Johnson and Dawkins and, well, keep naming them. 

 

When Josh Allen finished his junior season in high school, do you think his coaches sat around bemoaning the loss of their seniors and wondering what they were going to do?  No.  All they thought was, “We have Josh Allen and the other teams don’t.  All we have to do is work with the guys who show up at tryouts, and we’ll be fine.”  That’s essentially what Beane and McDermott were saying.  “We may not have Davis, but we’ll have someone.  We may not have Jones at tackle, but we’ll have someone.  We may not have Hyde at safety, but we’ll have someone.  We have Josh Allen and the other teams don’t.”

 

It’s incredibly difficult to win the Super Bowl.  By the divisional round in the playoffs, all the teams are good.   Packers were good.  Texans were good.  Every game is a tough game.  All you can do is work at getting better, every day, every week, every season.  That’s what the Bills do. 

 

The Bills will keep getting better.  

 

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 every-day 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.

 

This might be your best one yet.  I am not quite old enough to have started watching when you did but I am pretty close.  I think I am at the same stage as you but I do like to still look at plays and form an opinion on them.  Not so much as to nitpick plays but for knowledge and fun.

 

The Bills are going to be great as long as Josh Allen is here.  He is one of the best in the league and always will be.  I enjoy each and every game.  I was disappointed in the loss because I felt like it was there to take and I am tired of not getting over the Chiefs hump.  I am not mad though.  I am basically just sad the season is over and its such a long wait to get back into it.

[Marcus Aurelius]

 

Anti everything that Über-dork Tyler Dunn wrote in his asinine article  ... Awesome.

[BeastMaster]

Congratulations on finally accepting the fate of being a Bills fan

 

I will never accept it, and will continue to use my pain to fuel me as an individual 

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, Success said:

I'm not less of a fan at all, but I accept losses like this one more easily. 

I feel the opposite. The losses are getting harder. 

I was able to deal with the losses during the drought much more easily.

[Dubie54]

Thanks for putting down on paper what I have been thinking/feeling over the past few days! Your change in perspective on the Bills over the years is very similar to mine.

 

I do feel strongly that the Bills are missing an experienced and innovative offensive mind to take this offense to the next level and to further develop Josh. While I agree we are short another game break receiver, I do believe that we had enough offensive pieces to win that game. It's how we used them that resulted in the loss. Scoring just 7 points in the 2nd half killed us. The Chiefs made the right adjustments and we didn't - simple as that. 

 

As far as the defense goes, I am sick of the bend but don't break philosophy, but maybe that's what McD felt he needed to do because he was short on talent due to injuries and was just trying to use what he had the best he could. We had Oliver and Jones and they still ran the ball up the gut on us at will during the second half. With Milano, Bernard, Tre, Benford, and a healthy Douglas and Von on the field for that game I believe the results would have been different. But I have to give enormous credit to McD and team for the defensive effort based on the injuries. I know that sounds like a cop out but no other final 8 team lost the same number of starters on defense that we did.

 

I would love to see Babich get the DC nod and while I like the run we made at the end of the year, I am just not sure about Brady. That's a very tough decision for McD/Beane. We absolutely have to have a more imaginative and balanced offense for the next 5 years in order to help Josh and take the best advantage that we can of his remaining years with us.      

[dickleyjones]

12 minutes ago, Einstein said:

I feel the opposite. The losses are getting harder. 

I was able to deal with the losses during the drought much more easily.

 

not me. i watched the games back then to find any hope at all that we might be good. the flashes of good plays and players. it was generally depressing that we didn't have much.

 

now, we have a very good team with superman at qb. win or lose, most of the time it's just awesome to watch. the incredible athleticism and unbridled aggression on both sides of the ball. every game, at almost any point, i think "we can win".  it's been a long time coming so i'm determined to enjoy the ride.

[4th&long]

I don’t know how some of you guys who are older than me do it? I’ve been a fan for 46 years and this is the first time I didn’t care they lost on one hand but on the other it is starting to bother me more as the days go on. I know at first I was so sure they would lose I turned down a free ticket to an enclosed club. I’ve been wanting one of those for years! But I knew the D was to beat up to keep up with mahomes. I didn’t expect them to be a no show! But I wasn’t going to a game to watch them lose. So I want to mad when the game ended. Hardly yelled at the tv at all during the game, only on a dropped pass. After the game I was just glad I didn’t have to sit thru anymore bills games this season. Just tired of it!

a few days on I’m thinking it’s time to start doing something else with my Sundays in the fall. I’m not going to make any statements like I’m done with the bills, I’m sure I will always root for them to win. But I am tired of getting no return. This is probably the most I’ve ever questioned myself during the season on why I watch? Why do I put myself thru this? 
 

so again I ask some of the fans who have been around since the beginning how do they do it? 

[Einstein]

3 minutes ago, dickleyjones said:

now, we have a very good team with superman at qb. win or lose, most of the time it's just awesome to watch. the incredible athleticism and unbridled aggression on both sides of the ball. every game, at almost any point, i think "we can win". 

 

See, THIS is why it's harder for me to accept the losses.

 

Before, we had below average rosters and journeymen QB's. I expected us to lose. 

Now we have a superman at QB, with a solid roster, and we are in very game. That causes me to be more invested and more desiring all those factors to lead to a win. 

[Old Coot]

4 minutes ago, 4th&long said:

I’m sure I will always root for them to win. But I am tired of getting no return. This is probably the most I’ve ever questioned myself during the season on why I watch? Why do I put myself thru this? 
 

so again I ask some of the fans who have been around since the beginning how do they do it?

Lack of passion for the Bills could be the product of at least two things:

 

1. Age: many of us become less judgmental as we become senior citizens.

 

2. With the extensice injuries to the D I saw the Bills as :Dead Man Walking" The deeper you go into the playoffs the better the opponent gets both in terms of talent and coaching.  It was only a matter of time before some astute OC tore our paper-thin D to shreds. Our only hope was that our O could run up the score but that, too, becomes harder as the opponents get better. This Bills' season was ruined by the injuries on D.

 

Wither goest this team? I don't know but I do know it will look very different next year, especially the D. Josh humongous contract kicks in so we may be limited in what we can do in free agency.

[HomeskillitMoorman]

I don't see how we are getting better though, 3 straight Divisional Round KO's after the peak of the AFCCG all the way back in 2020. 

 

Also the issue with McD's defensive philosophy you're talking about that you feel he'll work on...he hasn't worked on it for 7 years. This is the same thing he's always done. I don't see any indication of change. This has always been a defense that feasts on bad QB's and has a lot of trouble with good ones in big games. 

[Shaw66]

Wrong.  I only learned how to write 15 years ago.  Before that, I just grunted and farted. 

1 minute ago, Lost said:

 

Congrats on 63 years writing the Rockpile Review!

 

[muppy]

interesting.

 

this is the second fan introspective posting I've read on the board today. The fact this is coming up with some long time Bills fans and posters tells me this is a trending healthy thought. Basically don't allow a game to steal your joy and color your life unduly sad

 

I approve this message. GO BILLS

[Toledo Bill]

I’m also a fan since their first year. Thinking of the past… thinking back to the Harvey Johnson /kay Stevenson years people don’t know how good we have it now.  Getting older and remembering some of the really bad years makes me so appreciative of what we currently have..

Yes, I get frustrated and mad but the next day the sun comes up. 
I think the most frustrated I get is with people that criticize Josh Allen.

I am the first one to say “Come on Josh” when he makes a mistake but we are witnessing a once in a lifetime Quarterback who is classy and seems to love the city of Buffalo and the fans.

i am thankful for what we have although I do wonder if McD is the coach to help us win a championship.

The Bills to me are not life or death but my favorite hobby.

Be thankful for what we have.

[Shaw66]

I've been reading responses to this thread, and seeing so many people with similar feelings makes me think that I got it wrong.  I don't think it's age.  It's something different. 

 

My conclusion is that fan experiences differ, depending on the performance of the team.  I think what I'm feeling, and what others may be feeling, is how it feels to be a Steeler fan.   What I mean by that is that we have an iconic quarterback (like Big Ben) who is a threat to win any game, any time, and therefore we have a team that wins regularly and that always gives us hope.   We also have a coach (who went to William & Mary, but that's just a coincidence) whom the players love, who helps the team win regularly, but who doesn't necessarily deliver top-notch performance from game to game.   Tomlin's never had a losing season, he gets his team to the playoffs, and every once in a while they look like they might win it all.   Sound familiar?

 

I think this is a different fan experience for us because it's never happened to us before.  A brief history of the Bills shows we've never had that kind of consistent winner experience:  Kemp and Golden Wheels and Saban is ancient history, but it was about getting all the right pieces in place for a sprint to the top, followed by a collapse within a couple of years.   Then there was OJ, but the team never looked like a champion.   Then there was a ten-year decline, when no one thought the Bills were going anywhere - included in that period was the endless losing streak to the Dolphins.  Then there was a true sprint to the top, truly glorious but hopelessly disappointing each time the Bills reached the Super Bowl.   Then it was the slide into mediocrity, followed by the drought.

 

Now, it's something we haven't experienced before, consistent excellence driven by culture (which is a way one might describe the Steelers).  Not top of the league excellence like the Patriots, but excellence that suggests that the Bills will be one of a half dozen teams fighting for the Lombardi every season.  We know a lot of things have to fall the right way, and so far things haven't done that, but the nature of the team, the owners, the GM and the coach, and the QB, tells us that all the pieces are in place. 

 

I'm not saying all fans feel that way.  Some fans think there's a window that's closing, but I don't see it that way and it seems a lot of others don't see it that way, either.  McDermott and Beane were asked about that in the pressers, and they both dismissed the window as a way to see where the Bills are headed.  I will remind everyone that when they arrived in Buffalo, first McDermott and then Beane said that the sprint to the top and the "window" were NOT their model.  What they intended to be a bout was to have a team that gets better every year, and it isn't hard to argue that that is what they have created up to now.   

 

I read a little bit of a book by this author McDermott likes, a book about the growth mindset.  She says that people who think they got something wrong have more trouble succeeding than people who think they didn't get it right yet, "yet" being the operative word.   "Yet" in this context means, "I am going to get it right, but it just hasn't happened yet."  Thomas Edison is said to have tried 1000 different materials to be the filament in the first light bulb before he found the right material.  When asked if he got discouraged with all those failures, he said they weren't failures - each time he tried he was able to eliminate another material from his list, which meant he was always getting closer to his goal.  

 

I feel like things are headed in the right direction, and it's only a matter of time.   The Bills are building and growing.  It's nothing Bills fans have experienced, even Bills fans who have been here since the beginning.  With that mindset, I don't get discouraged.