THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - I Just Love the Bills

[The Firebaugh Kid]

I think what makes it worse for me after they lose a game like this is watching people disrespect them on social media. I don’t know why, but it feels like a personal insult to me. This team is our baby, it’s our identity in alot of ways living in western New York…  I think all any of us really want is respect. until we get past 15 in the playoffs I don’t think we’re gonna get it.

[Inigo Montoya]

There was a wonderful book published in 1923 called "The Prophet" .   It was written by a Lebanese gentleman named Khalil Gibran.  At one point he talks about Joy and Sorrow, and there's a passage I think about often being a long suffering Bills' fan;

 

"Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."

 

I believe these tough times will make that eventual Lombardi trophy all the sweeter.  

 

 

[Pete]

I was talking to my brother after Chefs loss.  He said being a Bills fan is constantly being kicked in the balls.  So much so, we are like Pavlov's dog.  No matter our lead in the 4th quarter, we continually flinch like we are about to get kicked in the nuts once again, until game is over.  We are conditioned for being kicked in the nuts

[GunnerBill]

Excellent piece Shaw. Stands out on this board at the moment. Kudos. 

[Shaw66]

14 hours ago, Old Coot said:

 

 

The Bills are like the seasons of the year. In spring we have the new expectations for a successful year. By summer the season is well underway and may be bright and sunny or grey and rainy. Fall is crunch time. That earthy fall smell in the air reminds one of the gridiron (at least for those of us who played on grass fields). Then the winter of our discontent sets in -- another year without a Lombardi. But then we know that a harsh winter (even a harsh Buffalo winter) will be followed by another spring of great expectations. 

 

Sometimes you just gotta do the Walk of Life:

 

Great stuff!

 

And love the video. 

[Ballhawk]

Appreciate the perspective Shaw, 

 

I too have been a longtime fan. Most of my friends expected me to howl at the moon after the game (and on Monday too). I could see their sheepish, furtive glances as they knowingly approached me. Instead all I felt was proud of the Bills and Josh. After the victory over the Steelers I turned to my son and said, god help us marching this bedraggled defense out in front of Mahones and Kelce next week. 

 

I honestly expected to get clobbered, the coaching staff knew it too it seems, and their Payton Manning-esque ball control strategy almost allowed us to steal a game we probably didn't deserve to win with the roster we marched out there with against KC. I hope our injury luck will even out with the years we have left with Josh,  (man he was unbelievable), but I guess I'm more proud about the Bills performance given their injuries than I am bitter about circumstance.

 

 Also, my dog doesn't have to hide in the bedroom from all the shouting at the TV now that I'm starting to mellow out with old age!

Edited January 25 by Ballhawk

[LABILLBACKER]

11 hours ago, Pete said:

I was talking to my brother after Chefs loss.  He said being a Bills fan is constantly being kicked in the balls.  So much so, we are like Pavlov's dog.  No matter our lead in the 4th quarter, we continually flinch like we are about to get kicked in the nuts once again, until game is over.  We are conditioned for being kicked in the nuts

And that's why we've become more numb and less destroyed with each heartbreaking loss.  Even Simon commented on how semi civil fans were afterward.  Your trained...programed to expect the loss.  I said to myself even if Bass makes this kick, we're still losing this game.  It's too bad we've been beaten down so much. Maybe that's part of the narrative by many fans to just enjoy the ride.  Appreciate the regular season wins and divisions.  It's just hard for me to fall down that rabbit hole.

[LewPort71]

Great writeup Shaw.  Thanks.

I still remember that weekend when the Bills and the Browns won  their respective championships.  People forget that  we just got to watch games on Channel 2 NBC  and channel 4 CBS back in the days.  After the merger I had an easy  time rooting when the Bills and Browns played each other since they were 'my' teams.  When the Bills beat the Dolphins to win the AFC East, I was on a cruise ship  watching the game in a bar with dozens of other Bills fans.  The camaraderie of the group was great.  Two days afterwards a gentlemen asked me how the game went as he knew I was rooting for the Bills.  When I explained what happened, he became interested in my 'fandom' story and we had a great conversation. He commented that the Bills must have great fans, and I told him 'we are the best fans in the NFL'.

 

Sunday's loss was disappointing, but the sun arose early the next day and the organization will work hard for a bright and successful future.

 

[Stroke 17]

Well Shaw, like you I have changed. Don't go back to 1960 but started at age 7 in 1963. Only game on TV, NBC and the old AFL. Kemp, McDole, Stratton. Golden Wheels and the like. When I was 11 I delivered The Bradford Era newspaper and they had a promotion, If I got 3 new subscribers to the daily paper I would win a trip to a Bills game at the Rockpile  They provided a bus, chaperones and a meal. I bought the 3 subscriptions myself, I wasn't missing the trip. I was hooked. When I turned 17, I got my 1st full time job and bought season tickets and have been there ever since only missing 3 games in that span. Lucky enough to have been to 3 of the 4 Super Bowls.

 

Like you I lived and died with every win and loss. In the last few years I am enjoying the games, the losses still sting but I get over it quicker. My kids and some of my grandkids not so much. Living in the middle of Steelers country it is not easy suffering with the wide right comments or the "we got six."

 

Told my kids on the ride home Sunday night that when I was younger a loss like that was like a friend dying, a younger friend, Now after all these years and all these type of losses it still feels like a friend died but I expect old friends to die, we won't live forever, so enjoy the ride and mount up for the next chapter.

 

Finally on the season tickets, there were years when the Bills really struggled to win games and they were done by Halloween, I remember telling my wife, more than once at the end of the season "that's it I'm done, I can't do this anymore, They're killin me, they're kilin me. The invoice for the next year would come around April and I was like a cocaine addict, I pretend to sniff the invoice and say," just one more time." 50 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of traveling miles I'm still waiting. I will move to the new stadium but I am running out of time

 

in another post we can discuss how the games, the fans and the whole experience has changed over the years. In my opinion not so much for the better. You do a great job. Thanks for posting.

[Neo]

On 1/24/2024 at 12:47 PM, 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.

 

Sometimes you find your words when another man writes them …. grateful.

[Herb]

On 1/24/2024 at 12:47 PM, 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.

I love your posts as always. I'm right there with you concerning how I feel now about our team losing the ways they have over the years. I'm one of the crazy fans who are of the mind that McDermott has reached his ceiling and that he's holding Josh and the team back in the worst ways at the worst possible times.

[GunnerBill]

11 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

And that's why we've become more numb and less destroyed with each heartbreaking loss.  Even Simon commented on how semi civil fans were afterward.  Your trained...programed to expect the loss.  I said to myself even if Bass makes this kick, we're still losing this game.  It's too bad we've been beaten down so much. Maybe that's part of the narrative by many fans to just enjoy the ride.  Appreciate the regular season wins and divisions.  It's just hard for me to fall down that rabbit hole.

 

That isn't a rabbit hole. That's life. It is especially sports. You fail more than you succeed. It's the climb. 

[FireChans]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

That isn't a rabbit hole. That's life. It is especially sports. You fail more than you succeed. It's the climb. 

Folks don’t understand that if Josh and the Bills break through once, whether Mahomes gets hurt or they beat them once in the postseason and the Bills win the whole thing, it will be all the more 

meaningful after this.

 

No SB team was built in a day.

[CodeMonkey]

On 1/24/2024 at 12:47 PM, Shaw66 said:

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.

 

 

Well written as always.  Your new Zenlike attitude to your fandom is a much smarter, and infinitely healthier (mentally in particular) way to be IMO. Congrats

[Shaw66]

On 1/24/2024 at 8:59 PM, dock581 said:

I pretty much agree with the feelings of the more senior fans who have contributed to this discussion. I have been an ardent if not crazy Bills fan now for 75 years! I first saw them lose to the Browns in the old AAC in 1948 when my Dad took me to my first  game. I'm happy to say that I have 5 wonderful Grandkids, all of whom grew up in New England but all hate the Patsies and love the Bills so I must have done something right! I have always felt there was an unusual bond between the Bills and Buffalo accounting for the intense pride so many of us have. One of my sons pointed me to a documentary on Hulu entitled Welcome to Wrexham which is the story of a downtrodden town in Wales and their once proud and very old soccer team. The team is purchased by 2 Hollywood guys (I never heard of indicating my age) and how their goal is to improve the soccer team. The parallels between that story and the relationships between the players, the team, the coaches and staff, and the town are so similar to our situation and so insightful that I urge you all to sign up for a month of Hulu just to watch this story unfold. It is enlightening and very moving and I LOVED it.!

 

 

I wanted to come back to this post.  I don't remember talking to anyone who saw the old Bills.  In 1959, when the current Bills came to town, my father and grandfather told me about the AAFC and the Bills.   I was 12, and it sounded like ancient history, like those guys must have been running the single wing or something.  In fact, it hadn't been all that long ago. 

 

If I recall correctly, I was told the Bills were the best team in the conference that didn't get invited to join the NFL.  Typical.

 

Anyway, you're one of the privileged few to remember the real beginnings of pro football in Buffalo.