Bills Mafia — #BillsMafia

Editor’s Note: We’ve agreed to begin hosting the “Rockpile Review,” a weekly mainstay written by “Shaw66″ at the Buffalo Bills Message Boards for years. It will continue to appear in its normal place at the BBMB, but will now reach a new audience through the Bills Mafia Blog as well.

Shaw66 has been a Bills fan since attending the the first game at the Rockpile in 1960. He’s new to the Bills Mafia, but he’s been a leader of the Ball Burglar’s gang since it was formed in 2004. (What is the Ball Burglar? Click here to find out.) He claims he can barely spell “Twitter,” but he can write.

Shaw66 brings a long-term perspective few in the #BillsMafia movement have, so view this as an opportunity to perhaps have your horizons expanded a little. While the tone may be slightly different than our other bloggers “on staff,” Shaw66 still brings an attitude that is consistent with what #BillsMafia is all about.

Reality Sets In

The Cowboys man-handled the Bills on Sunday.

The Cowboys man-handled the Bills on Sunday, 44-7. The Bills are still in the thick of the race for the Eastern Division title, but after the past two weeks (the Jets game was easily as troubling, despite final score), it’s hard to see how the Bills can compile enough wins to get a wildcard slot, let alone the division crown.

There isn’t much point in analyzing the Cowboys game. Plus, CBS ended in the misery in my locale by switching to a more competitive game. I missed the fourth quarter entirely and haven’t bothered to read about it. I had seen enough. It was ugly.

What’s wrong with the Bills? Here are some thoughts based on the Bills-Jets, three quarters of Cowboys-Jets, and parts of Giants-49ers and Pats-Jets.

The Trenches: The Bills aren’t strong enough at the point of attack. The Jets won the battle on the line on both sides of the ball for the entire game. It wasn’t scheme, it wasn’t preparation. The Bills played hard, played with courage – they just could not move the Jets off the Ball.

We saw more of the same against the Cowboys, except that the Cowboys aren’t as good as the Jets, so the domination was less complete.

What’s the problem? Probably not enough talent, and/or perhaps not enough experience. Having Levitre out of position didn’t help, and missing Kelsay and Williams didn’t help, either. Barnett is a stud, and so is Dareus, but they can’t do it alone.

What’s the solution? One way or another (new talent or better skills), the Bills have to get better on the lines. The Giants and 49ers are an extreme example, but those defenders hold their ground. The Jets, too. The Bills need more of that.

Gailey talked after the Cowboys game about fundamentals, holding your gap, execution. That’s starting to sound like a polite way of saying “our guys aren’t good enough.” They KNOW the fundamentals, and they KNOW their assignments. But knowing what to do and being able to do it are two different things. Practice all you want, but if the guy across the line from you is simply better, you aren’t going to execute.

The Bills need need big, tall receivers who are fast enough (like Dez Bryant).

The Receivers: Over the past two weeks it’s been painfully clear what the Bills need and don’t have. Big, tall receivers who are fast enough. The Bills did a nice job staying with Plaxico Burress and Dez Bryant, but there’s simply no stopping big, tall receivers (and outstanding small ones). Plaxico, Bryant, Holmes, Crabtree, Gronkowski and Hernandez.

Who do the Bills have in the size department? David Nelson. Nice player, nice size, nice hands (cute girlfriend) but not Plaxico Burress or anyone better. Scott Chandler. Nice size, but not Gronkowski or Hernandez.

Who do the Bills have in the outstanding small department? Donald Jones is trying to get there. Stevie Johnson, no.
The Bills simply don’t have the receiver who is going to challenge teams, either by being a continuous, serious deep threat or by being a consistent big target over the middle.

When the Bills want to throw the fade for a TD, they need Stevie or Jones to get serious separation early. When the Cowboys or 49ers want to throw it, they just leave it out there for Bryant or Crabtree to pull it down. Big difference.

Compare the catch Bryant made over McKelvin to the interception off Jones’s hands. McKelvin’s defense wasn’t perfect; he wouldn’t have had a play on a perfectly thrown ball. But his defense was quite good, and he made a decent play on the ball. Bryant just took it. Fitzpatrick’s throw to Jones was easily good enough; a Bryant, a Burress, Hernandez, a Crabtree catches that ball.

Marcus Easley may have been the answer, but he went down early and we never got a chance to find out. He’s the only Bills wideout with the size and speed to be a serious, consistent receiving threat.

Coaching: Too many things are going too wrong not to wonder about the quality of the preparation this team is getting. The sack on the first play from scrimmage was all we needed to see. The Bills had all week to prepare for the first play from scrimmage. They knew what play they wanted, and they knew the single player they most had to worry about on the Cowboys defense. They left him unblocked. Levitre never thought about blocking Ware, so that suggests that either Wood blew the call of the blocking assignment, the tight end was on the wrong side, or Jackson was supposed to pick him up (not likely). Someone really blew it.

Now, players blow assignments all the time. But on the first play from scrimmage? Against the best player on their defense? That was pitiful.

The challenge on the Brad Smith kickoff return. Brad Smith didn’t know how to make that play, and then he told the coaches that he had made it correctly. I don’t blame the coaches, much, for trusting him. I do blame them for not preparing their player to do it correctly and to understand whether he did it or not. Bad.

Going for it on fourth down on the opening drive of the second half. Foolish. Take the points until the game tells you that you have no choice. The Bills spend five minutes of game time to get down there, and they came away with nothing. 28-7 is three touchdowns to tie. 28-10 is two touchdowns and a field goal. Big difference. Some people will say that the Bills needed a touchdown because the Cowboys were scoring at will. Well, the ONLY way the Bills could win that game in the second half was by stopping the Cowboys; if you’re going to assume that the Cowboys will get another couple of touchdowns, the game is already over.

Bills are predictable. On offense, for sure. The things the Bills can do on offense are limited, and everyone knows it now. So the defenses are prepared.

The Bills should mix things up and create some mismatches. Take some chances with the front four..

But on defense, the Bills have some guys who can support a little more creativity. The front four couldn’t get to Romo, but we never saw much blitzing. Mix things up, create some mismatches. Take some chances. Don’t just sit back and let the other team attack. It looked like a Jauron team out there.

The pass routes. Enough with the three-yard slant pattern! The Jets, the Pats, the Cowboys, the Giants and the Niners ALL run deeper routes. They have receivers who regularly run patterns 12-15 yards into the secondary; the Bills rarely seem to do that. When they run those patterns, they spread the defense, which actually opens up those cute little underneath routes the Bills are so fond of.

Why don’t the Bills run those routes? The receivers are fast enough. I think it’s because the coaches know the offensive line isn’t good enough. They throw those routes so Fitz doesn’t have to stand back there and get smacked, even when the Bills remember to block Ware. Three steps and throw it. Five steps, maybe. But none of this Tom Brady, Mark Sanchez, Tony Romo seven-step drop and wait until a downfield receiver actually gets open. So it comes back to the line.

Is Fitz a problem? I don’t think so. He made a horrendous throw on the deep ball to Jones. I’d like to know what was going on on that play. He launched that ball (nothing wrong with the arm strength on that one), but it wasn’t close. Was he throwing it away, and as he let it go Jones broke free? I don’t know.

But the interception off Jones’s fingertips should have been caught, and Spiller looked like a high school kid struggling to track down a near perfect throw up the right sideline.

I think Fitz can get it done. Give him a Crabtree or a Bryant or even a Burress to throw it to.

Bottom line – the Bills need more horses. Get a good year’s growth out of Sheppard and Troup and Carrington – Carrington is coming on nicely. Get another guy to step up. Get another defender out of the draft, or a stud lineman. And a get a receiver.

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.

If you like the Rockpile Review, say thanks by joining the Ball Burglar.

Editor’s Note: We’ve agreed to begin hosting the “Rockpile Review,” a weekly mainstay written by “Shaw66″ at the Buffalo Bills Message Boards for years. It will continue to appear in its normal place at the BBMB, but will now reach a new audience through the Bills Mafia Blog as well.

Shaw66 has been a Bills fan since attending the the first game at the Rockpile in 1960. He’s new to the Bills Mafia, but he’s been a leader of the Ball Burglar’s gang since it was formed in 2004. (What is the Ball Burglar? Click here to find out.) He claims he can barely spell “Twitter,” but he can write.

Shaw66 brings a long-term perspective few in the #BillsMafia movement have, so view this as an opportunity to perhaps have your horizons expanded a little. While the tone may be slightly different than our other bloggers “on staff,” Shaw66 still brings an attitude that is consistent with what #BillsMafia is all about.

Takin’ Care of Business

It’s getting tougher and tougher to write the Rockpile Review right after the games. It’s always something; this week it was travel and weather.

I went to Florida on Thursday for the Ultimate Club National Championships. My team, District 5, lost in the semi-finals on Saturday afternoon. After a great, wind-blown final game on Sunday, we drove to Tampa and watched the Bills and Redskins at Beef O’Brady’s. Fortunately, the Bills made quick work of it, and we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

Plane was delayed, of course, and we got into Connecticut about 11:30. That’s when the fun began. Connecticut had been devastated by a freak snow storm on Saturday, much like the storm that decimated western New York a few years ago. Most of the leaves weren’t off the trees, and the leaves caught the unusually heavy snow. Trees and branches were down everywhere. By Sunday morning, more than 800,000 people were without power.

So when we got home, the house was cold and dark. No Rockpile Review Sunday night. Monday was work and driving around trying to find an open gas station.

So now it’s Tuesday night and the Jets game will be upon us if I don’t write this thing tonight.

I was watching the game from long range, with no sound, so mostly what I was getting was an overview – numbers were more or less impossible to see. A cute blond in a Bills jersey had a great seat right in front of the Bills TV AND the Pats TV. I would have joined her, except I was with my wife. So we were relegated to the cheap seats.

Takin’ care of business – that’s what Sunday’s game was about. Good teams handle inferior opponents and move on. They aren’t looking to run up the score, they aren’t looking to make it exciting. Get an early lead, clamp down on the opponent and coast home in the fourth quarter. Nothing fancy; just take the W and get ready for next week.

The Bills looked like a good team on Sunday. Were the Redskins an inferior opponent? They sure looked like it. Before the Bills game, they had been at least reasonably effective on offense and defense. On Sunday they were dominated on both sides of the ball. Of course, they were playing with a sorry quarterback, and they were missing their best running back and their best receiver. A better QB would have made the game different; without a better quarterback, it really didn’t matter what running backs and receivers were on the field.

It was definitely the Ryan FitzMagic show.

Against the Redskins, it was definitely the Ryan FitzMagic show. The guy is playing in the NFL because of his superior intellect; he simply understands what’s going on on the field and executes. His classy play controlled the offensive game for the Bills. He found Chandler twice for TDs on plays where he read the defense, knew where the open man was and delivered the ball.

The second TD was a thing of beauty. He lofted the ball into the left corner of the endzone, deep enough so that Chandler had to continue his route at nearly full speed, which gave the defender absolutely no opportunity to close on Chandler or make a play on the ball. Still, the ball was thrown so that Chandler didn’t have to leave his feet to make the catch or worry about the sideline coming into play. Great, great touch on that ball.

Fitz stood in and took the hit from Fletcher on the play that Freddy turned into a long gain.

Fitz checked beautifully to complete a silly little pass to Fred just over the line of scrimmage for a key second-half first down.

The guy is in complete control of the offense. Remarkable talent.

Even his biggest problem of the day turned out okay, when he had Spiller deep and – once again – under threw him. This time, however, it wasn’t Corey Webster defending, and the throws that turned into interceptions against the Giants became a long pass interference penalty in Toronto.

To say it was the FitzMagic show, of course, doesn’t tell the whole story, because Fred Magic-Jackson was on display, as well. Every week, every week, the guy is like magic. How does he do that? It’s magic.

The Redskins had been pretty good getting at the QB in earlier games, and they got to Fitz a few times. Most of the time, however, the offensive line was in control, both in the run game and in pass protection. Gailey tipped his hat to Levitre after the game, as well he should. Stick the guy out there after spending all of his pro career at guard, and have him put in that kind of performance – WOW!

So, was the defense good, or were the Redskins horrible on offense? Hard to say. The pass rush the Bills put on was relentless. They didn’t come up with many free runs at Beck (did I say he was horrible?), except the Byrd sack. But the front four was relentless attacking, and Beck’s indecision gave the Bills just enough time to get to him several times.

Did the defensive line come of age, or was it the Redskins? We’ll know better when we see how they do against the Jets.

Nick Barnett demonstrated, again, why he may have been the prize free agent of the 2011 off-season.

There were nice plays all over the defense. The two picks were nice defensive plays. Marcell Dareus showed, again, his extraordinary physical talents. Nick Barnett demonstrated, again, why he may have been the prize free agent of the 2011 off-season. Leodis McKelvin seemed stuck to his man all day long.

How do we know the 2011 Bills are different? One way is that the guy who seemed to be the best player on the team for the past several years, Brian Moorman, suddenly has become an afterthought. Finally, this team isn’t dependent on Moorman to make the best plays, and Bills fans have great players to talk about at other positions.

So what exactly is the story about the 2011 Bills? We’ll know in less than two weeks.

There are three kinds of wins that the mark good teams: easy wins over inferior opponents (check), wins over good opponents in the division (Jets) and wins over good opponents on the road (Cowboys). Wins in the next two weeks would send the Bills to 7-2 and end all arguments about whether the Bills have arrived. If they go to 7-2, they will have arrived, ahead of schedule.

If, on the other hand, they find themselves at 5-4, they will have demonstrated that they are a nice team, improved over last season, but with more distance to cover before they can be considered a serious playoff team.

The Jets are tough, with a creative coach, but their offense continues to struggle and their defense is not impenetrable.

7-2 is well within reach. The Jets are tough, with a creative coach, but their offense continues to struggle and their defense is not impenetrable. The Cowboys have had their moments, but they aren’t the dominant team their mystique suggests they are. (What is it with the Cowboys? Every year fans think the Cowboys are a premier team, but the truth is they haven’t won much of anything in a long time.)

The Bills look like a lot of the better teams in the league – tough, a serious threat to beat anyone, and a team with flaws. If someone – the Jets? – figures out how to shut down the short passing game, the Bills’ offense could fizzle. If they figure out how to bottle up Fred at the same time, lights out. Can the Bills offense gain yards and score points in the fourth quarter? Has the Bills defense stiffened, or is it still vulnerable to good running attacks?

The Bills haven’t been dominating teams, but other than the Packers, no one has. Every team has flaws.

We’ll know better what we have in a couple of weeks.

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.

If you like the Rockpile Review, say thanks by joining the Ball Burglar.

Editor’s Note: We’ve agreed to begin hosting the “Rockpile Review,” a weekly mainstay written by “Shaw66″ at the Buffalo Bills Message Boards for years. It will continue to appear in its normal place at the BBMB, but will now reach a new audience through the Bills Mafia Blog as well.

Shaw66 has been a Bills fan since attending the the first game at the Rockpile in 1960. He’s new to the Bills Mafia, but he’s been a leader of the Ball Burglar’s gang since it was formed in 2004. (What is the Ball Burglar? Click here to find out.) He claims he can barely spell “Twitter,” but he can write.

Shaw66 brings a long-term perspective few in the #BillsMafia movement have, so view this as an opportunity to perhaps have your horizons expanded a little. While the tone may be slightly different than our other bloggers “on staff,” Shaw66 still brings an attitude that is consistent with what #BillsMafia is all about.

I MUST be in the Front Row!

MetLife Stadium... where even the gates are sponsored

My buddy and I got our tickets for the Bills-Giants at the New Meadowlands a few days before the game. We arrived at the MetLife Stadium a little before eleven, and one thing was clear right away: we definitely were not at Ralph Wilson Stadium. For one thing, they didn’t just sell naming rights to the stadium; they sold naming rights to the GATES – the Pepsi Gate, the Verizon Gate, etc.

The tailgating is active, but pretty tame. More people in Giants game jerseys than in Bills jerseys in Orchard Park. People barely noticed me in my Bills sweatshirt. No heckling, nothing.

Anyway, we entered the stadium and started to climb. Picking up tickets the week of the game didn’t give us the pick of the house, so to speak. And we climbed. And we climbed some more. I suppose there were escalators somewhere, but we found ourselves in the stairwells.

When we got to our section, at the TOP of the stadium, we climbed some more, until we reached our destination – the fourth row from the top, in the corner of end zone. It was WAY up, and we were looking almost straight down – it’s steep.

The wind blows a lot at the Meadowlands, easily as much as in Orchard Park. Fortunately, it was 67 degrees and sunny.

Fred Jackson's TD run in the first half made the MetLife crowd real quiet real fast.

So there we were, watching the game more or less from the Met Life blimp. The good news was that Freddy and Namaan ran right at us, to our corner of the end zone. Well, Freddy ran right at us until he figured out that his less-than-top-end speed wasn’t going to be enough and he veered left to stumble into the end zone. The stadium got real quiet real fast. (By the way, the Giants fans can make some noise.)

If Freddy had true top-end speed, he’d be a Hall of Fame running back. His escapability, his sense of timing on his cuts, his ability to keep plays alive while he looks for another yard or two or ten, are second to none. What a player.

Namaan came right us, too. Man, was that fun.

Of course, I had left my binoculars in my bag in the trunk, so Freddy and Namaan looked like white lightning bugs outrunning all these blue cockroaches scrambling around trying to catch up.

One other problem with sitting up there is that you’re right under the lights, which is okay. What isn’t okay is that the speakers for the sound system are also mounted on the large light ring that surrounds the top of the stadium. Some of the promotional announcements and some of the gimmicks to hype the crowd are absolutely deafening. We needed ear plugs.

So as the half of the ending, my buddy had had enough and we ran down stairs to the ground floor, rode the elevator up a floor to the corporate suites level, walked down the hall, went through a door and proceeded to watch most the second half in the broadcast booth with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms.

@bb_shaw66 had the opportunity to watch most of the second half of Sunday's game with Phil Simms and Jim Nantz!

Now, I have to stop here and say that I’ve left out a few things. My buddy happens to know Nantz quite well. When we arrived at 11, we first visited the production truck and learned a little bit about how they put the whole broadcast together. Then we went to the booth, a little after noon, and chatted with Jim and Phil for 15-20 minutes. We left maybe 12:45, and Jim said we ought to come back at half time and he’d see what he could do.

Nantz knew I was a Bills fan before I walked in, and I suppose my sweatshirt gave it away, anyway. He said he was sorry, but he figured it 30-20 New York. He said he didn’t see how the Bills defense could hold up without Merriman, Williams and Kelsay.

So, we watched the third quarter and up through the Bills tying touchdown in the fourth quarter from the booth, with headsets, listening to the director, listening to the broadcast, and looking down at the field from a perfect vantage point on the 50-yard line.

Nantz calls the game looking at the field for the live action, and as soon as the play is over he’s watching the monitor, so he sees the replays and can talk intelligently about them. When the replays come up, once in a while someone in the truck suggests they comment on one thing or another, but most of the time they already know what’s important.

For example, on Stevie’s TD, Simms KNEW Stevie had put this awesome move on the corner before the replay ever came up. How did he know? I don’t know, but the more I watched him, the more it seemed that he just sees EVERYTHING that goes on. (You might remember in the broadcast Nantz talked about something “we saw in practice on Friday.” Off the air, Simms commented about how “WE” had seen it – it was obvious then that Simms had seen it and explained it to Nantz. Simms and Nantz then joked about it on the air.)

Another example: Fitz threw the first interception and they broke for the commercial. When they were off the air, Nantz asked “did he under throw it?” Simms hadn’t seen a replay, held up two hands about two feet a part and then started spreading his hands farther apart and said “by five yards.”

Another time Nantz said Fitz’s motion looks a lot like Favre, something I’ve always seen in him. Simms said, “no, Favre was a lot quicker.” Similar motion, but Favre was really quick.

Another: Simms kept commenting that the Bills are all about Gailey. Simms clearly was impressed by what he was seeing out of the offense.

Nantz is a football junkie. During time outs, he sat munching an apple and checking out the progress of other games on his laptop and keeping Phil posted. “Young just came in for Vick. Intercepted on first pass.”

Nantz spends the week preparing a big chart with players names and numbers in position where they line up. It’s his cheat sheet. He adds little notes about players – things he might want to say during the broadcast. But he still needs help. On the TD pass Eli threw that was brought back to the one-yard line after review, Nantz was tapping his spotter on the thigh, signaling that he needed the name of the receiver. The spotter reached and pointed to the name on the chart, and the receiver’s name went out over the airwaves a second later.

When they’re off the air, they turn around and chat with the visitors or the staff, until someone in the truck gives them the countdown to go live again.

These guys are incredible pros. They seem to see everything, words flow out of their mouths like they have been studying a script, they are focused.

So after the Bills tied it in the fourth quarter, we went down to the truck and watched the rest of the game. Producer Lance Barrow and his team were hard at work, and they had no time to talk as they did before the game. Now it was all business. As the final five minutes were playing out, the director told one cameraman to stay on 9 in white on the sideline, another to stay on 9 in blue. You know those quick views you see of the kickers getting loose on the sideline, waiting to win it or tie it? Well, a camera has been following each of them until, just at the right time, they show that shot for 4-5 seconds, then they move on.

Ryan Fitzpatrick watching the Giants' final drive of the game.

After Fitz’s second INT, the director told a cameraman to find Fitz on the bench. It was almost cruel, like the director knew there was a bleeding animal, dying on the sideline. Heartless. But great television 30 seconds later, as the Giants are driving for the winning score, to see Fitz alone on the bench.

One thing I think I heard in the truck was someone hoping the Giants would miss the field goal or the Bills would get one. They WANTED overtime! And you could tell why – they knew they had a good game, they knew they were putting on a good show, and they didn’t want it to end. How many of the rest of us feel that way at the end of the workday?

By the way, these guys are CBS’s top team, and it’s easy to see why. Top of their game doesn’t begin to describe how they work, and all we see and hear are these quality images and sharp commentary.

It was, as you can imagine, a great experience. Not that they’re ever going to read this, but just in case – you guys were outstanding! Thanks for the experience.

So, what about the game? Well, they always say you win as a team and lose as a team. Every guy on the team knows that he could have made some plays that would have made a difference. You rarely see a game where the real truth is that the whole game was about only one or two plays. That’s the story of the Bills and the Giants on October 16. Two interceptions.

Fitz was clear about it in the post-game interviews. What was interesting was Gailey’s interview. Jauron would have said it wasn’t on Fitz, the Bills didn’t make enough plays, they had opportunities, blah, blah, blah. That isn’t Gailey. Gailey said about three times in a five minute press conference that they have to complete those passes. They play the game to get those opportunities, and they have to take advantage of them.

Yes Fitz did a lot of good things in the game, all over the field. Doesn’t matter. He killed his team’s chances with two throws – he knows it, his teammates know it and his coaches know it. Fitz has to be better than than that. The third killer play was getting sacked on third in the second quarter, knocking the Bills out of field goal range. That was, in the second quarter, the field goal that would have sent the game into overtime.

If you need another goat, of course it’s Florence. It was interesting that Florence DIDN’T turn and make a play on the ball on two interference penalties, and Corey Webster did turn, made the interception and won the game. Florence has had a good season, and you know he wants that game back.

As people have said for weeks, you can’t expect to give up all those yards and keep winning. If you’re going to give up the yards, you need the takeaways, and there were none to be had. There was no pressure on Eli to force bad throws (Giants were really effective in blitz pickup), and the DBs weren’t close enough to the plays to force the turnover at the receiving end.

Nantz was right – no Merriman, no Williams, no Kelsay made a difference.

David Nelson’s blitz pickup on Namaan’s touchdown was simply outstanding. Turned a sack into a touchdown.

Bye week. Don’t forget the Ball Burglar – you want takeaways, you have to pay for them. A buck a ball is all it takes. Thanks.

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.

If you like the Rockpile Review, say thanks by joining the Ball Burglar.

Editor’s Note: We’ve agreed to begin hosting the “Rockpile Review,” a weekly mainstay written by “Shaw66″ at the Buffalo Bills Message Boards for years. It will continue to appear in its normal place at the BBMB, but will now reach a new audience through the Bills Mafia Blog as well.

Shaw66 has been a Bills fan since attending the the first game at the Rockpile in 1960. He’s new to the Bills Mafia, but he’s been a leader of the Ball Burglar’s gang since it was formed in 2004. (What is the Ball Burglar? Click here to find out.) He claims he can barely spell “Twitter,” but he can write.

Shaw66 brings a long-term perspective few in the #BillsMafia movement have, so view this as an opportunity to perhaps have your horizons expanded a little. While the tone may be slightly different than our other bloggers “on staff,” Shaw66 still brings an attitude that is consistent with what #BillsMafia is all about.

Eagles Shot Down in Buffalo

It’s hard to believe, but it’s there in newspaper, in black and white, every Monday morning. The team that couldn’t find a way to win much of anything just a year ago now finds a way to win, week after week.

The formula is becoming familiar, a formula designed to cause heart failure across western New York, but it works. Give up lots of yards, be good at taking the ball away from the opponent, have just enough tricks in the offensive game plan to put some points on the board, be good on special teams. And then hold on for dear life as the clock runs down – intercept a Hail Mary, kick the game-winner on the last play, induce the opponent to give you just enough downs to run the clock out.

Call it living on the wild side. Call it living on the edge. Call it whatever you want. It’s working.

Make no mistake about what happened on Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. This was NOT a game where the hapless Eagles made mistake after mistake and gave the ball away so often that they couldn’t recover. This was a game, just as in weeks before, where the Bills were better prepared to win the game than their opponent.

Tthe Bills were as physical as they’ve been all season.

The Bills were ready for the Eagles, and they beat them.

First, the Bills were as physical as they’ve been all season. Perhaps hurting from their disappointing loss to the Bengals, perhaps simply driven by their coaches, the Bills turned up the intensity on both sides of the ball, and they BEAT the Eagles. They ran on the Eagles. They pounded the Eagles on special teams. And they beat them on defense. It was an old-fashioned, physical showdown, and the Bills came to play.

There was plenty of speed on display, for sure, but every time some speedster took off on the Bills, he got hit. Michael Vick’s best run of the day ended with him being driven off his feet as he headed for the safety of the sidelines. Jairus Byrd never missed an opportunity to hit someone. Most kick returns ended with gang tackles. The Bills came to play.

It wasn’t just hitting that made the difference. It was timely hitting and ball hawking. Some may think the Eagles simply gave the ball away five times, but that isn’t what happened. The Bills were prepared to take the ball, and they did. Michael Vick threw interceptions because he was getting hit by blitzers coming from angles he hadn’t seen on film. The Bills attacked in different ways, seemingly never the same way twice, and he was uncomfortable all day. The Bills created that discomfort, and that discomfort gave the Bills the opportunity to get the ball.

It wasn’t simply blitzing Vick. It was smart defense. Byrd went after the ball and caused a fumble. Florence, no doubt benefiting from film study, left his man and went after the ball that Barnett eventually caught to save the win. Simply a great play. Corner made an outstanding athletic move to make an interception.

The Bills took this game. The Eagles didn’t give it to them.

Some say a looming problem with the Bills is that they’re giving up too many yards on defense, and they are. Yet somehow the Bills look like they have a pretty good defense. How can that be?

One answer is that the Bills have played some of the best offensive teams in the NFL. The Pats lead the league in total yards, the Eagles are third, the Raiders are 8th. The Bengals are 17th and even lowly Kansas City is 19th. So the yards are perhaps a little deceiving.

Jairus Byrd is emerging as a force.

Another answer is that the Bills are still figuring out how to play this defense. Byrd is emerging as a force. He seems to be everywhere, and seems always to make the play. Barnett too. Carrington makes plays every week. And the Bills are packaging players in all sorts of combinations to combat the weapons they face. Sheppard’s getting snaps and playing with energy. Moats appears to be willing himself to more playing time.

The offense continues to be worrisome. The Bills weren’t able to get deep again this week, and as the game wears on, the defense keeps closing down the passing lanes. It seems to become impossible for the Bills to throw the ball more than five yards down field. Everyone is playing zone against them, and seven guys can cover a zone pretty well when it’s only 20 yards deep.

Fitz threw another INT to the linebacker in an underneath zone, and the Bills were lucky to survive the mistake without giving up points. It’s a rookie mistake, but it happened in part because the Bills simply haven’t been running routes deep enough to create enough open space for that throw. And now, with Jones down, it isn’t clear that the Bills have anyone who can run those routes. Maybe Smith and Spiller will see their roles changing a bit.

Still, there’s not much to complain about with Fitz. He knows where to go with the ball, and he gets it there. He was masterful both on the QB sneak on third and five, and on the fourth and one, drawing the Eagles offside. In both cases, he (fake) audibled, pointed out defenders, moved around like he was a bit confused, giving the Eagles just enough confidence in the edge they thought they had to be caught off guard. Fitz doesn’t fluster.

The offensive line did its job, again. How about Hairston?

One of the hallmarks of the success of Bill Belichick is that for ten years, whenever he lost a player to injury, some guy with no experience would step in and the team would move forward as though nothing had changed. And we’re seeing that phenomenon in Buffalo. Rinehart covered for Urbik, now Hairston for Bell, and nothing changed. Sheppard and Moats and Rogers are getting serious minutes on defense, and they are not glaring weaknesses. It’s good athletes and great coaching.

Fred Jackson continues to amaze. He has some unique skills, and Gailey puts him in position to use them. Fred’s no power back – he isn’t going to run over anyone. He’s no speedster. But give him enough space and only one man to beat, and he is remarkably difficult to tackle. And if you run a spread offense so the DBs and linebackers are running all over the field, trying to cover receivers, and THEN you give Fred the ball with one man to beat, look out. When that happens, and that’s where Gailey is trying to get Fred with every touch, after he beats the first guy, there is a LOT of open space. Fred knows what to do with it.

Great win.

The noise is back at Ralph Wilson Stadium!

And a great day at the Ralph. It began with 150 current and former Jills on the field, dancing in formation. I just grinned to think about how long all this has been going on, this show that keeps us coming.

If you went to a game at the Ralph in the past few seasons, and if you haven’t been back yet this year, it simply is not the same place. In 2011, THE NOISE IS BACK!!! The Twelfth Man isn’t consistently loud yet, not on every play, and especially not when the Eagles or the Pats are chewing up lots of yards at will late in the game (that’s downright scary), but it’s loud enough, and it’s getting louder every week.

And the joy is back. SHOUT! doesn’t sound like some silly relic that the Bills are holding onto for some unknown reason. The points go up, the music starts, and it’s OUR song, and we’re going to let the visitors know that this is our place and they’d better get used to the music, because they’re going to be hearing it a lot.

The stadium was full of blue and white, bathed in bright sunshine. The wind and rain and snow are coming, and because the fans are just a little bit crazy, we’ll welcome it. The visitors will need to get used to the wet and the cold AND the song, because that’s Buffalo, baby, and you better come ready play.

I talked to two guys whose seats are in front me. Every game, they’re part of a group of four – an older gentleman, a couple of guys around 50, sometimes a third guy, sometimes a kid. For the Pats game, all three men were there, and they looked alike. Yesterday I asked if they were brothers. They told me yes. Three brothers and their father. I asked the guys if they came to games when they were kids – sure, they said, their father has had tickets since 1960! A father and three brothers invested in 52 years of Bills football, 52 years of ups and downs, thrills and Jills, disappointments and wins. Now the guy is bringing his grandchildren to the games.

His patience is being rewarded.

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.

If you like the Rockpile Review, say thanks by joining the Ball Burglar.

Editor’s Note: We’ve agreed to begin hosting the “Rockpile Review,” a weekly mainstay written by “Shaw66″ at the Buffalo Bills Message Boards for years. It will continue to appear in its normal place at the BBMB, but will now reach a new audience through the Bills Mafia Blog as well.

Shaw66 has been a Bills fan since attending the the first game at the Rockpile in 1960. He’s new to the Bills Mafia, but he’s been a leader of the Ball Burglar’s gang since it was formed in 2004. (What is the Ball Burglar? Click here to find out.) He claims he can barely spell “Twitter,” but he can write.

Shaw66 brings a long-term perspective few in the #BillsMafia movement have, so view this as an opportunity to perhaps have your horizons expanded a little. While the tone may be slightly different than our other bloggers “on staff,” Shaw66 still brings an attitude that is consistent with what #BillsMafia is all about.

UNDEFEATED NO MORE – Bengals Beat Bills

Cedric Benson of the Cincinnati Bengals

No one really believed the Bills would go 19-0 in 2011. Still, watching the Bills stumble badly for their first loss of the season was disheartening. The problem on Sunday wasn’t that the Bills ran out of time; the problem was that the game was four quarters instead of three.

In case the point was missed at One Bills Drive, the fans really didn’t need to be reminded what 2010 was like. We remember. We didn’t need to see running backs getting seven yards on every first-down carry against the Bills, we didn’t need to see ball carriers attack the middle, the edges and everything in between. We didn’t need to see passes completed against the Bills at will, with no pass rush in sight. We didn’t need to see three and outs that made us wonder whether the offense was in a hurry to get back ribs and beers on the sidelines.

After three weeks of excitement, we got 2010. Ground Hog Day. De ja vu all over again. A recurring nightmare. Whatever you want to call it, that’s what we got.

But let’s face it: it’s HARD to win on the road in the NFL. The Bengals did at home what the Bills did at home for the past two weeks. The Bills are 1-1 on the road, and that is not a bad thing.

So, as the Bills said after the game, learn from it, go back to work and get ready for the Eagles. Either the Bills are good, and Sunday was a blown opportunity that they’ll recover from, or the Bills are just mediocre and Sunday was just their way of getting back to normal.

Some random player thoughts, no particular order.

We haven't seen the best of Marcell Dareus, and that's a good thing.

Marcell Dareus is SOME football player. Big and strong and really athletic. He’s quick. He can run. He’s hungry. And he’s learning – we haven’t seen the best of Marcell Dareus, and that’s a good thing for the Buffalo Bills.

Kyle Williams – you go when the center moves the ball, not before, okay? Been watching too many Bruce Smith highlights, I think. One reason those two are so good is they are or were lightning on the snap. Some days, you guess wrong.

During the run up to the draft, A.J. Green was my first favorite choice, and Sunday we saw what all the hype was about. That’s one quality receiver.

Some people are complaining about Leodis McKelvin today, but considering what Green can do on the field, Leodis held up pretty well. He got one really nice pass break up deep, when he had help over the top. He got turned around on another deep completion, but still made a decent play on the ball. He’s staying tighter on his man; he’s improving.

I’ve always liked Bryan Scott.

Hey, how about the Ball Burglar? Two more INTs, one for a touchdown. The Burglar did his job, again. If you haven’t joined the Ball Burglar, you’re missing some of the excitement of Bills football.

Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t keep up with the Ball Burglar. Maybe the Burglar has to pay for touchdowns, too. Offensive line wasn’t quite good enough against the Bengals, Fitz wasn’t quite good enough. No one was quite good enough. When the Bills needed a drive, the offense was out of options.

The Bengals dominated the second half.

Dumb and Dumber

The Bills lost two big plays against the Bengals on what were two correct calls, as the rules are written. Unfortunately, the rules simply don’t make sense.

Every time the tuck rule gets called and a fumble recovery is nullified, football fans of 31 teams know that it’s wrong. It’s dumb. Everyone understands how football works – if you throw the ball and it touches the ground, it’s an incomplete pass. If you don’t throw the ball and it comes out of your hand, then it’s a fumble. Simple, right? Everyone gets it, right?

Not the NFL. For some reason, the NFL has decided it’s a good idea to say that when the quarterback starts to throw the ball and then decides not to, and then the ball comes out of his hand, it’s NOT a fumble. But wait. If I’m the QB and I think I want to throw it and I stop, without moving my arm, and I get hit and lose it, it’s a fumble. So why isn’t it a fumble when I think I want to throw and stop, but I move my arm? What difference does it make?

We all get that when the guy’s arm is moving forward and he gets hit, it’s an incompletion. We don’t get why the tuck rule exists. It’s stupid. It’s inconsistent.

It was called right on the field, after replay, but it’s wrong. That was a touchdown for everyone except the rule makers.

Stevie's controversial incompletion

The rule on Stevie’s first down catch is even dumber. A few years ago the league decided that when a guy makes a really great catch while he’s in the air, it shouldn’t be a catch until he survives his collision with the ground. Okay, we all got that. So they wrote a rule to capture that thought. Turns out that the rule isn’t written correctly, so a few times every season plays that we all know are catches are ruled incomplete – correctly under the rules, incorrectly in the eyes of everyone who knows what football is about.

Why was the call at least possibly correct? Because if you go to the ground as part of completing the catch, according to the rule the ball is supposed to stay secure through the impact. Watching Stevie’s replay, you can see the ball move when he hits the ground. Didn’t move a lot, but it moved. He didn’t have steady, continuous control of the ball, although he certainly never lost possession.

HOWEVER – that was NOT the kind of play the rule was written for. He caught the ball, clearly. He had it. He put it away. He went to his knees, either on his own or through contact. Then he was touched by the defender with Steve’s knees on the ground. Play over, except under the rule. If he’s a running back, drops to his knees and gets touched, play over, even if the ball wiggles or comes out when he hits the ground.

How many steps does he have to take before he turns into a running back? How clear does it have to be that he caught the ball?

The concept of the rule is good; the actual rule and the interpretation of the rule is horrible, and it hurts a few teams every year. That was a catch and a first down. Instead of punting, the Bills are first and ten on the 50 with less than nine minutes left. They’re 20 yards away from a field goal and a ten point lead. In any case they’re about to run another one or two minutes off the clock.

The only calls that truly change the outcome of the game are calls on the last few plays of the game. The Bills had time to recover, and they couldn’t.

Still, the rules are are dumb and dumber, in concept or as interpreted, and both rules stung the Bills on Sunday.

Players vs. Schemes

No one is accusing the Bills of having the best talent in the league, and the genius of Gailey’s schemes and planning masked the talent shortfall for the first three weeks.

The Bills had an unstoppable passing game for three weeks, even though they have eminently stoppable receivers. They had decent pass protection and run blocking, even though they’re a bunch of young no-names on the line. They had a solid defense, especially late in games, even though mostly the same players are taking the field to do the job.

But the Bengals did what many predicted – they rushed the passer well, flooded the zones with defenders to limit the Bills’ deadly short passing game, and still prevented the long ball. The Bengals defeated the scheme.

The great start is a credit to Chan Gailey and probably Dave Wannstedt. They study film, design plays, develop new looks and create an edge for players who, for the most part, don’t have the dominant physical skills to create the edge themselves.

The Bills are still light on talent. It’s not that the talent the Bills have is bad. It’s that they don’t yet have enough stars. They don’t have anyone to make the BIG play at BIG moments in the game.

Imagine, for example, how much different the outcome would have been with Calvin Johnson in a Bills uniform against the Bengals. (Or A.J. Green, for that matter.) Calvin Johnson gives his team three or four plays a game where the team says “bail us out of this,” and he does it.

Merriman hasn’t been that guy. None of the safeties is. Barnett is excellent, but he isn’t Ray Lewis. Dareus isn’t, yet. Stevie isn’t the guy. Fitz isn’t. Freddy tries, but he can’t do it alone. Good, good players, but they aren’t, or haven’t yet been, the guys who make the play when it’s time to win the game.

All is not lost. I love these players. They’re good, and they’ll get better. They’ll learn more about how to win, and they’ll stay hungry. And with the continually evolving schemes of Gailey and co., they have enough ability to beat every team in the league. They just don’t have enough talent to make anyone believe they WILL beat every team.

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.

If you like the Rockpile Review, say thanks by joining the Ball Burglar.