THE ROCKPILE REVIEW – I Never Leave Early

Author’s note: As many readers of Hartford Today and Tomorrow know, I am a Buffalo Bills fan and season ticket holder.  For many years, I have written a column about the Bills and particularly Bills games. My column is called The Rockpile Review, and it appears on a Bills fan forum called The Stadium Wall. This week, several readers of Hartford Today and Tomorrow got in touch with me not about my essays here but about the Bills’ spectacular win over the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday night. What follows is my Rockpile Review that appeared on Tuesday on The Stadium Wall.

I never leave games early. Never. (Well, I left Chiefs-Bills at Arrowhead at halftime during the weather delay a few years ago, but that was only because my wimp friend insisted on it.)

I was disappointed that Bills fans started pouring out of the stadium in the fourth quarter after the Bills had fallen behind the Ravens 40-25 on Sunday night, but different people have different points of view, and everyone’s entitled to theirs. The people who sit beside me at Highmark Stadium leave early most games. I don’t get it, but it makes sense to them, so okay.

I always want to see what’s going to happen. I want to see the kneeldowns, if that’s what’s coming. I want to see the desperation passes, the onside kicks. I want to see the players meeting on the field after the game. I attend for the entire experience, whatever it is, so I don’t leave early. I don’t leave movies early, no matter how bad, and I don’t leave the theater early, either.

Part of me says I owe it to the players to stay. They work incredibly hard to compete in these games, and they deserve an audience. (I know, they get paid to do it, whether I’m there or not. Still, when someone puts on a show for me, I’m going to watch it.)

Did I think about leaving the Ravens game?  No, not really, but I can say this: If I weren’t the kind of person who stays to the end, no matter how miserable the performance is, I would have been out the door after the magnificent Derrick Henry did his magic against the Bills again. My impression of the game to that point was that the Bills were fortunate to be only 15 points behind. The game felt like the score should have been 60-25. It seemed the Ravens were dominating.

In truth, statistically, the game was pretty even. It was two special quarterbacks running two good offenses, with two pretty good defenses trying to figure out how to survive. The Ravens had had the better of it, throwing haymaker after haymaker. It was exciting, explosive football. Still, it felt like the Bills were being smoked, and although the Bills might score 15 in the last 10 minutes, it didn’t seem likely that the Ravens were done scoring.

I knew, of course, that the Bills had a chance. Miracles happen all the time in the NFL. But to tell the truth, sometime in the third quarter I thought it was over. Every time I thought about the Bills mounting a comeback, I thought, “No, it’s over.” Why? Because the Bills just didn’t look very good. They couldn’t convert a two-point conversion. They couldn’t execute a quarterback sneak. They were close only because they got a gift touchdown on a desperation pass that was deflected and then caught by Keon Coleman, diving in the end zone. The Bills were close despite themselves.

I tried to talk myself into having some hope. I reminded myself that McDermott stocks his team with players who never quit. I reminded myself that he trains his players to win the second half, and especially to win the fourth quarter. I reminded myself that we had 17 [Josh Allen]. Nothing worked. I thought it was over.

When did I think they might actually win? Briefly after the touchdown got them to 40-38, but that hope disappeared almost immediately when they didn’t get the two point conversion to tie the game. I thought the chances the Ravens would go three and out were pretty slim. They’d punted only twice in the game.

When did I think the Bills might actually win? When the Ravens were 3^rd and 9 and there was more than a minute and a half left on the clock. That was literally the first time the possibility of winning came into my head and stayed there. I’d spent the previous hour thinking the game was over.

Then Benford made the tackle on Hopkins, the Ravens’ punt bounced out of bounds, and I thought, “The Bills are going to win! THE BILLS ARE GOING TO WIN!”

The final drive was magnificent. Josh Allen was masterful. As the commentators always say, the first first down is critical. Josh took an easy six yards over the middle to open the series, and the Bills were rolling. Easy sideline throw to Coleman for the first down. A gorgeous throw to Palmer, perfect, and then back to Coleman, and the Bills were ready to kick the game-winner.

What was the best moment in the game? The moments after it ended. People clapped and cheered and screamed, and they didn’t stop. The noise just kept coming and coming for three or four or five minutes, maybe ten minutes. Why did that happen? Because for the previous hour, we’d all been sitting there believing it was over, believing there was no hope. People weren’t even standing or singing along with the Shout song [the song Bills fans sing after each score]. And then, after all of the agony, it was bang, bang, bang, field goal, game over. We couldn’t stop cheering.

Who gets game balls? Matt Prater, of course.  The Bills regular kicker, Tyler Bass, was out with an injury, and on Thursday before the game, Prater agreed to join the team. A veteran NFL kicker, Prater flew overnight from Arizona to Buffalo and practiced with the team on Friday. On Sunday, he made every kick, including the game-winner as time expired. He admitted after the game that he didn’t know the names of most of his teammates.

Josh Allen, of course, gets a game ball, and Ed Oliver, of course. Big Ed made us believe when he bear-hugged Henry for a big tackle-for-loss. And he showed the way to the win when he stripped the ball from Henry for the only takeaway in the game that mattered. (Josh’s INT on the conversion attempt wasn’t the kind of takeaway that can change a game.)

And a game ball for McDermott. Remember when fans used to complain about McDermott’s game management? Not Sunday night. He knew when to go for two and when to go for one. He managed the timeouts perfectly. His team used every second on the clock to get three points to end the first half, and they used every second on the clock to kick the game-winner and deny the Ravens any chance of coming back. His philosophy of stopping the pass even if it means the Bills run defense is gashed proved, again, to be a winning strategy. And his never-say-die attitude carried the Bills to the win.

1-0.

GO BILLS!!!

The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.