HappyDays

Against Baltimore and Houston last year it looked just as bad as it has these past few games. Wasn't great against the Jets the following week either but we managed to grind out a win off of our run game. Trading for Cooper is what caused our pass game to open up for the rest of the season. I know he didn't perform to the level we all hoped but just having that legit vertical threat outside made a huge difference. Like in the KC game there were two TD drives that only happened because of big completions to Cooper downfield. Just the fact that teams had to respect him opened up other stuff underneath.

Yeah I really liked him. The easy speed and transition ability made him a great fit for our zone heavy defense. Honestly my biggest concern was how he would hold up in man but in this game at least he was lights out. Love his energy out there too.

I posted these in the injury thread but thought they deserved their own thread: 1st video is his textbook tackle on the screen. Quick recognition of the play, the athletic ability to immediately transition and trigger downhill, perfect technique for a smaller CB to lay a hit stick. He knocked that receiver out of the game. 2nd video is a few man coverage reps. He locks down his WR on all of them. Has the natural speed to stay in the hip pocket while running across the field and the awareness to run the route for his WR on a couple of these. Seems to have a really good feel for when to play inside or outside leverage. 3rd video is one zone coverage rep (Hairston is at the bottom of the screen). He shows great eyes and awareness on this one. Confirms the flat route is bottled up, feels the crossing route coming in his direction and gets in position to cap it, then gets his eyes to the backline and looks ready to explode to the WR coming open late in the play. I don't want to over-hype a player based off of 12 reps but this is some really advanced stuff for a rookie in his 1st game. Hopefully the coaching staff saw enough to make him the full time starter opposite of Benford. We'll need him versus KC's speedy WRs.

One more play to throw in to show off a zone coverage rep (Hairston is at the bottom of the screen): Doesn't look like much but I like how active he is with his eyes. Sees the flat route is covered, feels the crossing route and gets in position to cap it, then gets his eyes to the back of the endzone and looks ready to explode towards the receiver coming open back there. Very impressive set of reps. The last reports on him from training camp were that he looked overwhelmed trying to learn his place in the defense. Whatever he's done since then it looks like the switch has flipped.

Very exciting stuff: Easy speed. Locking down his man in every rep. Good technique with his hands. What am I missing? Make him the full time starter now. I don't need to see Tre trying to keep up with KC's receivers.

Coleman had a chance to break open after clearing #7 but he's wearing Jaycee Horn like a backpack: You're right that Carolina's zone bottled up the routes on the play side. That's where you need your X to just beat his man and get open. And hey Jaycee Horn is a great player, he's going to win some of these reps against any WR, but the fact we had zero chance of ever beating him (or any other decent outside CB) 1v1 really lowers the margin of error for the rest of the passing offense. The play call and the QB have to be perfect on every play. It's too much to ask.

We spent $40M AAV on Rousseau, Bernard, and Palmer so it doesn't exactly take a lot of imagination to work out the rest.

Brady had one of the greatest TEs of all time catching passes for him. And Edelman who for some reason still doesn't get the respect he deserves. Edelman was Brady's WR version of Travis Kelce in the sense that he could read defenses as well as a QB and methodically go to the exact spot Brady expected him to. Not an all time player but a great player and several tiers better than any pass catcher on our team this year. Anyways Brady was a better QB than Allen (or any other QB in history) so he shouldn't even be the point of reference. But I bring him up to say that yes even the GOAT needed some help. People thought his career was over when he was throwing to the likes of Phillip Dorsett and Mohammed Sanu and N'Keal Harry. Shockingly he revitalized his career when throwing to the likes of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown (pre-psychotic break). The answer is plainly obvious and some people still can't accept it. Luckily I don't think even Beane is THAT stubborn. His WGR rant notwithstanding he isn't stupid, he certainly isn't asking Josh how his marriage with Hailee is going, so I expect him to make a trade. Then the passing offense will miraculously look good just like it did after we added Cooper last year. I'm old enough to remember when threads like this one were created after the losing streak of Baltimore to Houston.

I just can't believe how many people in this thread are actually trying to say his marriage is somehow screwing up his mind. Come on with this crap. Did anybody on here watch the Chiefs the past couple years? Their WRs were awful and the great Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid led an offense that was outside the top 10 in PPG. It's not some big riddle. Tom Brady left the Pats because he was sick of his woeful supporting cast, he went to a great offense and immediately won another Super Bowl. Too many Bills fans and podcasters are trying to puzzle out any possible reason for the passing game issues other than the glaringly obvious one. You simply cannot function as a top tier passing offense with bottom tier pass catching talent.

Part of the problem is we have an extremely low margin for error offense. So every mistake is getting magnified tenfold. Like that one miss to Moore on I think a 1st down was awful, but QBs miss throws over the course of the game. When it's 1 bad miss out of 33 it's no big deal. When it's 1 bad miss out of 19 it kind of affects your entire perception of the performance. Allen will be fine. We know he can play at an MVP level. The WR room on the other hand isn't magically going to start punching above its weight class. Instead of sitting on their hands waiting for Allen to go god mode, they need to fix the massive hole that exists on the roster. It's awesome that the run game and pass rush were able to take over today. That isn't going to happen every week and that's where you get games like Atlanta. The passing offense simply needs more options to keep itself on schedule. It's too haphazard on a play to play basis which is why Allen, the OL, and the pass catchers never look like they're getting in a consistent rhythm.

Hmm that's a really tough one for me. Olave is the higher floor and more expensive, BTJ is the higher ceiling and cheaper. Olave also has a real injury concern. Gun to my head I probably take the higher floor in Olave because I know exactly what I'm getting with him and I think it's enough to push this offense over the top. BTJ there is a legit concern that he is mentally broken. But more and more reports are coming out that they are not going to trade Olave. So BTJ might be the only #1 option available. If they can add Shaheed sure do it, but we need more.

We haven't traded away a 1st round pick since 2020, and that trade ended up one of the best additions in franchise history. It feels like it is the right time to make that sort of blockbuster trade. Next year's draft supposedly is strong in LBs, safeties, and IOL. We don't need 1st round talents at those positions. We need a legit WR to complete our offense. Any use of a 1st round pick is a risk. I'll take the player that put up 1,200 yards in year one over any random rookie.

Well that's my point. Teams would need to give a 1st to make them willing to trade him. You can't expect them to give up a 1,200 yard rookie WR for anything less than that... regardless of how he has looked this year.

BTJ is on year two of a rookie deal... It is definitely taking a 1st. The contract affects the value.

I'll be interested to see the snap counts. I think only two passes were thrown in the direction of his coverage and he had his man locked down on both targets. The few other times I saw him out there Dalton looked and threw to the opposite side of the field. It was nice seeing an opposing WR running across the field with a Bills CB in his hip pocket. Haven't seen that this year.

@Freddie's Dead asked me to step in this week. Cook Cook Cook Shakir Hoecht Walker There's probably more in the front 7 that deserve it, dominant performance from them. Ditto for the run blocking.

I know the defense has been great today but Benford continues to be targeted and has given up a lot of catches today. He just isn't right. Luckily the pass rush is getting it done all on their own.

Is it uncouth of me to say the LB play has been significantly better with Thompson taking his place? Maybe he should rest that ankle a while longer.

We got back to basics today. Pound Cook, get the ball in Shakir's hands. That has to be 90% of our offense.

Watch the replays. Greg Olsen is showing you exactly what's happening on every play.

The totality of the game is that he had one awful missed throw, and otherwise he is looking looking looking downfield, and then the replay confirms no one was open.

Cook or Shakir breaking one. That's our only hope on offense right now.

No he didn't? On the replay everyone is locked up