What's up with Cooper?

[Sierra Foothills]

12 hours ago, JerseyBills said:

I started the Quietly better WR thread and rightfully got bashed a bit but it's looking better now that Cooper seems to be WR5

Coleman,  Hollins and even Samuel are getting more reps and yesterday I only remember Coop getting 1 target and barely saw him out there  

I'm just curious if anyone has any idea why?

 

Very outstanding of you to offer an unneeded mea culpa.

 

12 hours ago, djp14150 said:

There is another thread on the first page started last night

 

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't see it. Have a link?

 

11 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Unrelated to thread.... Keon was the smallest ankle slap away from a house call on that slant ughhhhhhh

 

Disclaimer: From the beginning I've been a supporter of the Keon Coleman draft selection.

 

That said, this is as good a time as any to mention how disappointed I was on that DPI call on Tre White which was actually a blatant OPI on Coleman. Wideouts who really are masters of their craft can get away with it subtly, unlike Coleman's uncalled foul. And then to make it worse, the ball went right through the middle of his catch radius without him even getting close to catching it.

 

Coleman has the physical tools to become an elite contested ball receiver but a lot of that is concentration and mental, not physical. He has a ton of polishing to do.

 

4 hours ago, Returntoglory said:

Smoke and mirrors? 

Playing Possum??

 

That theory doesn't really hold water. The Bills won yesterday but really squeaked by in too-close-for-comfort fashion.

 

Any contribution from Cooper would have been valuable and right on schedule but the train never came in.

 

14 minutes ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

**Only speculation in this post but:

 

Don't forget these guys have private lives beyond football.  Didnt he recently have an excused absence from practice for something un-football related?

Is it possible that he has a personal issue (like family health) that's making it hard for him to concentrate on the game? Not sure what it would take to hold him out of a game.

 

Good job.

 

I'm surprised it took until the 3rd page before this was mentioned.

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Sierra Foothills

[dave mcbride]

I rewatched the game tonight. On the one throw to Cooper, the throw was to a spot, and it was accurate. He couldn’t fight through it (and no, it wasn’t a penalty, just good defense) and then started barking at the refs. And he also possibly broke in the wrong direction.

[billsfan89]

The Bills in the divisional round game against the Ravens clearly were looking to run the ball early and often. Deflated stats for pretty much everyone in the receiving game. The Bills only had 22 pass attempts so not a lot of targets to go around. The leading receiver was Shakir with 6 receptions for 67 yards. Only 2 other players had multiple receptions one was a RB and the other was Samuel neither put up massive numbers. 

 

The Bills are gonna need Cooper against KC he's going to have to keep the Chiefs defense honest as I suspect KC is going to play single high safety looks or five defensive line fronts like they did in the regular season game to keep the run game in check. It's going to be on Cooper to break some plays on the outside. 

[djp14150]

17 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Very outstanding of you to offer an unneeded mea culpa.

 

 

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't see it. Have a link?

 

 

Disclaimer: From the beginning I've been a supporter of the Keon Coleman draft selection.

 

That said, this is as good a time as any to mention how disappointed I was on that DPI call on Tre White which was actually a blatant OPI on Coleman. Wideouts who really are masters of their craft can get away with it subtly, unlike Coleman's uncalled foul. And then to make it worse, the ball went right through the middle of his catch radius without him even getting close to catching it.

 

Coleman has the physical tools to become an elite contested ball receiver but a lot of that is concentration and mental, not physical. He has a ton of polishing to do.

 

 

That theory doesn't really hold water. The Bills won yesterday but really squeaked by in too-close-for-comfort fashion.

 

Any contribution from Cooper would have been valuable and right on schedule but the train never came in.

 

 

Good job.

 

I'm surprised it took until the 3rd page before this was mentioned.

 

 

it was started after the game. Surprised this  didn’t get merged with it

[I'mBuff]

13 hours ago, Sweats said:

I think the KC game is where we need to open Cooper up, like i'm talking wide open........he hasn't done a whole lot for us since being here, so who would ever see it coming?

I don’t see it happening, I just don’t. There’s always been talk here about the Bills were hiding this or hold that back, but it never happens. Brady didn’t know how to use MVS and it seems he doesn’t know how or doesn’t care to use Cooper to the extent he’s capable of. McDermott wasn’t that excited when we got him. The number of throws to wide receivers was pathetic yesterday. The game plan does not include releasing Josh Allen, it’s more than obvious. It’s worked so far, I guess we’ll see what happens in KC. 

[Scott7975]

10 hours ago, MJS said:

The Bills ran the ball on an icy field. Passing was secondary. When they did pass, it was dump offs and quick stuff over the middle to Shakir. The weather and the game plan made outside and down the field stuff less of a feature.

 

I think the weather will be better next week. But I still expect the Bills to run it a lot.

 

Ravens played a lot of cover 2 cover 3. They wanted to take away the big pass plays. Probably why we had an easier time running the ball than just about any other team.

[I'mBuff]

3 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

 

Ravens played a lot of cover 2 cover 3. They wanted to take away the big pass plays. Probably why we had an easier time running the ball than just about any other team.

We weren’t trying to push the ball more than a few yards up field, don’t blame the weather, Jackson was able to do it. We needed more in the second half, it almost cost us. An occasional shot or an attempt to push things to get the Ravens to back off pressing the run game would have been helpful.

[BillsFooteball]

Cooper to just simply get 25 yards against the chiefs is +136 on fan duel. I’m no expert on this but I put some money on it just seems so manageable and needed 

[Process]

 

[Scott7975]

4 hours ago, I'mBuff said:

We weren’t trying to push the ball more than a few yards up field, don’t blame the weather, Jackson was able to do it. We needed more in the second half, it almost cost us. An occasional shot or an attempt to push things to get the Ravens to back off pressing the run game would have been helpful.

Where did I say anything about weather? I said they played cover 2 and cover 3 to take away downfield. The Bills weren’t in a situation that they needed to be that aggressive. Josh was being smart with the ball. 

[Dan Darragh]

Since Cooper joined the team, he has only 20 receptions on 32 targets in 10 games.  The Bills are 11-1 in those games and they scored 42 points in the one loss. (I'm not counting the JV game in week 18)

 

Seems to me the Bills coaching staff has pretty much optimized Cooper.  It gives lie to the claims that the Bills were fatally flawed by the lack of a "true #1 WR". 

 

The OP got it right in his famous "quietly better" post.

Edited 2 hours ago by Dan Darragh

[QCity]

38 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said:

Since Cooper joined the team, he has only 20 receptions on 32 targets in 10 games.  The Bills are 9-1 in those games and they scored 42 points in the one loss.

 

Seems to me the Bills coaching staff has pretty much optimized Cooper.  It gives lie to the claims that the Bills were fatally flawed by the lack of a "true #1 WR". 

 

The OP got it right in his famous "quietly better" post.

 

Yes, Cooper doesn't catch footballs therefore the room is better. Are you still drunk from the game lol?

Edited 3 hours ago by QCity

[Dan Darragh]

46 minutes ago, QCity said:

 

Yes, Cooper doesn't catch footballs therefore the room is better. Are you still drunk from the game lol?

If you think the objective of the coaching staff is to get Cooper more balls, then you're right, they haven't optimized him.

 

If you think the objective of the coaching staff is to get the Bills to win games, then the 11-1 record with Coop on the team speaks volumes.

 

And no, I'm done being drunk from the game, now I'm taking anxiety pills before the next one.

Edited 2 hours ago by Dan Darragh

[QCity]

27 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said:

If you think the objective of the coaching staff is to get Cooper more balls, then you're right, they haven't optimized him.

 

If you think the objective of the coaching staff is to get the Bills to win games, then the 11-1 record with Coop on the team speaks volumes.

 

And no, I'm done being drunk from the game, now I'm taking anxiety pills before the next one.

 

I don't think the objective of the coaching staff is to get Cooper more balls, I've never even inferred that. You said they've optimized him, which is kind of crazy. Right? Cooper will be gone next year unless he signs a short term team-friendly deal. But I do hope the anxiety pills are prescribed by a licensed physician. 😉

[I'mBuff]

5 hours ago, Scott7975 said:

Where did I say anything about weather? I said they played cover 2 and cover 3 to take away downfield. The Bills weren’t in a situation that they needed to be that aggressive. Josh was being smart with the ball. 

I didn’t, it’s pointing out it was a conscious decision not to use him or any form of intermediate passing game which was a terrible decision. It showed a lack of trust in Josh. Same as the patriots wind game, Daboll wouldn’t throw the ball for 3 quarters finally had to in the 4th but it was too late. The Ravens were all in on stopping the run, I few passing plays up the field could have released some pressure. It worked great in the first half. Stubborn thinking that almost cost us the game. 

[frostbitmic]

11 hours ago, djp14150 said:

 

it was started after the game. Surprised this  didn’t get merged with it

He's in blue

[mjt328]

What was the problem with the Bills offense before Joe Brady became the offensive coordinator?

Most would say too much reliance on Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and the downfield passing game creating big plays.  It was exciting.  But it also resulted in too many up and down games and too many turnovers.

 

This year, the offense has been focused on playing smart, efficient and mistake-free football.  Running the ball.  Short passes and check-downs.  Spreading the ball around.  Only unleashing the beast when absolutely needed (such as the Rams and Lions games).  It has resulted in one of the best offensive seasons in team history.

 

Around the league, most defensive coordinators are primarily concerned with stopping Allen from making big plays.  And Amari Cooper is still viewed as our most dangerous downfield receiver.  Which means the smartest and most efficient way to attack is by running, and with the short/underneath passing game.  For better or worse, Cooper is not going to be heavily used unless we need to attack down the field.