HamptonBillsfan

great objective analysis , thank you

What do you like about the defensive drafts over the last 3 years as our defense continues to decline? Those other teams that you dismissed have top statistical defenses and 3 of them have won the last 4 SBs along with the Eagles who drafted defense really well. Can’t anyone criticize obvious shortcomings in the way we do business without fans going into denial mode?

I don’t know what search you’re referring to but checking his college career clearly shows his 2023 season was his only productive year. 55 tackles, 13 games played. In 2024 he played only 7 games with just a few tackles. His 2022 season was also inconsequential with little production. Factor in his being investigated for criminal sexual assault and burglary makes you wonder how this franchise, with high standards of character found their way to this guy.

Agreed, but it’s becoming painfully obvious that our secondary is a major need and we can’t seem to get it right.

I met with some pushback when I criticized the 1st rd selection of Hairston from the standpoint of him being slight and not being a willing tackler. Now he looks like a question mark to recover in time to play this season in a meaningful way. Judging by our defensive drafts in recent years, Beane and the scouting department have to be questioned. Isn’t part of drafting knowing whether players have a history of being injury prone? Toughness and playing through injuries define good players in the NFL.Hairston, Strong, Hancock. Tucker, Turner, have all been unable to get on the field enough to contribute. Other than Rousseau, Bernard and Benford, who has cracked the lineup or made any positive impact in the last 5 years? Compare that to what the Rams, Chiefs, Packers or Texans have accomplished with their defensive drafts? The offensive side of the drafts is a different story but why have a defensive minded coach if his defensive drafts stink?

Rasul improved us at corner. Cooper had plenty left but just couldn’t dominate like he did in Dallas or Cleveland. He improved the receiver room though. Remember we lost a tough game in the championship game with Douglas and Cooper. Benjamin was more of low percentage addition. Why bring him up even, we weren’t a team in a win now mode. Always look to improve instead of flailing at reasons not to.

Not talking about this year’s Ravens collapse and subsequent cap clearing moves but previous seasons. We’re in a win now mode and there’s an urgency to making necessary changes to fortify our corners. Trade deadline coming in a few weeks. Teams are already mailing their season in( Jets, Browns, Titans, Giants, Bengals), no reason not to be proactive.

Naturally the reaction to our 1st loss was overblown but it all comes with an obvious weakness that is glaring with our pass coverage and pursuit. When is Beane going to fortify this crappy secondary. You see KC, Baltimore making moves when they have holes, Beane likes to wait until the offseason. Hairston is already 6 games in before hitting the field. Do we really expect him to make a difference within 3 or 4 weeks?. Strong, has a significant neck injury. What’s with Hancock? All these draft choices are MIA. Our FAs, Hoecht and Ogenjobi are PED enthusiasts and will finally play in week 7. I know we have cap issues but good GMs know how to make moves. Too much reliance on Josh and Cook will result in more outcomes like NE.

I understand the frustration with losing a game to a divisional opponent, but the idea of using a variety of receivers is necessary because Beane chose to ignore a dominant pass catcher in favor of D-line FAs and draft choices.The problem on Sunday was they shut down Cook and then Brady got impatient and went away from the run game in favor of throwing into dangerous double coverages. What’s wrong with Josh distributing the ball to an emerging star in Kincaid, mismatches with Coleman, Shakir, who always gets open when Josh gets flushed or Palmer? Our offense is run first with a top 5 RB which opens up underneath opportunities and limits TOs. You want to vent, focus on the crappy secondary we’ve trotting out there.

He wasn’t as good as the defenders covering his prime target (Diggs)was awful. If that’s the way our corners play man defense, we’re going make opposing QBs look like Probowlers. How many times did D-linemen have opportunities to sack him and he got free to find open receivers who got YAC. Dequan, Bosa, Epenesa and Rousseau all whiffed on Maye and let him run for 1st downs or completions. We need Hoecht, Ogenjobi, and Oliver to make an impact because with our D-line’s inability to get pressure and Milano’s limited availability, our crappy secondary is being exposed. Beane made all these D-line acquisitions and oft-injured Tre White for corner depth with Hairston in the 1st round and through 6 games, we have zero impactful additions to our defense. I like Palmer, but on offense as well, who is making a difference as an offseason pickup? Now if Beane stands pat at the deadline, he thinks this roster can get us to the SB. If teams go to school on the Pats game, we’re in for a lot of shootouts.

Here’s a few thoughts about the Bills. If anyone thinks our secondary won’t be targeted and victimized by any quality passing attack they’re kidding themselves. Tre White is marginal depth at this point in his career. With Strong on IR, who is our other corner, with Benford, who is not playing great man coverage himself... Our safeties are mostly, chasing plays 20 yards down the field, out of position. Why did Diggs get so much YAC last night? The safeties missed tackles and got out of position. The defensive gurus running our defense allowed Diggs, to look like Jerry Rice. If he was the sole target anytime Maye got flushed, why didn’t Sean and Babich take him away before he shredded our coverage. I liked the increased number of blitz packages but can anyone put the QB on the ground? We played the run better last night but with Milano questionable going forward and Williams on IR, Shaq better have a lot left, especially with Atlanta’s running attack. Now on offense, if our passing approach is going to be a combination of underneath check downs and slip screens, these O-lineman and receivers better make blocks without penalties. Bottom line, offensive line coaching and Brady stunk last night. Ultimately, Josh is leaving the pocket too early because our receivers aren’t separating as he goes through his progressions. He won’t survive all the hits he took last night if it’s a regular thing. It’s obvious that our offense is centered around Cook gashing defenses creating opportunities on 3rd and short. If Cook is shut down, we’ll have games like last night.

The problem is violence has become an acceptable response to political expression or rhetoric that someone disagrees with. Sadly the policies of DAs, judges and the people that keep electing them, prioritize criminals instead of hardworking taxpayers(victims). Cashless bail, not prosecuting violent crimes, defunding and diminishing law enforcement encourages this dangerous trend.

Ray Davis has not performed like a reasonable backup for Jimbo. Thankfully Brady has prioritized more touches for Cook and you see the results. By the way, what’s wrong with Johnson? He’s had more drops than all of last season. If we’re going to make strides with our offense, because the O-line seems fine when Cooks explodes for big splashy runs, these other RBs in the unit have to show up. Do you remember the clueless posters who said “dump Cook and just insert Davis and Johnson and we won’t take a step backwards”

Maybe you’re looking for something that is not on the roster by design. If you’ve been watching, Josh has nine options in the passing game. These receivers have been involved mostly underneath on possession throws. Shakir, Palmer, Coleman are getting some YAC but none of these receivers are vertical threats. Kincaid has been a guy, who can get behind LBs or safeties on mismatches. Beane’s vision for the offense is Cook being the focal point with explosive running and Josh being a distributor throwing to all these tough pass catchers, sprinkling in strategic QB runs when the field opens up. This is their formula for limiting TOs and scoring 30 or more points a game. So far Josh has 10 TD passes n 4 games. There’s different ways to get production.

This is the game that should send a message to the rest of the AFC that the path to the SB runs right through HighMark Stadium. I’m hoping Oliver and Milano are active and Brown can play. At full strength, with an improved pass rush and a fast developing Strong and Walker, I see the prospect for a dominant performance after two games that we sleepwalked to lackluster victories. The home field advantage will never be bigger than Sunday night’s crowd. With Cook getting off to the start he’s had and Josh showing trust in all our receivers, Vrabel will have a challenge defending our offense. This is the game that should send a message to the rest of the AFC that the path to the SB runs right through HighMark Stadium. I’m hoping Oliver and Milano are active and Brown can play. At full strength, with an improved pass rush and a fast developing Strong and Walker, I see the prospect for a dominant performance after two games that we sleepwalked to lackluster victories. The home field advantage will never be bigger than Sunday night’s crowd. With Cook getting off to the start he’s had and Josh showing trust in all our receivers, Vrabel will have a challenge defending our offense.

They didn’t need him to throw because they were moving the ball effortlessly on the ground with Kamara and Rattler until they were in the red zone. Rattler should have had another TD if Shaheen had caught a wide open TD throw. What’s the difference, that game was too close for comfort.

No decision, Prater is our kicker until he misses important kicks. He’s been great so far and I don’t trust Bass coming off injury.

You can’t destroy these diehard fans after they have been handed a lost season after 4 games. Let them hang on to something to give them hope going forward. Lamar has been exposed as a great QB that can’t win a big game. Harbaugh is a good coach who hasn’t gotten anywhere with Lamar being an MVP . If they get healthy maybe they can sneak into the playoffs in a weak division but if Lamar is out through their bye they can be one and five. That’s a tough ask.

Why shouldn’t Lamar fans say he’s the best? The idea doesn’t pass the eye test or his track record against Josh but I’m sure a Ravens fan could build a statistical argument in the regular season to throw it against the wall. In the end the person that gets to the SB and hoists the trophy will be considered the best between Josh, Lamar and Burrow.

Well said, that’s how the board should work. In the end his success or failure will be determined by the team overcoming injuries and improving as the season wears on. I’m also not saying your argument is not correct because I have thought to myself players have not been coached up effectively ( Rousseau, Bishop, Epenesa, Williams,) or replaced if necessary.

What’s the rush to dump this guy when he’s working with substandard personnel. You must agree that getting pressure with their front four without Oliver is not possible so Babich is starting to bring Bernard, Thompson and even Bishop. That paid dividends against the Saints and Miami. He’s missed a great run defender and tackler with superior diagnostic instincts in Milano. Tre is giving a great effort but he’s going to struggle against top receivers( Hill, Shaheen, Flowers, etc) I like the idea of stopping teams when the game is on the line. In the Ravens miracle we stopped them and turned them over to make Josh’s comeback possible. Against Miami, who played their best game, we turned them over and got pressure on Tua when they were on the verge of taking the lead. Same thing with NO, they went 4 and out with the game on the line. At the end of the 1st half. Bishop got a TO to get us momentum. He was put in a position by Babich’s defense to make a big play. If you believe that this defense will improve with the PED boys, Oliver,Milano and Hairston, it’s worth giving Babich a pass.

How could Babich be on the hot seat at 4 and 0. He’s stuck with Beane/Sean’s roster. Did Babich pick Landon Jackson, TJ. Sanders or Hairston? Did Babich reward Rousseau for being a string bean who can’t get a sniff of the QB while getting an extension for big money? Did Babich find a way to pull off the miracle Ravens comeback down 15 with 4 minutes to go? Did Babich’s defense shut down a spirited Dolphins and Saints team on 4th quarter stops? Get back to us when the Bills lose.

Knox, as much Josh loves him,,never catches a 50/50 ball and drops too many catchable balls. He doesn’t make important plays and takes up too much cap space. He should be a trade candidate or one of the first casualties of the additions coming after game six. Maybe a change of scenery will jumpstart his career.

He’s obviously not showing the quality needed to break into the Sunday lineup and thats with a group that desperately needs a pass rusher from the edge. I guess Hancock is not fully healthy because we need another cb with our propensity to make the Spencer Rattlers of the world look like Joe Burrow.

The first four games have been a testament to the greatness of Josh, Cook the O-line and a few defenders (Bernard, Benford, Bosa, and Oliver). The offense has been good enough to compete for the SB. Averaging over 30 and scoring on cue when teams have narrowed margins are indicative of great production. The weaknesses on defense are glaring and must be resolved if we want to overcome our loser resume. The run defense is not effective and without Oliver and Milano it’s not going to improve. The front four also has generated little pressure on the QB but Sean and Babich have brought extra rushers ala Spags approach that have worked at times.We need continued improvement from Walker, Sanders and the arrival of Ogenjobi. Our secondary gives up too many completions and YAC. Relying on our 1st round rookie cb and the other rookies with a game but injury diminished Tre White is not realistic. Bishop showed flashes last game but he’s out of position too much. So it seems obvious we need an acquisition before the deadline either an established corner or safety and the addition of the PED lineman to shore up the defense. The outlook is optimistic to get the overall home field throughout the playoffs but to beat KC and the NFC champion improvement of our defense will determine whether we end the drought.