MasterStrategist

I'd be surprised if they fill those 2 open spots. That has Hoecht and Oji written all over it. But could also see them signing Po to active and cutting Codrington this upcoming week. Definitely will see a DT elevated from P/S tonight --- extreme outside chance they decide to put Logue on 53. But maybe. Otherwise, likely whoever had better pracitce week from Mathis and Phillips.

Taking notes....attack chiefs via pass across middle. when they are in "base/3 LBs on field"...got it. Keep it up Detroit. Stay to the RBs and Laporta feom this close.

Does it matter that Goff wasnt under center? Hes not even standing behind center for more than 1 second

Agree - that seems far fetched

Ed missing is a crusher. Need our 3 "paid" guys from this offseason, Groot/Bernard/Benford to make more impact plays. Those 3+Ed are our "core", plus Milano who is basically so injury riddled that he cant be counted on for long stretches. Our middle pass rush is so weak without Ed. Playing our best come playoffs is always key. Its difficult to assess what we even have with this defense, until we get into late November/early December IMO. Suspended guys will have reps by then+ Max (hopefully)+ stay more healthy / get Sanders and Milano back.

We need speed on defense (secondary) and a WR able to win 1-1, more than Palmer/Keon. Max brings speed, when hes ready. He will make rookie errors, but will undoubtedly be more sticky in coverage than Tre right now. Give me a safety so we can get Rapp to where he belongs, as #3 safety. I begged for a legit safety in FA, and a solid #2 CB- need to give Max a chance now. But he can still find a starter at S via trade. I think DJ Moore will be available for trade. Maybe Shaheed. Going to be slim pickings IMO, but possible. Beane made his bed at WR this season, is how I look at it. Paid Palmer, Samuel deal is so costly this yr. But get Rapp off the field ASAP pls.

I think Sanders will be back. If a torn meniscus, which seems possible with the team giving him a week to see how it responded- then somewhere in the 6 week range and he will be back. Maybe for Bengals game. Need Ed to stay healthy period. Him, Bosa, Groot are our key cogs. Then Walker contiuned improvement anf AJ, Hoecht. Oji is a wildcard if he produces much, his tank was looking empty with Steelers LY. Our defense needs Ed, Bosa, Groot, Bernard and Benford to start performing to their potential.

I'd be surprised if its not Shaq. Bijan is an all around weapon, but in the pass game can be lethal/big plays. I'd rather have the better coverage LB on field. I'd like to see us stack the box and make the Penix to Drake (Benford matched up) connection beat us. Kyle Pitts the other middle of field/mismatch for them...another reason for Shaq and to drop a safety to take away middle of field.

Hamlin and Samuel being out isnt monumental, though I wish it was for what Curtis eats in our cap. Moore plays, Hancock plays. It will be interesting to see if Milano is placed on IR this weekend. Maybe they think he can be back for Chiefs and hold on making a move. Hoecjht and Oji back next week for practice. Assuming Codrington is a sure cut. Then a bunch of possibilities: Franklin, Ciarlo, Solomon. Balance of S/T play and who contributes most as a backup. I'd say Ciarlo is the 2nd obvious cut

They dumped money, unwisely, into Samuel and Palmer. WR has turned into the old problems of DL investments. They need to adjust this approach of "bunch of solid guys", and Josh will elevate their play. While true Josh will, we need to be looking at different WR types as you mentioned. WRs aren't cheap on FA market, and we have low cap every year - again Beane. But Im tired of these middle level FA investments where we waste $10m+ in a single year on cap --- either Rd1 needs to be a WR every year until "we hit"-- or prioritize making another Diggs type trade (mid level cap/maybe 1 or 2 years left on deal, elite player, and give up the 1st rd+ picks)

The fact hes limited this early in week (this is like a typical Wed), id say he will be ready. Lots of various levels of oblique strains...the fact Kincaid is practicing 3 days post game, and finished the game is a good sign

Going to be a big week to get Ed back, and for our LBs to step up. Bijan is top priority, run game but hes also very dangerous in their pass game and used alot there. Then shut down Pitts. I'd lock Benford on London all game. If Penix beats us going to London, so be it. Just dont want to see Bijan picking up chunck yardage. Their defense can be ran on. But I suspect they react with bringing safeties down a lot. Need to see the field better and our OL can hold up in pass pro. Bills 33 Falcons 27

What snaps did he play? Was he in the game for how many passing yards/points scored? Legit questions - if you want to attribute success to him being on the roster. We also had Alec Anderson taking significant snaps last year ---- maybe it was him playing as 6th OL? Kidding aside, this isnt a "yeah but". Its how much do you attribute success to Cooper? You do realize teams improve throughout the year, players improve --- lots of reasons to say our offense got better in those final 8 games, just because a player was added who played less than 50% of snaps and had marginal success, we cant say "oh yeah, Cooper is the only the difference between those last 8 games". You're smarter than that

Numbers are the numbers, thats fine. But it wasn't Coop all himself- in fact little to do with him IMO. Just like we didnt put up record numbers on offense, because of Coop. Low turnovers on offense, defense forcing turnovers--- all led to higher scoring. Point is, stats are a real reflection of results, but what was the catalyst? Thats where eye test says "not cooper". Playing fundamentally sound/very efficient offense, behind an MVP performance from Josh --- that's the reason. If we traded for the second coming of Kelvin Benjamin, we still get similar output.

Anyone who thinks Cooper was the reason for improvement --- did you watch the games? Josh was playing at an MVP caliber, obviously, and we were getting solid production from our RBs (especially Ty) in pass game. Cooper was a decoy who was already over the hill, hence his retirement this offseason. Brady has better/healthier weapons right now...and we are struggling, against Saints at times and Pats, because hes become more predictable and Josh just isnt playing at his top level yet. Same as LY, Josh turned it on 2nd half- hopefully we see the offensive rhythm improve, because weve been very inconsistent 2 weeks in a row, possibly 3 dating back to Miami.

Yep, this was up thread somewhere. Agree, Keon is still super young, learning. He can handle the constructive criticism...coaches have high standards, because the potential is there. And yes, anything across middle of field Short- crosses, intermediate - digs, deep-post (which i swear haven't seen many lost routes out of Brady). Speaking of Brady, I dont like his passing concepts from this past week. Kincaid, Shakir and Keon should be hogging more targets each week. Keon isnt being used where I think hes best, and thats out of the slot/more middle of the field. We dont have great WRs, but they can be utilized better.

Agree. Take a look at last season to prove your point --- Bmore then Houston. I dont mind the balanced approach on offense. But we need more chunk plays - Bradys pass route concepts are just meh IMO. Defense will be better when Ed is back--- but we need to be more aggressive in tackling and forcing turnovers. Doesn't help that we are slow at too many spots (Tre, Rapp, even Taron) - seems we are thinking too much on defense right now- instead of playing fast/aggressive.

Everyone eats is the nice way of saying we have zero divas at WR/anyone that we need to force targets too. I dont mind the saying - just rather we get more creative with our pass route concepts and get less predictable on offense.

That's because we telegraph our run game. Kincaid comes off the field --- 90%+ chance we run, because we usually bring on some combo of Hawes/Gilliam or use Hawes/Knox. Shakir- hes still battling thru his ankle, IMO. I fully expect we see his snap count increase after bye week But in theory, I hate our personnel groupings. I dont want to see Gilliam on the field, or Shavers. Both these guys ZERO to the pass game/it becomes almost a guarantee we are running the ball. Teams have started to adjust to our personell groupings. Hawes, I dont mind seeing him, but rather we roll with 12 personell than 13 on 1st downs. Keep the defense guessing if run or playaction. Id be saving 13 for inside the 10/3rd or 4th and short.

I think Keon has been battling thru the groin still, as is Shakir with his high ankle to some degree. Keon stats reflect an ascending player, keeping in mind he is super young still. Obviously has maturity issues, which hopefully improve. I also think hes been "held" ALOT. Its not getting called, so maybe there's something he can do differently, but every game this year its occurred multiple times. He and Josh are not fully on same page yet with back shoulder throws. He was on the 2nd one, but Josh put that first one in a horrible spot (might be Keon to blame as well for not getting to his spot quick enough). He needs to use his physicality more , so much potential there, its been inconsistent. Thats his path to success. I'd also like to see him out of the slot more , but mostly Kincaid filling that big slot now. I'd also like to see Keon on downfield crossers. We dont run enough of these route combos. And sending Keon to the post. Have we ran any post patterns this year, by the way? Bradys route combos are not great IMO

Coordinators get "figured out" in year 2. Dorsey had this problem too. Tendencies and formation/personnel groupings are studied and analyzed at a high level. Babich has McD and Nielsen, certainly some experienced coordinators to lean into. Injuries/suspensions, are making it difficult to assess. Missing Ed, Milano, and they were counting on Max's speed/him to start. Now we are likely down Milano for a decent amount of time...who knows when they will trust Max to take the field (might require an injury to Tre). Brady: When you design an offense to be "efficient"/grind it out with little explosive play design, then you better not turnover the ball OR get any significant/have a penalty problem. We had the killer combo of both of these, which to Bradys credit, kills drives and playcalling rhythm. Im not a fan of several things: hes too predictable, too slow to adjust his gameplan, route combinations I dislike, lack of RB use in passing game this year, and the horizontal passing game. Coordinators sometimes get figured out in Year 2 (like Dorsey). But I think Brady will ultimately make some scheme changes. Keon year 2, Palmer year 1, Samuel basically missed most of last year --- then I think Shakir is still fighting thru his high ankle sprain to some degree. Get this W, and I typically hate early bye weeks -- but this works to our favor this year IMO. Suspended guys returning to practice, hopefully Max IR practice window opened, and coaches a chance to make some changes.

Another tough game. Falcons offense is better than Pats, IMO. And they are coming off a bye week, at home. Hopefully Bills dont lay an egg 2 weeks in a row in primetime. Time for team to step up the level of play

True, no clue how I forgot that. Excellent point, and unfortunate outcome. Its funny how replay assist is used for certain penalties -ie: illegal man downfield, illegal forward pass, but not for others (judgment calls). Seems like there still is an opportunity to improve on that, but as you said, takes the NFL being more forward thinking

Never understood why penalties (called or not), cant be reviewed. Purpose of review is to improve the quality of calls. Why not include penalties in that? Keep coach initiated replays to 2 per game-but include penalties. Easy and improves integrity of the game.

100% on all this. Im vented about the lack of. boundary WR talent, we continue to hope/pray Keon can become a X, Palmer was brought in to be a separator, then LY it was Samuel. As you said, no diva = not elite. most of timr at WR. This is on Beane and also giving Allen too much leeway into decision making. I disliked the WGR interview earlier this offseason, would be their chance to bring this up again now/after last night's debacle.