HoofHearted

Not an RPO - that was Q Counter Read That doesn't make sense. You can RPO off any run scheme.

No, I meant athletic. Outside of Morse, Dawkins, and Bates we have a bunch of big lumbering guys who don't have great feet and don't move particularly well in the open field and on the second level. The issue you are seeing is that when we run any of our zone scheme stuff it's a zone overtake scheme. The entire OL is on tracks and then have to move in unison in order for the zone overtake to work. Their rules are simple - are you covered or uncovered. If you're covered you block your guy back to the uncovered OL - he'll eventually pick him up - and then you work to second level. You can see if they aren't moving in unison how this is an issue. Our problem is we have a few athletic guys and a few non-athletic guys on the OL - it's a hodge podge of personnel. What they can ALL do however is block down! This sets them on their path right now and allows them to get immediate push. This is exactly what teams like the Colts and Titans do. Tons of gap scheme runs.

If Josh is running on an RPO we're not doing something right. Zone is what Daboll wants to be. We're not athletic enough across the board up front in order to do it efficiently though.

There has been a noticeable shift in the Bills philosophy when it comes to their run game over the past several weeks and it has been paying off in big ways. Daboll has increasingly leaned on more gap scheme concepts (think pulling offensive linemen), relying on heavy doses of Counter, Power, and C Lead at various times. What has really helped the improvement though is the incorporation of the Quarterback threat (whether that be run or pass). ---Q Counter Read--- This past week against the Falcons the Bills ran Q Counter Read a number of times - each time going for big gains. In this concept Josh is responsible for reading the backside ILB (or scrape player). If that read player doesn't scrape with the pulling offensive linemen in front of him Josh will keep it and run Counter behind his blockers. If the read player does scrape then he will give it to the back and we'll run outside zone off of it. Reading a defensive player forces that player to be "wrong" no matter what they do and allows our offense to essentially play 11 on 10 football. What Q Counter Read allows for is to not only read the backside inside linebacker, but also leaves the backside defensive end unblocked forcing him to make a decision whether to squeeze hard or play the outside zone path by the back. The concept behind this is that whoever ends up keeping the ball is a far superior athlete to this defensive end and will make him wrong regardless of what he does - the Bills are now playing 11 on 9 football and getting numbers to either side of the play based on the read. ---Counter RPO--- Another variation of Counter the Bills ran this week for much success was Counter with a backside RPO tagged to it. For Josh it's the same read as the Q Counter Read play we previously discussed. Josh will read the backside ILB and make a decision based on what he does. If the read player scrapes Josh will pull it and throw the slant to the slot receiver right in the area that the backer vacated. If the read player sits then Josh will give the ball to the back and we'll run Counter. Again, reading this player allowed the Bills to guarantee a numbers advantage to where they ran the football and we saw big runs from both Singletary and Moss running this concept. These concepts aren't anything new for the Bills - they've been running them since Daboll and Josh got here - but the increased volume of these concepts has certainly lead to a resurgence of our run game. Go Bills!

Yes please! More Q Counter Read, Daboll!

Why does Stevenson run so high? Just setting himself up for the kill shot.

Jesus, we aren't commanding double teams up front - and backers aren't getting downhill quick enough in the run game or getting off blocks.

Gap Scheme!!! Keep calling it!

Milano getting worked in the run game early on.

Boy that was telegraphed with Moss out there in the bunch set. Love the play call though!

Low man always wins!

Beasley - with all the zone we'll see he should eat.

The play everyone is talking about was a designed blitz. However, you're not wrong. When we get into our man coverage stuff and he's responsible for the back out - if the back stays in to block then he's an add on to the rush by design, but has to rush through the outside shoulder of the back and push him back into the QB as he's still responsible for that back in man coverage. So all the chip and release stuff or screen game he'd look like a delayed blitzer but is ultimately responsible for going where the back goes.

He did try to bull rush - lost the leverage battle - that's gonna happen quite a bit when you're 6'5" unfortunately. That's why they hardly blitz him - he's not good at it. Dude frequently loses the leverage battle and gets stood up. Hope reading that post clears up the back half of that play from him though.

If you're referring to the play where Oliver got the sack please read here for more understanding of what actually happens when you blitz/rush an interior gap.

Can you explain why you think it was “all instinct”? Genuinely interested in your response.

Coach McDermott is building it the right way. A team composed of unselfish disciplined players.

Pro Bowl is almost solely based on popular opinion. We’re not a big market team. Don’t expect out guys to make it. I would be extremely surprised if our guys don’t make 1st or 2nd team All-Pro as these are voted on by their peers and coaches though.

Leverage is his cryptonite for sure. At 6’5” it’s hard for him to win leverage battles against OL without great technique. He has to understand pad level going forward in order to win these matchups.

It’s just the scheme. In a base 4-2-5 defense he is a leverage player meaning he is going to take on a whatever blocker with outside leverage. If that player is a puller from the opposite side and Edmunds does his job then it will force a cutback. Our nickels need to be trained like outside backers (not saying they aren’t), because against heavy personnel(21, 22, 20 personnel) we will line up in a 4-3 “look” and they’ll be responsible for the cutback.

Protection and Run Blocking was the best we’ve seen all season long - against the top defense in the league. Very encouraging going into the final weeks of the regular season!

Don’t get too used to these - they played right into the man coverage looks they expected from the Patriots. You’ll see much different looks vs. this Tampa 2 defense we’ll see this week.

You’re not far off my friend. Any scheme that has any pull to the strong side will have Edmunds as a leverage player - meaning he will fit outside any puller to him and force the ball back inside. If you see this he’s doing his job and it’s okay!

A lot of the delayed release stuff we’ve been taking advantage of because we knew we were going to be getting man looks from New England. Don’t expect to see a lot of it against heavy zone teams.

I’m with you. They’ve been utilizing the RPO a lot more down in the RedZone lately as well. There’s been a noticeable attempt to marry their run and pass game more off of each other as well. You saw that a lot this last game with all of the play action off the outside zone blocking up front (the rollouts with Knox blocking for him). Been seeing this for a couple weeks now. The cool thing is the concepts, for the most part, have stayed the same - the window dressing has just changed.