HoofHearted

Saw a lot of people bashing the play design of the fake punt on here so I thought I'd break it down so everyone could see what the coaching staff saw. Coaches designed the fake so that we could get numbers to the offensive left side of the play. The backside (Center, Right Guard, and Right Tackle) are essentially blocking Power here (Center and Right Tackle block down while Right Guard pulls to wrap on the opposite side). To the playside they are zone over-take blocking which essentially means the Left Tackle and Left Guard are going to combo the Tackle until the Left Guard can overtake him and then the Left Tackle will work up to a 2nd level defender (the Sam in this case). The slot to the playside (Gilliam) is responsible for overtaking the End (get outside leverage and pin him back inside). Gilliam does a poor job of reaching the End and never does get outside leverage of him, but with a chip from the pulling Right Guard (Dodson) the play could have still been successful. What ultimately blew the play up was Matakevich and Giles-Harris actually do a really good job with their zone over-take. Matakevich has great positioning on the Tackle but then just lets him go and works to the second level (either there was a miscommunication on the combo or the timing of the play was off). Either way Matakevich has to stay on that block longer as the Tackle was ultimately the one who made the tackle on the play. Overall the play design was sound vs what the Buccaneers were showing. If executed properly, we had numbers on the left side and should have easily been able to pick up the first down and likely a lot more.

This first play was a set up for the same look we showed later and threw it to Gabe Davis over the backers head.

The Punt Fake actually looked really good if Matakevich held his block a second longer. We had numbers on the edge.

You can disagree all you want - what you are saying isn't within the scope of the defense (or any defense). Defensive players have run fits and they must all fit correctly to get stops. He fit correctly. It hit inside and the person who was supposed to fit inside of him missed the tackle. That's all there is to it. Without a hat in every gap you get gashed.

Yeah they ran a lot of G Lead and Outside Zone against us from condensed sets forcing our corners to set an edge. For the most part we handled it well, the long run being the exception. It is my friend.

On those sideline throws you’re taught as a QB to throw to the inside hip of the receiver which forces them to turn back to the ball slowing down their momentum so they don’t run out of bounds and allowing them to get some yac. This is just a general rule obviously - certain coverages and field position will change where you want to place the ball. As far as the play to Diggs I think they had the right mindset. Throw to your best receiver who’s singled up. Only so many routes you can run that close to the endzone - fade, slant, whip, or cross. If they thought the fade gave them the best chance then I’d tend to agree with them. They’re around those guys way more than we are.

Well that’s easy - because he’s 6’5” and takes on blockers standing straight up. Loses the leverage battle and isn’t very active with his hands to either shock and shed or hand fight so they can’t get their hands on him in the first place.

Incorrect, sir. Read this. It talks about if he fit tighter as you suggested. Gap integrity is the fundamental building block that run defense is built around. Every man has a responsibility and when they don’t do it the whole thing collapses. The ball hit in Taron Johnson’s gap - he missed the tackle - they scored.

Read this. If the crosser came in front of him he’d have it man to man. Since it went behind Johnson should have carried it all the way.

Yeah, he's essentially saying the same thing I am. Typically in 1 RAT Coverage you're going to pass off the shallow crossers to whoever the RAT is. The shallow cross must be working IN FRONT of the RAT for this to be done though so that he can step up and impede the path of the receiver to slow him down in order to allow him to continue carrying. If it's behind the RAT then the DB should carry that across the field.

Personally, yeah. It's a pass driven league and it's moving even more and more in that direction every year. There's obviously got to be a balance, right? You saw us start to gash the Bucs in the second half with our run game and it was all because they were penetrating up front which created lanes and angles for us to run through. I think this defensive scheme does a really good job overall of being gap sound regardless of what we're doing which both helps and hinders us at times. You'll never see us run these exotic blitzes that other teams run because they technically aren't gap sound and would get completely gashed if a team tried to run on us while running one, but at the same time those exotic blitzes are often better at overloading a side and getting a guy free or at the very least forcing 1v1 matchups up front. We are very vanilla in what we do up front which makes it easier for teams to pick up in pass pro, but what we do also creates 1v1's for most of our guys (who should be far more athletic than the guys they line up across from). Ultimately very few teams are going to be patient enough to run for 4 yards a pop all the way down the field.

I had a breakdown of this play here. A few posts below that is the X's and O's drawn up. Basically it came down to a total collapse of the entire defense. Everyone was wrong.

It's probably a little of both. We have largely the same defensive group as last year so the emphasis on the basics, blocking and tackling, i'm sure aren't being reinforced the way they were year one when this staff got here. At the same time I'm sure the players have become more complacent with the basics as well partly due to the success we've had and how that affects one's ego. When you do the same thing over and over and over it's easy to get complacent, but the best teams are the ones who have longevity in their focus and drive and never get bored working on the boring things.

It was Johnson. Play is broken down here. Read here.

I broke the play down here.

You are right. When he has to make profile tackles he continually stops his feet and lunges. That's just who he is and it'll never change.

It was Johnson. I've got a breakdown of the play here if interested.

3rd and 1 - Edmunds fit great and whiffed the tackle because he stopped his feet on contact. No reason to draw that one up. Game Winning TD - Bills were playing 1 Rat coverage - a variation of Cover 1 (Man Free) and rushing 5. They stunt up front on the defensive left side pinching the 3 tech and 5 tech inside and blitzing Milano off the edge. The 3 tech and 9 tech to the defensive right rushed their lanes respectively. Everyone else is responsible for coverage. It's man so everyone except Poyer (F) has a man responsibility. Wallace (defensive right) has the furthest receiver outside, Johnson ($) has the #2 receiver to that side, Hyde (S) has the Tight End, Edmunds responsible for the back if he releases and is free otherwise, and Jackson (defensive left) has the furthest receiver outside to his side of the field. When they short motioned the outside receiver to the strong side of the field (defensive right) and he worked into a stack alignment with the receiver on the LoS Wallace and Johnson should have checked to a combo coverage here. Combo means Johnson is responsible for the first in-cutting route and Wallace is responsible for the first out-cutting route. There was zero communication and both Wallace and Johnson took #14 on the out-cutting route and no one was on the in-cutting route which was eventually thrown. Based on how i've seen the Bills play their 1 high coverage in the past Johnson should have carried the crosser since it went overtop of Edmunds (Typically in 1 Rat if a cross goes in front of the RAT player then they pick up the cross and whoever was on the receiver running the cross now becomes the RAT). Can't see Poyer in the highlight clip, but I'd assume he was "collected" by the vertical that Gronk ran and it took him out of the play entirely. Again, it comes down to players all not being on the same page which caused a failure in execution. Agreed. Our tackling as a defense has taken a huge step back this year. That's one thing (as a coach) I used to be able to point to that the Bills did a really good job of. This year it's like they threw everything they'd done in the past in regards to tackling fundamentals out the window. It needs to be fixed.

Nothing tough about it - Edmunds fit it perfectly and whiffed on the tackle because he stopped his feet on contact. It's inexcusable.

How'd I do?

Don't take this as anything more than it is. In no way am I trying to make Edmunds out to be anything more than what he is - a mediocre inside backer. There's no agenda with this post. I just saw a lot of people were misinformed and thought I'd address it.

It’s a catch 22. If Edmunds were to have fit tighter in the gap Fournette ultimately hits then the Guard who is wrapping on the Buck Sweep will just hinge back inside on Edmunds and Fournette hits in between the two pulling guards (in the gap Edmunds filled) for likely the same outcome. Everything with stopping the run has to work in unison - when guys don’t do their job and instead do their own thing is when you have breakdowns.

No. Just this play as I saw a lot of posters bashing him for this one. If I can find a video of both plays where I can see what everyone on both sides of the ball are doing I’ll gladly do breakdowns. Are you talking throws to the sideline or middle of the field? Gotta start somewhere 🤷‍♂️ A 50 is the linebackers alignment. Second level defenders follow the same rules as the defensive line as far as what their different alignments are called. They just add a 0 to the end of theirs. So a 3 tech defensive tackle plays outside shade of a guard - a LB in a 30 is playing outside shade of a guard but off ball. So to answer your question a 50 is outside shade of the offensive tackle.

***** excuses. Win the damn thing. Don't rely on the refs.

Game on the line - Diggs vs Carlton Davis 1 on 1 with no help to win the game - I like our chances. He didn't misread the situation we just didn't execute. Players have to make plays.