Buccaneers Opponent Film Study: 2017 Buffalo Bills

BILLS OFFENSE

The Buccaneers had problems with contain all night long against the Cardinals in Week 7. Now, this wasn’t the only issue they had, but if they can’t contain again then I hope you started Tyrod Taylor in fantasy football.

Let’s look at a really good example here:

In this photo, Taylor has exhausted his reads, and decided to take off like he so often does.

Circled in the picture with Taylor is Panthers safety Kurt Coleman, #20. If you look at his positioning on Taylor as he approaches his area, he’s not committing to attacking his belly-button, rather he ensures he keeps control of his outside hip.

This body positioning forces Taylor back inside where he and his linebackers are able to bring him down and minimize the damage done by the Bills’ quarterback and his running ability. This one player, makes all the difference on this play for Carolina in a game which only saw field goals scored.

And here’s why:

Again, we see Taylor and Coleman circled. As you can see here, if Taylor gets outside of Coleman, he’s got a lot of room ahead of him.

One Carolina defender is trailing a receiver still, and will not see Taylor until he’s well past him.

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There are two more defenders downfield. One following another Bills receiver, and the other is free. With a lot of field to work with, and the uber-athletic quarterback going up against him, this isn’t a good situation for the Panthers if Coleman doesn’t force Taylor inside.

I know it isn’t earth shattering information to say: Contain is going to be huge in this game.

But, it really is. It’s going to be the biggest factor in this game I believe. Not letting either Taylor or running back LeSean McCoy get outside has to be a priority for the Buccaneers defense.

Carolina did it, and because of it, they held Buffalo to three miniscule points.

Lastly, if ever there was a game for us to see Vernon Hargreaves get aggressive, it’s in this one. I can’t even count on two hands the amount of times Panthers defensive backs came out of their backpedal while covering Bills receivers.

Outside of newly signed Deonte Thompson, there is no reason for Hargreaves to be scared of getting burned deep, especially if he’s got safety help over the top.

We’ll see.