Buccaneers Opponent Film Study: 2017 Buffalo Bills

BILLS DEFENSE

Last week, we diagramed a play the Buccaneers could hit big with against the Cardinals and we were correct! Problem is, Jameis Winston missed Mike Evans on it. Look back, it was the first pass of the game. Basically, the exact play I called for them to use to attack the Arizona secondary.

Anyway, moving forward.

Buffalo’s defense is very good. One of the top against the rush, one of the top in scoring, and just flat out capable of making you pay for every one of your mistakes.

However, every defense has a weakness, and I set out to find it.

The focus is going to be on rookie cornerback Tre’Davious White. I’m not saying he isn’t everything he’s being advertised as, but he’s still a rookie. And, he’s a rookie who doesn’t travel. Which means the Bucs can literally get him in just about any match-up they want.

White has become what he has, in part due to his aggressiveness against opposing receivers. He can do this, because he has faith in his pass rush, and also in the safeties behind him. However, as all young aggressive corners are, he’s susceptible to double moves and misdirection.

Take this play against Bengals receiver A.J. Green:

In the picture, you can see he’s playing a bit off, not in press, but not deep either. He’s got one safety above him as the Bills are showing blitz pre-snap.

Now, when Green comes off the line at the snap he takes a jab step to White’s outside, towards the sideline. When this happens, it triggers White’s aggressive nature combined with respect of Green as one of the best receivers in the game. The result is, White’s body is turning away from Green as the Bengals great makes a second move back inside of the defender to gain room for his route.

White actually shows really good recovery ability, but still is quite literally hanging on for dear life as Green races past him down field with no help in site as Cincinnati has eaten his safety net with a pair of deep routes to the top of the image.

While White is able to stay in close proximity to Green, he’s in no position whatsoever to make a play on the ball as it lands in the hands of A.J. Green (pictured). This was a big play, when the Bills had the lead, which led to a score and ultimately, to the Bengals victory.

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In contrast, however, later in the game Green tried the same jab step coming off the line. The second time, White held his ground and stayed squared up with him instead of biting and shifting his body alignment.

This enabled White to stay in tight coverage and eventually break-up a well-placed pass as Green was moving back towards Andy Dalton.

So, the key here, is to get White moving. Don’t allow him to cover in simple straight lines or one cut routes. Throw misdirection and double moves at him, and see if he’s learned from his mistakes against one of the better receivers in the league.

This is a little bit of what I saw. What have you seen from either team you think could have an impact on today’s action? Let me know in one of the many ways listed below!

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