Cover 1- Why And How Miami Gashed The Bills In The Run Game

[Sierra Foothills]

2 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

No problem buddy! That's awesome you were at the game.

How was the atmosphere, pretty crazy I would assume?

 

I was not at the game.

 

I guess you're referring to my comment about "before the stadium had even emptied?" I guess I should have said "before the TV had even cooled off."

 

Unfortunately I don't have enough vacation time to go back to WNY as much as I'd like although a fellow Bills fan who lives out here is trying to talk me into going to the Lions game.

 

I haven't ruled it out. 😄

 

 

 

[K-9]

2 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

Yep I agree. Just wanted to share the confirmation essentially 

Didn’t mean to imply your post wasn’t greatly appreciated because it is. Thanks.

[Logic]

Thanks for posting this. Cover 1 always does a good job.

Staying in nickel all game and still being able to at least somewhat limit the opposing run game has pretty much been the Bills' defensive identity since McDermott took over. Every once in a while, they come up against a team who is able to effectively call their bluff and run it down their throats. Baltimore did it earlier this year, Miami did it yesterday. 

Most teams can't do it. They either don't have the OL, don't have the scheming, or don't have the personnel to make it work. Credit to Miami.

At the end of the day, neither defense really did much to stop the opposing offense. It took the Bills getting one extra possession via forced fumble to win the game, and even then it was a 61 yard miracle of a kick away from going to overtime.

Live by the sword, die by the sword. They lived on Sunday, but just barely.

[BillsFan130]

2 minutes ago, Logic said:

Thanks for posting this. Cover 1 always does a good job.

Staying in nickel all game and still being able to at least somewhat limit the opposing run game has pretty much been the Bills' defensive identity since McDermott took over. Every once in a while, they come up against a team who is able to effectively call their bluff and run it down their throats. Baltimore did it earlier this year, Miami did it yesterday. 

Most teams can't do it. They either don't have the OL, don't have the scheming, or don't have the personnel to make it work. Credit to Miami.

At the end of the day, neither defense really did much to stop the opposing offense. It took the Bills getting one extra possession via forced fumble to win the game, and even then it was a 61 yard miracle of a kick away from going to overtime.

Live by the sword, die by the sword. They lived on Sunday, but just barely.

Yep agreed. I don't mind the philosophy of playing two deep for the most part. 
 

But I do wish they mixed in more run blitzes and a few more simulated pressures.

 

Just seemed way too predictable and passive

[Coach Tuesday]

44 minutes ago, mikemac2001 said:

It seemed like one of the guards was always going before the snap (not by much) 

 

idk if it was because the silent count was going on but I saw it multiple plays they seemed to always have a jump on our dline

 

 

Yes!  What the heck was that?  How was Miami’s right guard able to start every play early yesterday?  Was driving me nuts.

 

 

They are going to need to beat one or both of the Ravens or Chiefs to get to the Super Bowl this year and both of those teams are running teams who can also kill you with the passing game.  Not too different from Miami.  They’d better fix whatever the issue is.

Edited 8 hours ago by Coach Tuesday

[Bob in STL]

1 hour ago, BillsFan130 said:

Im not sure how the bills offence and winning the game has any relevance to this topic.
 

Clearly the bills run defence struggled yesterday and there was a long thread yesterday on what happened to the defence.

 

So just sharing it for anyone who wanted a breakdown.

It is relevant.  The Bills purposely played light against the run to help contain passes and big plays.  The thinking is they sacrifice run support to cover Tua and his receivers and take away big plays.  They stuck with it.  If the DL makes more plays they could have fared better against the rum, but they did not put more in the box. They were determined to stop big pass plays. 
 

The Bills won, and had a TD called back on a phantom holding, and another TD dropped which became an interception at the 2 yard line.  Their overall  strategy worked with some margin for error, which they needed.  
 

 

[Solomon Grundy]

1 hour ago, Roundybout said:

Sounds like we were more concerned about the passing game than the run game. 

What's going to be their concern when they play the Ravens again? Or even the Chiefs with their improved run game? 

[BillsFan130]

2 minutes ago, Bob in STL said:

It is relevant.  The Bills purposely played light against the run to help contain passes and big plays.  The thinking is they sacrifice run support to cover Tua and his receivers and take away big plays.  They stuck with it.  If the DL makes more plays they could have fared better against the rum, but they did not put more in the box. They were determined to stop big pass plays. 
 

The Bills won, and had a TD called back on a phantom holding, and another TD dropped which became an interception at the 2 yard line.  Their overall  strategy worked with some margin for error, which they needed.  
 

 

One of his points was the bills run offence was "better" per yards in per carry 
 

I don't know how that has any relevance to the bills rushing defence. 
 

I was not talking about the bills rushing offence, I was talking about the rushing defence. I don't get how that has any relevance .

 

 

 

 

[mikemac2001]

18 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Yes!  What the heck was that?  How was Miami’s right guard able to start every play early yesterday?  Was driving me nuts.

 

 

They are going to need to beat one or both of the Ravens or Chiefs to get to the Super Bowl this year and both of those teams are running teams who can also kill you with the passing game.  Not too different from Miami.  They’d better fix whatever the issue is.

Thank you I didn’t know if I was just losing it but it kept happening and they always seem to get a good running play and was pissing me off 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Hard to argue with 7-2…but:

 

McDermott’s devotion to the two high look puts a ton of stress on the front 7. 
 

Cover 1 hammered Taron here but IMO he is not nearly the biggest issue at hand. Guys up front are not winning at the LOS. We need more from the guys in the trenches. It is on McD to get more from these guys or adjust accordingly. 
 

He will most likely continue to live and die by the 4-2-5…and I don’t think he is wrong. That said, Babich and company need to get better play up front, find ways to roll another hat into the box or bring some movement back to the offensive line instead of passively reacting post snap. 

Edited 7 hours ago by EmotionallyUnstable

[DrMaxPower]

26 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

What's going to be their concern when they play the Ravens again? Or even the Chiefs with their improved run game? 

They don't have Hill and Waddle.

 

I would hope the plan VS the Ravens would alter next game, pending injuries. Chiefs are too well balanced; stick to the plan against them.

[Coach Tuesday]

6 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

Hard to argue with 7-2…but:

 

McDermott’s devotion to the two high look puts a ton of stress on the front 7. 
 

Cover 1 hammered Taron here but IMO he is not nearly the biggest issue at hand. Guys up front are not winning at the LOS. We need more from the guys in the trenches. It is not on McD to get more from these guys or adjust accordingly. 
 

He will most likely continue to live and die by the 4-2-5…and I don’t think he is wrong. That said, Babich and company need to get better play up front, find ways to roll another hat into the box or bring some movement back to the offensive line instead of passively reacting post snap. 

This.  They are not winning enough of their individual matchups up front on defense to truly make a difference against the teams they’ll face in the playoffs.  And who is the emotional leader of this defense?  Who is setting the tone?  

[EmotionallyUnstable]

3 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

This.  They are not winning enough of their individual matchups up front on defense to truly make a difference against the teams they’ll face in the playoffs.  And who is the emotional leader of this defense?  Who is setting the tone?  

I am with you here.

 

Epinessa, Johnson, Jones…these guys aren’t disruptive at all in the run the game to the point where they are regularly causing issues.

 

Id like to make an excuse that maybe all the misdirection and speed of the dolphins was part of this mentality…simply catching blocks. But it is part of a larger trend.

 

Football really is a difficult game. 10 guys can play great and if 1 bonehead is out of position, you lose. At the same time, if you have just 1 guy win a match up at the point of attack, it some times doesn’t matter what the other 10 are doing. 
 

This is highlighted in the video. One play it’s the DT, then the DE, then a LB and then a CB who could have made a better play…

 

Shout out to the dolphins for designing and executing their game plan. I keep saying through the second half “if Miami is smart they’ll stick to the ground game”. 
 

it paid off. Allen and company did enough to compensate. It is a snippet into the future. 

 

Can our defense in the playoffs do just enough to keep the game competitive? And can the offense fire on all cylinders to out gun the other team?

 

We could really use some young juice in the DL.

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Bob in STL said:

Their overall  strategy worked with some margin for error, which they needed.  

 

Their offensive strategy worked. Their defensive strategy did not. I don't know how anyone can disagree with either of those statements. The Dolphins punted once. One great individual play from Taron Johnson stopped another drive. At all other points in the game, they took our souls over and over again.

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Or even the Chiefs with their improved run game? 

 

Yeah I'm watching the Chiefs right now and they do what Miami did - they get big people into the 2nd level and block your small back 7 players out of the screen. We need to come into that game planning to shut down the run first. It sounds insane to say about a Mahomes led offense but that's who they are this year.

[Comebackkid]

2 hours ago, BillsFan130 said:

So if bass misses the 61 yard field goal and the bills lose in regulation or overtime, then it's only appropriate to talk about it?🤦‍♂️

Agreed. He was almost flawless. I watch a ton of Miami games and I think this was his best game as a coach calling plays 

everything is perspective.  if we missed the kick and miami was able to kick the field goal, the phins haven board would

be going on and on about how they finally defeated buffalo and the team is getting things figured out and on the upswing....superbowl 

lookout.  

instead they want to blow everything up, fire everyone...

 

[BigAl2526]

Mostert and Achane are good running backs.  Paying the Dolphins is a bit of a catch 22.  If you play 8 in the box Tyreek Hill might eat you alive.  If you play with a light box, Mostert and Achane can gash you.  Miami has not always taken advantage of this reality because McDaniel loves the passing game and will get away from the run game even when it's working.  He got smarter against the Bills.  Next year when Buffalo plays Miami, they need to get better play from their defensive line. 

[Bob Chandler's Hands]

I'm struggling with the idea that you allow Miami to have the advantage in the run game by selling out to stop the pass yet allow Tua to go 25 for 28, don't intercept him and only sack him once (when he fumbled the snap). 

Seems like a major failure. 

[mikemac2001]

2 minutes ago, Bob Chandler's Hands said:

I'm struggling with the idea that you allow Miami to have the advantage in the run game by selling out to stop the pass yet allow Tua to go 25 for 28, don't intercept him and only sack him once (when he fumbled the snap). 

Seems like a major failure. 

Did you watch the game 

 

he was throwing 1 yard passes and screens 

 

he threw maybe 4 passes deeper then 10 yards 

 

if we didn’t blow coverages on those 4 chances we probably got an int 

[Dan]

3 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I am with you here.

 

Epinessa, Johnson, Jones…these guys aren’t disruptive at all in the run the game to the point where they are regularly causing issues.

 

Id like to make an excuse that maybe all the misdirection and speed of the dolphins was part of this mentality…simply catching blocks. But it is part of a larger trend.

 

Football really is a difficult game. 10 guys can play great and if 1 bonehead is out of position, you lose. At the same time, if you have just 1 guy win a match up at the point of attack, it some times doesn’t matter what the other 10 are doing. 
 

This is highlighted in the video. One play it’s the DT, then the DE, then a LB and then a CB who could have made a better play…

 

Shout out to the dolphins for designing and executing their game plan. I keep saying through the second half “if Miami is smart they’ll stick to the ground game”. 
 

it paid off. Allen and company did enough to compensate. It is a snippet into the future. 

 

Can our defense in the playoffs do just enough to keep the game competitive? And can the offense fire on all cylinders to out gun the other team?

 

We could really use some young juice in the DL.

You touch on some good points, especially about the playoffs.  Our defense is good, but against really good offenses that execute well… they can get gashed waiting for that 1 offensive player to make a mistake.  
 

The answer, IMO, they’re gonna have to play a more risky gameplan if they ever wanna get past the best teams, like KC.