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alright, well we're 8 weeks in, and im about at the end of my rope with some of the simple things our defense doesn't do well.
in this thread I'm going to highlight a bread and butter running play that every opponent has run against us.
The weakside counter.
Now, a counter is typically football 101, it's nearly as basic a running play you can run, and for some reason our defense can't slow it down.
The basic problem is this.
When our DE is in the 7 or 9 technique (outside the Offensive Tackle's outside shoulder), the B gap (between the guard and tackle) becomes the obvious point of attack for the offense. Every Bill's opponent has run at will agaisnt the B gap, with a simple counter play. It's been so effective that every team we've played since Fewell has come to buffalo has run the inside counter agaisnt us (for tremendous gains) at least 2 times a game.
now, the question is, what is our opponent exploiting? Simple, several things go wrong.
1) the DE at the point of attack rushes up field, too far upfield, his rush being too vertical, and not flat enough. The result, is the tackle can ride him up and past the running play, expanding the gap.
2) the NT does a poor job holding the point of attack, rarely taking up 2 blockers, often letting the guard, or center into the 2nd level, and even more commonly, getting moved toward the strong side, opening the gap further.
3) the Weak Side Linebacker, and Middle Linebacker are now left to fill the rapidly expanding b-gap, often while fighting off a center, pulling guard and pulling TE (or lead blocking h-back or FB).
4) the FS never is in position to break it up, today, the jets ran the weak side counter 3 times, and 2 times Ko Simpson missed a tackle in the open field about 3 yards from the line of scrimmage; and the other he was blocked out of the play, by a pulling guard, as not a single Buffalo defender fought off a single block on the play.
so what do we have going on that our foes are exploiting? We have a DE rushing too far up-field. A defense with a few exceptions failing to fight of any blocks at the point of attack, and a NT who can't hold the point of attack, or command a double team. Meanwhile our FS is never in position to make a play close to the line of scrimmage.. or in most cases.. within 10 yards of the LOS.
in this thread I'm going to highlight a bread and butter running play that every opponent has run against us.
The weakside counter.
Now, a counter is typically football 101, it's nearly as basic a running play you can run, and for some reason our defense can't slow it down.
The basic problem is this.
When our DE is in the 7 or 9 technique (outside the Offensive Tackle's outside shoulder), the B gap (between the guard and tackle) becomes the obvious point of attack for the offense. Every Bill's opponent has run at will agaisnt the B gap, with a simple counter play. It's been so effective that every team we've played since Fewell has come to buffalo has run the inside counter agaisnt us (for tremendous gains) at least 2 times a game.
now, the question is, what is our opponent exploiting? Simple, several things go wrong.
1) the DE at the point of attack rushes up field, too far upfield, his rush being too vertical, and not flat enough. The result, is the tackle can ride him up and past the running play, expanding the gap.
2) the NT does a poor job holding the point of attack, rarely taking up 2 blockers, often letting the guard, or center into the 2nd level, and even more commonly, getting moved toward the strong side, opening the gap further.
3) the Weak Side Linebacker, and Middle Linebacker are now left to fill the rapidly expanding b-gap, often while fighting off a center, pulling guard and pulling TE (or lead blocking h-back or FB).
4) the FS never is in position to break it up, today, the jets ran the weak side counter 3 times, and 2 times Ko Simpson missed a tackle in the open field about 3 yards from the line of scrimmage; and the other he was blocked out of the play, by a pulling guard, as not a single Buffalo defender fought off a single block on the play.
so what do we have going on that our foes are exploiting? We have a DE rushing too far up-field. A defense with a few exceptions failing to fight of any blocks at the point of attack, and a NT who can't hold the point of attack, or command a double team. Meanwhile our FS is never in position to make a play close to the line of scrimmage.. or in most cases.. within 10 yards of the LOS.
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