Buffalo Bills run game cooks Steelers with two plays | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC

Buffalo Bills run game cooks Steelers with two plays | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC

Chris, let’s jump right in to the film review. You got the notes, pages and pages of beautiful notes this week. Before you even jump into what went wrong, let’s hear what TJ Watt had to say about this Bill’s run game success. I mean, we knew that for was a was a hell of a runner. Um, I think a number one or number two rushing offense in the National Football League. We knew that he liked to bounce outside. Knew that he was an elite running back. Um, weren’t able to stop it tonight. It sucks and we need to find ways to be able to make plays and I mean I’ve never seen a team run the same play as much as they ran it tonight and have as much success as they had. Um I mean I’m out of I’m out of words for it. That last line is what I want to start with. People hear same play and they want to know is it actually the same play? Is it the same look? It’s similar but there’s a variation. Yeah. What actually is it? Yeah. It it it’s the same play. It’s pretty crazy. Even when I saw that comment, I was a little bit like, you know, again, if a quarterback goes, ah, outside linebacker, does he really know exactly if it was the same play? Like, you know, he might just be like, hey, they pulled the guard a bunch of times and it felt the same, but it was a little different or whatever else because his responsibility is probably the same. It’s a little bit the same, right? Exactly right. So, I was a little like, I don’t think, let me see here. But the man is true. He’s true to his word and I shouldn’t have questioned him because he’s got a little bit of a quarterback mindset as far as a defensive player. He’s knowledgeable. He’s instinctive. He knows what he’s getting there. But yeah, I think there’s you look at it and it’s pretty amazing. One, the the Bills came into the game, of course, knowing that their tackles aren’t healthy. They don’t have them and it’s dangerous to drop back and throw the ball with with the Steelers pass rushers. The Steelers pass rushers are the only good thing about the Steelers right now. That’s it. And the Bills took an approach that you don’t see all the time from them because they’re usually aggressive and play through Josh Allen and do all that and that’s where they put your pressure on you. But this was a game where they were literally like we’re not going to take any chances. We’re just going to stay the course and we think if we just continue to run the ball and we help out a little here in pass pro just to so Josh doesn’t get killed cuz when they just dropped back and and there was just like one-on-one with the tackles it was like oh my gosh he can’t finish his drop right. So, we’ll just pick our spots to throw a ball, right, and do that. And I think eventually we’ll just wear them down, right? I I really think that’s the approach they came into into the game and don’t let their pass rushers get a strip sack or something like that and disrupt the game. And they stayed tried and true to that formula. And it was two runs the whole game. The game started out with maybe the first 15 to 18 runs of just inside zone. inside zone where it’s kind of run and yes, you’re not attacking the edge, but you’re kind of running maybe towards the tight end’s butt and then you’re really just going, “Hey, we want bodies on bodies and then just look for a lane, right? And see see if we can’t win them off or maybe a linebacker overreacts or something like that.” And we got we got some pictures of it, right? But th this is what’s amazing is it started out with inside zone and then it went for about a quarter and a half to go okay they’re getting a little used to inside zone. Let’s just run what I’d call like 34 gap. Just man block. Just man block the guy in front of you, right? Depending on how they line up. Maybe it was a double to get to the backer, but it was really just get a body on a body, right? And let’s see if they can get off a block. And what’s crazy is throughout the game, other than the edge guys, nobody can get off a block in Pittsburgh. Nobody. The DTackles are always three or four yards down the field. And because of that, they have smaller linebackers and now they’re getting eat up eaten up. Patrick Queen’s not the kind of guy that you want to take on guards and wrong shoulder guy and keep an arm free. He’s not made for that. He’s made to be you guys hold it all and then I just go get the the ball carrier. So within that, yes, it was two run plays, inside, outside, zone, and let’s just go straight ahead and get a body on a body and then James Cook will find the hole to run through, right? It felt like they gave him a free like reign of bounce it off. Those plays are what they are or shoot it up. That’s exactly And he was right every time. He’s got incredible vision. I’m sure he was coached on a few of them to go like, “Hey, just keep your eyes on this guy. Like if we’re running inside zone this way and you notice the backside linebacker comes over too far, there won’t be anybody back there for really good running teams function like that. But also, I think they’re in the trust tree. He’s in the trust tree. They go, if we just give him the ball and we give bodies on bodies, he usually finds the right hole. And that was consistent throughout the game. But yeah, it is unique because not everybody’s trusted that way at the running back position. Just go, hey, as long as we block him, he’ll find the hole. He’s very good in that department. So this is absolutely like red alarm for the Steelers front as much as it is the Bills were impressive physically. Yeah, the Bills are a good runing team as we know, right? And this is this is a they’re not very good at throwing the football. I mean, as far as separating and weapons and scaring you that way. But the Steelers aren’t all that great in that department either. So they couldn’t like overplay the run so much so to where they felt like, hey, we can just do this and leave our guys on an island and anything their way. But yes, this is a this is I mean Cam Hayward, right? Uh Benton 95 94 the rookie. Uh I’m blanking on his name. Yeah. No, not Terman. He’s he’s like from Iowa. I’m biking on the big guy. Massive guy. They can’t get off blocks. that that’s the biggest thing and that’s what’s concerning, right? So, uh within that they ran the ball and they did the right thing and so down that’s the name I could Yaha Black. Yes, Yaha Black. Exactly. Right. A monster. Let’s look at some of these cuz we have some screenshots of exactly what you’re talking about, Chris, specifically with the inside zone play in the second quarter. I want to take a look at here and just This is pre- snap. So you were talking about like they can only allocate so much attention to the run because they’re just not good enough on the back end to sell out against they can’t always sell out. No. And you know, again, at first they if they tried to, you know, they they tried different fronts and what do we do to help our guys out and all that, but the the beauty of it for the Bills is when you only go into a game plan with a few run plays, you’re usually pretty oiled up and greased up to go, wait, we know how to block our two or three run plays against every front they do. So, we’re we’re going to be all over it that way. And we saw this set a lot from them. Now, this is these are two receivers to your left there with the tight end, right? And they did some two tight end sets and all that. And this is a little like the Rams where they ask receivers to insert between the tight end and tackle and dig safeties out and do all of that here. But like first off, everybody w anybody that watched the game, the first play of the game was this play where they started inside zone to the left and he cut back to the right and and then went for a big run. But go ahead, we’ll see it. So, inside zone, here you go. There’s the picture. You see it right there. Go ahead. Let’s go to the next picture, Pete. And as we get to the next picture, they’re running it more to the right side here. Okay. And you can see here, right? They’re going to run. This is one they’re going to run for 14 yards here. And again, it’s a double on Benton, right, as they’re going to go up to Patrick Queen. And this is just man-on-man, body on body. And it goes for a big run. But as you’re going to see here and we go to the next picture there, there’s nobody that is getting off blocks except for TJ Watt. You see TJ Watt who is and let’s go back to the picture before if you don’t mind real quick here, right? And it’s all good because you everybody keep their eyes on 90 here, right? To where again you see he’s kind of reading it and he’s trying to look like almost two gap it. Yeah. Okay. So, he’s going to throw the tight end to the side, but by that time, you know, James Cook has already got up on him and the blocker and he can’t get enough of an arm free in time to stop James Cook as he goes by. So, let’s go to that next picture again, Pete. And you’ll see there. But again, look at my Shavers number 14. He’s all over. Big wide receiver, right? He’s all over Duggar 29. And now, yes, Watt is getting off the block, but it’s just too little too late. And James Cook is already at a spot where it’s like, “Yeah, you might stick your arm out, but you’re not going to tackle me, TJ Watt.” And you see there the hole and then there goes James Cook for a 14yd gain. And it was a lot of this all game long inside outside zone mainly inside zone the whole first quarter and a half basically. And then it kind of changed towards the end of the second quarter and went into the third quarter. And then like late in the third quarter, they went, “Let’s go back to inside zone.” and they had a little success that way. And again, the numbers are even better than what they say, right? Because you got to take into account at the end of the game, the emotions were out and they ran the ball a bunch of times there where, you know, the emotions of the game are gone. The Steelers are totally selling out for the run cuz they know they’re not going to throw the ball anymore. And there’s a bunch of runs there that, okay, yeah, he didn’t get any yards, he got one. So really in the competitive part of the football game, they had a better average and more more of their way with the run than the numbers would really tell you. So that run was when he went off the right side. He cut back to the right side. Then we had the second run where he actually runs to the left side and it felt like I mean the Steelers once again, Chris, as you said in your notes, like they just didn’t have the answers on any of these play. This is just a a similar set as you see here. The wide receivers look the same. very similar except we don’t have the guy inserting right as far as between the tackle and the guard. But it was these sets all day long. All day long. And I give the Bills a lot of credit for just staying patient with their game plan and believing that it was eventually going to break the dam. But here’s the the change up. Okay, now it it’s it’s literally just everybody you see here is just going to be one-on-one blocking. One-on-one. It’s everybody is going to be oneon-one block. just go forward and get on a body and stay on them and drive your legs and let’s see if they can get off the block and make a play. So, let’s go. Here’s the play. They’re just going to run it straight to the right right behind the right guard. I mean, that’s all they’re doing. So, let’s go to the next picture here, Pete. And as you see on this one, okay? Right. Like I told you, it’s it’s one-on- ones everywhere. It’s one-on- ones everywhere. The tackles don’t do anything. And you could see the right guard is already getting up on Patrick like we talked about. Like alarm here. Like alarming. hasn’t stepped forward yet. He hasn’t stepped forward yet. And he’s like, “Oh no, there’s already a guy on me.” And as you could see here from everybody watching, there’s holes everywhere. Yeah. So, James Cook, they’re literally like again to what we were just talking about and the point you made that not all teams trust their running backs here. They’re just going, “Hey, kind of come up to the line of scrimmage controlled and a hole present itself and when you see it, hit it and go.” And so there you go. Bodies on bodies. And again, the only guy that felt like was capable of ever winning in these plays was number 90 on the left of your screen where you could see he’s fighting. He’s trying to get off the block here. So, let’s go to the next picture here. Right. Next picture. Boom. Who got off the block? Like I told you, 90 got off. And James Cook was like, I don’t want to go that way, but nobody else is off their block. So, I’ll cut it back to his left or right as we’re watching here. Right. And you could see the hole between 78 and 94 to where Yes. At this point, Connor Rogers and I are going to get four to five yards on this play. Yeah. Fall forward. So, there you go. And let’s see the next picture. Pete, we get to the next picture. And there he goes squirting through the hole. And now it’s You could see again the backside receiver is digging out Duggar who’s trying to become the last guy in there to help out here in the run game from the Ge. I think it’s Gabe Davis. I think it felt like in this game, Chris, and correct me if I’m wrong, they elevated him with the idea of put your run block and pants on today. I think so too. Big another big receiver without one of their tight ends not in. This is what they kind of did to to substitute for that 100%. So they dig him out there and James Cook I don’t know how many yards did he run for in that one. Pete seven on that one. Seven on that one. Right. It was like that the whole game. I mean, again, for a guy to have those kind of stats, both running backs, and really not have like, you know, huge run in the football game, I think that always speaks to how dominant it is, right? When you go for 144 and 31 was your longest run of the day. That’s pretty crazy, right? That that just tells you there that it was chip chip chip. And again, some of those 32 attempts, they’re at the end of the game where Yeah, he got screwed over in yards per carry because he was like, “Ah, yeah, you’re going to give me the ball here.” I I was at like 5.5 until the last drive and now you’re going to make me m make these runs to run out the clock and I’m not going to get any yards. But it was a steady dose of those two run plays. 5 yards, eight yards, 5 yards, ooh 15 yards, 5 yards, eight yards and then a little wrinkle every now and then when we need it of the Josh Allen run game. Right. Right. And that was about the only curveball you got all day long. And uh it was pretty incredible to see them be that patient, that obvious with their attack and still have that excess success. The efficiency is insane. James Cook, he had 32 carries. Ray Davis 9 for 62. Yeah. Right. So, I mean, Ty Johnson had two for five, but Josh Allen 8 for 38. I mean, all of these guys besides Ty Johnson’s two rush attempts averaged at least four and a half yards per carry. That’s it’s amazing. Just and and that’s again to where you know, listen, there’s teams and we’re going to talk about some teams and later on and all that. That to me is when there’s some teams that are top of the NFL with run game yards, yards per game where you go, “Yeah, but it’s it’s quarterback induced, right? You got a quarterback one that yeah, he can run and you can run some play quarterback design runs and do some things like that with him, but yet his scrambling too also adds to the rushing yards.” And there’s some teams like that that I I would go they’re fugazy kind of fugazi good running teams. That’s where Buffalo is dangerous. one, they have the quarterback that can kind of do that, but they also have the pure run game that can kind of go, “Hey, you know, we’re going to run it. We’re going to run it and it doesn’t matter and we’re still going to have success.” That to me is the the true testament of a really good running football team. Let’s go inside the notebook. The key word was patience for the Bills, Chris, as you keep hammering it home. They can’t pass block at all. Uh the Bills wide receivers can’t really separate against the quarterbacks. The Bills are showing great patience. Number 17, Allen, showing great patience. They’re usually aggressive. Uh what is that line? Usually aggressive and push the issue. Push the issue. There we go. I like that. Uh it’s like they knew they would wear out Pit eventually and the Buff and the D would hold which I mean against the Steelers. Yeah. Good. Good choice. Exactly right. They they played a complete team football game. The team came into the game understanding the full team concept of what it would take to win in Pittsburgh with their injuries and where they were at. Right. And I think that’s what’s impressive. And Josh Allen really was impressive. I mean, again, you know, he’s had a few turnovers lately. He threw the interception in this game, but Gabe Davis kind of screwed him over. It was a slant route and Gab’s got to cross the guy’s face and he kind of stopped and let the guy make a play on the ball where at the very worst it should have been like it’s a collision and the ball just falls on the ground. Right. Right. But so but but he Allan played the game as in like coach told me their offense isn’t going to be able to do much against us and coach told me that we’ll wear them down in the run game if we just stay with us and I don’t make mistakes. And he he played the game exactly the way he should and it’s a testament to the Bills and their Bills culture and their battle testedness and all of that. I was just going to say I think it’s the most overlooked aspect of the Bills. They have built into their foundation that the traditional run game like we’re missing offensive linemen. We’re still going to find a way to run the ball. Our wide receivers block. We have tight ends that block. They replenish that. Jackson Hall is drafted. Even though we have Dawson Kn, right? No. Exactly right. It’s a big part of their foundation and for all their problems that people cuz they’re got to be looked at as a Super Bowl contender every year. It’s something that always impresses. I I agree. It’s their most dangerous aspect of their offense really other than 17 and the magic he can make. But yeah, that’s their their bellcow, their thing they can hang their hat on. And then you just hope they can do that, right? because their defense isn’t great. As we know, there’s some issues, but it’s still good. But they they you hope they can do that one to keep keep their defense off the field a little bit in big game football at least. And then, of course, get some favorable matchups with some receivers, as we’ve discussed a lot, that aren’t just going to blow by people all the time. And that’s where the run game will help. But there’s no denying their culture, their toughness, everything they got. And that’s the one thing that I think Joe Brady brought to the table last year a little bit with them was a tougher aspect in the running game. Yo yo yo. Thanks for watching homies. We are now in the NFL season here on Chris Sims Unbutton. Hit subscribe to get our weekly picks, game recaps, film deep dives, and much much more. Thanks again for watching. Subscribe, rate, review. Peace out. You know where to find us.

Chris Simms and Connor Rogers analyze how the Buffalo Bills rushing attack carved up the Pittsburgh Steelers. #NBCSports #NFL #ChrisSimmsUnbuttoned
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Buffalo Bills run game cooks Steelers with two plays | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC
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