Given that the Denver Broncos were so good this regular season that they earned a second week off, there is no offensive line film to review. At least not until next week. So I figured we could scout the enemy a bit instead.

We’ll be taking a look at the film from the Wild Card matchup between the Jaguars and the Bills and see what the Jags were able to do well in the run game. While this won’t be a comprehensive examination of where the Bills are susceptible on the ground based off of a season’s sample size, this should still be able to give us a good insight into where the struggle exists for the Bills.

This Buffalo defense was the seventh-best in the league in total defense, but they ranked 28th in rushing defense. That’s good news for the Denver offense. And it was this sort of defense that prevailed in Buffalo’s playoff game on Sunday. The defense that gives up an average of 136 yards per game let the Jags put up 154 yards (123 yards when not including Trevor Lawrence’s scrambles).

The Jags had five rushes that went for at least 10 yards as well. And interestingly enough, what they ran well on Sunday is also the same plays and formations that Denver runs well. This is why I was really encouraged by the film. There’s a lot of hope for this Denver offense on the ground, which would serve as an incredible boost for this team. Historically, if you want to make a deep playoff run then you have to have two things: a great defense and a reliable rushing attack.

Without JK Dobbins, this Denver run game has been lacking. There’s been a few big plays made by RJ Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin, but there hasn’t been that consistent attack that they could rely on. Maybe things can change this week.

Out of the five rushes that went for 10+ yards, Jacksonville ran Crack Toss out of Singleback twice, Inside Zone twice (one was out of gun and the other was out of Singleback with a Swipe tag), and Outside Zone out of Singleback once. And these were all out of similar personnel groups and motions that Sean Payton likes to run. The Jacksonville offense looked very similar to Denver’s in this sense.

Gun – 11 Personnel – Inside Zone – Gain of 12

The Bills are showing a 1-high look with the safety and only have five defenders in the box, including just one linebacker and four down linemen. The defense here suggests that they’re mostly concerned with the Jags passing, and it’s an even more curious defensive box considering it’s a 3rd and 2 for Jacksonville.

The Jags have an ideal play call for this defense. Inside Zone should be able to slice through a five-man box all day long. It’s even easier that, due to the defensive line’s alignment, that the center is able to go straight to backer and get an easy block on him.

Singleback – 11 Personnel – Crack Toss – Gain of 20

This time the Bills are still showing a 1-high look with the safety, except they now have a six-man box, bringing in an additional linebacker and floating a safety down just outside of the box. This is on 1st and 10 for the Jags, so the Bills are probably inclined to be playing the run.

The Jags get a far-side receiver on a motion, forcing the backers to flow to the left, and then the Jags run the Crack Toss to the right. The right side defensive tackle actually does a good job playing this run, flowing with the right guard and making him unable to get to the outside as quick as he’d like. And given the motion, the Jags just have the straight-up numbers advantage here on the edge and it takes the backside of the defense having to make a play downfield.

I’ll have the same thought for the next Crack Toss play we take a look at: if the Broncos can’t dominate the Bills with their Pin and Pull concepts, then I’ll be disappointed. I think Denver runs that concept the best in the league, and they have better, more athletic linemen that can get to the boundary quicker. This play should be a big one for Denver.

Singleback – 11 Personnel – Outside Zone – Gain of 14

Before the motion, the Jags already have the Bills right where they want them. Buffalo is playing what’s close to a 2-high look by the safeties and the two linebackers in the six-man box are playing over to the strong side with a defensive back coming into the box to fill for the shifting linebackers.

The Jags do a great job up front with getting the Bills defensive line moving laterally, opening up a massive cutback lane. The Buffalo linebackers flow fast, but end up getting just a touch too far over the top, helping open up that cutback lane.

Outside Zone is another play that the Broncos have been running frequently over the last few weeks, and it’s a run play that backup center Alex Forsyth typically executes well. This play could be a reliable one for the Broncos, as opposed to their usual Inside Zone looks.

Singleback – 11 Personnel – Inside Zone Swipe (?) – 13

I’m going to be honest with you guys here. I’m not exactly sure what play the Jags are running. It appears to be closest to an Inside Zone Swipe, but what’s throwing me off is the blocking assignment of the Left Tackle.

Usually, on an Inside Zone Swipe the backside DE is getting kicked out by the Wing or TE and the playside DE is getting base blocked by the OT. But the LT on this play steps inside first and then out to the DE. This can either be due to a missed assignment, or this could also be an intentional technique used to draw the DE inside, opening up the edge to the running back now that a defender blew containment. I’d like to lean towards the latter option due to how good of a team the Jags are. It would be an interesting wrinkle and a really smart idea if it was indeed the plan to play Bosa like that.

Rant over. 99% of the blame on this play should be put on the shoulders of Joey Bosa (#97) and Taron Johnson (#7). Both of the defenders get sucked inside with the misdirection from the Jags, giving the running back nothing but green grass on the edge. There’s something Denver can exploit with how the Bills play defense on this play.

Singleback – 11 Personnel – Crack Toss – Gain of 26

This is a very similar look to the other clip of Crack Toss between the motion the Jags use, the defensive look the Bills line up in, and how the linebackers flow hard with the motion and get behind the play from the snap.

The Jags do a great job with executing the blocks on this play, especially with the block the WR on the left side throws. And all I know is the Denver offensive line is better. Their WRs usually do a great job blocking on their Pin and Pull concepts, particularly Courtland Sutton. And both Sean Payton and Bo Nix will do a great job getting the offense into the best position possible pre-snap to allow this team to dominate on this sort of run.

The Jags did a great job exploiting the poor Buffalo run defense and hopefully paved the way for this Denver team to keep the ball on the ground. Jacksonville runs a similar offense to Denver in the run game, using the same personnel groups and play concepts.

The game plan for Saturday should involve a meaningful commitment to the run game, if possible, as well as plenty of motions and misdirection for this defense to have to worry about. This means getting the play call in with more than 10 seconds left on the play clock. We’ll see if that issue can be sorted out.

I’m confident Payton will have a strong offensive game plan for their Divisional Round matchup with the Bills.