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Bills vs. Bengals: A.J. Green brings another week of coverage concerns

The Buffalo Bills struggled to cover up Josh Gordon, Jordan Cameron and the Cleveland Browns in Week 5. What should change against A.J. Green and the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6?

By Brian Galliford
  • (Play 1, 1 of 2) This is an example of the Bills' standard approach to handling top receivers: they like to bump them at the line of scrimmage. Aaron Williams, being a bigger defensive back, is particularly effective at this (as is Stephon Gilmore when healthy), but Leodis McKelvin does pretty well himself.
  • (Play 1, 2 of 2) More often than not, after the initial jam at the line of scrimmage, the jamming cornerback will then enter trail coverage, with a safety planted firmly over the top of the No. 1 receiver to effectively provide double coverage. This is pretty standard stuff when it comes to NFL coverages.
  • (Play 2, 1 of 2) Mike Pettine dials up a lot of overload blitzes, and likes to set up standard high-low coverage with different defensive pairings in those situations. Here, Manny Lawson drops and runs up the seam underneath Gordon, with Williams playing over the top.
  • (Play 2, 2 of 2) Here's the downside to Pettine's blitz schemes: they often leave loose coverage if the pressure doesn't arrive. Here, Lawson can't cover ground quickly enough to maintain good leverage, and Gordon gets Williams' hips turned to the outside. Had Gordon not dropped this pass, he could very well have walked in for an 80-plus yard score.
  • (Play 3, 1 of 2) NFL teams like to move their top receivers inside not just to occasionally get away from a defense's top corner, but to create a free release for the receiver. On this play, Gordon is in the slot, Williams stays outside, and the Bills set up their high-low coverage with linebacker Nigel Bradham and safety Jim Leonhard.
  • (Play 3, 2 of 2) Obviously, having a linebacker and a safety doubling an athlete of Gordon's caliber is not ideal on an every down basis, but here the Bills get away with it; Bradham did a nice job in space on this play.
  • (Play 4, 1 of 2) The Browns also tightened their formation to Gordon's side of the field to create the coverage alignment from Buffalo you see above; Gordon has a free release across from Williams on the outside.
  • (Play 4, 2 of 2) Leonhard sits on an underneath route, Gordon sells the vertical route enough to get Williams' hips turned inside, and it's an easy pitch-and-catch to the sideline for a first down.
  • (Play 5, 1 of 2) Here again, you see the Browns bunching their receivers to the left side of the formation, creating an off-coverage situation from the Bills on both receivers.
  • (Play 5, 2 of 2) It's the same thing as we saw before: Gordon ends up singled up on Williams on the outside, flips Williams' hips as he makes his break, and it's another wide open look for Brandon Weeden.
  • (Play 6, 1 of 3) This play was again run with Cleveland bunching their receivers to the left. Both receivers (Gordon, in the slot this time, and Greg Little) running vertically, with Williams and Da'Norris Searcy providing deep coverage.
  • (Play 6, 2 of 3) As Gordon breaks in toward the middle of the field, Searcy and Leonhard sit on that route, leaving Little with inside leverage and a good deal of space on Williams 1-on-1.
  • (Play 6, 3 of 3) Little hauls in a 47-yard pass from Weeden, as Williams simply is unable to make up enough ground to get back into the play in time. Williams appeared to be expecting inside safety help deep, but Gordon's presence took that away.
  • (Play 7, 1 of 3) This is another example of a Pettine overload blitz backfiring. Searcy will rush coming off the right side of the offensive formation, with Kiko Alonso dropping into his area of the field. Jerry Hughes, meanwhile, drops into coverage off of right end.
  • (Play 7, 2 of 3) Normally an offense will read "hot" to the blitz side of the field, and a slant to the right makes sense. Knowing that the Bills have given up big yards against this call before, however, Weeden looks left. Two receivers take away two defenders on post routes, leaving Cameron 1-on-1 with Hughes.
  • (Play 7, 3 of 3) Mario Williams eventually comes free on a pass rush, but Cameron's out route develops quickly enough - and is wide open - for Weeden to deliver a first down throw. Buffalo gives up one of these plays two out of every three weeks.
  • (Play 8, 1 of 2) This is something you can expect to see from Cincinnati: vertical routes from their top wideout and one of their athletic tight ends, isolating a safety in coverage. Here, it's Searcy; Weeden will essentially be throwing where Searcy isn't if he has time.
  • (Play 8, 2 of 2) Searcy decides to effectively double up on Cameron in the slot, leaving Williams 1-on-1 with Gordon on the outside. Williams has exemplary coverage for most of this play, but can't prevent Gordon from separating late and hauling in a 37-yard touchdown.
  • (Play 9, 1 of 2) 3rd and 18. Bobby Rainey's in the backfield, and Lawson is responsible for his flat route. Gordon's singled up on Williams again, and it'd be lovely if Searcy stays deep here. He doesn't, doubling up a route run 12 yards behind the first down marker, and Gordon is all alone with Williams again.
  • (Play 9, 2 of 2) You're already aware that the Bills excel at giving up first downs on third-and-long, and here's another example of why that happens: whether Searcy blew an assignment or he was supposed to do that, 1-on-1 coverage here is a mismatch that favors the offense. This sustained a Browns drive with four-plus minutes remaining in the game.

Even though the Buffalo Bills only gave up 222 passing yards and one touchdown in last week's 37-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns, the team surrendered big chunks of yardage in key situations in defeat. Where the team had a tough matchup trying to defend top receivers Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron in Week 5, the team's job won't be getting much easier this Sunday with the likes of A.J. Green, Mohamed Sanu, Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert coming to town.

Green, in particular, will be the latest in a line of three highly athletic No. 1 wide receivers that the Bills have matched up with in their last three games. Both Gordon and Torrey Smith of Baltimore proved productive against the Bills, and neither is considered the caliber of player that Green, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, is.

In the photo gallery above, flip through the All-22 snapshots for a look at some ways the Bills have tried to defend No. 1 wideouts - and how their opponents have successfully freed those receivers up. You'll notice a few mistakes on Buffalo's end along the way, of course - and hopefully they're mistakes that can be rectified as healthy, more talented defensive backs re-enter the fold this week.

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