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Bills run defense film study: breakdowns vs. Jets, Bilal Powell

Bilal Powell became the latest no-name running back to gash the Buffalo Bills' run defense on Sunday, accumulating 149 yards on 27 carries. The Bills made life easy for him, frequently losing contain and over-pursuing plays to create massive running lanes.

By Brian Galliford
  • (1 of 1) The Bills have this one defended well at first glance - two unblocked defenders (Kiko Alonso and Jim Leonhard) are in the running lane, with Alonso avoiding a second-level block.
  • (2 of 2) Alonso, as he has done many times in his first three games, over-pursues while Leonhard takes on a block behind him. As he moves himself out of position, the second-level blocker reaches him, leaving an enormous cutback lane for Powell.
  • (1 of 1) Marcell Dareus is circled at the far right of the still; he's the contain defender, responsible for funneling Powell back toward the middle of the field and the unblocked Alonso.
  • (2 of 2) Dareus makes a big mistake and moves himself inside the blocker, losing contain and allowing Powell to bounce the run outside for a big gain.
  • (1 of 1) Here's another example of Alonso over-pursuing just enough to miss a tackle in the hole. Note that Leonhard and Mario Williams have the right side of the screen largely sewn up; Alonso should be more to his right.
  • (2 of 2) Alonso whiffs on the tackle, and there's nothing but green in front of Powell. This looked like a good gain anyway, but Alonso exacerbated the issue.
  • (1 of 1) Two tight ends run five yards up the field to make second-level blocks, sucking Leonhard into the middle of the field - he thinks it's a pass. The left guard pulls to eliminate Manny Lawson.
  • (2 of 2) Lawson is a non-factor, and Leonhard is horribly out of position as Powell heads off left end for another big gain.
  • (1 of 1) Buffalo controls the point of attack here, but are unable to make a tackle. As Powell churns his legs looking for an opening, Da'Norris Searcy drifts to the middle of the field.
  • (2 of 2) Well, would you look at that. Powell escapes the backfield unscathed, Searcy has left his gap unaccounted for, and once again a running back is off to the races.
  • (1 of 1) The Jets pull the right guard and the fullback to get to the contain defenders, but it's ineffective: Arthur Moats and Jerry Hughes are left in front of one blocker, fullback Tommy Bohanon.
  • (2 of 2) Hughes foregoes the option of setting the edge, ducking inside the block along with Moats and letting Bohanon seal the outside lane. This was an awful play by Jerry Hughes.
  • (1 of 1) Two factors work against the Bills here: Nick Mangold destroys Alan Branch and moves him two yards backwards, while Alonso overruns the play again to the weak side of the formation.
  • (2 of 2) With Branch sealed off and Alonso out of position as he aggressively reacts to the run action, the running lane almost creates itself.

We made light of the fact that Bilal Powell became the latest no-name running back to run for over 100 yards against the Buffalo Bills on the latest episode of the Buffalo Rumblings Podcast - but the run defense is a serious issue for Mike Pettine and the Bills.

Through three games, Buffalo ranks No. 30 in the NFL in run defense, surrendering 155 rushing yards per game. They're giving up 4.3 yards per carry, the eleventh-highest average in the NFL. Powell became the second runner to surpass the century mark against the Bills this season, joining Shane Vereen of New England, and even DeAngelo Williams of Carolina managed to grind out 85 yards.

You don't need us to remind you that run defense has been a major issue for the Bills for what feels like much longer than a decade. We can, however, hit the film to try to learn where the breakdowns are happening, and what Pettine and the Bills can do to fix it.

The answers are above, and to the surprise of no one, they deal largely in poor contain, a lack of gap discipline and, yes, some nifty play design on the part of the New York Jets in one case. Flip through the gallery above (and hover on each photo) for a look with descriptions at what went wrong for the Bills' run defense in Sunday's 27-20 road loss.

Unless the Bills can play with more discipline against the run, it won't matter if it's Ray Rice or Bernard Pierce (or both) lining up for the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday - they'll have a field day.

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