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How the Buffalo Bills helped Seantrel Henderson shut out Cameron Wake

Miami Dolphins pass rusher Cameron Wake was a non-factor in the Buffalo Bills' 29-10 beatdown of their division rivals. Here's how the Bills helped rookie tackle Seantrel Henderson pitch a shutout in his second start.

By Brian Galliford
  • Henderson is left one-on-one with Wake here, but with Manuel throwing to the flat, there is little pressure on the tackle.
  • Scott Chandler gives Wake a nice drive-by mugging before releasing into his flat pattern.
  • Frank Summers doesn't even engage with Wake on his way to the flat, but it's a body Wake has to pay attention to nonetheless.
  • Chandler stands Wake up before releasing upfield, delaying the point when Wake can engage with Henderson.
  • Wake runs a stunt inside - Fred Jackson picks it up like a boss - while Henderson handles the twisting defensive tackle with ease.
  • This time it's Jackson providing chip support while Henderson transitions from aiding Erik Pears to moving back to Wake.
  • Chris Gragg, like Summers before him, feigns a block, then releases between Henderson and Pears into the flat.
  • A pulling left guard and run-action to the right leaves Wake standing alone as Manuel fires downfield to Sammy Watkins off the fake.
  • This was the typical result when Henderson was left isolated on Wake - he put a nice lick on Manuel here.
  • Yet another play in which Chandler throws a shoulder into Wake before moving out into his pass pattern.
  • Another one-on-one, another instance of Wake getting the edge and putting pressure on the throw. (Chris Williams' guy made the hit here, though.)
  • As Gragg runs into his flat pattern, Wake steps to the outside to mirror him, delaying engagement with Henderson.
  • Run-action to the right has Wake in edge-setting mode, with Manuel rolling out to the left following Chandler for a short passing gain.
  • Hey, look - it's Chandler nudging the left end before his pattern again. And that's not even Wake he's nudging.
  • One more time: Chandler gets a piece of Wake before heading upfield. (This was a slightly more halfhearted effort than some of his previous attempts.)

Heading into Sunday's matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins, one of the key matchups that fans and analysts alike had their eyes on was between star pass rusher Cameron Wake and rookie right tackle Seantrel Henderson.

In their 29-10 win, the Bills emerged victorious not only on the scoreboard, but in handling Wake, who had but one assisted tackle in one of his quieter days as a pro. But don't make the mistake of thinking that the Bills' seventh-round rookie handled one of the league's elite pass rushers; far from it. The Bills had a good game plan designed to help their right tackle, and it worked exceedingly well.

Scott Chandler, Chris Gragg, and Fred Jackson all had roles to play in helping Henderson keep Wake at bay. The Bills used their read-option running game to set up some misdirection play fakes that had Wake setting the edge on passing plays, ran enough flat patterns to his side to keep him thinking, and chipped him far more frequently than not throughout the afternoon. Henderson played well, but as you might expect, on the few occasions Henderson was left one-on-one with Wake, EJ Manuel was under duress.

15 stills from the All-22 tape above explain in further detail some of what the Bills did to game plan for Wake; the explanations are in the captions. If you're viewing this post on a mobile device, be sure you're flipping through the gallery in landscape mode.

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