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Buffalo Bills offensive line has work to do protecting EJ Manuel

As good as the Buffalo Bills were at slowing down Cameron Wake and the Dolphins' pass rush in Week 2, they were equally bad at protecting against Dwight Freeney and the Chargers in Week 3.

By Brian Galliford
  • (1 of 2) San Diego dials up a simple interior stunt run by its two defensive tackles, Corey Liuget and Kendall Langford. This is something that NFL offenses see every week, from every scheme.
  • (2 of 2) Erik Pears, the right guard, is to pass his man off to center Eric Wood, then move back to his right to pick up the stunting lineman. He can't do it quickly enough, and Manuel is flushed out of the pocket.
  • Cordy Glenn is one of the best young left tackles in football, but on this play, Dwight Freeney tossed him aside like a rag doll for an easy pressure on Manuel.
  • Two issues crop up on this play: left guard Kraig Urbik, filling in for starter Chris Williams, is cleanly beaten one-on-one. Eric Weddle (32 in red) also rushes Manuel after he determines that his assignment, Fred Jackson, is helping Scott Chandler block Jarret Johnson. Manuel made a spectacular play to avoid both rushers, then hit Chandler for a big gain.
  • The aforementioned Glenn, who had his worst game in quite some time, struggled with the 34-year-old Freeney's speed, as well. Freeney gets the edge on this play, forcing Manuel to vacate the pocket.
  • (1 of 2) Freeney is lined up over right tackle Seantrel Henderson on this play, and as the Bills did against Wake, they give the rookie help by running Chandler into the pass rusher before going into his route.
  • (2 of 2) Freeney is momentarily slowed down by Chandler, but then spins clear of Henderson with ease to force another pressure. Henderson barely had a chance to lay a hand on him.
  • A quick pressure off the left side of the line forces Manuel into a quick read. With another second to process, Manuel would have had time to hit a soon-to-be-wide-open Chandler.
  • This is prototypical pocket-collapsing by the Chargers. Urbik is walked straight backwards into Manuel's lap, and as he vacates to his left, Freeney chases him down from behind for an easy sack.
  • (1 of 2) This is another example of Pears failing to hand off his assignment to pick up a stunting rusher quickly enough.
  • (2 of 2) Manuel easily avoids the pressure, but you can see that as he's forced to move to his right, a wide-open Sammy Watkins - picked open by Robert Woods - becomes an unavailable receiver moving in the opposite direction.
  • This is another stunt play run between the right end (Freeney) and Langford, who lined up across from Urbik. The left guard can't stick with his man as Glenn takes Freeney out of the play, and Jackson can't get enough on the brawny tackle, who splits the proverbial double-team for another pressure.

In a Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills had a great deal of success slowing down one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, Cameron Wake. That was not at all the case in a Week 3 loss to the San Diego Chargers, when veteran Dwight Freeney was a one-man wrecking ball to Buffalo's protection schemes.

Perhaps the biggest part of the reason that EJ Manuel had his worst game of the 2014 season so far last Sunday was the Bills' highly suspect pass protection. Not only was Manuel sacked three times, but Chargers pass rushers consistently moved him off of his spot, forcing him to either throw off-balance of scramble for positive yardage. The results - 6.1 yards per pass attempt and 10 points scored - speak for themselves.

The gallery above - best viewed on a desktop, tablet, or in landscape view on mobile - runs through some of the more egregious issues that the Bills had protecting Manuel in Week 3. You can bet that J.J. Watt and the Houston Texans are taking notes.

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