Double-Edged Threat
December 10th, 2021
Bucs DC Todd Bowles explains.
There is a reason why Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen is leading the AFC in Pro Bowl quarterback votes. He’s a damn good quarterback.
Allen is sort of a hybrid. Big dude, big arm. In fact, his arm is a damn Howitzer. At times he sort of reminds Joe of Terry Bradshaw or Jim Kelly.
The difference between Allen, Bradshaw and Kelly is, while Bradshaw and Kelly were mobile (Kelly a bit more so), Allen is a freaking weapon with his feet, the Bills’ second-leading rusher with 422 yards compared to Devin Singletary’s 495.
So you combine a big-dude quarterback who is a weapon in the running game (6-5, 237), well, he’s tough to tackle, too.
Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles understands Allen will be one of the toughest quarterbacks he will craft a defense against this season.
“It’s a huge challenge,” Bowles said yesterday of stopping Allen. “Not only can he throw the ball obviously, he can run the ball very well.
“He proposes one of those double-edged threats and it’s going to be a tough challenge for us to stay disciplined and keep him where he needs to be.”
The way Bowles described it in that quote, it almost sounds as if the Bucs have to defend Allen like a kickoff coverage team. On kickoff coverage, each man has a lane. You leave that lane, and it opens up a lane for the return man to exploit and perhaps house the return. So even if Allen moves in the pocket, defenders have to be disciplined to stay in that lane for containment and force him to throw (if he cannot be sacked).
And if Allen throws deep, Joe sort of likes the Bucs’ chances. Jenna Laine of ESPN dug up a wild and surprising stat on the Bucs’ pass defense.
Interesting stat I just found and not what I expected given the Bucs’ injuries in their secondary…The Bucs’ defense has allowed the lowest completion percentage this season on passes of 25 or more air yards (18.2%…just four completions on 22 attempts). League average is 33.1%
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) December 9, 2021
With all the injuries the Bucs have had at corner with dudes off the street playing at one point, this stat blows Joe’s mind. So if opponents only complete 18 percent of passes thrown over 25 yards, the way Joe looks at it, knock yourself out Josh.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:07 am
I think it’s so easy to complete 8 – 12 yarders aganst the Bucs, they’re not bothering with the lower percentage long passes when they can complete >80% of the short ones.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:25 am
Being down Whitehead & Edwards is giving Pete the night terrors
December 10th, 2021 at 8:29 am
Allen is more like John Elway, absolutely the reason QB’s don’t throw long is because Bucs secondary plays deep, the underneath pass is almost a given. Need to keep him in the pocket and get him flustered. He is leading the QB race in AFC because the rest of them suck. KC can’t score anymore, DC’s are taking Kelce out and relying on Mahomes to win with wideouts.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:40 am
Yeah the more mobile quarterbacks have always been tricky for us – that sneaky 3rd down like Wentz or Heinicke could get make the game a lot more difficult
December 10th, 2021 at 9:11 am
It’s called soft zone padding, Jenna. Sure, the longer pass plays are taken away, but then the Bucs give up higher percentage of lower yardage pass plays. That’s the tradeoff. Bowles does this because he doesn’t trust his CBs and doesn’t want to give up the home run balls.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:13 am
Double threat? Might want to shadow him. He will throw and run all day.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:50 am
that number i find is skewed because it seems every time a team throws deep on us we get a pass interference call. moreso earlier in the season but it has been a big problem in this secondary
December 10th, 2021 at 9:52 am
Contain rush, keep him in the pocket, keep two safeties back… pretty much the KC game plan in the SB.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:07 am
I am betting that is because of DPI’s.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:40 am
Bradshaw was defintely far more mobile than Kelly. Bradshaw carried a 5.1 YPC compared to Kelly’s 3.5. Factor in that Bradshaw had sacks counted as rushing attempts and the yards lost went against his total rushing yards and your statement hold no water. Kelly was mobile, Bradshaw, very mobile.
Don’t mind Allen but his game reminds me of a young Cam Newton… that’s great except I’d prefer my big strong mobile QB not being a power runner and taking all that abuse. Look at Cam now… can’t throw a ball more than 20 yards on a line.. his arm is gone. Too much abuse.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:47 am
He doesn’t just run. Allen can power run. He’ll stiff arm most defenders into the dirt.
December 10th, 2021 at 6:13 pm
That stat is surprising but, given all the injuries they have gone more than half the season playing off coverage… A lot. The opposite of what they did in their playoff run where they played tight coverage underneath with the safeties doubling receivers over the top.
Basically they pretty much been giving up 10 yards and then because they haven’t had the horses to do otherwise.
The patriots showed them what to do with the bills though –
get that pass rush going but contain him in the pocket
December 10th, 2021 at 6:55 pm
Alen keeps running the ball at some point he is going to get hurt you don’t last long in the NFL as a running QB
December 10th, 2021 at 9:18 pm
He put up six points in a loss to J-ville. Some pro bowl QB Joe. They only scored ten points in another loss. Brady scores 10 points falling out of bed. If Allen leads in pro bowl votes, the election is rigged.
December 11th, 2021 at 9:15 pm
Stat isn’t that surprising:
This defense routinely allows 6 yard passes to gain another 20 yards after the catch, so no deep throws through the air are needed.