The Buffalo Bills took advantage of mismatches in the middle of the field and chewed up the zone coverages of the Washington Football Team defense in their blowout victory Sunday.
Josh Allen completed 20 of 25 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown on throws between the numbers of the field.
Washington has a solid cast of defensive backs, but its linebackers – Cole Holcomb and Jon Bostic – are not elite in coverage. Allen and the Bills receivers worked them over repeatedly. And Washington slot cornerback Kendall Fuller had a rough time keeping track of Cole Beasley.
“Every week’s different, every defense is different,” tight end Dawson Knox said. “They like to scheme it up differently each week. We knew this week there was a little more zone coverage so that we were going to have some more crossing routes and be able to find soft spots in the zone.”
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Here’s a closer look at some of the big plays in the 43-21 victory:
Three zone beaters. The Bills got rolling on their opening drive with three straight completions against zone defense.
Allen hit Gabriel Davis on a 23-yard pass to convert a third-and-15 situation. Washington rushed four men, and defensive tackle Daron Payne got pressure against guard Cody Ford. But Ford rode Payne deep in the pocket as Allen stepped up out of harm’s way. Meanwhile, center Mitch Morse kept the middle of the pocket clean by locking up defensive tackle Jonathan Allen. Davis got behind the zone coverage of William Jackson and Bostic, and Allen’s throw was a bullet.
Then Allen hit an 11-yard hitch pass to Emmanuel Sanders with Holcomb in zone coverage, and a 13-yard crossing route underneath zone defenders to Stefon Diggs to move the ball to Washington’s 29-yard line.
Beating Cover 2. Allen made an elite quarterback play two plays later, hitting Sanders for a 28-yard touchdown.
Washington was in a two-deep zone and rushed only three linemen, dropping eight into coverage. Diggs ran up the left seam, drawing safety Bobby McCain.
Sanders ran a deep over route toward the right, and Fuller passed him off to star safety Landon Collins. But Allen had to extend the play, getting flushed toward the right sideline by Payne. Allen threw a laser on a dead run to the right side of the end zone, and Sanders made a sliding catch. Collins had no chance to make a play on it.
“We have a lot of talent, but we’ve got to get them to play as a unit, and that’s on us as coaches,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said. “We got to make sure the things we’re doing, the things we’re creating for them, are things they can work and go out and function and be a unit together.”
Dual-threat RB. Running back Zack Moss made two big catches on the Bills’ second touchdown drive. First, he came out of the backfield for a 17-yard completion to the Washington 25.
It was an angle route, on which he came out of the backfield and ran a slant to the middle of the field.
“I was able to actually run the full route and I was able to catch it across the middle of the field and get north and south,” Moss said.
Bostic was exploited on the play. Moss juked Bostic to the ground, then ran through an arm-tackle attempt by Holcomb to get 15 yards after the catch.
Five plays later, on a third-and-4 situation from the Washington 7, Allen was pressured up the middle by Payne. Allen side-stepped him, moved to his right and found Moss wide open against Holcomb at the 4. It was an easy score for Moss.
“The touchdown catch was also the same play, just down in the red zone,” Moss said.
“I ended up slipping, and then I was trying to get across the guy’s face a little bit,” said Moss, referring to going over the middle toward the post. “But I was able to see Josh’s eyes. Then our scramble rules kicked in when he started to scramble out that way. I kicked it out, freelanced the route, and he was able to catch me."
Tight end mismatch. Allen got the matchup he wanted on the Bills’ next drive, on a third-and-7 situation from the 14. There were three receivers lined up to the left, and Knox was alone on the right side, covered by Holcomb.
“As soon as I lined up and saw the coverage, I knew there’d be a good chance of the ball coming to me,” Knox said. “I wanted to kind of whistle at Josh or something. But obviously he’s incredible, so he noticed it before I could even say anything. I’m just glad he gave me a shot.”
The pass was to the outside of Knox, who made a leaping grab.
“It was a back-shoulder catch,” Knox said. “Josh does a great job of putting it where only the receiver can get it and put some pace on there so I was able to go up and get it.”
Deep touch. Allen’s prettiest deep throw of the day was a 41-yarder to Sanders in the second quarter. It went to the Washington 17 and set up a field goal that put Buffalo ahead 24-14.
This was man-to-man coverage. Washington blitzed Bostic, and Payne again got quick pressure in the backfield. But Allen stood in the pocket and lofted a pass over Sanders’ shoulder. Sanders beat Fuller up the left seam on a straight go route.
“I gotta play better and not give up explosive plays,” Fuller said.
