The first Buffalo Bills touchdown drive of Week 2 was extended by a roughing the passer call on Michael Clemons which negated a third down stop. There was a third down conversion before that, however, as Josh Allen picked up 40 yards on a scramble.
Let’s take a look at how that happened.
When you play Allen, you need to always be aware of his ability as a runner. That’s particularly true when in man coverage. In zone coverage, there will be defenders there to help defend a scramble. After all, there will be zones to cover on all parts of the field near the line of scrimmage. In man coverage, the receivers run most of the defenders who can help away from the play.
The Jets bring Quincy Williams up to the line of scrimmage showing blitz. As the ball is snapped, he does indeed blitz, looping to the right outside of the defense. The Jets are looking to utilize Quincy’s speed and mess up Buffalo’s blocking assignment.
Looping Williams around does come with some risk, though. It leaves the gap between the center and the right guard uncovered. Micheal Clemons who is rushing the gap between the right guard and the right tackle become more critical. If he does not maintain integrity in his gap as he rushes, Allen will have a huge lane.
Now I know you might be looking at this play and think Jamien Sherwood is responsible for that gap as some sort of spy, but he actually has Ty Johnson in man to man coverage.
Here is a better view showing that the Jets have manned up in coverage, and Sherwood is covering Johnson.
Back to the pass rush, unfortunately for the Jets Clemons gets taken to the ground which opens a big hole.
I’m on record today [stating that I am not a big Clemons fan,](/new-york-jets-news/86892/jets-week-2-anti-game-balls-justin-fields-aaron-glenn-micheal-clemons-lead-the-way) but after watching this over a couple of times, I think it’s fair to say he got taken to the ground on a pretty blatant hold that didn’t get called.
Unfortunately, this leads to disaster for the Jets. Quincy Wiliams’ looping blitz is effective and forces Allen to step up. But because of the design and the block (hold?), Allen steps up into a big running lane.
A leap and a cutback later, Allen is off to the races. It’s too much room for a runner with that much ability, and all of the second and third level defenders are off in man coverage in no position to stop him.
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