Pro Football Focus applauds Buffalo Bills’ zone and gap run concepts
By Ryan Brennan
Pro Football Focus recently ranked the top NFL teams in 2016 based on the three main run concepts: outside zone, inside zone and gap scheme.
It’s well-known what the Buffalo Bills‘ rushing attack was able to do last season, or really what they’ve been doing for the past two seasons. In a recent article by Pro Football Focus, they broke down the best teams in terms of run concept.
Breaking it up into three categories, it’s interesting to see how the Buffalo Bills did when calling certain plays. When you see the team at the top of two of those categories — and second in the third category — it’s clear how versatile the Bills’ offensive line really is.
It’s even more clear how well that offensive line works with the running backs (and Tyrod Taylor in this case). It doesn’t seem to matter what play is called, the two sides know how to play to each other’s strengths.
Let’s take a deeper look at what PFF laid down for everyone.
Outside Zone
Pro Football Focus declared the outside zone concept the most difficult for NFL running backs and offensive lines last season. Although it was the concept least used by the Buffalo Bills, their stats completely blew the rest of the league out of the water.
The Bills finished the season with 30 attempts in this category, averaging 5.73 yards per carry and 2.77 yards before contact. Only three other teams in the league finished above the 5.0 yards per carry mark — Saints, Falcons, Bears — but none of them were close to Buffalo — 5.07, 5.02, 5.05 respectively.
In addition, those three teams also lacked the same yards before contact numbers the Bills had, finishing with 2.25, 2.22 and 2.08 respectively.
To summarize, the Buffalo Bills were simply better than everyone else in this regard.
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Inside Zone
Once again, the Bills were at the top of the list, proving that the zone concept is their strong point without a doubt. This time with 97 attempts in the category, they finished with 5.38 yards per carry and 2.71 yards before contact.
Two teams got close to those numbers — the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans. The Cowboys finished with 5.17 yards per carry and 2.55 yards before contact, while the Titans finished with 5.04 yards per carry and 2.53 yards before contact.
The NFL average for this category will make you even more proud of what Buffalo was able to accomplish. 4.09 yards per carry and 1.68 yards before contact, which is nowhere near the Bills.
PFF also noted that the inside zone was the most successful concept used last season league-wide. When you combine that knowledge with how much better the Bills were, it’s clear that they were on a whole other level last season.
With McCoy and Taylor returning, and new offensive coordinator Rick Dennison likely to use a lot of zone concepts, the NFL will surely see much of the same in 2017.
Gap Scheme
This was the only concept that didn’t see the Buffalo Bills at the top, but they did come in a close second. It was also the most-used concept by the Bills, finishing with 119 attempts on the season in the category.
The Atlanta Falcons got revenge on Buffalo, finishing first in the league, despite just 77 attempts in the gap scheme.
The Bills did have a higher yards per carry average than the Falcons, finishing with 5.23 compared to Atlanta’s 5.10. It was the yards before contact that put the Falcons ahead, finishing with 2.83 yards to the Bills’ 2.48.
Behind those two teams, there wasn’t much competition in terms of gap schemes.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see the Buffalo Bills run the ball this season much like they did in 2016. With a chance at a three-peat, the offensive line, running backs and quarterback need to be sharp week-in and week-out.
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Do you think the Buffalo Bills will three-peat as rushing champions this season? Leave your thoughts below!