Containing Murray in the Pocket
The Buffalo Bills will have to utilize plenty of the same strategies that they used last week again here against the Cardinals in Week 10. Coming into the league, Kyler Murray drew plenty of comparisons to Russell Wilson in regards to his ability to be a dual-threat quarterback.
So far this season, Kyler Murray has the most rushing yards from the quarterback position and 8th in total rushing yards when bringing running backs into the equation. While he draws comparisons to Wilson, he certainly has more of a tendency to run the football, in both designed running plays and purely improvised scrambles. Additionally, Murray is more than just his legs, he is also 12th in total passing yards so far and 11th in passing touchdowns.
Similar to last week, the Buffalo Bills defense will have to be disciplined when rushing the passer. it will be very important to set the edge while getting interior pressure simultaneously. If our edge rushers get too wide, Murray will have a clear running lane to scramble. However, if our edge rushers don’t get wide enough, Murray will be able to escape the pocket around them to extend the play on the ground or buy time for his receivers to get open down the field.
Either way, the Bills defense will need to dial up a similar level of confusion as they did last week for Murray this week. Last week, the Bills defense used pre-snap blitz looks to confuse Wilson, changing up the players that actually blitzed and those that dropped into coverage. A similar game plan could work here in Week 10, but Murray’s superior athleticism may command a quarterback spy from the Bills defense.