Attacking Odd Front Cover 1 with Long Trap

The Bills are in 11 personnel on 1st & 10 against an odd front 3-4 spaced Nickel personnel.

The Patriots have a DB body in the box with an ILB hybridized on the LOS as an OLB. The play starts with motion. By running the outside receiver across the formation the Bills confirm a pre-snap Cover 1 look. 

New England is in a odd front 5 man double edge pressure concept. The down Safety and Mike LB are sharing the Y off and RB in man coverage.

The Bills are running a long trap.

The playside WR is able to run off the man coverage DB. The PST/TE work a combo on the DE working to the backside ILB who in this case is a down Safety. The PSG/Center stick a double team on the Nose. The BSG is the trap puller on the edge rushing 9 technique. The BSG is working a B gap check.

The combo by the PST and TE is impressive. On first look it is easy to say the Mike is wrong. On the play he is unblocked and the ball hits downhill at his initial alignment. That is the impressive part of the nuance of the play design from Buffalo. 

The man coverage technique by the box players is the key factor.

When the Y blocks his side the two box players work in tandem. The Mike pulls over the top to fit the extra gap created by the Y's block, the Mike also has the Y in any route in man coverage. The Safety pulls to fit the A gap the Nose isn't fitting and has the RB in man. 

When the Y blocks across the formation the Safety pulls over the top to fit the extra gap and has the Y in man coverage.The Mike fills the A gap the Nose isn't playing and accounts for the RB in man coverage.

The brilliance of the trap design is it puts the fit rules into conflict. The Mike pulls over the top of the Y's playside block to fit the extra gap it creates. The block of the TE influences the Mike out of the play. The PSG/Center double team sticks to create maximum movement on the Nose. The PST/TE combo opens the running lane and cuts the DE off from making the play. When the down Safety pulls across to fit the A gap he gets a face full of the PST coming off the combo. The RB path is tight to the midline keeping him as far from possible from the Mike and playside DE preventing either defender from falling back in to make the tackle. The Patriots play Cover 1 frequently, understanding both the likely defense and the run fit rules helped Buffalo create an explosive run off of the trap scheme. 

Nice design from Brian Daboll.