Sending the House: A lesson from the Buccaneers
Though the Buccaneers would eventually lose to the Eagles in Week 3 of this past NFL season, they laid the foundation for how teams would attack the Philly offense going forward.
Todd Bowles loves to blitz. The Buccaneers defense has never dropped lower than third in Blitz Rate (BR), even finishing first in ‘21 since he’s been in charge of the defense. Pressure is part of the system in Tampa.
In ‘23, the Buccaneers’ Blitz Rate was 45%, with a Pass Blitz Rate (PBR) that rose to 50%. Only the Vikings sent more pressure in ‘23 than Tampa.
When teams faced the Eagles last season, they either raised their overall Blitz Rate or chose to lower it. Teams like the 49ers and Jets are typically averse to blitz (<20%) and went below a Blitz Rate of 10% against the Hurts & Co. Only the Rams, Cowboys, and Cardinals chose to stay within their normal range.
Cover 0 is not a popular coverage choice in the NFL, either. The Eagles saw the coverage on ~11% of their snaps. The next closest was the Bills, at 6.8%.
For context, the NFL average for Cover 0 usage was just over 4%. The Eagles' seeing Cover 0 on one out of every ten players is abnormal.
Coincidentally, the Eagles faced the top three blitzing teams in the NFL last year: Buccaneers, Giants, and Vikings. Wink Martindale, now the DC at Michigan, even rose their already high Blitz Rate to 67%. Bowles had a similar game plan, raising Tampa’s Blitz Rate to 55% and 70% when the Eagles passed the ball.
Teams used Cover 0 and six-man pressures against the Eagles to gap out the front and pressure Hurts in the passing game. For the most part, the plan worked. The Eagles’ passing game finished the year 25th in EPA versus Cover 0 (-.295). Compared to the Bills, who saw the coverage the second most, they came in sixth in EPA (.388).
Last year, the Eagles topped the NFL charts in Inside Zone use at 42% of their offense and used Counter (12%) to change their basic schemes. Defenses used Philly’s offensive tendencies against them by utilizing Cover 0 looks. Bowles raised his average use of six-man blitzes from 14.5% (19th) to 18% when facing the Eagles in Week 3.
The use of six-man blitzes held the Eagles passing game in check. Hurts finished the game 4-10 with 15 yards and one sack against the coverage. The run game didn’t fair any better. The Eagles concluded their matchup with Tampa going 15 for 34 and one TD on the ground (Field Vision).
Bowles used a strategy similar to what he saw from the Vikings when attacking the Eagles with his six-man blitzes. Instead of a traditional six-man blitz with off-ball players attacking the box, Tampa aligned in a 6-2 defense (above) and engaged the front six for the most part. The scheme was mainly used against the Eagles' 12-person personnel package.
The concept is similar to how Bill Belichick countered the Sean McVay-led Rams in Super Bowl LIII, except instead of a solo LB in the box, Tampa took a Safety off and kept their tandem LBs in place. Regardless of the formation, the Buccaneers maintained their front alignment.
The Eagles utilized single-width and even Empty to counter the 6-2 box. Every time Tampa had an adjustment, they even ran Cover 2 to the two WR side in single-width formations (Wing in this case).
The Buccaneers had a 73% success rate against the Eagles when utilizing Cover 0 and six-man blitzes. Bowles and his Buccaneers’ defense (along with the Vikings) laid the foundation for how teams would pressure the Eagles going forward.
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