A look back at some of the matchups in Week 1, via film analysis:
Lions O vs. Bucs D
Matthew Stafford and this offense had an excellent feel for Tampa Bay’s zone coverages. Detroit operated mostly out of three-receiver formations (Titus Young, Maurice Stovall and Tony Scheffler took turns serving as the third receiver). This kept the Bucs in their nickel defense, which the Lions gladly ran inside against. Jahvid Best ran with a lower center of gravity that last season and showed good patience and vision in locating cutback lanes. Because the Bucs only had two linebackers on the field (finesse-oriented Quincy Black and Geno Hayes), the Lion interior offensive linemen were often able to focus on defeating the defensive lineman in front of them (rather than getting to the second level).
Bucs O vs. Lions D
The Bucs barely had the ball for the 20 minutes and never found a rhythm. Their offensive line contained Detroit’s active front four early on, but surprisingly, Detroit’s secondary blanketed Josh Freeman’s targets all afternoon (Tampa Bay’s lack of outside speed and quickness proved problematic). Detroit corners looked comfortable in their base Cover 2 in early downs and thrived in man coverage on third down. It wasn’t all the secondary, though. The player of the game was new middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch. He had two outstanding pass rushes as a quarterback spy and played fast in both coverage and run support.
Bills O vs. Chiefs D
The Bills played extremely well but did not quite dominate in the way the final score suggests. They took advantage of favorable field position in the first half and racked up yards with a few slow-developing downfield passes (credit Ryan Fitzpatrick and the offensive line for maximizing the time needed to make those plays happen). The biggest factor in the game was Buffalo’s ability to run on a Kansas City nickel defense that lacks a physical linebacking presence. Fred Jackson played with great tempo and fluidity, especially on stretch plays that put him at the second level with relative ease.
Chiefs O vs. Bills D
The No. 32-ranked run defense from 2010 faced the No. 1-ranked run offense from 2010. Shockingly, that No. 32 run defense kept the No. 1 run offense in check. The first-round rookie Marcell Dareus was fantastic at shedding blocks with power. Nose tackle Kyle Williams played with his usual energy and finally saw his fellow front seven mates keep up. Buffalo’s safeties were outstanding both in the box and over the top (virtually everything the Chiefs did through the air was underneath). Mistakes hurt the Chiefs more than anything.
Titans O vs. Jaguars D
The Titans never seemed interested in making Chris Johnson a part of the game plan. They clearly thought early on that Matt Hasselbeck could beat Jacksonville’s secondary. Problem was, Hasselbeck, despite relatively good protection all afternoon, struggled to establish timing with his receivers. He seemed to read the field after the snap more than before the snap. The Titans’ athletic third-year tight end, Jared Cook, was particularly disappointing. He was inept as a blocker (physical execution was slightly more of an issue than mental execution) and failed to capitalize on opportunities as a receiver. Jacksonville’s secondary was good but not great. Safety Courtney Greene might be viewed as a liability in coverage as the season progresses.
Jaguars O vs. Titans D
The Jaguars did all they could to hide Luke McCown…and the Titans let them get away with it. Tennessee willingly operated out of its base 4-3 defense while the Jaguars pounded the ball for three-and-four-yard chunks. Had the Titans blitzed safety Chris Hope in the first half as they did in the fourth quarter, we might have seen a different outcome. Maurice Jones-Drew showed his usual patience and slipperiness, and Deji Karim displayed drastically improved quickness as a third-down back. Neither made any particularly big plays, but both performed well enough to give the offense sustainability. McCown did not make any crucial mistakes, and he converted a huge third-and-eight late in the fourth quarter when he saw wideout Mike Thomas working against linebacker Barrett Ruud. Jacksonville’s elementary approach was enough in this game, but this formula probably won’t be enough most weeks.
Bengals O vs. Browns D
It’s hard to believe that Cedric Benson had 121 yards rushing. That was a product of a high volume of carries. Benson played well, the left side of the offensive line got movement, but there was never the sense that the Bengals were dominating on the ground. Credit Jay Gruden for running the offense through Benson. Andy Dalton was good in his one half of work. He had enough time and space in the pocket to pitch a tent. He was extremely accurate. Tight end Jermaine Gresham was Cincy’s go-to guy. The Bengals designed several nice plays for him that forced the safeties and linebackers to make tough decisions in zone coverage. The Browns needed more of a pass-rush outside. Lastly, left cornerback Joe Haden was absolutely fabulous.
Browns O vs. Bengals D
The lack of explosiveness of the Browns’ passing attack became evident, especially late in the fourth quarter when they had to run the hurry-up. The Browns manipulated McCoy’s reads by having all of his downfield throws in the first half come from a moving pocket (usually off play-action). This tactic is common with young quarterbacks; it slices the field in half and makes for defined reads. But it’s a limiting tactic over all. The Bengals had good activity from their front four. Both corners played well (Leon Hall especially), and safety Reggie Nelson had the best second-half performance of his thus far underwhelming career. Nelson was effective in coverage and made several clean, fast stops as an added defender in the box.
Andy Benoit is the founder of NFLTouchdown.com and an analyst for CBSsports.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit@NFLtouchdown.com or @Andy_Benoit.
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