After watching the Cardinals outlast Andy Dalton and the Bengals last Sunday night in a battle of top-seeded teams, the main thing that stood out to me was not the offensive showcase. It was the wide variety of blitz packages that James Bettcher, the Cardinals’ new defensive coordinator, launched at the Bengals’ offensive line using inside linebackers Deone Bucannon and Kevin Minter.
Bettcher called blitz after blitz and although the final score (34-31) does not show it, the Cardinals were in the backfield the entire second half. In this breakdown, we will take a look at how Bettcher used Deone Bucannon and Kevin Minter in his various blitz packages versus the Bengals’ 13th ranked offensive line by DVOA rankings that resulted in four sacks, one forced fumble, and six quarterback hits.
Play 1
Situation: 1st and 10 at ARI 22
Description: (14:43 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Dalton sacked at ARZ 33 for -11 yards (D.Bucannon)
- Cardinals show six rushers pre-snap in a four defensive lineman “under” formation.
- Linebacker #20 Bucannon stands between the center and right guard looking ready to strike through the strongside A-gap. After the snap, he sprints forward, swim moves Giovani Bernard avoiding the block, and then sacks Andy Dalton with ease.
- Fellow inside linebacker #51 Minter looped on a delayed blitz behind Bucannon to assist if Bucannon failed to disengage from his block.
- Both edge rushers #56 LaMarr Woodley and #44 Markus Golden rush outside their blockers to keep Dalton from escaping the pocket.
Play 2
Situation: 3rd and 10 at CIN 17
Description: (8:49 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Dalton sacked at CIN 10 for -7 yards (M.Golden). FUMBLES (M.Golden), RECOVERED by ARZ-D.Bucannon at CIN 10. D.Bucannon to CIN 10 for no gain (C.Boling; A.Dalton)
- The Cardinals line up with three defensive lineman on the line of scrimmage. The two edge rushers are both in wide 9 alignments, while #91 Ed Stinson, in the 0-tech, is lined up opposite of the center.
- After the snap, Stinson and Bucannon rush straight into the A-gaps. Stinson takes strongside engaging with the left guard while Bucannon attempts to penetrate through the weakside.
- Edge rushers #44 Markus Golden and #93 Calais Campbell rush the C-gaps outside of their respective offensive tackles to contain Dalton in the pocket just like in Play 1.
- Linebacker #51 Kevin Minter attempts to loop behind Bucannon and Stinson to attack the weakside B-gap between the right guard and the right tackle. Meanwhile, free safety #32 Tyrann Mathieu creeps into the box from the secondary to run a delayed blitz in case none of the other pass rushers get to Dalton in time.
- Markus Golden from the right defensive end position gets the strip-sack which falls right into Bucannon’s hands for a turnover deep in the Bengals’ territory.
Looking over the play diagram, I would not have initially guessed that Markus Golden would have been the hero of this play. I would have been pretty confident that either Bucannon or Minter would have gotten the sack due to the double A-gap blitz, but let’s take a second look, though.
Since the offensive line shifted to their left (our right on the GFY), this leaves an ideal one-on-one match-up with an extra wide blocker. #71 Andre Smith simply can’t defend all of that open space. Once Markus Golden uses a great swipe move to remove Smith’s hands from his vicinity he has him beat for the sack.
The fourth sack was another inside linebacker A-gap blitz, but this time by #51 Kevin Minter. Nose tackle #95 Rodney Gunter actually got the sack due to the protection confusion caused by Gunter and Minter flooding the A-gaps. This forced Bengals’ center Bodine to attempt to block both (Code for “he didn’t block either”) and allow a sack on Dalton almost immediately after the start of the play.
Bettcher loves to use Minter in his blitz packages as well as Bucannon and you can easily see why in these two plays below.
In the first play, #51 Minter angles his rush straight into the center of the pile of bodies before looping around the strongside B-gap. The Bengals are running a screen pass to Giovani Bernard, but the blitz throws off the timing of the play. This combined with the presence of defensive end #93 Calais Campbell putting his hands up in the air makes this screen pass an incompletion.
On the second play, Minter shows his power as he punishes Jeremy Hill to the ground through the weakside A-gap. This does not allow Andy Dalton to step into pass, so he arms the ball out-of-bounds past his intended target.
Overall, James Bettcher is an extremely aggressive coordinator who dialed up blitz after blitz against the Bengals’ offensive line in the second half of the game last Sunday. Not all worked, however. The Bengals profited heavily on a seven man blitz late in the second quarter.
The Bengals called the perfect play to counter Bettcher’s blitz by throwing a screen pass right behind it. Since the Cardinals are in Cover 1 Man defense, there are no defenders present for at least 20 yards down the middle of the field. The Bengals scored on the very next play taking the lead 14-7 just before half.
The Cardinals and the Bengals are both 8-2 now and have a three- and two-game cushion between the second place opponents in their divisions, respectively. The Cardinals face the 49ers, while the Bengals face the Rams next week. Expect to see more Minter- and Bucannon-led A-gap blitzes versus the 49ers 29th ranked offensive line.
Follow Samuel Gold on Twitter: @SamuelRGold.
