Bucs’ Gameplan For Stopping Aidan Hutchinson

When asked what he learned from last year, Grizzard said, “It was something that really can’t happen. He needs to have the attention of the entire offense, really, on each play. We were fortunate to come away with a victory – I think we scored 20 points and were able to win. It was a great job by the defense that day. But his play speed and what he does is something we have to handle from the first quarter all the way through the fourth quarter. [We have to] just know where he is, because he can definitely wreck a game.”

Grizzard has shown an aptitude for scheming up protection plans this year. Despite operating with a revolving door of lineups on the offensive front, the Bucs offense has been impressive this year, averaging over 26 points per game. Two weeks ago, the Bucs offensive line had one of its best performances against a Seahawks defense that had been nightmare fuel for other offenses this season.

It is possible to scheme out a great pass rusher. And the Bucs can look to a recent game in the NFL for a blueprint.

The Steelers vs. Myles Garrett

In Week 6, the Steelers faced off against one of the best defenses in football led by one of the best players in the NFL. Myles Garrett is easily one of the three most feared edge rushers in the game. And Pittsburgh treated him as such. Garrett rushed the passer 24 times and finished with just one pressure according to PFF. Looking through the tape, Garrett did not have a bad game, but Pittsburgh’s entire gameplan centered on stopping him from affecting the game. If the Steelers were going to get beat, it wasn’t going to be by Myles Garrett.

Pittsburgh used a variety of strategies to keep Garrett in check. And the Bucs can use all of those to take Hutchinson out of the game as well.

Play-Action And Roll-Outs

The Steelers used play-action roll-outs on six of those 24 snaps with quarterback Aaron Rodgers rolling away from Garrett on every snap. They added one additional snap without play-action where Pittsburgh just moved the pocket away from Garrett. That’s almost 30% of Garrett’s pass rushes negated by simply moving the quarterback away from Garrett.

The Bucs shouldn’t need to enact this plan when Hutchinson lines up on the right side of the defensive front. That would match him up against left tackle Tristan Wirfs and the Bucs feel comfortable with putting Wirfs on an island against top competition. But could they use this strategy when Hutchinson lines up over swing tackle Charlie Heck. Probably not as much as the Steelers were able to deploy against Garrett.

If the Bucs roll Baker Mayfield away from a Hutchinson/Heck matchup it will force Mayfield to have to throw running to his left. While Mayfield has proven this season, he isn’t incapable of making those high-difficulty throws, though it’s not an ideal gameplan as a volume strategy.

Chipping With Backs And Tight Ends

This was how the Bucs slowed down Aidan Hutchinson last year from the second quarter on. It was also a huge part of the Steelers’ strategy in attacking Garrett.

Myles Garrett working from an extremely wide-9 alignment was hoping to get the most advantageous angle to the quarterback, so the Steelers use a tight end to force him to arc more and have to fight through two players rather than leave left tackle Broderick Jones to have to try and contend with Garrett by himself. It also helps Jones get deep into his set at a more balanced pace to contend with any inside counter Garrett would potentially try and pull. The Steelers used a chip on at least seven snaps against Garrett to varying degrees of effectiveness.

Bucs’ Line Shifts

At other times when Pittsburgh needed to get their tight ends out into the route progression and their backs to account for additional rushers, they made sure to shift their line to Garrett in an effort to keep two blockers accounting for him. Left guard Isaac Seumalo was often sliding to Jones’ side to help with Garrett’s vaunted inside counter. This gave Jones the freedom to get deep into his pass sets to protect the edge knowing he had inside help.

This might be a little more difficult to do unless veteran Mike Jordan winds up being at right guard. With Luke Haggard out, there won’t be as much chemistry between Charlie Heck and whoever is replacing Haggard in the lineup. Line shifts require proper spacing, footwork and timing to pull off. We’ll see what happens Monday night.

When In Doubt, Throw The Kitchen Sink At Him

The extent to which Pittsburgh committed to neutralizing Myles Garrett can best be encapsulated with this clip when they chipped, rolled away and sent a line shift at him all in one play.

Trade-Offs And Aidan Hutchinson

The Bucs will likely use all of these strategies in some form or fashion to varying degrees. Many of these strategies take eligible receivers – primarily backs or tight ends – out of play either by committing them to the protection or dividing the field in half because of the rollout.

Line slides can be beaten or negated due to overloads to the opposite side that have to be accounted for and blitzes. The Lions blitz at a slightly above league average rate and very well could lean into that strategy against the Bucs in an effort to isolate Aidan Hutchinson on Charlie Heck more. While strong in their own right, Baker Mayfield’s performance against the blitz is considerably lower than against a traditional pass rush. His completion percentage is 17% lower and his average depth of target is down 33%.

Ultimately, if the Bucs choose to make Hutchinson their top priority – and they should – it just means they will limit the menu of options available to them on offense. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – just a necessary trade-off to limit a dangerous weapon.

Hopefully the return to action of wide receivers Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka can provide a positive offset for Tampa Bay.