Durkin's Playbook: Containing C.J. Spiller

By Dan Durkin-

(CBS) As much as Bears fans want to forget how the team defended the run last season, the Bills haven't.

Offensive coaches have spent countless hours at Bills headquarters in Orchard Park poring over Bears tape, noting a lack of backside contain, missed run fits and a tendency to overrun plays.

The Bills have big questions at quarterback, but they are committed to and effective at running the football. They'll pose a stiff, early test for a Bears defense that gave up 5.3 yards per carry last season.

Their primary playmaker on offense is running back C.J. Spiller, whose 5.3 yards per carry average is the second-best mark in the NFL for running backs since 2012.

What makes Spiller special is his lateral agility and quickness, which enables him to frequently beat defenses to the perimeter. He runs with excellent vision and feel for cutback lanes and once he's in the open field, he has breakaway speed. When he's able to get to the second level of the defense clean, if the back-end of the defense takes improper pursuit angles, he can take it to the house from any point on the field.

Let's go to the film room and take a closer look.

The first example comes from the Bills-Browns game last year. The Bills come out in 12 personnel and run a zone weak play (opposite the tight ends) to the right. The offensive line works in tandem to the right and the tight end (red line) kicks out the strong side outside linebacker.

On an inside-zone play, running backs press the line of scrimmage, reading the outside hip of the play-side guard. The Bills' offensive line doesn't get any movement on the interior of the Browns defensive line, but a cutback lane opens on the strong-side D-gap and Spiller bounces the play outside.

Strong safety T.J. Ward is responsible to fill this gap, but take note of his pursuit angle.

Ward pursues the ball and instead of staying outside, he gets caught inside and Spiller is able to bounce the ball to the perimeter and take it to the house on a 54-yard touchdown.

This play illustrates how vital it is for safeties to take outside pursuit angles when chasing down Spiller. For Bears fans, this play conjures up memories of last season, when running backs got through the first two levels of the defense untouched and the safeties were left grasping at air.

Looking back at last season, the New York Jets did an excellent job containing Spiller, holding him to 15 yards on 23 carries. How did the Jets do it? By squeezing the inside running lanes while the secondary played with outside leverage to keep Spiller contained.

In this example, the Bills come out in 12 personnel and run an inside-zone run to the right. They use wide receiver Robert Woods (circled in blue) to "crack" on the safety driving down in run support, giving Spiller an edge to bounce outside with only one man to beat, cornerback Antonio Cromartie (circled in green).

Cromartie plays with outside leverage, leading with his near hip and shoulder, which forces Spiller to bounce back inside, where Demario Davis is waiting to help make the tackle.

The Bears are unsettled in the back seven of their defense, and their continuity and technique will be tested Sunday. Cornerbacks Charles Tillman, Tim Jennings and Kyle Fuller will play big roles this weekend in run support, but they must be sure to attack Spiller with outside-in force. Safeties must break down and come in under control at the point of attack. Linebackers must read and react with speed downhill and scrape over the top of blockers.

Corralling Spiller is all about forcing him back inside to where the help is. If the Bears are unsuccessful, it'll take pressure off of quarterback EJ Manuel and allow the Bills to control the clock and keep the Bears' potent offense on the sidelines.

Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.