The Pittsburgh Steelers got their 2021 season off to a great start when they defeated the Buffalo Bills on the street in a game where they were major underdogs. With just four regular season and postseason games between the last time these two teams faced each other, the Steelers team that beat the Bills this time had a number of the same parts from the 2020 matchup.
After the Bills game in week 14 of 2020, the Steelers Vertex article focused on the small adjustment that made a half where Bills wide receiver Stephon Diggs faced more Cameron Sutton in the third quarter, and this turned out to be that Difference in the game. How did Sutton fare against the Bills this time?
Let’s briefly recall where this nerdity comes from.
Parting– a single point where two or more lines cross.
Sometimes two different systems of analysis need to come together and build on each other in order to reach a correct conclusion. In this case the two methods are statistical analysis and film decomposition. Enter Dave Schofield (the statistics freak) and Geoffrey Benedict (the movie guru) to jointly prove a single point based on our two schools of thought.
Here the breakdown comes from two different lines of analysis.
The statistics line:
Last season we outlined the matchup with the Buffalo Bills and Stefon Diggs’ success during the game. In 2020, Diggs was targeted 14 times with 10 receptions and 130 yards with a touchdown. That season, Diggs was again targeted 14 times and had nine receptions, but this time it was only 69 yards and no touchdowns.
Since this article is nowhere near about Diggs, but about Cameron Sutton, we come to how he played against the Bills against this season last season. According to Pro Football Focus, Sutton had a total score of 51.5 and a coverage score of 52.4 against Buffalo last season, where he had two tackles and three missed tackles. In the passing game, PFF sighted Sutton six times with three receptions for 23 yards with no touchdowns and gave up a pass rating of 59.7 when sighted. But seeing just one PFF, it seems that Minkah Fitzpatrick has been credited with multiple receptions that others could argue over as to where Sutton really lies.
That season, Cameron Sutton had a much higher overall PFF rating compared to the Bills with a coverage score of 77.8 and 74.5, respectively. This time around, Suttonm had five tackles with no missed tackles and was credited with giving up five receptions for 32 yards and one touchdown. In addition, Sutton had a pass rating of 120.2 for the game against him.
So what’s the discrepancy between the stats given by Sutton and his results in the game? Although the stats seem better in the previous match, his overall play was rated better in 2021. To understand all of this, it is time to review the film.
The film line:
Cameron Sutton gave up a number of receptions against the Bills, but only a few yards. While we’re going to talk about his game about his own man, the place to go to cover Cameron Sutton is his fit in the Steelers schemes he struggled with last season while playing outside.
Cameron Sutton is the cornerback at the bottom of the screen.
Sutton is the outside corner in this game and Stefon Diggs is near the offensive line. When Sutton sees Diggs come outside and Allen prepares to throw him, he breaks off the route and gets enough of Diggs to knock him down for a loss in the game. Sutton has been working on breaking routes like this after not being very good at it when he played outside in 2020. That growth in his game is a big part of the success the Steelers saw when the Bills targeted Tre Norwood early in game # 21.
Cameron Sutton is the cornerback at the bottom of the screen.
The handover to the running back attracts everyone’s attention and almost every player on the line. Stefon Diggs starts jogging inside, hoping Sutton is more into the running game than covering Diggs. It doesn’t work.
Sutton is not fooled and waits for Diggs to follow his route. When Allen sees that Diggs is covered, he briefly tosses it under Sutton and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Sutton breaks the ball and defends the pass. Great game by Sutton to avoid falling for the cheese and sticking to Stefon Diggs to force fourth place.
Cameron Sutton is the cornerback to the top of the screen.
Sutton falls to the point and holds Stefon Diggs in front of him. When the Bills take advantage of that, Sutton is able to tackle the catch point. The speed at which Sutton flies onto the screen to fight Diggs is impressive. The Steelers have made it their business to deny Bills receivers yards after the catch after giving up 130 YAC in 2020. The downside is that with this strategy you will give up more receptions.
Cameron Sutton is the penny back, third DB from the top.
Gabriel Davis drives a nice route here, and after Sutton loses his position at the cut, he can recover and cover his man well. His good coverage lost to a big throw and the Bills got away with their only touchdown of the game. Sutton gave up several catches, but he made those throws and catches difficult. That’s all you can really ask for in the current NFL.
Cameron Sutton is the cornerback to the top of the screen.
This is a huge game. It’s a four point game, 4th and one and the Steelers keep the bills goalless. The Steelers almost never run a defense where a corner carries his man through the formation, and you can watch Sutton switch roles and Terrell Edmunds take over the player on the move. Sutton is now responsible for preventing any game from getting out of him and he not only does that, he dodges the full-back trying to block him and takes both hands on his hind legs to bring him down . Since Melvin Ingram has to factor in Josh Allen’s abilities as a runner, this piece should work for Buffalo. All they need is that block to land on Sutton and it’s a first down.
Instead, possession and swing alternated and the Steelers would march to score their only offensive touchdown of the game. That drive was followed by the bills three and out and the punt block for a touchdown to top it off. We can’t know what would happen if Sutton couldn’t do this piece, but we do know that this piece was a major turning point in the Steelers’ win over Buffalo, just like the bills moving Stefon Diggs to Cameron Sutton’s side in 2020 was a turning point in their favor.
The point:
The greatest thing about the movie shown with Cam Sutton’s game is its quick response and speed to the ball. Sutton seemed to fly to the right places in many clips and they both got their hands on the ball and brought the receiver quickly after Catch to case. If Sutton continues to play with that kind of speed and response, the teams will not do what the Bills did in 2020 and target Sutton as a weak point in defense.
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