GIF Breakdown - New York Jets at Buffalo Bills (2 of 4)

In the second part of this week's GIF series between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills, let's watch one of Ed Reed's plays.

Second quarter, 12:48 remaining. The Bills are lined up in 12 personnel, which means one running back and two tight ends, leaving two wide receivers. The Jets are lined up in their 4-3 defense, which means four defensive linemen, three linebackers, and four defensive backs. The play is designed to look like a run to the left, which would have two tight ends and a wide receiver blocking for the running back. In this case, the offense tried some trickery with E.J. Manuel tossing the ball to T.J. Graham on the end-around, instead of handing the ball off.

Before Graham even gets the ball, Reed has already recognized the play and comes flying in along the hashes from the deep safety spot. Quinton Coples is tasked with containing the play, and he does so by getting his hands on Scott Chandler, the tight end. He quickly releases and falls back to cover him should he go out for a pass. Coples' quick press on Chandler is enough to let Reed get by before Chandler can block Reed out of the picture. So what we have here are three good things. The first is that Reed can still recognize plays like nobody's business and has one of the best football minds in the game. The second is that he still has his straight line speed as he's able to close extremely quickly (this GIF is actually slowed down a bit, for clarity). And the third is that Coples does his job by holding contain and giving Reed a free run.