Why do NFL players study so much film? Brian Burns’ play vs. the Bengals shows you why

Burns picked up an an Orlando Brown Jr. tell, and took advantage

The New York Giants put together a good defensive performance in their 17-7 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football. Brian Burns had his breakout performance on prime-time, with six STOPs, five pressures, and a sack, with the team’s highest Pro Football Focus grade.

Burns wasn’t just leveraging his Spiderman-like quickness; he also relied on excellent awareness and, presumably, quality film study. Burns knew of an offensive tell that tipped the direction of left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.

Before we get into the meat and potatoes, here are eight pre-snap pass looks of Brown; pay attention to his unique stance and feet:

Brown’s back leg is coiled, with his toes firmly in the ground. His outside shoulder is slightly dipped, and he’s ready to explode off his inside foot. Most of Brown’s typical pass sets resemble the stance we see above.

Brown’s typical run pre-snap sets are very similar. Here are several pre-snap run looks:

The stance above against Azeez Ojulari (51) is slightly different than the pass-sets above, but the difference is subtle. However, Orlando Brown Jr. had a glaring tell that Brian Burns exploited the entire game. Let’s start early in the first quarter:

1st-and-10; Q1, 9:53

The stance is similar to the one directly above, but Brown’s head is turned inward toward Rakeem Nunez-Roches (93):

Brown blocked where his eyes were pre-snap — he blocked down, forcing the tight end to also block down, giving the tight end a more difficult assignment to cut off a player like Brian Burns.

The tight end closed the C-Gap as Burns attempted to penetrate. There was little to no room, but Burns did a great job separating from the tight end and assisting with the STOP. Burns did not get into the C-Gap, but the opportunity would soon present itself again late in the first quarter.

3rd & 3; Q1, 00:39

Brown’s outside foot is slightly more parallel and not nearly as coiled as it typically is when he’s in a pass set. His feet are also wider and not as close together. Mike Gesicki (88) is aligned in a similar spot, only in a two-point stance; Burns joins him in a two-point stance instead of the frog pose from the earlier play. Brown’s eyes are inward toward Nunez-Roches. Burns anticipated the down block and quickly shot the C-Gap:

Burns blew up Zack Moss (31) in the backfield to force a punt and kill the Bengals’ drive. He is lightning fast off the ball, replacing Brown, who was attempting to lead the block on the shotgun power run. Burns was so quick into the backfield, it’s like he knew the play was coming.

When Orlando Brown Jr. pulled, he tipped his pull. Burns was perceptive and aware enough to make game-changing plays based on that observation. Burns received a similar look late in the first half.

2nd-and-10; Q2, 2:23

The tight end is on the line of scrimmage, but we see Brown with his eyes inward, and there’s not nearly as much weight on his inside foot. It appears there could be more weight on the outside foot as he prepares to explode. Burns times it well and quickly gets into Joe Burrow’s face:

Cincinnati ran an RPO, Brown pulled, Burns replaced, and Burrow — somehow — got the football to Tee Higgins (5) for a quick completion. Burns, however, kept his track tight to Brown’s backside to avoid the tight end and threaten the quarterback. It’s a deliberate move by Burns, who knew Brown’s intentions based on his stance.

Extra play

Burns is aligned on the other side of the play, and Boogie Basham (55) is aligned outside of Orlando Brown Jr. The left tackle looked inward with his feet wider than his traditional pass-set. The Bengals bring two blockers from the opposite side to account for Basham and Burrow connected deep with Ja’Marr Chase (1). Still, the tell remains the same — Brown’s pre-snap stance is discernably different when he’s headed inside.

Unfortunately, Burns didn’t face too many snaps with Brown’s path designed inward. But, on the few he saw, he recorded a huge third-down tackle for a loss and a quarterback hit. He also looped inside on well-executed twists like this one below:

Final thoughts

Burns understood Brown’s pre-snap stance and knew when he was pulling or blocking down. It’s perceptive of Burns, and there were signs of it on tape from earlier this season:

Orlando Brown Jr. is the tackle on the left side of the screen

Burns had his breakout performance as a Giant and now has 22 pressures on 187 pass-rushing reps. He also has three sacks, zero missed tackles and 16 STOPs at the line of scrimmage. Here are several good plays from Burns against the Bengals:

Hopefully, Burns and the other Giant pass-rushers will continue to exploit signs that tip plays. This pass rush is dangerous and still leads the league with 26 sacks through six weeks.