Note: I've been pretty frustrated with the lack of football knowledge on this board for a while, so I'm going to run through some basics of defensive alignments and schemes. I'm not going to go position-by-position with their techniques, but I will do assignments and player builds (what kind of player for the position in each defense). I'm going to focus on read-and-react defenses more than penetration defenses because I feel that they are easier to learn, and the goal here is to educate. Note2: Argh, the forum formatting is pissing me off. Can't have tabs or large amounts of spaces. I had to put everything in code boxes and change the font and spacing. Pain in the ass. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Welcome to the board! Want to talk football? Great! Do you know anything about football? No? Then sit down, shut up, and for the love of Gale Sayers keep reading. Today, we?ll be going over basic defensive player assignments, and through time, we will work ourselves up to schemes. We will be concentrating on the front seven here, so there is no need to worry about the secondary and coverages. For now, however, let?s start with the basics: Diagram Key: W = Will (Weak) Linebacker M = Mike (Middle) Linebacker S = Sam (Strong) Linebacker E = End (Defensive or offensive tight end, depending on diagram) T = Tackle (Defensive or offensive, depending on diagram) N = Nose Tackle C = Center G = Guard F = Fullback H = Halfback Q = Quarterback THE 4-3 ALIGNMENT Code: W M S LINEBACKERS E N T E D-LINE T G C G T E O-LINE Q F H This is your basic 4-3 alignment: The nose tackle is in the A gap between the center and the guard, the reduced tackle is aligned with the shoulder of the opposite guard, controlling that B gap, with the ends aligned on the outside shoulders of the tackles. But wait! What are gaps? Code: E T G C G T E O-LINE E D C B A A B C D E GAPS The gaps, labeled A-E (sometimes numbered, 1-3-5-7-9) tell you what a defensive player (lineman or linebacker) is responsible for in the event of a run. Since most defenses read the run first (thus making it their priority) and the pass second, gaps are kind of important. The A, or 1 gap, is the space between the inside shoulders of the offensive guards. The B, or 3 gap, is the space between the outside shoulders of the offensive guards and the inside shoulders of the offensive tackles. The C, or 5 gap, is the space between the outside shoulders of the offensive tackles and the inside shoulders of the tight ends (should they be there). The D, or 7 gap, is off the tight end?s outside shoulder (or off where the tight end would be). The final gap, the E or 9 gap, is the outside. In the 4-3 alignment we saw above, our defensive linemen were lined up in a pretty interesting way: Code: E N T E D-LINE T G C G T E O-LINE Clearly, the nose tackle is in the A gap ? He has the responsibility to hold that gap when there is a run play. The reduced tackle, being off the shoulder of the strong side guard, will be assigned to control the B gap. Each defensive end is normally assigned to the C gap in front of them, though this can change (can be assigned to contain, for example, which would be more of a D/7 or E/9 responsibility). But what about our linebackers? Code: W M S LINEBACKERS E N T E D-LINE Well, it really all depends on which way the play is going, what your play call is, and what your specific scheme is ? 4-3 is an alignment, not a scheme, so we?re going to use a relatively basic example here that will not always prove true, but is true enough for our purposes. Let?s say that we have a run to the right: Code: W M S LINEBACKERS E N T E D-LINE T G C G T E O-LINE Q /|\/|\ | | F----| | | H-----| That halfback is going right into the strong-side B gap! Well, our tackle has responsibility for that gap, so what our linebacker friends are going to do here is called sliding. Code: W M S LINEBACKERS E N T E D-LINE T G C G T E O-LINE Q /|\/|\ | | F----| | | H-----| Here, our linebackers are sliding towards the play?s direction ? Also known as its flow. When a play flows one way, the defense goes that way, too, otherwise you would have one hell of a shitty defense. Each linebacker has their own responsibility here, so pay attention. The Will linebacker has the responsibility of containing the cutback. In the words of former Illinois head coach Lou Tepper, ?the longest runs in football happen behind the weak side linebacker?. His job is, first and foremost, back side containment. If he fails at that, you can expect a big run to be ripped off ? If the half back cuts back and gets behind the weak side linebacker on a strong side run, then there?s only the free safety to stop the running back, and maybe the weak side corner to run him down after he gets off of his receiver?s block. Now, what about Sam? In a typical 4-3 (there is a type of 4-3 called a Hawk that differs from this, but that is something for another day), your biggest linebacker is your strong side linebacker, so why did Sam slide? Wouldn?t it make sense for him to press the point of attack? Well, we?re running a very basic 4-3 defense here, and he is sliding because he has containment responsibility on this play. Just as the defense doesn?t want the half back to cut back, it also doesn?t want the half back to bounce the play outside. The defense wants to shut him down here and now, and the way to shut him down here at the point of attack (in this case the strong side B gap) is to make sure he doesn?t go anywhere else, which is why we have our outside linebackers. We?re down to our last linebacker ? Mike! Well, Mike, our middle linebacker, has the responsibility to hit the point of attack. This is especially important since there is a fullback involved in this play, because the fullback?s job is to move our Mike linebacker out of the gap he is trying to occupy. Don?t worry, the strong safety should be right behind the Mike linebacker to fill in the space that he leaves behind when he steps up into the hole. Congratulations, you?ve just broken down a simple play in the 4-3 alignment! In our next lesson, we will learn about the personnel of the various forms of the 4-3 (Standard, Tampa 2, the Hawk and Jim Johnson?s fun variety that you see used by the Eagles and the Giants) and we will start on the basics of a 2-gapping 3-4.
Great read. The diagrams are a lil confusing, but after reading it twice, I got it. This must have taken you like 2 hours!
Actually, ~20-30 minutes. If I had drawn out the diagrams (I lent my tablet to a friend and I don't have any play diagrams on this computer) then it would have taken much longer. The next one of probably going to be more of a pain since the forum formatting is going to force me to work with images. Edit - I'm questioning whether or not I should go over keys before going into more schemes and alignments. =/
Good post dude, very enlightening. You did a good job explaining everything. I've tried reading the Wiki explanation on defense and it's a fustercluck. This was very understandable, though.
If you ever listen to Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan on Sirius, they explain this stuff all the time. They ask players complicated questions to test their football IQ. Good stuff.
This was the base D Edwards used here. You can see how the ball carrier was "funneled" into the middle where Vilma would be waiting to make the tackle. The 3-4 we use now is very different.
thank you, Quak! this is very difficult to read but now I know more about positions. But when I watch on tv it is very difficult to follow along because it moves too fast.
quack - one of the best posts I've read here, and you explain something difficult to find. Looking forward to more entries!
yeah quack--this is good. Can you do a 3-4 and show how come BT is always missing in action and Barton has his back to the action?
Excellent job Quack!!! I tried to do this some 3 years ago but your inclusion of the graphics were a very nice touch! So many of our bretheren on here just do not know the ins and outs of some of the most basic things an it's nice to see it picted out like that. Good job!!! The Mezz
This should be a regular thread. Not only good to explain to those who may not know as much, but also good for discussions for those who do. The charts could be clearer, especially when explaining the gaps (may have been better to go with the numbers), but overall excellent!
Ryan will likely run a "hybrid 46/3-4 defensive scheme". Unfortunately, I don't know how to copy and paste the diagram from Wkipedia into this post, bey here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/46_defense The big thing is that the CB's have to play man coverage with little help from the safeties. Rhodes would likely play Doug Plank's role in the 46, and this D scheme was named 46 because that was Plank's jersy number when he played in this D scheme for Chicago... and Plank was just added to the Jets coaching staff. If you want to see how the 3-4 works, watch Pittsburgh today. It seems like they are blitzing all the time, but they send four much more often than they send five. They have 4 LB's, all capable of generating a speed rush on the QB. The idea is that the QB (or O line) never knows which LB is coming on the pass rush. AZ will likely try to counter with short, fast release passes, and let the WR's make plays against the D backfield. Boldin and Fitzgerald are the perfect WR's for this. Hard to hit, hard to bring down.
One thing you are forgetting to mention is the presence of their DEs, who command double teams, especially Aaron Smith. He is very disruptive, and can rush if allowed to - and he indeed ranks 9th in Steelers' defensive rank in terms of sacks. Casey Hampton naturally commands double teams, so that means if the other DE grabs the lone OL (RT) MLBs have not one, but two clear lanes into the pocket more often than not. Now, add the presence of their outside LBs, one of which would be coming at the QB all times, and you have one hell of a pressure generating defense. Now, looking back, I think Jets need to find their version of 3-4 DEs. Coleman, while serviceable, doesn't quite cut it. Ellis is getting up there in age, and doesn't really command double teams all that much.
In this 'lesson', he was talking about the gap responsibilities in a 4-3 defense, that's why I showed a pic of a basic 4-3 defense. If he were talking about a 3-4, I would of put up this pic. Just wanted to add that I agree with the OP, more people on this site need to learn about football before they talk.
The same is true for the NE 3-4... they have DE's who do the same thing the Pitt DE's do. The front 3 in any 3-4 or even the 46 defense are crucial... but one can only post so much in a forum like this. I didn't forget the DE's, I just didn't comment on them in a short post like this. The same could be said for the LC corp of Pittsburgh... they have way more talent for the 3-4 than the JETs do.
This was much needed man....now we just need to get the people who post during the season then disappear for 8 months to actually read it. Your next post should be explaining to all the ball watchers that if you want to know how and why things happen, you have to look at the whole field....before and during each play...
