Have a coach stand behind the DBs, and signal to the WRs what routes he wants them to run. Grinchs version is more disguised, has more counters, and is more conservative in general. This is how I would describe what Oklahoma is doing this season. Sure, you can drop one or two linebackers into zone coverage, but this usually leads to mismatches when teams spread the defense out with more than two wide receivers, or match up a tight end against a linebacker. As a result, offensive lineman must possess the ability to pull outside, receivers must be willing to block, and the quarterback should be able to tuck it and run in certain situations. The advantages spy coverage give you are two fold. The Tigers rely mostly on the over front, which gets the. This is another reason Buddy was an innovator. The 46 defense was created by former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan in the 1980s. Thats the term I developed for Tony Gibsons 3-3-5 at West Virginia, which eventually moved away from that style when they ran out of good transfer cornerbacks. Outnumber the tackle-to-tackle blocking schemes at the point of attack. Learn more about the development of these juggernaut Big 12 offenses in my book: How different is Grinchs OU defense from what he was doing at WSU? The problem in the Big 12 is that solving your problems with aggression often just turns into the Somme when your players bravely try to go chase the QB only to watch the ball sail out to someone on the perimeter who then runs free. [], K-State and West Virginia, winning with four on defense Concerning Sports, [] tell you that theyre a better overall tackling team than K-State or Texas. We do this with our Hawk (Jayhawk) and Cub (Ace) fronts. Army runs quite a bit of fire zone AND zone blitzing from quarters, with their own 3-4 defense that has a 2-4-5 nickel sub-package. The run game was sweetness. The key is to get the one-on-one pass protection on the 3 inside guys, trying to get the QB. But they typically do a very good job of pressuring up front so that its very hard to clear the first level cleanly. The other defensive tackle essentially becomes a nose guard and lines up in front of the center. This allows him to contain runs on the outside, to blitz, or to drop into multiple coverages on the pass. With so many defensive linemen so close to each other, the 46 defense easily allows for defensive coaches to work in curls or stunts that would switch up the gap responsibilities and confuse offensive linemen even more. How do you pressure modern spread offenses? - Concerning Sports With the pre-determined 3-0-3 down linemen, getting lined up should not be a problem. Whether playing 3-deep/3-under coverage, even with zone match rules and dime personnel, can adequately defend a high level passing attack. Those teams fielded some of the best front-seven defenses ever, and included such players as Jerome Brown, Mike Singletary, Steve McMichael, Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, Clyde Simmons, Reggie White, Otis Wilson, Seth Joyner, William Fuller, and Wilber Marshall. I think you gotta keep offenses off balance, you gotta bring em (blitzes) to the back, away from the back, to the strength of the passing formation, away from the strength, from the boundary, from the field, you cant beas soon as an offensive coordinator in this league dials you in? The defense, most importantly, was monstrous. Buddys defenses in the past relied on strength calls to get the defense lined up. The Lions bring more but less so because their linebackers are brilliant finishers in the pass-rush but more because their involvement creates 1-on-1 matchups for their DL, who are all quite good. One: the defense can get a two for one advantage on the offense by having an Offensive Tackle turn out to block the outside rusher, with the outside rusher being responsible for the back in coverage. Content copyright 2021. real46defense. With offenses taking a player out of the run game and putting him into passing concepts, the defense has to adjust, so we need to take a run-defender out of the box to help in pass, yet still maintain the principles of the 46 to play great defense. A few years later, the 46 Alignment changed by keeping the SS to the TE side, putting him in the 9-tech, moving the Sam Backer to the 7-Tech, and keeping the Will backer to the weak side in the 40-tech. The Buckeyes dont bring a ton of blitzes, they dont have to because they have this guy named Chase Young on their team. GGN Chalkboard: The 4-6 Defense - Gang Green Nation Similar, Im not sure how often they built bear fronts at Wazzu. Sports quotes, stories, team names, and slogans. Again, you could play Swipe (White), Exchange, or lock the 2 WRs, with the F$over the top (Yellow). As you can imagine with this alignment, thats a whole lot of bodies up front. The Strong Safety, and the Will Safety will need to be able to force the run, and cover man-to-man when called upon. We havent seen the full capability of what this style could do. The 85 Bears used this defense, known as arguably the most dominant defense in NFL history, to win the Super Bowl XX in 1985 under head coach Mike Ditka. Here is a bit of trivia before we get into how the 46 defense worked, and why we dont see it much anymore: The name "46" Defense didnt come from the alignment of the players on defense; it came from free safety Doug Plank, who wore jersey number 46, and was a hybrid free safety slash linebacker in Buddy Ryans system. So that wasnt good for defenses. The goal of this defense is to attack the quarterback with overwhelming numbers. Ryan would use all of these rushers to out-man and overwhelm the offense. His main objective is the same as the strong side defensive end to avoid being pinched inside or letting the guard release to block the linebacker. Hard to Fully Grasp - While the 46 defense can be implemented in a base formation without a lot of wrinkles, it is most effective when those wrinkles are implemented. 46 Defense Formation. Defensive linemen are used to taking a pounding on every single down immediately at the snap of the ball, but strong safeties and outside linebackers are not. Football Offensive Formations - rookieroad.com This is largely because of multiple receiver and spread formations. The 46 Defense, also known as the Bear front, is a tough defense to run against. Doug Plank, the strong safety for whom the defense was named (his jersey number was 46), played as a hybrid safety-linebacker. The linebackers line up behind the linemen somewhere between one and three yards from the line of scrimmage. Pronounced forty-six (not four-six), the 46 defense overloads the weak side of the offense and brings up the strong safety as if he were a fourth linebacker. The Spy Coverage Concept allows the defense a variety of advantages to a one back formation. [10], Coaching Football's 46 Defense (The Art & Science of Coaching Series) (Paperback) by Rex Ryan, Last edited on 26 December 2022, at 02:00, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Maynard proud of record for most punts in Super Bowl", "One & Done: Thirty years ago, Dolphins ruined Bears' perfect season", A blast from the past: remember Chicago's 46 defense? And thats a major challenge not for Keith Patterson, not for Todd Orlando, but for every D-coordinator in this league every Saturday, which makes it a big challenge to play defense in this league. The 46 defense doesnt require new players to be on the field say an extra defensive lineman, linebacker of member of the secondary. Its very difficult, as you tend to see play out in the Big 12 on a weekly basis. Unlike most defensive formations that take their names from the number of defensive linemen and linebackers on the field (i.e. Key Takeaways The 46 defense was created by former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan in the 1980s. The innovation of the Strong Safety now lining up to the weak side allowed for the defense to be more flexible, and adjust to different formations. This allowed the defense to keep all of the coverages in tact, without changing a lot of rules for the players. The personnel is the same as in a 4-3 defense, possessing four down lineman, three linebackers, two corners and two safeties. Again, the defense can play Swipe or Exchange. West Virginia has been running a fair amount of fire zone this year, obviously it hasnt saved them. Defenses today may also run safety blitzes and corner blitzes at crucial moments without committing wholly to the "46" defense. One-on-one match ups in pass rush, pressure defense, and making offenses adjust schemes to block the 46 front were still the main principles. 5.The 46 is hard to trap against. So, you would have to ask these defensive coordinators but, either you better drop back and try to defend him or you better go after him and try to pressure him. On a lot of plays, there will be too many defenders for the offense to block. The Free Safety will make a Tracy call, telling the SS to now move inside of #2, instead of on top or outside of #2. In the back end, we will have two CBs, a Free Safety, and three invert type players. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); [] like the 46 Defense was named after the stout defense of the 1985 Chicago Bears, the Tampa 2 defense was named after []. Field Ace is similar to Field Hawk, except the Will (nickel) will now walk-out over #2 weak, the Mike, the only LB in the box, will have the RB, and the SS now lines up over #2 strong. lose gap integrity. While the spread looks to use space and options to attack their opponent rather than size up front, the 8-3 defense eschews trying to "line up sound and make 'em beat us" and instead looks to win on a mental level through disguise, dictation, and disruption. Texas has, in general, lacked linebackers to feature in the scheme in the Orlando era. Defending the Spread with the 46 Defense Football Gameplan 39K views 12 years ago Fat8 Miniature College Football 2021 manual Scrimmage Play update FAT8 Conference 879 views 1 year ago Buddy. The Mike will be in the 40-Tech to the field, and the Will now aligns in the 40-Tech to the boundary. Not adjusted to the offensive formation. Is that what the direct question was? Running Power to Attack the 46 Defense - Joe Daniel Football In Chicago, he had Dan Hampton lined up over center, and in Philadelphia, the defensive tackle over the center was the late, great, Reggie White. The 46 Defense was derived from the old Double Eagle Defense of the 1940's and early-to mid 1950's. As Paul Brown innovated the passing game, the evolution of defense moved to a 6-1 alignment by Steve Owens, to the 4-3 Flex by Tom Landry, to the Miami 4-3. Fat8 Rule System Defensive Series 46 Defense vs Spread Offense On running plays, they will serve as outside protection, funneling runners back into the middle of the field where all the other defenders are waiting to make a tackle. It can still be helpful today if used in the right situation. There are really only 2 ways to pass block vs. a 46 front concept. So they are all or nothing both in the sense that Matt Wells meant and also occasionally in the sense that he thought I meant. The defense started off as a simple blitz package, but by 1981, it was Chicago's base defense. The bottom line is, youre trying to defend the pass with only three defensive backs. That way, the quarterback finds themself in a situation where the pass is the best option. The Spying also allows you to play man-free, and bring the Mike on a blitz. At the same time, defensive coaches can get very, very creative with the 46 defense to keep offenses off balance even more. The underneath droppers need to understand they can be late to coverage, as that puts them in great underneath trail position. This was difficult for many teams at the time because most offensive passing games centered on the play-action pass, a situation that often favored the defense even further with the quarterback lined up to receive the snap from directly behind the center. Ryan inherited a team that was atrocious at stopping the run and rushing the passer. The spread offense is attempting to do just that, SPREAD you across the entire field. Concerning Sports, [] Patterson is in better shape. (Full Explanation), What is the Box in Football? In fact, I don't know whether we're good enough to put it on with a four-man rush. In addition, its easy to drop either the strong safety or Sam back into coverage, either to allow the Mike linebacker to blitz or to provide extra protection against passing plays. It's like a "positionless 46" that moves the pieces around to create the same defense, much like some of the zone blitz schemes mentioned above. Breaking down the football in Friday Night Lights, Breaking down the football in Remember the Titans, 95 Nebraska and the myth of championship recruiting, Breakdown Sports (B1G Xs and Os) You either gotta defend the quarterback, width and length, or you gotta go get him. Below are diagrams of Cover 3 against a pro formation and a spread formation. He may be required to run all over the field, too, so he should have a lot of speed and lateral adjustment ability. 56.2 x 46.04 x 1.78 cm; 199.58 Grams : Item model number 6946 : Exterior Painted : Manufacturer part number 6946 : Item Weight 200 g : Additional Information. The Badgers have a pretty extensive playbook of blitzes, but a lot of the time theyre bringing four and dropping seven into cover 3: Either from their base 3-4 or the 2-4-5 that they regularly mix in, the Badgers like to keep four linebackers on the field at all times. That leaves two cornerbacks and a free safety to cover the rest of the field. The 46 defense in football, created by long-time coach Buddy Ryan, propelled the Chicago Bears teams of the 1980s. Defensive coaches are often very aggressive in temperament, and TO as Wells affectionately refers to his former assistant Todd Orlando, is certainly an energetic and aggressive figure. So the Sooners arent exactly blitzing, really theyre using the 46 defense as a starting point on passing downs and an ending point on standard downs. Who won week 8 in the Big 12? In most 2 x 2 sets, we will play Exchange, which is a 1-High Safety look, playing exchange concept on the boundary side with the Will and CB underneath, and the F$over the top . Well start with the alignment of all the players. 4.Hard penetrating ends. Since the offense has the ball, they can choose how to run plays. Defending the Spread with the 46 Defense - YouTube If you do not want to play man coverage, the rotation coverages come into play. No part of this site may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner. 46 Defense in Football - Sports Feel Good Stories Do it! Copyright 2009-2023 Michael & Gabriel, Inc. Privacy Policy Note: We earn an affiliate commission from some of the sites we link to. He designed the 46 to essentially be an ultra-aggressive version of the 4-3 defense. ManI think its a mix of bringing four, bringing five, bringing six. Linebackers: The jack linebacker lines up on the outside shoulder of the strong tight end and just slightly behind the line of scrimmage. The Modern 46 Book is here! Moreover, the weak side defensive end would be aligned one to two yards outside the left offensive tackle, leaving the opposing tackle man-on-man when trying to block the pass rush. The driving force of the Wisconsin method is their linebacker corps, they always have four 220+ pound dudes hanging around the box that can quickly involve themselves in the pressure or the zone coverage. If a cornerback cant keep up to speed with the wide receiver or the pass rush isnt strong enough, the defense will get beat routinely. Title: 46 Bear Defense Author: jteed Created Date: Line up the strongest pass rusher against the center. DIAGRAM 4: One Gap 3-4 Defense Cover 3 (Vs Pro Set). The reason being, is that the 46 defense was designed to work against teams who use a lot of I formations and other sets where the defense is condensed. The 46 defense was originally developed and popularized with the Chicago Bears by their defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who later became head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. To avoid confusion, the strong and weak side linebackers (who are no longer lined up on opposite sides) are often renamed the 'Jack' and 'Charlie' linebackers, respectively. Stacks the Line of Scrimmage - In addition to the four normal down defensive linemen, two other players a strong safety and linebacker will start each play at the line of scrimmage. If the back is aligned to their side, they will take 3 hard steps, then determine what the back is doing. Five defenders will always be defending the pass, and one of the extra defensive linemen can always drop back into coverage, too. Because of this, and since reading the fullback is a very easy key to learn, we have our linebackers key the fullback. We now want to match-up personnel wise with the offenses, and move to a 3-down, 2-LB, 6-DB personnel group. This may be harder for inexperienced players to fully grasp and execute. Today's emphasis on passing makes it to too risky to field an eight-man front as a base defense. Is Good in Any Situation - A The 46 defense is not just a run-stopping defense. The 46 defense is most effective against compressed offenses but vulnerable on spread offenses since there are just three defensive backs guarding against the pass. The charlie linebacker will step back to where the middle linebacker was in the normal alignment, the middle linebacker will move to where the strong safety was aligned and the strong safety will move out to cover the third receiver.