Ah yes, my bread and butter. I can’t really speak to Romeo’s defense now, but with the Pats he ran the classic Fairbanks-Bullough 34.
The philosophy of that defense is for the front three linemen (two five-technique defensive ends lining up over the offensive tackles and a zero technique nose tackle lining up over the center) “building the wall”.
What this means is that they attack the opponent across from them and try to control them, holding the line of scrimmage. Then it is the responsibility of the linebackers to fly around and make the plays.
The Patriots don’t run this defense much any more, it’s more of a specialized tool in the toolbox for really good running teams. Now they’ll mix and match more, with elements of it still existing, often on just one side of the field.
Wade Phillips and Dick Lebeau’s version of the 3-4 is more of an attacking 34 where the defensive linemen are attacking gaps instead of attacking their opponents.
The linebackers have to deal with more oncoming blockers but have less responsibility to make all the plays. This also enables things like the zone blitz that Lebeau created where a defensive lineman will drop into a coverage zone.
When I was first getting into serious blogging I asked this same question of Tedy Bruschi on a chat and his response was pretty cool:
Mike Dussault (Patriots Nation West) Hey Tedy, big fan, been wearing your jersey on game days for many years. Could you comment on the unique characteristics of a Bill Belichick 3-4 defense as compared to other 3-4 defenses around the NFL? Is it more read and react as oppose to defenses like the Steelers/Jets which are more attacking?
Tedy Bruschi Mike, I think you should be conducting this chat. You hit it on the head about the difference between the Patriots’ 3-4 and other teams.