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New England Patriots Fairbanks-Bullough 3-4 Defense Essentials

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It was a fun, and hopefully insightful, 3-4 Defense Extravaganza Week and we wanted to close it out with just some select nuggets from all the posts that best illustrate what you need to know about the base defense the Patriots run.

Below is a mashup of everything from this past week, so if you missed any of them, read what follows for the essentials, which I tried to meld into one coherent post.

Happy Weekend/Rapture!

When people think of the 3-4, they associate it with Pittsburgh’s Zone Blitzing scheme. Pittsburgh’s Zone Blitz 3-4 is just one of three versions of this defense. The other two versions of this defense that are used much more than the Zone Blitz are the Phillips 3-4 and the Fairbanks-Bullough 3-4 [which the Patriots run]. Not all 3-4 defenses are created equal, nor are the players that play in these systems.

Despite the fact that the Bullough can be confusing, the system relies on a lot on “bend; don’t break” thinking.  The system will often give up short yards in the run, and blitzes are not common.  The idea is that the longer the offense is on the clock, the longer it takes them to score, and the more plays the offense risks an interception, fumble, or a fourth down.

The key to the success of Belichick’s style is flexibility of personnel. To be able to switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 to a dime defense and all points in between requires versatility at nearly every position. Players have to be able to run and cover and hit. Linemen have to be strong enough to hold the point in the 3-4, but get upfield in a 4-3. Defensive backs have to be very good in zone coverage but competent in man coverage when needed. It requires special skills, but also an above-average football IQ. Compared with the base Dungy-Kiffin scheme, which probably started with as little as three or four fronts and a couple of zone coverages, Belichick’s hybrid is a maze meant to confuse and confound.

Nick Saban: Our philosophy on first and second down is to stop the run and play good zone pass defense. We will occasionally play man-to-man and blitz in this situation. On third down, we will primarily play man-to-man and mix-in some zone and blitzes. We will rush four or more players versus the pass about ninety-percent of the time.

“In all situations, we will defend the inside or middle of the field first – defend inside to outside. Against the run, we will not allow the ball to be run inside. We want to force the ball outside. Against the pass, we will not allow the ball to be thrown deep down the middle or inside. We want to force the ball to be thrown short and/or outside.

“… Finally, our job is to take the ball away from the opponents’ offense and score or set up good field position for our offense. We must knock the ball loose, force mistakes, and cause turnovers. Turnovers and making big plays win games. We will be alert and aggressive and take advantage of every opportunity to come up with the ball … . The trademark of our defense will be effort, toughness, and no mental mistakes regarding score or situation in any game.”

Pass Rush

  • Must collapse the pocket to get at depth of QB.
  • Must have push up the middle – don’t let QB step up in pocket.
  • Pass Rusher behind QB – worst position in football.
  • Pass rush helps the coverage more than having four Champ Baileys will do.

Run Defense – set the edge – turn the ball back inside toward pursuit.

  • Don’t just run upfield, attack at correct angle. 
  • Don’t let the ball outside for uncontested yardage.
  • Force Inside, shed block and get in on tackle. Push back the  LOS.
  • Must teach players how to defeat blocks.
  • Wildcat – Offense will always out-gap you.  Somebody must two-gap.
  • Backside of D – still want to set edge for Reverse, Cutback, and Misdirection.
  • Emphasis is on setting the edge every week
  • Tackling – don’t leave your feet – run thru the RB.
  • Defense must fit together to build a wall to force indecision in the running backs mind.
  • Everybody pushes east and west, not north and south.

Pass Defense – must jam WRs so they don’t just run down field uncontested. 

  • Get on WRs quickly – don’t give them any space.
  • Don’t let them inside – keep good inside leverage.
  • Pass Defense – DBs – job #1 – defend the deep ball.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__f3IWoNuqk

Rob Ninkovich Defensive Cut Up: Patriots vs. Ravens

Yup, we’re still dropping Ninko-bombs today as well. Yesterday’s mega Ninko article used this Ravens game as an example of the potential that Nink possesses. Thanks to reader MRM for this cut up of the game so you can see for yourself what I was talking about.

Ninkovich played more in this game than any other in his NFL career and I think it’s pretty clear why.

A couple disclaimers:

  • Nink plays both the right and left outside linebacker spots so keep in mind that he changes sides pretty frequently in this game.
  • Possibly the biggest responsibility of the outside linebacker in the run game is to force the runner back into the middle of the field. The cardinal sin is to lose contain and allow the running back to gain the edge for a big gain. It took me until two plays into overtime before I saw Nink lose contain.
  • He was not used as a designated pass rusher in this game, but the Patriots were in their base 3-4 defense for 75% of the snaps. So he came off the field when the Pats went to sub, but that wasn’t very often.

Mike D. Notes – Thanks to Rich Hill for pointing out that the Patriots do go into subpackage at 3:58 mark. It’s 3rd and 17 and they have 2 defensive lineman, 5 linebackers (2 rushing, 3 dropping), and the standard 4 defensive backs. This is an interesting package, and it seems to me like the Pats were expecting an underneath pass or dump off the Ray Rice. The physicality of the linebackers ensured the tackle would be made before the first down rather than if you had Wilhite and Butler back in coverage.

    (Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

    https://www.patspropaganda.com/rob-ninkovich-defensive-cut-up-patriots-vs/

    ESPN: Belichick re-defining the linebacker position

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    ESPN: Belichick re-defining the linebacker position

    This article is a definite must-read, but it’s back from September 2005 when the Patriots were coming off their 3rd Super Bowl in four years and everything was just rainbows and roses.

    This is the best section…

    Belichick’s 3-4 scheme is the next step in this evolution. The Steelers’ 3-4 zone blitz was defensive-line oriented and redefined what defensive linemen could do. The Patriots’ 3-4 scheme is linebacker-oriented and is similarly breaking the mold for linebackers.

    Belichick recognized two problems with a defensive-line oriented zone blitz scheme. First, even though you can drop the nose tackle into the short zone, it’s not likely he’ll be agile enough at 300 or so pounds to be adept in coverage. Second, to run the scheme properly, a team must find very athletic defensive ends who not only can play the run and rush the passer but also can drop into coverage. Such players are rare.

    The Patriots’ solution to the first problem was fairly simple. Instead of dropping oversized nose tackles into coverage, they opted to give that assignment to the 3-4 inside linebacker. Known as “pluggers,” these are bigger linebackers whose main purpose is to stuff the run, but they can defend the pass better than nose tackles. On passing downs, about the only time they’d need a nose tackle to drop into coverage, the Patriots replace the lineman with a plugger linebacker lined up as a nose tackle. If the opponent runs the ball, the plugger is big enough to help stop it. If the opponent passes, he’s much better equipped to drop back.

    New England’s solution to the second problem was, in hindsight, fairly obvious, but it didn’t seem so at the time. In 1996, New England drafted defensive lineman Tedy Bruschi out of Arizona. At 250 pounds, Bruschi was a bit small to play defensive end and was struggling, so Belichick and his staff decided to teach Bruschi to play linebacker. His success as a rush linebacker in the 3-4 zone blitz scheme led to an epiphany of sorts. The Patriots realized they could draft undersized defensive linemen and convert them into linebackers. In doing so, they oriented their zone blitz scheme around linebackers rather than defensive linemen. This subtle and seemingly small change had several advantages.

    Football University: The 3-4 Defense

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    Football University: The 3-4 Defense

    We’re finishing off our week of the 3-4 defense strong with this great article with pretty pictures!

    “You build it from the inside out,” Collier said. “The nose tackle and the inside linebackers, those are three guys that are very important. But when you go through it, the nose tackle is probably the single-most important guy.”

    What do you want from your nose tackle? 

    “He has to hold it all together and make it so the guards can’t get out on the inside linebackers. Let me put it this way – the nose tackle can make the inside linebackers look pretty good, and if your inside linebackers look pretty good, you’re going to play pretty good defense.”