SI/Peter King: Chaos by design

Wow, it’s been a great day for defensive scheme articles. Here’s a great Patriots nugget from King…

The biggest myth in football is that your base defense is what you are. The Patriots are known as a 3–4, so they should want a big nose guy and 290-pound defensive ends who play the run first. Right? When New England signed troubled defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, the outcry wasn’t so much about Haynesworth’s work ethic but about how he’d fit in. Haynesworth hates the 3–4, and Bill Belichick’s a 3–4 guy. But is he really? “That’s a media fabrication,” the Patriots coach says. “There are a lot of different alignments out there. It’s the techniques, the fundamentals that you teach your players, more than the 3–4, 4–3 that people say you use.”

In fact the Patriots played a 3–4 on just 39.7% of their snaps in 2010, according to game-tape analysis by ProFootballFocus.com. The site counted 29 plays on which New England cornerback Kyle Arrington lined up at defensive end, with his hand on the ground.

The Patriots weren’t alone in this public deception. Super Bowl champ Green Bay, another so-called 3–4 team, had just two defensive linemen on the field on 68.6% of its plays, according to Pro Football Focus. “Our guys are used to dropping in coverage,” says Packers coordinator Dom Capers. “It’s all about picking your spots—when to rush, when to drop. Sometimes it’s a little bit faddish, just to show a different front.”

“Confusion,” said Payton. “That’s the word. Football has become the battle of confusion.”