The 46 defense in football does have some significant weaknesses. Well start with the alignment of all the players. DIAGRAM 5: One Gap 3-4 Defense Cover 3 (Vs Spread). A 46 defense is a type of defense used by the Chicago Bears in the 1980s to stop the run and create a dominant pass rush. The offense is either going to have to go Big on Big man protection, or some sort of full-slide protection, using the back to one side. (Complete Position Guide), Flag Football Rules (Easy Beginners Guide), Pro Set Formation Football Coaching Guide (Includes Images), How to Do a Rip Move in Football (5-Step Guide). Whether playing 3-deep/3-under coverage, even with zone match rules and dime personnel, can adequately defend a high level passing attack. 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 difference was in the lineup. However, the defensive formation has been rarely used in professional and college football since then as offenses have adapted to use multiple receiver and spread formations to counteract the 46.[4]. He lined up directly in front of the weak-side tackle and a couple yards back. [], 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. Instead, Ryan coined the term 46 defense because his strong safety on that Bears team, Doug Plank, wore number 46. Still, the 46 defense has its place in todays game. Youre on our 46 Defense in Football page. The 1985 Bears were particularly well-suited to play this defense. Heres a hint for Tom Herman, its not the zone blitz. cover receivers. The 4-6 defense was created by Buddy Ryan to stop the ground game in the 1980's as well as provide a pass rush that couldn't be stopped. The 46 defense in football, created by long-time coach Buddy Ryan, propelled the Chicago Bears teams of the 1980s. Every offensive linemen has a defensive linemen lined up directly across from him before the snap of the ball except for the strong side offensive tackle. You can rotate the F$strong, Red coverage, and swipe the backside, or you can rotate the F$weak Yellow, and swipe the strong side. [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? The strong-side LB joins the weak-side LB. The 46 Defense is an 8-man, run-stopping front that works well with man coverages and with Cover 3. On the strong side, the defensive end is head up on the strong-side guard and the tackle is lined up over the center. To note, there is nothing particularly innovative about this particular set of assignments. Lined up on the outside of the defensive end, and the 46, you have two outside linebackers, giving you a seven man front, with the middle linebacker lined up right behind the defensive tackle, who is playing a 0 technique -- meaning he is lined up directly in front of the center. A weakness of the 46 defense is that with eight defensive players lining up near the line of scrimmage and only three in the secondary, it leaves areas open for receivers to catch passes. Wisconsin regularly has two backers as good as anyone at Texas in timing a blitz and beating pass blocks. Since the spread offense is so common, it would be challenging for a 46 defense to succeed. Another problem with the 46 defense is that most teams do not have enough impact players to run the 46 as effectively as the Bears and Ryan's other two major successes, the late 1980s Philadelphia Eagles for which he was head coach and the 1993 Houston Oilers for whom he was defensive coordinator, did. Quarters coverage can solve for that problem by getting more safeties in the deep field and putting the free safety on the hash mark. That allows them to bring an endless variety of four-man pressures with the two outside linebackers and the two inside linebackers since their front always includes four out of six or seven that know how to play a zone drop. A 46 defense is a type of defense used by the Chicago Bears in the 1980s to stop the run and create a dominant pass rush. Oklahomas remake of the 46 defense is an intriguing new way to arrive at that outcome, itll be interesting to see how it holds up over the rest of the season as teams start to figure it out and adjust. This is where defensive players would line up against a normal Pro Set offense.[7]. Jaworski, Ron, Cosell, Greg, and Plaut, David, Schweitzer, Preston & Tornabene-Zalas, Art. The linebacker displaced would line up over the weak side offensive tackle, where the strong safety is normally found. Here are some of the favored modern solutions for still trying to orient a defense around putting pressure on the offense rather than adopting something more passive, like Gundys just drop everyone and make em earn it suggestion. It was designed to leave the cornerbacks in man coverage 90 percent of the time, while the FS was left on an island playing a deep zone. Pulls and traps were also limited by the formation, as each lineman had to account for the defender immediately in front of him. Covering up both guards and the center limits your ability to use double teams to get that strong vertical push up front. Spread Formations; Coaching the Rat in Cover 1; SCIF vs. Seam; Diguising Blitzes in the 3-3 Stack; 4-2-5 Basics: Run Fits vs. 2 Back Formations Grinchs version is more disguised, has more counters, and is more conservative in general. DIAGRAM 4: One Gap 3-4 Defense Cover 3 (Vs Pro Set). What Alex Grinch is doing this season is more akin to recreating old Buddy Ryans bear front as a way to maintain pressure across the front. This is another reason Buddy was an innovator. 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 []. This also plays to the particular strengths of the 2019 Sooner roster. ESPN SportsCentury, "Bears' 46 Defense" (2004) [TV]. In this instance, the linebackers will be responsible for covering running backs out of the backfield or a tight end. 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. This makes the defense react and adjust their game plan accordingly. When we talk about the defensive line in a 46 defense, we need to talk about the strong safety and Sam linebacker, too. Pressure the QB relentlessly on every pass play. 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. This blitz notably used BJ Foster (lined up on the line) and Brandon Jones (out at nickel) to get a free run at Burrow for middle linebacker Jeff McCulloch, who couldnt get there in time. Though many coaches perceive the 46 as a great vehicle against spread and other pass-type formations, they tend to short-change it as a weapon against power or three-back type offenses. The defense put a defender directly in front of every lineman, making it difficult to execute second level blocking. All you need is your three defenders, and two WRs. This defense was so successful because the pressure was so difficult to stop. This defense was so successful because of their ability to collapse the line, shutting down the run, and sacking the quarterback before he could get a pass off. The defense will spy the back with its two outside rushers (Jack and Sam). Enter your email below to get access for free: 100% Privacy Guarantee. Copyright 2009-2023 Michael & Gabriel, Inc. Privacy Policy Note: We earn an affiliate commission from some of the sites we link to. The first thing we'll look at is the line D-Tackle right on the nose (For Michigan this is Mike Martin, for the 85 Bears it was William "Refrigerator" Perry). On a lot of plays, there will be too many defenders for the offense to block. You can run a simpler iteration that could still make your team famous for its ferocious defense. Who won week 8 in the Big 12? The reality is that you dont have to run the 46 defense to the same extent that the Chicago Bears did. Foster as the jack and the 6-0, 205 pound safety Brandon Jones as the sam.. Safeties: The strong safety lines up four to four and a half yards off the line of scrimmage and stands directly in front of the weak side tackle. It is played out of a base 4-3. This attack package to 1-Back sets allows the Defensive Coordinator certain advantages, as outlined in Coach Ryans book. Football Gameplan Coaching VideoDefending the Spread with the 46 Defense This may be harder for inexperienced players to fully grasp and execute. This is also a great front to run vs. the Zone Read teams, as the stack backer can sit for cut-back on flow away. The 46 defense employs only two linebackers in the traditional sense. Defensive ends: The weak side defensive end lines up one to two yards outside the weak side offensive tackle. But what made the 15-1 Bears so dominant? The primary tactic is to rush between five and eight players on each play, either to get to the quarterback quickly or disrupt running plays, although dropping some players back into pass coverage after seemingly indicating that they will blitz (see zone blitzing) is another method of creating confusion. The basic idea of the 46 defense is that the defensive tackle lines up over the center, the other defensive tackle lines up over the right guard, and a defensive end lines up over the left guard. Even when the Defense is playing coverage, they are going to be able to get one-on-one situations. Thats because in addition to the nose tackle, defensive tackle and two defensive ends, the strong safety and Sam will align themselves at the line of scrimmage on every play. When we move into our 46 Concepts, the DE can be the Field 3-Tech, and the normal Tackle can be the Away 3-Tech. They cover short routes and runs that get past the defensive line. The 46 defense is a generic playbook, but that doesn't make it any less capable. If you dont have someone like that on your team, then your ability to collapse the pocket, before the quarterback can get the pass off, is greatly diminished. Now some people are good enough to put it on with a three-man rush; well, we're not. This formation offers us a true Cover 2 shell, and happens to be very effective against an opponent that is very pass heavy. Sports quotes, stories, team names, and slogans. 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. The key is to get the one-on-one pass protection on the 3 inside guys, trying to get the QB. All rights reserved. Buddys defenses in the past relied on strength calls to get the defense lined up. The 46 defense moves quickly and wears out the offensive line with many pass rushers. The charley linebacker also lines up slightly behind the line of scrimmage, but on the inside (rather than outside) shoulder of the tight end. And therefore, would only be a good fit for youth football teams who defend the run more often, or for more advanced teams against run-heavy offensive formations. When the Miami Dolphins gave the Bears their only loss of the 1985 season, Miami exploited these weaknesses with quarterback Dan Marino's quick release of the ball, and their receivers' ability to beat the one-on-one coverage of Chicago's cornerbacks.[6]. If you do not want to play man coverage, the rotation coverages come into play. Because the talent level at quarterback and receiver in this league is second to none in my opinion. The free safety lines up about ten to twelve yards away from the line of scrimmage and will stand directly in front of the weak side guard. During 7 on 7 time, be sure to throw in some speed-option by the offense, to make sure that the underneath run-stop defenders are getting their reads. Most of their best defensive performances in the last three years under Orlando have come either from playing more inverted Tampa 2 and not being as aggressive (Oklahoma State in 2016 and 2018), or going up against run-centric spread teams that couldnt protect very well (Iowa State and Georgia in 2018). 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. All rights reserved. One of the big challenges though is simply that spread formations, tempo, and smart QB play tied to smart coordination make it hard for defenses to both disguise where a blitz is coming from and also to cover up all of the outlets the QB has in response. Buddy Ryan took the old Double Eagle, and introduced the 46, a version of the Double Eagle, that took its one-on-one principles, and added an extra player to the box, to help stop the run, and put the pressure on the offense. If the D-line is dominant, and Georgia's was, the defense can use the depth of the Safeties in a two-high shell to counter play-action, pre-snap motion, or RPO passes. Instead, it just requires the normal stable of players to have slightly different responsibilities. No other Defensive alignment can do that. (Full Explanation), What is 21 Personnel in Football? Do it! How do you create a safe pressure blitz in the Big 12? Signing free-agent strong safety LaRon Landry and drafting Josh Bush and Antonio Allen gives the Jets some options, but they could still have a hard time manning up against Aaron Hernandez and Rob . College footballs escape from trench warfare. 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. Rover adjusts to the better receivers or Field side. We can also Nickel package a CB for the Will Backer. The weak-side defensive end will have C gap and outside contain responsibilities. With 7 defenders in the box, and only 5 blockers, this play should become invalid. The Bears' run defense was top two in both run and overall defense every year from 1984-1988. 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. Unlike most defensive formations that take their names from the number of defensive linemen and linebackers on the field (i.e. Up front, teams still use the concept of the "T-N-T" alignment, where two defensive ends are covering (lined up directly across from) the guards, and a nose tackle is covering the center. 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. The dual 3-techs will cause a problem for zone blocking schemes, and the outside rushers should cause the QB to give. The two cornerbacks are in isolated man-to-man coverage. This is a great time to substitute a Nickel CB for the Will. During run plays, his objective is to protect against reverses and counters. 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. Compared to a 43 base defense, the 46 dramatically shifts the defensive line to the weak side (the opposite end from the offense's tight end), with both guards and the center "covered" by the left defensive end and both defensive tackles. Unlike other defensive alignments out there, the 46 defense is not named for the number of players at each level of the defense. The only difference between the 4-2-5 and the 4-3 defensive schemes is that the strong side Defensive End will play head up or shaded inside against a Tight End, handling the C-Gap, as opposed to crashing from the outside of the Tight End. 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. They cannot get beat, or the offense could have an easy touchdown. 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. 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. The free safety lines up more than 25 yards behind the line of scrimmage and is the last line of defense. Unlike the 4-3 and the 3-4, which get their names from the. The key to a successful 46 defense is having a strong safety and Sam linebacker who can take the every-down punishment of playing close to the line of scrimmage, and the adjustment ability and awareness of a really good free safety. The Offenses have gone to no-huddle hurry up, not only to get more snaps, but also to try and catch the defense off-balance, and confused. 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. The 46 essentially put a steel wall of defenders in front of opposing offenses, forcing them to throw the football. ", This page was last edited on 26 December 2022, at 02:00. The extra two players at the line of scrimmage can open up space for receivers to find. These concepts apply against all offenses, but are magnified against the spread because of spacing. Youre playing a base defense all the time but you can manufacture pressure by confusing the offense about which four are going to come and from what angles. Because of this, the 46 defense has been used in many different iterations at the professional and collegiate levels by coaches who wish to replicate its success. If you play Single Coverage, you get a 5-man rush, again with the one-on-one match-ups up front. The "mike" backer lines up directly across from the strong-side tackle and two yards back. Not only did he have to protect the middle of the field against the deep pass, he also had to assist the two corner backs in pass coverage. The Jack and Sam would still be responsible for the back. They have hand-cuffed themselves by putting normal cover guys into un-natural positions, and either drastically reduced what they can do in the back end, or have to do more coaching and teaching to keep the integrity of the defense. Football 101 - Spill vs. The weak LB now aligned to the strong side, inside the Tight End with the Sam Backer aligning outside the Tight End. Creates Confusion - How often do offenses see 6 defenders at the line of scrimmage before the snap of the ball? TCU is the closest you get to that but they are more of a true 4-2-5, even though their DEs often stand-up and occasionally drop into zone coverage. Otherwise, on pass plays, he goes after the quarterback. This is a Blitz concept, as it will give the illusion of rushing 5. Defensive tackles: The weak side defensive tackle lines up on the outside shoulder of the guard. You can also Jesse the back again with the Jack and Sam, and allow the Mike to be a Low-Hole dropper in Single Coverage. 5 TFL, 5 sacks, 3 PBU. Most defenses were based on strong and weak sides of the offensive formations. The 46 defense was known to be most successful with the 85 Bears. Offensive formations must have seven players on the line of scrimmage and four in the . If you play traditional, its pretty difficult, because the schemes we use in this league are built to find seams and stuff and defenses and quarterbacks are too good. OUs safeties and weak side LBs arent even all that great at playing clean up behind this look so the teams upside in future seasons as those positions improve is a scary thing to contemplate. [4] The eight man line that the 46 presented was most effective against the two back, two wide receiver sets common in the 1980s. The Free Safety is now in a 1-High look. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright text 2022 by Football Advantage. 46 Defense Formation. And I respect that coming in, cause I already know it. Blitz at will without substitutional changes. Two: it allows the defense to keep seven defenders in the box vs. a one back set, if the defense needs to defend the run, or bluff a blitz. A large part of the pass coverage scheme is about putting pressure on the Quarterback so that you aren't in coverage for long. The Linebacker system will be defined as a Mike Backer, who is a basic 4-3 Mike LB type player, and a Jack Backer, who will be primarily used as an edge rusher, but can be used in coverage on occasion, and needs to be heavy enough to defend run game vs. an Offensive Tackle. Instead of the normal 3Z, where there are 7 droppers, we will now just drop 6, with the Jack and Sam Spying the back. To the field we will play Swipe, with the Mike and Strong underneath, and the CB over the top . Sam and Jack now play a Jesse technique on the RB, being responsible for the back if he releases to their side. In the case of a zone-blocking scheme, this makes it difficult for the offensive linemen to reach any of the linebackers on the second level. West Virginia has been running a fair amount of fire zone this year, obviously it hasnt saved them. 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. Find holes in our zone coverage. The Bears defensive coordinator at the time, the legendary Buddy Ryan, created the 46 defense as a way to put loads of pressure on the offense, stacking the line of scrimmage. Sam: Zack Baun, 6-3, 230. With the ability to rush as many as eight players to the quarterback, it was overwhelming to teams that didnt know how to guard against it. There are four defensive linemen that are shifted more towards the right. 46 Defense Keys and 2-Back Run Fits Versus 2-Back formations, where the fullback inserts into the line of scrimmage is extremely important. (Full Explanation), What is the Box in Football? This is a really sensible way of doing things. Advantages of using the 46 Defense 1.Center and guard are BOTH covered (different from 44, 50 looks) 2.Extra LB that runs like a safety (WILL/the adjuster) 3.TE side of the offense is totally out manned. The underneath droppers need to understand they can be late to coverage, as that puts them in great underneath trail position. http://psalmonetree.blogspot.com. Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen. with the 3-5-3/3-3-5. This allows him to cover the tight end and make it difficult for the tight end to achieve a quick release. Key Takeaways The 46 defense was created by former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan in the 1980s. The Ryan bros still use the 46 defense and the bear front, but they tend to mix it in alongside zone blitzes, quarters coverages, multiple DB sub-packages, etc. Also, timed passes can be thrown before the players blitzing have a chance to reach the quarterback. 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. 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.

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