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Speaker 1: NFL Explained is a production of the NFL in partnership

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Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio, Mike Am and a very thirsty

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Speaker 1: Michael Robins said, it is the NFL Explained podcast. You know,

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Speaker 1: we start rolling, and I wish we started rolling like

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Speaker 1: four seconds earlier. I was like, you gotta you got

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Speaker 1: over there here. It is a CANNEDI water And I

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Speaker 1: know my wife always listens to our podcast. Hey beautiful,

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Speaker 1: Hey baby, how you doing me? Rob when he said thirsty,

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Speaker 1: he wouldn't talk about my d M Okay, he was

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Speaker 1: talking about this water right here. Okay, I gotta I

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Speaker 1: gotta preface that the d m s are coming my way.

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Speaker 1: And we keep getting some of those questions. By the way,

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Speaker 1: we got a mailbag episode right around the corner. Keep

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Speaker 1: them coming. I got another one right before. Did you

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Speaker 1: check your cell phone? Because that's so right before I

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Speaker 1: was having lunch. I came downstairs, I checked, and I

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Speaker 1: got another question and I put it on our text threat.

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Speaker 1: I needed a double tapped out before we finished up

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Speaker 1: this episode. And I know what you're thinking, all right, like,

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Speaker 1: are we talking about hydration for players? Is that today's edition?

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Speaker 1: It is really important? Did I just come up with

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Speaker 1: a new idea first. Okay, at some point we're going

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Speaker 1: to talk about hydration our producers, Like, what are you doing, dude, No,

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Speaker 1: we're not all right. We have gone through the evolution

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Speaker 1: of offenses. We've talked about quarterbacks and wide receivers. I've

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Speaker 1: been saying this for a long time. Can we please

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Speaker 1: love up the defense? Can we talk about as much,

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Speaker 1: if not more? I'm trying to an offensive guy as

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Speaker 1: much importance defense man, just nobody we want points points,

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Speaker 1: points points, saying a guy who was on a team

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Speaker 1: with the Legion of Boom and we gave up like

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Speaker 1: only thirteen points a game. So yeah, you know it's important.

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Speaker 1: It is, I mean, is that old adage right? Like

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Speaker 1: defense wins championships and the whole thing. By the way,

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Speaker 1: we did do another episode of the podcast last season

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Speaker 1: on does defense truly win championships? If you miss that one,

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Speaker 1: highly encourage you to go back. But as we've been

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Speaker 1: talking about all these offenses and rob we realize, like, hey,

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Speaker 1: defenses have to go and keep up with some of

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Speaker 1: the evolution that we're seeing on that side of the football.

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Speaker 1: So for today's episode, we're talking about defensive schemes and

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Speaker 1: more specifically, what's effective, how teams utilize different personnel. We

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Speaker 1: got you completely covered, but I think it's probably important

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Speaker 1: to go through a little bit of the history defenses.

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Speaker 1: Buddy Ryan it's a name that gets thrown out there

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Speaker 1: a lot of times. You know, you're listen, you're watching games,

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Speaker 1: maybe you're listening to him on the radio. Buddy Ryan

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Speaker 1: is the guy that developed the forty six defense, which

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Speaker 1: was used by the five Bears. Now we've got some

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Speaker 1: younger audience, and I hate feeling like I'm old every

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Speaker 1: single damn episode we did this podcast. Sorry, I like

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Speaker 1: that great hair. David Carson this to me. He's like, oh,

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Speaker 1: it's the Wisdom Crown. You know like that, then you're

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Speaker 1: my guy. Dude, I'm gonna use that all the time. Um,

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Speaker 1: but I always think when I think eighty five Bears,

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Speaker 1: I think the SNL skit Bears. You know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: So go back to YouTube, you can check it out.

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Speaker 1: I feel like you're not really buying the whole SNL thing,

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Speaker 1: be understand, trust me. All right, So, the forty six

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Speaker 1: defense actually utilizes eight defenders in the box, six defenders

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Speaker 1: on the line of scrimmage, which usually doesn't allow teams

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Speaker 1: to really run the ball effectively. There's usually some big

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Speaker 1: bodies up front. Dick Lebou invented the zone blitz defense.

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Speaker 1: Cannot wait to get your thoughts on that and a

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Speaker 1: little bit more of an explanation coming up here. Tom

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Speaker 1: Landry known for his famous flex defense. The flex defense

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Speaker 1: confuse the offense before the snap, odds schemes, defensive lineman

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Speaker 1: backing off the line of scrimmage, linebackers, safeties constantly moving,

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Speaker 1: look and rob. When you were talking about quarterbacks, like,

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Speaker 1: I think about sort of this idea of dudes moving around.

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Speaker 1: You think it's gonna be one coverage and all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, due starts spreading to the other side of

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Speaker 1: the field. You're like, what did I just see? And

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Speaker 1: that's why I love working with guys like you, Mike,

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Speaker 1: because like, I'll never know as much football as you've forgotten.

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Speaker 1: And I think it's always my job to try to

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Speaker 1: bring out the stuff that people don't always understand. But

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Speaker 1: yet we hear the verbics. You're watching games, people talking

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Speaker 1: about cover two, cover three, They're like, what am I

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Speaker 1: looking at? I got you, I got all of you guys.

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Speaker 1: But let's talk a little bit about some of those

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Speaker 1: basic defensive principles that you just brought up. Sometimes even

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Speaker 1: here phrases like Nickel, dime, man a man coverage, you know,

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Speaker 1: blitzing all that stuff. Teams generally will run either a

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Speaker 1: four three which is four down linemen and three linebackers,

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Speaker 1: or a three four defense, which is three down linemen

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Speaker 1: and four linebackers. In recent years, like basically that alignment

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Speaker 1: at four three or that three four has been described

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Speaker 1: as a base defense. So can you how about we

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Speaker 1: start there? Can you just kind of break down four

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Speaker 1: three three four and and that base defense. Well, first

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Speaker 1: of all, I want to our listeners in our viewers,

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Speaker 1: yeah we all YouTube to guys. Yeah, I want everybody

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Speaker 1: to understand that there's a difference between nickel and dime.

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Speaker 1: I should have put makeup on before we got here,

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Speaker 1: because it's all good. We look good. We are we

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Speaker 1: aren't to Mike's okay, we look good. We don't need

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Speaker 1: no damn makeup. All right, we gotta understand the difference

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Speaker 1: between Nickel and dime. Like like those are like coverage personnels.

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Speaker 1: They aren't coverage calls. They aren't the call calls for

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Speaker 1: the entire defense. Those are the coverage personnels. Those are

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Speaker 1: the back end packages that match up with the front seven.

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Speaker 1: The front seven is your base defense four three or

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Speaker 1: three four and a four three Right, Oftentimes, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: have a shade on one side of the center, which

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Speaker 1: we oftentimes call a one technique. Right, that's a shade.

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Speaker 1: And then you're gonna have on either guard, not both,

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Speaker 1: but one of the other on either guard. You're gonna

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Speaker 1: have a shade on that particular player too. That is

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Speaker 1: what we call a three technique. And the crazy part

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Speaker 1: of body is Mike. When you have a shade and

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Speaker 1: a three technique, the offensive personnel will identify that is

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Speaker 1: a four down three linebacker type of structure shore four

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Speaker 1: three structure, meaning you got four linemen, defensive lineman, three

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Speaker 1: linebackers in the blocking unit. In base offense, if I

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Speaker 1: have two backs right, five offensive linemen for defensive lineman,

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Speaker 1: my center can block one way and handle an extra ender,

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Speaker 1: and our our running backs. One of my running backs

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Speaker 1: can block another way and handle an extra defender. So

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Speaker 1: if I keep one back in with my five offensive linement,

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Speaker 1: I have the ability to block six players. At another back,

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Speaker 1: I have the ability to block seven at a tight end,

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Speaker 1: I have the ability to block eight. Okay, so that's

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Speaker 1: the base for three defense. Now what I hated going

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Speaker 1: against was a base three four defense. Okay, you know

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Speaker 1: what I just talked about. I said, the identifying aspect

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Speaker 1: of a four three base defense is a shade on

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Speaker 1: the center and one of the guards having a three technique. Okay,

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Speaker 1: in a base three four you have a head up

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Speaker 1: guy or a zero technique on the center. So in

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Speaker 1: slide protections, which all most protections are slab protections where

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Speaker 1: the center has to slide to help one side of

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Speaker 1: the offensive line of the other, that zero technique prevents

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Speaker 1: the slide, which is very important because you lose a

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Speaker 1: blocker from either way. You got a guy head up

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Speaker 1: with pressure on the ball, snapping to the quarterback. Now, guys,

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Speaker 1: zero technique over the center. Okay, Now you have to

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Speaker 1: guard bubbles. There's nobody over your guards, and a basic

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Speaker 1: three four defensive structure that you have to guard bubbles.

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Speaker 1: And then what we have our four eyes. Right, these

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Speaker 1: are two defensive ends which a inside shade on the

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Speaker 1: tackle that's called a four eye. An outside shade of

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Speaker 1: the guard is a three eye, and inside shade of

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Speaker 1: the tackle is a four eye and when I say shade,

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Speaker 1: that just means a tilt or a um just kind

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Speaker 1: of over alignment over a little bit on that side

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Speaker 1: of the player. So for me, when you have those

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Speaker 1: two guard bubbles, to me, that's when all the funky

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Speaker 1: stuff starts to happen, because see, like I don't know,

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Speaker 1: I'm getting a little technical, but that four eye and

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Speaker 1: that three technique literally the difference is about six inches.

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Speaker 1: And in the backfield, sometimes your ask and get a

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Speaker 1: little messed up. You can fall in the dirt, you

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Speaker 1: can have a visor on, sweat can be there, and

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Speaker 1: sometimes you look and you're like, man, I can't tell,

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Speaker 1: well that's a three technique or four I. And so

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Speaker 1: what you see on Sundays is constant communication in the

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Speaker 1: blocking unit. The offensive line talking to the backs in

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Speaker 1: the quarterback, quarterback talking to the offsive line, just so

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Speaker 1: that everybody can be on the same page so we

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Speaker 1: can block the same rule. Okay, So this is probably

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Speaker 1: a really oversimplistic way of me describing it, but this

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Speaker 1: is how I kind of always interpreted it over the years,

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Speaker 1: because I think what you just described with the technique,

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Speaker 1: it really is a matter of inches and how guys

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Speaker 1: are lined up. So if I'm in that backfield and

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Speaker 1: I'm a running back, I kind of look at it

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Speaker 1: as a numbers game, Like if there's three down lineman, man,

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Speaker 1: I'd rather run up against three of those dudes having

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Speaker 1: a guard to be able to find, you know, a

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Speaker 1: little bit more space than see four guys in a

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Speaker 1: four three defense. But it sounds like what you're describing

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Speaker 1: that's not always accurate. It's not always accurate. And again,

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Speaker 1: to me, the teams that use the three four, they're

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Speaker 1: more ready for giving an offense protection issues because they

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Speaker 1: know that we're looking at that four ye at three

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Speaker 1: on and we're looking to see that difference because it

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Speaker 1: changes everything in our blocking unit. Right Again, when your

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Speaker 1: guards are free to move as opposed to your center

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Speaker 1: being free to move, that changes everything. And so you

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Speaker 1: have to have special personnel. If you run a base

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Speaker 1: three four and you have a tough run defense, you

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Speaker 1: have to have bubble linebackers who are big enough and

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Speaker 1: strong enough to get big offensive lineman up off of

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Speaker 1: them and run and make the tackle. And you have

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Speaker 1: to have a guy at the knows that that zero

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Speaker 1: technique who can jack the center up share them and

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Speaker 1: be a playmaker, meaning he can make tackles on his own.

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Speaker 1: It really is wild. You know, we were talking about

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Speaker 1: the acumen of a lot of players. Man, dude, defensive dudes.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to upset anyone. And I haven't talked

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Speaker 1: to him in a while, but basically buds with an

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Speaker 1: offensive lineman actually played for the Bills for a bunch

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Speaker 1: of years back in their early nineties, and I had

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Speaker 1: said to him like, hey, when you're offensive line, like,

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Speaker 1: what's what's it? Sort of like because I keep hearing

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Speaker 1: that all the offensive linemen are really smart dudes. He goes,

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Speaker 1: let me just tell you something, Mike, offensive lineman smart

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Speaker 1: students on the football field. You know those d lineman

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Speaker 1: they're they're like like like hungry dogs. All they have

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Speaker 1: to do is just go they got one issue. Just

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Speaker 1: figure out how to get to the quarterback. He's like,

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Speaker 1: what we're doing in terms of protection, run scheme, all

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Speaker 1: that stuff? He goes, We're actually gotta think when we're

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Speaker 1: out there, a little bit of hate towards the is

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Speaker 1: a lot of things. It's a lot of that going on,

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Speaker 1: and from an offensive lineman standpoint, I mean, especially the

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Speaker 1: center I mean, the center has to know just so

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Speaker 1: much about the offensive blocking unit, has to know about

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Speaker 1: routes and side adjustments just as much as the quarterbacks

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Speaker 1: were very important. All right, Welcome back to the NFL

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Speaker 1: Explained podcasts. Mike Yam and Rob with you. Okay, So

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Speaker 1: now I think the next question is how how many

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Speaker 1: teams are running for three? How many teams are running

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Speaker 1: three four? Alright, so through seven weeks of the season,

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Speaker 1: sixteen teams we're running the three four defense. Fourteen teams

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Speaker 1: we're running a four three, so relatively split down the middle.

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Speaker 1: The two remaining teams are Denver in Detroit. By the way,

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Speaker 1: man Denver nasty defense, Detroit not so much. But those

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Speaker 1: two teams have actually used a mix of both. So

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Speaker 1: it seems to me coaching philosophy, is that the big

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Speaker 1: reason why they're running the fourth three or three four

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Speaker 1: or is it personnel? Hey, these are the dudes that

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Speaker 1: can do X, Y and Z, and that's what we're

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Speaker 1: gonna run. I think it's a little bit of both.

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Speaker 1: I'll use an example. You remember when the Dallas Cowboys

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Speaker 1: they had Rod Marinellia for a while and then they

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Speaker 1: made the switch and picked up Mike Nolan, who Mike

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Speaker 1: Nolan is a three four guy. He's a three four

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Speaker 1: base guy. That's what he loves to do. He was

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Speaker 1: my head coach with the San Francisco for the Niners.

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Speaker 1: Mike Nolan is a base three four guy. And then

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Speaker 1: you looked at the Dallas Cowboys defense that year and

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Speaker 1: they couldn't stop a nose. Believe that. Yeah, we were

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Speaker 1: talking about just how historically bad the Dallas Cowboys defense was.

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Speaker 1: They made pretty much one switch the following year. They

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Speaker 1: hired Dan Quinn who was a four three guy. It

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Speaker 1: matched their personnel, and then all of a sudden they

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Speaker 1: were leading the league and takeaways and now and this

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Speaker 1: year they're also doing well on defense, and so yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think it's a little bit of both. I think

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Speaker 1: coaching styles and coaching philosophy is forced to change. But

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Speaker 1: the constant trait of a great coach is taking what

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Speaker 1: you have and being able to coach what you have

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Speaker 1: and putting your guys in the best position to succeed.

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Speaker 1: That is why Pete Carroll was all about the three

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Speaker 1: deep defense. Back when we went on Super Bowl with

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Speaker 1: the Legion of Boom. It was like, let's run one

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Speaker 1: simple defense. We have the perfect personnel for it. These

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Speaker 1: are the only two routes that couldn't beat us. So

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Speaker 1: on every place, we're only looking for these two routes.

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Speaker 1: Everything else the defense takes care of, and I think

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Speaker 1: from a defensive standpoint, our guys took ownership of it. Okay,

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Speaker 1: So we touched a little bit on four, three or

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Speaker 1: three for those base defenses. You brought up two coverage packages, right,

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Speaker 1: like dime, nickel and all that stuff. So we hear

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Speaker 1: that a lot of times. And then I started thinking

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Speaker 1: about my day is covering in college football and different

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Speaker 1: imans that you're seeing there. We've talked about this on

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Speaker 1: the offensive side. Sometimes what we see in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: it comes from college coaches, right, and college coaches got

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Speaker 1: it from high school coaches. Like it's really weird. It's

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Speaker 1: not NFL down, it's sometimes bottom up what we see

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Speaker 1: in the league. Most common defensive personnel through seven weeks

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Speaker 1: of the two season is nickel, which is five defensive

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Speaker 1: backs on the field. That's you sixty two point four

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Speaker 1: percent of the plays. According to Next Gen Stats based

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Speaker 1: personnel which includes four defensive backs has been used twenty

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Speaker 1: six point three percent of the defensive place, so just

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Speaker 1: behind that nickel package and then dime personnel. This kind

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Speaker 1: of surprised me a little bit because we talked about

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Speaker 1: the evolution of offenses and how many offenses now are

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Speaker 1: so pass heavy. So dime personnel is six defensive backs.

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Speaker 1: I thought the numbers would have been slightly higher, but

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Speaker 1: that's been used nine point six percent of place, so

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Speaker 1: it's the third no I would know. I wouldn't have

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Speaker 1: thought it would be higher, just because, yeahs like, there's

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Speaker 1: still a physical part to football and you can't put

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Speaker 1: too many defensive backs out there. With the evolution of

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Speaker 1: our quarterbacks being able to run the football met Josh

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Speaker 1: Allen is the backup running back for the buffer It

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Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. Um Lamar Jackson is the lead

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Speaker 1: running back for the Baltimore Ravens, and so there's still

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Speaker 1: an element where you have to have some size on

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Speaker 1: the field. And I think what we're in the middle

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Speaker 1: of scene is our defenders bodies starting to change, right.

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Speaker 1: We saw it with the outside linebacker with Lawrence Taylor,

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Speaker 1: with some of the defensive schemes were just finished seeing

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Speaker 1: it with the tight end or eight back position or

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Speaker 1: fullback position whatever you wanna call it, kind of evolving

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Speaker 1: and changing. And so yeah, I think guys like Isaiah Simmons,

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Speaker 1: the outside linebacker slash defensive back slash Russia slash defensive

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Speaker 1: weapon that the Arizona Cardinals half, I think he's going

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Speaker 1: to be more of the norm going forward in the

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Speaker 1: national football Would you throw out a name like Mikael

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Speaker 1: Parsons as well? Because defensive chess piece, he can play

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Speaker 1: multiple spots. Again, it's like the Queen, Yes, like the

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Speaker 1: queen in chess. So like, if I'm always take myself

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Speaker 1: back to when I'm in the blocking unit, I am

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Speaker 1: a running back sitting back there looking at a defense.

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Speaker 1: How do we identify guys? Because it's all about identifying guys.

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Speaker 1: And when you see Michael Parsons, it's one of those

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Speaker 1: you're telling you're tackling your guard and you said, hey, guys,

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Speaker 1: he's a big Okay, I ain't blocking him. You guys

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Speaker 1: get paid to block that guy. And then Dan Quinn

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Speaker 1: because Michael Parsons is so dominant, that's a chess piece.

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Speaker 1: You can put him in certain spots that force an

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Speaker 1: offense to have to react to him. It's a pretty

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Speaker 1: neat deal. All right, so you just told a little

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Speaker 1: bit of a story. And over the weekend I was

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Speaker 1: working with m j D who told the similar story

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Speaker 1: from his rookie season and he goes, Byron Leftwich is

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Speaker 1: our quarterback. He goes, man, it's like the first couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks and they're telling me there's like they're gonna

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Speaker 1: build in this this pass pro for me where I

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Speaker 1: gotta go and like, I forget who the player was,

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Speaker 1: but it was like a monster. Maybe it was de

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Speaker 1: Marcus Ware it might have been de Marcus where And

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Speaker 1: he goes, man, you got I'm getting paid like three

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Speaker 1: K right like that dude, No, like that ain't happening.

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Speaker 1: And he's like I started. MGD goes, I'm starting to

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Speaker 1: get anxiety about it because I go these dudes are

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Speaker 1: gonna run this stuff like and I can't do I'm

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Speaker 1: not gonna do it. So they go out there. Game

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Speaker 1: day comes and he's like, dude, where it blows right

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Speaker 1: past me left? Which gets blown off. Yeah, and he goes,

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Speaker 1: I got reamed out, but I said, you know, what

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Speaker 1: would you expect exactly? He goes and once again that

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Speaker 1: dude was making it however many million. He goes I'm

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Speaker 1: making three hundred thousand dollars, he goes, man, I'm running coaches,

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Speaker 1: good point, my favorite next time, let's just let's not

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Speaker 1: vocalize that. But I mean he's right. I mean I

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Speaker 1: remember having arguments. We guy's never gonna be wrong. I

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Speaker 1: played fullback when I got to Seattle. But myself and

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Speaker 1: our left tackle Russell Okung playing up against um we

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Speaker 1: call him cowboy. But Justin Smith for the sempstoo for

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Speaker 1: it and not is an auton Smith. I mean, when

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Speaker 1: if Justin iNTS down to a three technique, then Russell

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Speaker 1: Kong has to block out in Smith. If he stays

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Speaker 1: at a four, then aut in Smith's mind. And I'm

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Speaker 1: sitting here like, bro, you get paid all this money, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you better block out of Smith. Man is due to

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Speaker 1: ten time longer than I. No way. But you know

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Speaker 1: I had to do my thing from so that that

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Speaker 1: little saying business decisions, all right. So I know we

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Speaker 1: were talking a little bit about some of these dbs

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Speaker 1: as well. So if you notice with Diamer Nickel packages,

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Speaker 1: there are a lot of dbs on the field, which means,

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Speaker 1: to your point, a little less linebackers out there as

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Speaker 1: offenses have evolved being run first to pass first. Defensive Actually,

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Speaker 1: they've adjusted from Buddy Ryan's eight man in the box

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Speaker 1: defenses to Leslie Frazier's almost exclusive nickel personnel usage. Linebacker

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Speaker 1: usaid check this out has actually gone down in recent

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Speaker 1: years in favor of more defensive backs who are better

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Speaker 1: are in coverage. Fifteen years ago, two thousand seven NFL

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Speaker 1: teams used three or more linebackers on just over seventy

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Speaker 1: one percent of the plays. In the first seven weeks

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Speaker 1: of two, NFL teams used three or more linebackers on

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Speaker 1: six percent of the place. So in fifteen years talking

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Speaker 1: about a seven percent dropped. Many NFL teams today they're

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Speaker 1: looking for those versatile dudes that are out there. We

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Speaker 1: just talked about, right, Michael Parsons one of those guys

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Speaker 1: that we brought up. It's just it's sort of fascinating

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Speaker 1: to see and feel and watch when you're watching some

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Speaker 1: of these games, just what these dudes actually look like.

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Speaker 1: There's actually a pretty wide variance and blitzing across the league.

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Speaker 1: Last season, the Dolphins dialed up pressure on almost of snaps,

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Speaker 1: where the Raiders only did it on fourteen percent of snaps.

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Speaker 1: Now the raiders actually still pretty good at get into

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Speaker 1: the quarterback despite not blitzing. There's a part of me

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Speaker 1: and says, you know, bring the heat, bringing the heat.

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Speaker 1: There's like that aggressive side of me, and then they

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Speaker 1: I go, man, I might not want to be all

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Speaker 1: that aggressive. Maybe it's that ben don't break once again

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Speaker 1: coaching philosophy, or is that based on personnelity some of

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Speaker 1: those decisions, Um, okay, sound like a broken record. I

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Speaker 1: think it's a little bit of both. I mean, because

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Speaker 1: it is coaching philosophy. You do have coaches out there

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Speaker 1: who want to force action, meaning they're gonna blitz just

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Speaker 1: to get you to throw the ball to a certain

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Speaker 1: place so that they can dictate where the ball goes

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Speaker 1: and then rally and make the tackle. You got some

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Speaker 1: coordinators like a Matt ebra Flus, who's the head coach

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Speaker 1: for the Chicago Bears. Now he's the guy that he's

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Speaker 1: gonna play zone. He's gonna bend a little bit. He's

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Speaker 1: gonna leave a zone open that he knows the quarterback

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Speaker 1: is gonna see. It's oftentimes gonna be a shorter route,

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Speaker 1: shorter checkdown, and he's gonna have all eleven guys rally

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Speaker 1: to the ball to make the tackle. That's a bend

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Speaker 1: but don't break type of defense. I'm like this, and

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Speaker 1: obviously i'm Bill's my office. I like they play nickel

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Speaker 1: martin any other team in the National Football League, So

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Speaker 1: you know, obviously I know a lot about them, but

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Speaker 1: the personnel has to be there as well. They have

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Speaker 1: a nickel back in Tehran Johnson. Okay, I think he's

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Speaker 1: number for This guy is amazing because again he's a

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Speaker 1: defensive back, but he has the heart that he has,

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Speaker 1: the willingness, he has the toughness to be able to

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Speaker 1: sit in the box, cover tight ends, share blocks from

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Speaker 1: tight ends, and be able to make the tackle in

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Speaker 1: what we call the briar patrol between the tackles. So

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Speaker 1: he's uniquely built to be able to do that. They

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Speaker 1: also understand how to play their safeties, right do you

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Speaker 1: have guys like Michael had and Jordan Poor. I know

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Speaker 1: they're banged up right now, and they have some young

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Speaker 1: guys that are playing there right now. Um Marlowe just

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Speaker 1: signed back with those guys, so I think he's gonna

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Speaker 1: be there for the championship run. But you gotta have this.

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Speaker 1: I'm already already did you see that. But you know

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Speaker 1: what I'm saying, They getting ready for un UM. But

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Speaker 1: you gotta have the safeties to be able to identify

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Speaker 1: trigger and be able to go to the box when

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Speaker 1: they see run. It's about playing currying these quarterbacks, these

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Speaker 1: dynamic quarterbacks with two safeties high. We talked about Vick

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Speaker 1: fan deal early in the podcast, how he kind of

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Speaker 1: his style of defensing where you have two safeties high,

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Speaker 1: giving the illusion of the light box, doing some games

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Speaker 1: in the box to be able to stop the run,

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Speaker 1: and then having dominant players. I mean, like I tell

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Speaker 1: people all the time, like with the Buffalo Bills, you

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Speaker 1: got a vom Miller who commands a double team on

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Speaker 1: pass Ruch. You've gotta add Oliver who commands a double team.

423
00:21:27,386 --> 00:21:30,066
Speaker 1: With Tim Settle who commands a double Tippy. You've got

424
00:21:30,106 --> 00:21:33,346
Speaker 1: all of these guys who command double teams. They're gonna win.

425
00:21:33,466 --> 00:21:36,346
Speaker 1: It used to be the old adage. Offensive coordinators want

426
00:21:36,426 --> 00:21:38,386
Speaker 1: to get their guys one on one. If I can

427
00:21:38,386 --> 00:21:40,826
Speaker 1: get this offensive lineman one on one with this defensive lineman,

428
00:21:41,146 --> 00:21:43,466
Speaker 1: we should win. My guy gets paid. We should be

429
00:21:43,506 --> 00:21:45,866
Speaker 1: one on one. That's no longer the case anymore. These

430
00:21:45,906 --> 00:21:48,626
Speaker 1: defenders are just too good and that's why you're seeing

431
00:21:48,666 --> 00:21:52,306
Speaker 1: defenses like this work. You know, I think too. You know,

432
00:21:52,346 --> 00:21:55,186
Speaker 1: talk about safeties, right, like guys are really fast, you

433
00:21:55,226 --> 00:21:57,866
Speaker 1: know from an offensive standpoint, you know this man, like

434
00:21:57,906 --> 00:22:00,226
Speaker 1: nothing better, Like if you're a quarterback throwing the touch hank,

435
00:22:00,266 --> 00:22:02,106
Speaker 1: you know, coming out of the back field, getting into

436
00:22:02,146 --> 00:22:04,706
Speaker 1: that end zone. I always think it's really cool when

437
00:22:04,706 --> 00:22:07,186
Speaker 1: there's like that safety and you know, the guys starts

438
00:22:07,226 --> 00:22:08,986
Speaker 1: dropping back a little bit and as soon as the

439
00:22:09,026 --> 00:22:11,746
Speaker 1: ball is snap, it's dead sprint to the quarterback numbers,

440
00:22:11,746 --> 00:22:15,986
Speaker 1: game completely untouched, just a nihilates, like in my mind,

441
00:22:16,026 --> 00:22:18,746
Speaker 1: like that's gotta be like they're Super Bowl obviously getting

442
00:22:18,746 --> 00:22:20,666
Speaker 1: a pig is though. It's nice, but it's like yo, man,

443
00:22:20,706 --> 00:22:23,106
Speaker 1: I'm bringing the heat and it's awesome. So you got

444
00:22:23,186 --> 00:22:27,906
Speaker 1: some aggressive that a little bit, see, I know. Yeah, yeah,

445
00:22:28,026 --> 00:22:30,306
Speaker 1: probably was a linebacker in this form of life, you

446
00:22:30,306 --> 00:22:32,106
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. Yeah, and I got I got

447
00:22:32,186 --> 00:22:34,306
Speaker 1: punished with the body that I have now, so we

448
00:22:34,306 --> 00:22:36,906
Speaker 1: are we ain't playing I'll be like the water boy,

449
00:22:37,066 --> 00:22:40,146
Speaker 1: you know, director of player personnel on the front office, right,

450
00:22:40,146 --> 00:22:42,746
Speaker 1: Like that's that's more more built for that at this

451
00:22:42,866 --> 00:22:45,226
Speaker 1: point that may have been a lineback, but in all honesty,

452
00:22:45,266 --> 00:22:48,186
Speaker 1: like again, with the dynamics of these quarterbacks. Man, we

453
00:22:48,226 --> 00:22:51,226
Speaker 1: talked about these quarterbacks getting all the reps in high school,

454
00:22:51,266 --> 00:22:53,626
Speaker 1: all the reps in literal lyue going to these passing camps.

455
00:22:53,626 --> 00:22:56,706
Speaker 1: They're coming to the National Football League ready to throw

456
00:22:56,746 --> 00:22:59,226
Speaker 1: the football to coming to the National Football League, ready

457
00:22:59,266 --> 00:23:01,586
Speaker 1: to push the ball downfield. Again, I'm one of those guys.

458
00:23:01,586 --> 00:23:03,866
Speaker 1: I like to just look at opportunity calls. Right, If

459
00:23:03,906 --> 00:23:06,826
Speaker 1: I'm a defensive coordinator, if I can affect the quarterback

460
00:23:06,866 --> 00:23:09,066
Speaker 1: with just four or three, why would I ever send

461
00:23:09,186 --> 00:23:11,146
Speaker 1: extra Russians to me? That's the way to do it,

462
00:23:11,266 --> 00:23:14,546
Speaker 1: especially with the caliber quarterback our lower leagues are given us.

463
00:23:14,946 --> 00:23:17,946
Speaker 1: So you're talking about personnel and what you bring to

464
00:23:17,986 --> 00:23:21,026
Speaker 1: the table blitzing, I just want to throw some numbers

465
00:23:21,106 --> 00:23:25,786
Speaker 1: towards people once again. First seven weeks of season, teams

466
00:23:25,786 --> 00:23:30,346
Speaker 1: have blitz on twenty seven percent of defensive plays. One

467
00:23:30,466 --> 00:23:33,706
Speaker 1: percent of plays are five man blitz is, six percent

468
00:23:33,746 --> 00:23:38,266
Speaker 1: of plays are six plus blitzers. Man, can I stop?

469
00:23:39,546 --> 00:23:44,026
Speaker 1: People have to understand five man blitzer is usually come

470
00:23:44,106 --> 00:23:46,546
Speaker 1: with zone coverage behind it because you only send in

471
00:23:46,546 --> 00:23:49,706
Speaker 1: one extra rusher, so you still have enough guys in coverage.

472
00:23:49,746 --> 00:23:52,066
Speaker 1: You still have six guys in coverage where you can

473
00:23:52,106 --> 00:23:54,546
Speaker 1: have a three deep and three underneath where you still

474
00:23:54,626 --> 00:23:58,546
Speaker 1: have enough eyes to defend the other eligible receivers that

475
00:23:58,586 --> 00:24:01,666
Speaker 1: are out there. When you start getting into this six

476
00:24:01,786 --> 00:24:04,506
Speaker 1: or more rushers, now you're talking about what we call

477
00:24:04,666 --> 00:24:07,826
Speaker 1: zero coverage. Now we talk about listeners. When you watch

478
00:24:07,946 --> 00:24:10,586
Speaker 1: the game and you start seeing third and eight and

479
00:24:10,666 --> 00:24:13,666
Speaker 1: third and six in critical situations in the game and

480
00:24:13,746 --> 00:24:15,706
Speaker 1: what we call offense. Look, all you see is a

481
00:24:15,706 --> 00:24:19,306
Speaker 1: line of defensive backs behind everybody else that's at the

482
00:24:19,346 --> 00:24:21,826
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. That's zero coverage. When you get into

483
00:24:21,826 --> 00:24:25,386
Speaker 1: six and more blitzers, that's zero coverage. And again that's

484
00:24:25,426 --> 00:24:28,386
Speaker 1: the difference. And you got some defensive coordinators who specialized

485
00:24:28,386 --> 00:24:30,386
Speaker 1: in the zone dogs. We you know, we talked about

486
00:24:30,426 --> 00:24:32,386
Speaker 1: Dick Leboll a little bit earlier, who was the inventor

487
00:24:32,426 --> 00:24:35,346
Speaker 1: of that. That's the guy sending five overloading one side

488
00:24:35,386 --> 00:24:38,506
Speaker 1: of the offense of blocking unit with pressure while dropping

489
00:24:38,506 --> 00:24:41,666
Speaker 1: in the zone. That's zero pressure. That's what Patrick Mahomes

490
00:24:41,706 --> 00:24:44,386
Speaker 1: and Josh and they like that because it's usually touchdowns

491
00:24:44,426 --> 00:24:47,066
Speaker 1: on the back in there. No, just just flinging it

492
00:24:47,186 --> 00:24:49,226
Speaker 1: and and it's you know, straight to the end zone

493
00:24:49,266 --> 00:24:52,226
Speaker 1: for six. Um. A little more context here on blitzing.

494
00:24:52,266 --> 00:24:54,706
Speaker 1: I'm glad you actually stopped me. Their NFL teams, they've

495
00:24:54,746 --> 00:25:00,066
Speaker 1: generated pressure on quarterbacks on of non blitz plays compared

496
00:25:00,146 --> 00:25:03,626
Speaker 1: to thirty four percent of blitz plays that resulted in

497
00:25:03,706 --> 00:25:07,066
Speaker 1: quarterback pressure. So, as you can imagine, it probably does

498
00:25:07,266 --> 00:25:09,906
Speaker 1: pay to blitz. I got some sack rates for some people.

499
00:25:09,906 --> 00:25:11,986
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go through all of them, but I'll take,

500
00:25:12,866 --> 00:25:16,946
Speaker 1: for example, sack rate no blitz five point six percent,

501
00:25:17,066 --> 00:25:23,466
Speaker 1: one blitzing nine point eight percent. Those numbers generally twenty two,

502
00:25:23,906 --> 00:25:29,066
Speaker 1: relatively stable. There's some upticks here and there, but generally speaking,

503
00:25:29,106 --> 00:25:31,506
Speaker 1: the point is blitzer get to the quarterback. How much

504
00:25:31,546 --> 00:25:35,106
Speaker 1: pressure is there, m rob It's obvious because the quarterbacks

505
00:25:35,146 --> 00:25:37,666
Speaker 1: the one facing it. But what does blitzing actually due

506
00:25:37,666 --> 00:25:40,186
Speaker 1: to an offense? What kind of pressure does that create? Oh?

507
00:25:40,266 --> 00:25:42,026
Speaker 1: It creates a tremendous amount of pressure. First of all,

508
00:25:42,066 --> 00:25:45,906
Speaker 1: when you're sending more than five, right, because again, if

509
00:25:45,906 --> 00:25:50,986
Speaker 1: a defense sence five defenders, generally speaking, you would think okay,

510
00:25:51,146 --> 00:25:53,466
Speaker 1: it was my five can block there five? Now you

511
00:25:53,506 --> 00:25:55,866
Speaker 1: know some may lose on one on one protection, but

512
00:25:56,146 --> 00:26:00,266
Speaker 1: generally speaking, my five will block there five Again, when

513
00:26:00,266 --> 00:26:02,866
Speaker 1: you start adding more to it. As a running back, right,

514
00:26:02,906 --> 00:26:05,666
Speaker 1: I might be a premier runner, But now my bill

515
00:26:05,746 --> 00:26:07,626
Speaker 1: the need to protect the quarterback and hold up and

516
00:26:07,706 --> 00:26:11,106
Speaker 1: pass protection and my liability and is this something that

517
00:26:11,146 --> 00:26:12,786
Speaker 1: I know how to do? Can I hold up without

518
00:26:12,866 --> 00:26:15,826
Speaker 1: holding all of those things? And when you keep running

519
00:26:15,826 --> 00:26:18,706
Speaker 1: backs in, when you keep tight ends in for protection,

520
00:26:18,786 --> 00:26:20,826
Speaker 1: whether it's to help the tackle or whether it's because

521
00:26:20,826 --> 00:26:23,706
Speaker 1: of blitz and guys, there's only but so many routes

522
00:26:23,746 --> 00:26:26,386
Speaker 1: they can do after that. Like I think our listeners

523
00:26:26,426 --> 00:26:29,106
Speaker 1: need to truly understand when you see running backs and

524
00:26:29,146 --> 00:26:31,786
Speaker 1: tight ends on the outside blocking guys are being there

525
00:26:31,826 --> 00:26:34,666
Speaker 1: to stop the blitz or help tackles. They're only running

526
00:26:34,666 --> 00:26:37,466
Speaker 1: a flat route after that. So again, now you're having

527
00:26:37,746 --> 00:26:40,346
Speaker 1: you've got five eligible receivers. Two of the five now

528
00:26:40,906 --> 00:26:43,586
Speaker 1: are only relegated to flat routes. And the defense knows this.

529
00:26:44,226 --> 00:26:46,466
Speaker 1: And so it's all about numbers and angles, and it's

530
00:26:46,506 --> 00:26:49,826
Speaker 1: all about out leveraging the other side defenders because they

531
00:26:49,826 --> 00:26:53,266
Speaker 1: don't usually defend the quarterback usually have that leverage. All right,

532
00:26:53,386 --> 00:26:55,586
Speaker 1: I know, We've talked about some of the base personnel

533
00:26:55,986 --> 00:26:59,426
Speaker 1: and what offenses are seeing depending on what's coming their

534
00:26:59,466 --> 00:27:01,266
Speaker 1: way with some of these blitzers. But when we come

535
00:27:01,306 --> 00:27:04,706
Speaker 1: back here, what defensive schemes are happening in the defensive secondary,

536
00:27:04,746 --> 00:27:07,266
Speaker 1: we'll talk about that and what defensive using their scheme

537
00:27:07,546 --> 00:27:10,266
Speaker 1: to become the best in the league that's still become

538
00:27:10,306 --> 00:27:19,706
Speaker 1: here on the NFL Explained podcast. All right, we got

539
00:27:19,706 --> 00:27:22,266
Speaker 1: our mail bag episode right around the corner with love

540
00:27:22,626 --> 00:27:25,586
Speaker 1: for people to continue to fire off some of those questions.

541
00:27:25,906 --> 00:27:27,426
Speaker 1: If you want to sign into the d m s,

542
00:27:28,906 --> 00:27:31,746
Speaker 1: keep getting them at Mike Underscore again, feel free and

543
00:27:31,906 --> 00:27:34,266
Speaker 1: Rob and I will take everyone through a special mail

544
00:27:34,306 --> 00:27:37,306
Speaker 1: bag episode right around the corner. But we've been talking

545
00:27:37,306 --> 00:27:40,586
Speaker 1: about defenses. The evolution of defense is what we're actually

546
00:27:40,626 --> 00:27:44,066
Speaker 1: seeing on that side of the field, and defenses, once again,

547
00:27:44,146 --> 00:27:45,986
Speaker 1: you're playing a little bit of catch up, right because

548
00:27:46,106 --> 00:27:48,946
Speaker 1: what they do is dictated on what the offense is doing.

549
00:27:49,186 --> 00:27:51,066
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about blitzing and how it

550
00:27:51,066 --> 00:27:53,226
Speaker 1: can wreak havoc on an offense, but what are the

551
00:27:53,306 --> 00:27:57,146
Speaker 1: dbs actually doing those defensive backs in defensive schemes, whether

552
00:27:57,226 --> 00:28:00,306
Speaker 1: it's a heavy run attack or heavy passing attack, and Rob,

553
00:28:00,386 --> 00:28:02,146
Speaker 1: I want you to take me through what some of

554
00:28:02,146 --> 00:28:04,986
Speaker 1: these defensive backs are doing. We hear terms like cover three,

555
00:28:05,346 --> 00:28:08,146
Speaker 1: zone D, defense, man to man. How about this, how

556
00:28:08,186 --> 00:28:10,746
Speaker 1: about we just explain the coverage and then I'll go

557
00:28:10,826 --> 00:28:14,026
Speaker 1: through some of the numbers how often it's used. So

558
00:28:14,146 --> 00:28:16,986
Speaker 1: maybe we start cover zero alright, Cover zero, right, So

559
00:28:17,106 --> 00:28:19,706
Speaker 1: cover zero if you hurt me a little bit earlier,

560
00:28:19,746 --> 00:28:23,986
Speaker 1: I talked about if you're sending six guys or more, okay,

561
00:28:24,186 --> 00:28:26,826
Speaker 1: then you got man on man on the outside. You

562
00:28:26,906 --> 00:28:29,146
Speaker 1: got man on man all across the board. There's five

563
00:28:29,186 --> 00:28:31,786
Speaker 1: defensive backs. If you're sending six guys, there's only eleven

564
00:28:31,786 --> 00:28:34,106
Speaker 1: guys on the field. If you're sending six, you have

565
00:28:34,306 --> 00:28:39,026
Speaker 1: five defenders for the five eligible receivers. Right, being the

566
00:28:39,106 --> 00:28:42,346
Speaker 1: extra defender rushing the quarterback has to handle that, and

567
00:28:42,386 --> 00:28:45,786
Speaker 1: so zero coverage it just means no extra help. There's

568
00:28:45,866 --> 00:28:49,346
Speaker 1: man the man across the board, but the quarterback also

569
00:28:49,426 --> 00:28:52,706
Speaker 1: has the free defender. He has the free defender because

570
00:28:52,746 --> 00:28:56,546
Speaker 1: again he is the guy accounting in the number as well,

571
00:28:56,586 --> 00:28:59,426
Speaker 1: and the defense will always have an extra defender. Tell

572
00:28:59,426 --> 00:29:02,906
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong here. Cover zero, no safeties, cover one.

573
00:29:03,066 --> 00:29:06,706
Speaker 1: It's single high safety, cover two two safeties. Teas Is

574
00:29:06,706 --> 00:29:08,386
Speaker 1: that a good way of thinking of it, Well, that's

575
00:29:08,386 --> 00:29:09,786
Speaker 1: a group. That's a good way of thinking of it.

576
00:29:09,786 --> 00:29:12,386
Speaker 1: The reason why I don't say it that way because

577
00:29:12,426 --> 00:29:15,826
Speaker 1: there's still safeties on the field. Sure, they just they're

578
00:29:15,946 --> 00:29:17,946
Speaker 1: they're locked in man coverage. So I don't like to

579
00:29:17,986 --> 00:29:20,906
Speaker 1: say no safeties because that can kind of you know,

580
00:29:20,946 --> 00:29:23,626
Speaker 1: anybody listening. So we're at the safety, so they just

581
00:29:23,626 --> 00:29:25,706
Speaker 1: bring more corners on the field. No, the safeties are

582
00:29:25,706 --> 00:29:28,986
Speaker 1: still there, they're just in man where their positions. So

583
00:29:29,026 --> 00:29:32,146
Speaker 1: basically you're saying, based off of zero coverage, middle of

584
00:29:32,186 --> 00:29:34,586
Speaker 1: field is open, so to speak, and then single high

585
00:29:34,906 --> 00:29:39,746
Speaker 1: cover one, middle of the the field closed, but usually cover one. Again,

586
00:29:39,826 --> 00:29:43,186
Speaker 1: there's an extra defender either sending that extra defender or

587
00:29:43,186 --> 00:29:46,066
Speaker 1: that extra fenders playing what we call a rat or spy,

588
00:29:46,266 --> 00:29:48,586
Speaker 1: or he's an extra guy in the middle of the

589
00:29:48,586 --> 00:29:51,306
Speaker 1: field where his other defensive backs can front or receivers too,

590
00:29:51,826 --> 00:29:54,106
Speaker 1: which takes us to cover. How about we go cover

591
00:29:54,186 --> 00:29:56,186
Speaker 1: three because at that point and cover two once again,

592
00:29:56,306 --> 00:30:00,906
Speaker 1: two safeties up high, essentially getting half of the field

593
00:30:00,946 --> 00:30:03,826
Speaker 1: and that open space that covered two covered two basically

594
00:30:03,866 --> 00:30:07,266
Speaker 1: it's two safeties high. Both safeties have a half of

595
00:30:07,306 --> 00:30:10,946
Speaker 1: the field, okay, and you have five guys underneath. Okay.

596
00:30:10,986 --> 00:30:13,346
Speaker 1: You got your three linebackers in their hooks own coverages,

597
00:30:13,666 --> 00:30:17,146
Speaker 1: and then your corners they have the flats. Cover three

598
00:30:17,706 --> 00:30:20,506
Speaker 1: it's basically three deep, meaning there's a safety in the

599
00:30:20,666 --> 00:30:24,346
Speaker 1: middle field. He has the middle third, the outside corner

600
00:30:24,386 --> 00:30:28,106
Speaker 1: has one third, the other corner has another third okay,

601
00:30:28,266 --> 00:30:31,466
Speaker 1: and then the underneath coverage, which usually consists of a

602
00:30:31,586 --> 00:30:35,466
Speaker 1: drop down safety, linebacker which is the will linebacker, the

603
00:30:35,546 --> 00:30:39,546
Speaker 1: mic linebacker, and the same linebacker. So three deep, four

604
00:30:39,666 --> 00:30:43,426
Speaker 1: cross underneath, and four Russian and again, really three deep

605
00:30:43,546 --> 00:30:45,986
Speaker 1: is not to give up the explosive plasure. Teams that

606
00:30:46,026 --> 00:30:48,746
Speaker 1: played three deep, their corners are playing looking at the

607
00:30:48,866 --> 00:30:51,826
Speaker 1: quarterback playing over top of the routes, knowing that they

608
00:30:51,866 --> 00:30:54,506
Speaker 1: have underneath coverage that's dropping to help him out. You know,

609
00:30:54,546 --> 00:30:56,826
Speaker 1: it's fascinating because people are listening to this podcast. You

610
00:30:56,906 --> 00:30:59,026
Speaker 1: used the term before he said spy, and right, I

611
00:30:59,026 --> 00:31:01,386
Speaker 1: haven't even heard of anyone say rat I A. Let's

612
00:31:01,386 --> 00:31:03,786
Speaker 1: think about it as spy. And it's funny because I'm

613
00:31:03,826 --> 00:31:07,746
Speaker 1: gonna ask you about cover four and I never I

614
00:31:07,786 --> 00:31:09,426
Speaker 1: know this sounds crazy. I don't. Maybe it's just the

615
00:31:09,466 --> 00:31:11,226
Speaker 1: people that I've been around. I never hear Cover four.

616
00:31:11,306 --> 00:31:13,826
Speaker 1: I only hear quarters, so like that's kind of how

617
00:31:13,866 --> 00:31:16,466
Speaker 1: I always associated with So. I mean you've been around

618
00:31:16,666 --> 00:31:20,106
Speaker 1: and usually in football circles, most guys are gonna say

619
00:31:20,186 --> 00:31:24,626
Speaker 1: quarters and quarters basically are is two safeties high. One

620
00:31:24,706 --> 00:31:26,986
Speaker 1: corner has a quarter of the field, one safety as

621
00:31:26,986 --> 00:31:29,426
Speaker 1: a quarter, the other safety as a quarter, and the

622
00:31:29,466 --> 00:31:32,666
Speaker 1: other corner has another quarter. Okay, and I think that's

623
00:31:33,066 --> 00:31:36,986
Speaker 1: three zones underneath that's focus through. That's seven plus the

624
00:31:37,026 --> 00:31:39,546
Speaker 1: other four. That's eleven. Okay, Yeah, with four rushers. I

625
00:31:39,546 --> 00:31:42,146
Speaker 1: always gotta do my math that way, man um. And

626
00:31:42,226 --> 00:31:45,346
Speaker 1: the special thing about cover four is your safeties are

627
00:31:45,346 --> 00:31:49,106
Speaker 1: reading the number two receiver. If the number two receiver blocks,

628
00:31:49,306 --> 00:31:52,626
Speaker 1: they are the run support. So they are the extra defenders.

629
00:31:52,666 --> 00:31:56,346
Speaker 1: They are the defenders that in Vic Fangio's defenses, those

630
00:31:56,346 --> 00:32:00,386
Speaker 1: support players gave Mike Robson problems. Yes, I've gone through

631
00:32:00,426 --> 00:32:02,186
Speaker 1: some of my notes here and it just dawned on me,

632
00:32:02,426 --> 00:32:04,706
Speaker 1: like Cover six, like I've never even heard of someone

633
00:32:04,786 --> 00:32:09,466
Speaker 1: referencing cover no. And even there's no Cover five on

634
00:32:09,586 --> 00:32:11,746
Speaker 1: my list. Well, it's hard to have a Cover two

635
00:32:11,786 --> 00:32:14,146
Speaker 1: and a Cover three at the same damn time, you

636
00:32:14,146 --> 00:32:16,386
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. But Cover six Cover six, you

637
00:32:17,066 --> 00:32:19,706
Speaker 1: know you can do that, right because both of those

638
00:32:19,746 --> 00:32:22,826
Speaker 1: coverages are middle of feel open, so you can combo

639
00:32:22,906 --> 00:32:26,586
Speaker 1: those coverages. So the Cover two side of things, usually

640
00:32:26,626 --> 00:32:29,226
Speaker 1: you put that into the boundary. Usually there's a corner

641
00:32:29,226 --> 00:32:32,466
Speaker 1: who's willing to tackle. Usually that's also a corner who

642
00:32:32,506 --> 00:32:35,226
Speaker 1: you can blitz in and be able to affect the quarterback.

643
00:32:35,426 --> 00:32:37,706
Speaker 1: And so it's covered two to one side where it's

644
00:32:37,706 --> 00:32:40,746
Speaker 1: a rolled up corner where a safety has that half

645
00:32:40,746 --> 00:32:43,186
Speaker 1: of the field, and then on the other side there's

646
00:32:43,186 --> 00:32:45,506
Speaker 1: a corner who has a quarter in the safety as

647
00:32:45,506 --> 00:32:49,106
Speaker 1: a quarter with again the same underneath coverage is going along.

648
00:32:49,146 --> 00:32:51,506
Speaker 1: That's a lot. Now, I hope people are are staying

649
00:32:51,506 --> 00:32:53,386
Speaker 1: with us, and there's a lot of football going on. Man,

650
00:32:53,426 --> 00:32:55,266
Speaker 1: we're talking. There's a lot of football. No here, here's

651
00:32:55,266 --> 00:32:57,386
Speaker 1: a bit of a podcast, right, or if you're scrolling

652
00:32:57,386 --> 00:32:59,346
Speaker 1: and watching on YouTube, you scroll back, you can do

653
00:32:59,426 --> 00:33:04,026
Speaker 1: little back, so you just give us a good snap

654
00:33:04,026 --> 00:33:06,066
Speaker 1: shot of the different coverages. I want to rows this

655
00:33:06,146 --> 00:33:09,266
Speaker 1: year way here in terms of what's being used most commonly,

656
00:33:09,346 --> 00:33:12,986
Speaker 1: Cover three, most commonly used coverage scheme through the first

657
00:33:12,986 --> 00:33:16,826
Speaker 1: seven weeks of the two seasons. It's about thirty five

658
00:33:16,866 --> 00:33:20,386
Speaker 1: percent of defensive plays. That's according to PFF. Following Cover

659
00:33:20,586 --> 00:33:24,706
Speaker 1: three the next most common scheme Cover one at pent

660
00:33:24,866 --> 00:33:29,986
Speaker 1: Cover four at thirteen percent, Cover two at thirteen percent,

661
00:33:30,026 --> 00:33:33,546
Speaker 1: and Cover six at eight percent. Now, according to Next

662
00:33:33,586 --> 00:33:36,986
Speaker 1: Gen Stats, teams are using man defense on thirty one

663
00:33:36,986 --> 00:33:41,306
Speaker 1: percent of plays in two while using zone on sixty

664
00:33:41,746 --> 00:33:44,106
Speaker 1: percent of place. So the rates are basically the same

665
00:33:44,146 --> 00:33:48,746
Speaker 1: as twenty one featuring man seventy percent zone. You know,

666
00:33:49,426 --> 00:33:53,946
Speaker 1: I'd be interested in seeing what that's that is from

667
00:33:53,986 --> 00:33:59,506
Speaker 1: the seventies because when you're talking about running backs being

668
00:33:59,546 --> 00:34:03,586
Speaker 1: the highlight of offenses, running games being the premier. I mean, hell,

669
00:34:03,666 --> 00:34:06,906
Speaker 1: the wide receiver's gotten three point stance. Okay, So the

670
00:34:06,986 --> 00:34:09,546
Speaker 1: run game was it, and so the middle of the

671
00:34:09,626 --> 00:34:12,786
Speaker 1: field had to be closed to get the extra defender

672
00:34:12,866 --> 00:34:14,666
Speaker 1: in the box. You see what I'm saying. I believe

673
00:34:14,706 --> 00:34:17,706
Speaker 1: now you're seeing a lot of the zone coming up

674
00:34:17,746 --> 00:34:19,786
Speaker 1: now and a lot of the two safety high numbers

675
00:34:19,826 --> 00:34:22,186
Speaker 1: going up now because of the quality of the quarterbacks

676
00:34:22,186 --> 00:34:24,626
Speaker 1: were getting. That's the only way to defend these guys

677
00:34:24,866 --> 00:34:26,906
Speaker 1: with you there, and I think it screams to what

678
00:34:26,946 --> 00:34:31,226
Speaker 1: we discussed in our Evolution of Offenses podcast edition. Just

679
00:34:31,666 --> 00:34:34,866
Speaker 1: the game is just different than it was in the seventies. Um.

680
00:34:34,866 --> 00:34:36,226
Speaker 1: Just one of the note by the way, on the

681
00:34:36,226 --> 00:34:39,946
Speaker 1: two high safety defenses, so cover two, that's actually steadily

682
00:34:40,106 --> 00:34:43,346
Speaker 1: increased over the past five or six years. And you're

683
00:34:43,386 --> 00:34:46,946
Speaker 1: kind of smiling knowing and not surprised because quarterbacks generally

684
00:34:46,986 --> 00:34:50,506
Speaker 1: performing a little worse against cover two this season compared

685
00:34:50,546 --> 00:34:52,786
Speaker 1: to what they did the prior to seasons. I don't

686
00:34:52,786 --> 00:34:55,426
Speaker 1: know what I would point to on that. It's this

687
00:34:55,866 --> 00:35:00,026
Speaker 1: so cover to pure covered two with only four rushers, okay,

688
00:35:00,426 --> 00:35:05,186
Speaker 1: you're dropping seven, there's more underneath defenders. Every time you

689
00:35:05,266 --> 00:35:08,706
Speaker 1: put an of the defender into coverage, think about the yams.

690
00:35:08,866 --> 00:35:12,306
Speaker 1: The windows get smaller. You take a guy out of coverage,

691
00:35:12,346 --> 00:35:15,106
Speaker 1: the windows get bigger. And so what's starting to happen

692
00:35:15,146 --> 00:35:17,986
Speaker 1: now is you're starting to force the quarterback to be

693
00:35:18,066 --> 00:35:21,066
Speaker 1: more precise. You're forcing the quarterback to be more of

694
00:35:21,106 --> 00:35:24,186
Speaker 1: a playmaker. You're forcing the quarterback to have more opportunities

695
00:35:24,386 --> 00:35:28,146
Speaker 1: for mistakes too. And so that's all because if the

696
00:35:28,146 --> 00:35:30,826
Speaker 1: game is played right, and defensive coordinators notice and how

697
00:35:30,826 --> 00:35:32,666
Speaker 1: the defense corners don't get mad at real mic rob

698
00:35:32,746 --> 00:35:35,306
Speaker 1: I didn't I didn't make the rules. Okay, I didn't

699
00:35:35,306 --> 00:35:36,826
Speaker 1: make the rules. I just played the game. Don't hate

700
00:35:36,866 --> 00:35:39,506
Speaker 1: the player, hate the game, you know what I'm saying.

701
00:35:39,826 --> 00:35:43,346
Speaker 1: But if offenses do what they're supposed to, they win

702
00:35:44,346 --> 00:35:47,186
Speaker 1: almost all the time. Like that's just how it is.

703
00:35:47,226 --> 00:35:49,906
Speaker 1: Like Bill, Like you hear Bill Belichick talk about defenses,

704
00:35:49,946 --> 00:35:52,546
Speaker 1: He'll say, like, we're just gonna play right and they're

705
00:35:52,586 --> 00:35:54,466
Speaker 1: gonna mess up. When they mess up, we'll be in

706
00:35:54,466 --> 00:35:56,706
Speaker 1: the right position to take advantage of it. So yeah, man,

707
00:35:56,746 --> 00:35:59,066
Speaker 1: come on defense. Alright. So one other note here, because

708
00:35:59,106 --> 00:36:01,146
Speaker 1: I'm actually looking at some of the numbers, it's actually

709
00:36:01,186 --> 00:36:05,666
Speaker 1: really fascinating to me. Quarterbacks against cover t versus twenty

710
00:36:05,746 --> 00:36:08,026
Speaker 1: twenty one versus what we have so far in the

711
00:36:08,026 --> 00:36:16,906
Speaker 1: two season. Completion percentages in down to seventy percent in two.

712
00:36:17,666 --> 00:36:21,666
Speaker 1: The biggest difference in my mind is the because generally speaking,

713
00:36:21,666 --> 00:36:24,786
Speaker 1: the numbers actually are trending down, but the passing touchdowns

714
00:36:24,786 --> 00:36:29,386
Speaker 1: to interceptions, I mean, check this out. In touchdowns fifty

715
00:36:29,426 --> 00:36:34,066
Speaker 1: seven picks, thirty two touchdowns, sixty two picks it's almost

716
00:36:34,066 --> 00:36:35,746
Speaker 1: not fair. I'm not. I mean, I'll give the numbers

717
00:36:35,746 --> 00:36:38,426
Speaker 1: because you know, basically at the halfway point, but eight touchdowns,

718
00:36:38,626 --> 00:36:41,826
Speaker 1: twenty seven interceptions. So the point is, like the pick right, man,

719
00:36:42,026 --> 00:36:44,626
Speaker 1: it's it's going the wrong way for offense. It's going

720
00:36:44,666 --> 00:36:47,266
Speaker 1: the wrong way for offenses. And again, as much as

721
00:36:47,346 --> 00:36:51,186
Speaker 1: we talk about the evolutions of offenses and how you know,

722
00:36:51,346 --> 00:36:53,746
Speaker 1: passing camps and quarterbacks are getting more reps, and well

723
00:36:53,746 --> 00:36:55,906
Speaker 1: obviously was doing this thing we we talked about our

724
00:36:55,906 --> 00:36:59,266
Speaker 1: own previous podcast. Well, these guys are running these routes,

725
00:36:59,346 --> 00:37:02,986
Speaker 1: getst air, they're not playing like by themselves. The defenders

726
00:37:02,986 --> 00:37:05,706
Speaker 1: are getting these reps as well, and they're getting opportunities

727
00:37:05,786 --> 00:37:07,826
Speaker 1: the football a little bit more. They used to be

728
00:37:07,906 --> 00:37:09,906
Speaker 1: the difference you used to we always say in football,

729
00:37:09,946 --> 00:37:12,226
Speaker 1: the difference between a defensive back and the receiver is

730
00:37:12,266 --> 00:37:14,906
Speaker 1: the fact that a receiver can catch. They're the same guy.

731
00:37:14,946 --> 00:37:17,946
Speaker 1: But what's starting to happen now with defenders, they're starting

732
00:37:17,946 --> 00:37:19,786
Speaker 1: to really be able to catch. I think that's why

733
00:37:19,826 --> 00:37:22,386
Speaker 1: we're starting to see interceptions come up. All right, So

734
00:37:22,506 --> 00:37:25,746
Speaker 1: defenses obviously create a ton of chaos with blitzing. We

735
00:37:25,826 --> 00:37:28,626
Speaker 1: love turnovers because turnovers go a long way to winning

736
00:37:28,746 --> 00:37:32,306
Speaker 1: the game. Positive turnover margin in a giving game give

737
00:37:32,346 --> 00:37:35,386
Speaker 1: you a better than seventy five percent chance of winning.

738
00:37:35,386 --> 00:37:38,266
Speaker 1: The last five seasons, teams that have not forced to

739
00:37:38,306 --> 00:37:41,386
Speaker 1: turn over any giving game have lost greater than thirty

740
00:37:41,426 --> 00:37:43,906
Speaker 1: percent of the time in the past five seasons. So

741
00:37:43,986 --> 00:37:46,746
Speaker 1: I get it. Wins are always there. But m Rob,

742
00:37:46,786 --> 00:37:48,626
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, man, you see a team get a turnover,

743
00:37:48,666 --> 00:37:50,746
Speaker 1: you look at that sideline. Those dudes are going crazy.

744
00:37:50,946 --> 00:37:53,266
Speaker 1: The whole game is about the ball. The whole game

745
00:37:53,466 --> 00:37:56,266
Speaker 1: is about the bar. Remember Mike Nolan bringing a football

746
00:37:56,306 --> 00:37:59,066
Speaker 1: into our team meeting room because we were sorry as

747
00:37:59,066 --> 00:38:01,346
Speaker 1: I'll get out in San Francisco for a little bit,

748
00:38:01,466 --> 00:38:04,466
Speaker 1: and we had a fumbling problem and turning the football

749
00:38:04,506 --> 00:38:07,706
Speaker 1: over problem, and we went around the room and we

750
00:38:07,786 --> 00:38:09,706
Speaker 1: all had to hold a football and we were just

751
00:38:09,826 --> 00:38:11,986
Speaker 1: talking about what the ball means to us, what this

752
00:38:12,026 --> 00:38:14,426
Speaker 1: game means to us. And he made the statement, like, guys,

753
00:38:15,026 --> 00:38:19,346
Speaker 1: this ball is everybody's hopes and dreams. Don't use it carelessly,

754
00:38:19,426 --> 00:38:21,986
Speaker 1: don't handle it carelessly, and it's all about it defense.

755
00:38:22,026 --> 00:38:24,786
Speaker 1: If we get the ball off this offense more then

756
00:38:24,826 --> 00:38:26,746
Speaker 1: we give it away, we win the game that simple,

757
00:38:26,746 --> 00:38:28,546
Speaker 1: and so it was more of a focus about the

758
00:38:28,546 --> 00:38:30,786
Speaker 1: football to the point when I was in Seattle, let

759
00:38:30,786 --> 00:38:34,066
Speaker 1: me Pete. Pete designed the whole day around it. H

760
00:38:34,666 --> 00:38:37,266
Speaker 1: We call it no turnover Thursday because I'm offense, so

761
00:38:37,266 --> 00:38:39,266
Speaker 1: we don't turn the football over jams. But if you're

762
00:38:39,306 --> 00:38:41,466
Speaker 1: on the defense, you would call it turn over Thursday.

763
00:38:41,986 --> 00:38:43,826
Speaker 1: We didn't turn the football over that much, so we

764
00:38:43,826 --> 00:38:45,426
Speaker 1: didn't have it. We didn't have a lot of turn

765
00:38:45,466 --> 00:38:48,186
Speaker 1: over Thursdays. But yeah, it's it's really all about the ball.

766
00:38:48,226 --> 00:38:50,306
Speaker 1: It speaks to what you're saying. Because Melvin Gordon earlier

767
00:38:50,346 --> 00:38:52,906
Speaker 1: this season was having some fumbling issues, right whatever. The

768
00:38:52,986 --> 00:38:55,306
Speaker 1: numbers were like three or four fumbles in a two

769
00:38:55,466 --> 00:38:58,626
Speaker 1: three weeks spam and I was watching the broadcast to

770
00:38:58,626 --> 00:39:00,906
Speaker 1: grew up a Giants fan. Tiki Barber had some of

771
00:39:00,906 --> 00:39:05,506
Speaker 1: those same issues, right Yeah, and they were telling the story.

772
00:39:05,546 --> 00:39:07,906
Speaker 1: I heard the story where t K at one point

773
00:39:07,906 --> 00:39:10,106
Speaker 1: that the fumbling got so bad, like he would walk

774
00:39:10,146 --> 00:39:13,306
Speaker 1: around the practice facility all the time with the ball,

775
00:39:13,586 --> 00:39:16,586
Speaker 1: like not even during like just always on him. So

776
00:39:16,706 --> 00:39:20,266
Speaker 1: it's that's subtle reminds mental mental every phone well I've

777
00:39:20,346 --> 00:39:22,786
Speaker 1: ever had in my life, yams A lot of you not.

778
00:39:23,466 --> 00:39:26,906
Speaker 1: I thought about it ten seconds before it had stopped. Seriously,

779
00:39:26,906 --> 00:39:29,066
Speaker 1: I was playing the Giants. That was feeding me the ball.

780
00:39:29,106 --> 00:39:31,546
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm finding I'm fitting get a touchdown in

781
00:39:31,626 --> 00:39:34,426
Speaker 1: New York State and Giants Stadium. And right before I

782
00:39:34,426 --> 00:39:36,506
Speaker 1: got it on the fourth time in a row inside

783
00:39:36,546 --> 00:39:39,266
Speaker 1: the two yard line, I said, Mike, just just hold

784
00:39:39,306 --> 00:39:41,866
Speaker 1: onto the ball. This would be really stupid if you

785
00:39:41,866 --> 00:39:44,826
Speaker 1: would fumble this close. You'll fallback. We don't get we

786
00:39:44,826 --> 00:39:48,106
Speaker 1: don't get an end zone. Dude. I took the belly,

787
00:39:48,266 --> 00:39:52,706
Speaker 1: the ball hit my guards elbow, wasn't even a defender.

788
00:39:52,986 --> 00:39:55,986
Speaker 1: Ball popped out. Last time I got the ball that season, Yeah,

789
00:39:55,986 --> 00:39:58,906
Speaker 1: and I think that was like week nine, bro. Yeah,

790
00:39:59,066 --> 00:40:02,226
Speaker 1: don't get me started. Bro. All right, the last question

791
00:40:02,306 --> 00:40:04,626
Speaker 1: I will ask you for this podcast. Last year and

792
00:40:04,666 --> 00:40:06,946
Speaker 1: I referenced it at the top, we did an episode

793
00:40:07,386 --> 00:40:11,026
Speaker 1: does defense win Championships? I ask you, my offensive fighter,

794
00:40:11,466 --> 00:40:17,706
Speaker 1: Does defense win championships? Um? Yes, offenses get you to

795
00:40:17,786 --> 00:40:21,466
Speaker 1: the show, But stopping the other team more than they

796
00:40:21,506 --> 00:40:23,506
Speaker 1: stop you wins the big game. I mean, that's going

797
00:40:23,546 --> 00:40:25,746
Speaker 1: to always be the truth in football, and it's also

798
00:40:25,786 --> 00:40:29,106
Speaker 1: a truth in life. I could go further. But okay,

799
00:40:29,146 --> 00:40:31,706
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I'm with you. I know you want

800
00:40:31,706 --> 00:40:34,426
Speaker 1: to talk offense and let's just throw it for more

801
00:40:34,466 --> 00:40:37,346
Speaker 1: points beyond the offensive. But even in boxing, what de

802
00:40:37,426 --> 00:40:40,426
Speaker 1: Floyd Mayweather teach us, he was all about defense of

803
00:40:40,466 --> 00:40:43,626
Speaker 1: the boxes ever play. I'd rather be great on both

804
00:40:43,666 --> 00:40:45,706
Speaker 1: sides of the ball if I had to choose. But

805
00:40:45,786 --> 00:40:48,506
Speaker 1: I know that's not always reality. But I'll tell you, man,

806
00:40:48,666 --> 00:40:51,826
Speaker 1: there is something to be said for in these critical moments,

807
00:40:51,946 --> 00:40:54,826
Speaker 1: can you execute at a high level. Like generally speaking,

808
00:40:54,826 --> 00:40:57,426
Speaker 1: maybe it comes down to one session. I'd rather be

809
00:40:57,466 --> 00:41:00,746
Speaker 1: the offensive team in that scenario, but I think big picture,

810
00:41:00,786 --> 00:41:03,146
Speaker 1: in the course of a game in the postseason, You're

811
00:41:03,146 --> 00:41:05,186
Speaker 1: probably right, that's what I'm saying. It was in the

812
00:41:05,186 --> 00:41:09,146
Speaker 1: postseason for a champion in a championship, I'm rolling defense.

813
00:41:09,386 --> 00:41:12,306
Speaker 1: But man, man, week nine, Week ten, something like that,

814
00:41:12,826 --> 00:41:17,106
Speaker 1: I'll no, I'm with you. Um. Look, I appreciate everyone

815
00:41:17,186 --> 00:41:20,226
Speaker 1: listening to this podcast, and it should be noted we dude,

816
00:41:20,226 --> 00:41:22,066
Speaker 1: you guys are awesome. Man. We get all these like

817
00:41:22,546 --> 00:41:24,746
Speaker 1: questions and d m s and feedback, and it's been

818
00:41:25,026 --> 00:41:27,746
Speaker 1: super gratifying to do this show next week here in

819
00:41:27,746 --> 00:41:29,826
Speaker 1: the States and I say in the States, because we've

820
00:41:29,866 --> 00:41:32,066
Speaker 1: got a lot of international d ms. In the States,

821
00:41:32,106 --> 00:41:35,666
Speaker 1: we have Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving comes I work because I'll

822
00:41:35,706 --> 00:41:38,866
Speaker 1: be in studio on Thanksgiving Day, we watch football. What

823
00:41:38,946 --> 00:41:42,346
Speaker 1: that means for us is there's not a brand new there. Well,

824
00:41:42,586 --> 00:41:45,266
Speaker 1: let me say this, there'll be a brand new episode, right,

825
00:41:45,266 --> 00:41:48,266
Speaker 1: It'll be our mail bag episode. Keep firing off those

826
00:41:48,386 --> 00:41:51,586
Speaker 1: questions and we'll we'll get them all compiled for everyone.

827
00:41:51,866 --> 00:41:54,146
Speaker 1: We just want to have like a evolution of defense,

828
00:41:54,186 --> 00:41:57,306
Speaker 1: like not a brand new, big picture topic. Just ask

829
00:41:57,386 --> 00:42:00,466
Speaker 1: those questions, man, and ask anything you know. I go there,

830
00:42:00,986 --> 00:42:05,466
Speaker 1: I go there anywhere. Uh. And Rob the Teacher uh

831
00:42:05,506 --> 00:42:07,986
Speaker 1: and and it's not just football, the life teacher as

832
00:42:07,986 --> 00:42:10,786
Speaker 1: well at Real Mike Rob. You can find him on

833
00:42:10,826 --> 00:42:15,866
Speaker 1: Twitter at Mike Underscore. Yeah, this is defensive schemes explained