The 3 man rush is frustrating as hell when it fails but it definitely has a place. On those instances where the QB has a planned 5 step drop and quick hitter, the 3 man rush is what you want as no amount of pass rush will get there anyways, might as well put a dude in a passing lane. Definitely part of the chess match of play calling, switching between blitzes and 3 man rushes is the kind of guessing you have to do more often when you can't get good pressure with 4 men and zero tricks.

That's not a fair assessment of the "Jumbo Nickel." When Charles Woodson is your nickelback you've got 7 in the box, when Raji pulled his weight he also provided a good push up the middle despite being a big body. That was a scheme that fit the players perfectly and was very successful. It didn't make sense to keep doing it once the personnel changed but any scheme is flawed with the wrong guys.

I don't see a way to have a decent defense without being able to have a front 4 that can get to the QB without simply winning their one-on-ones. Most of the nickel packages out there are exactly that coming from the 4-2. BTW, looks like we can expect to see some 4-2 in obvious passing situations. We've been showing it all preseason.