Strains of the 3-4 Defense

[HarveyWallbangers]

As has been pointed out on this forum, not all 3-4 defenses are the same. Interesting article in the JSO shows that only three teams (Pittsburgh, Green Bay, and Arizona) are playing the Cowher/LeBeau/Capers version of the 3-4 defense.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/58705122.html


The 3-4 defense is spreading like the flu around the NFL with more than a dozen teams actively using it. Like the flu, the 3-4 defense has a number of different strains. There is the classic Pittsburgh Steelers 3-4 created by Bill Cowher, Dick LeBeau and Dom Capers. Incorporating some of the principles Marty Schottenheimer used in Cleveland and Kansas City, it uses a heavy dose of zone blitzes and small, quick linebackers on the inside. An off-shoot of that system is the defense Marvin Lewis and Rex Ryan used with the Baltimore Ravens, in which the cornerbacks play more bump-and-run than zone. Then there's the Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick system, in which the ends play a strict two-gap system and the inside linebackers are big, physical types who can take on offensive guards.

[Lurker64]

Interestingly enough, the Patriots roster now indicates that they are primarily a 4-3 team as they list Derrick Burgess as a DE.

The system attributed to Belichick and Parcells is actually just a variant of the "classic" 3-4 defense developed by Hank Bullough and Chuck Fairbanks from the original original 3-4 defense run by Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma in the 40s. The defense was popularized in the NFL in the 70s by Patriots head coach Fairbanks and defensive coordinator Bullough who adapted and improved Wilkinson's original defense. Parcells learned the defense when he was the LB coach for the Patriots in 1980 under head coach Ron Erhardt who succeeded Fairbanks. Bill Belichick learned about the 3-4 defense in Denver as an assistant under head coach Red Miller, who was Fairbank's OC with the Patriots (the Broncos defense at the time was a 3-4 dubbed "the Orange Crush"). He later worked as a LB coach under Parcells in New York where he refined his understanding of the scheme. Belichick converted the Patriots to a 3-4 team when he took over as head coach in 2000. So while Parcells and Bellichick get credit for the scheme, they really just refined the scheme developed by Fairbanks and Bullough (as Parcells was a direct disciple of both, and Belichick was a disciple once removed).

The Phillips system was independently brought to the NFL by Bum Phillips in the 70s, and it's essentially the prototypical 1-gap 3-4 system. It's very similar to the system the Packers are running now (but predates the Zone Blitz developed by Capers and LeBeau), as it makes heavy use of defensive stunts to create pressure. By my count, the Chargers have been mostly a Phillips 3-4 over the past few years though the JS has it as a hybrid.

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[KYPack]

Bum took some of his daddies' defensive principles and applied 'em to a 3-4. There are also some 3-4's that aren't used anymore. The 3-4 stack defense was used by KC and a few AFL and NFL teams. Strong 2-gap NT, Tall DE's and 3 LB's stacked right behind the DL's with the 4th backer to the strong side over the TE. The idea was to shield the LB's and let 'em make tackles.

Lombardi took one look at this D and ran right at the rover.