Question about the 3/4

[packers11]

I know a lot about schemes and all, but I had a question on why there is a huge difference in Dallas's 3/4 and the packers.

My 1 major example that I was thinking about the other day :

D-Ware... He rushes the passer 90% + percent of the time I watch the cowboys ( I wish I could find an exact stat)... I never see the guy in coverage...

I know San Diego plays the same 3-4 with Roids (merriman) rushing off the edge a lot more than dropping back into coverage...

When we did that with Aaron Kampan people would complain about how he needs to drop into coverage to make the scheme less predictable, my question is how do teams like this still have success on D if they know the guy is coming every time from the LB position (essentially a 4th lineman) ?

[sheepshead]

Good question, I wonder if the guys you mentioned have a green light to whatever they see and react(within reason).

[Lurker64]

I think a lot of it has to do with different versions of the 3-4 defense. In the Capers-LeBeau scheme, the core principle of the defense is the zone blitz; that is "before the snap, the offense knows that anybody on the field could be dropping into coverage and anybody else could be blitzing."

That's harder to do when you rush a guy 90% of the time.

Plus, the problem with Kampman wasn't mostly that his zone drops were inadequate (as he rushed much more than he was asked to play coverage), but that he was a much better pass rusher from a 3 point stance than a 2 point, for whatever reason.

[pbmax]

Lurker has the key point. Many, though not all, of the pressure packages for Capers are designed to attack the weakside of the offensive line (opposite of TE or RB that might be kept in to block) and since the offense gets to choose where those two players line up, you need to be ready to attack from either side. Its not as clear cut when they go nickel and Matthews and Jones ARE the DEs for all intents and purposes.

Its an ideal scheme if you do not have the normal two dominant rushers to attack with (possibly drawing double teams) and a guy who can exploit single pass blocking.

Belicheck and Parcells need two rushers like that and one of them is usually Lawrence Taylor, Willie McGinest or DeMarcus Ware sized. The other guy looks more like a 4-3 end (Greg Ellis) but can have some coverage responsibilities or is a huge DE that can pass rush like Leonard Marshall or Richard Seymour.

Tony Dungy tells a great story about interviewing with Parcells and the Giants as he was leaving the Steelers and having to face Parcells and the entire D coaching staff including Belichick. The first question:

How do you guys play good defense with all those small defenders?