http://www.cowboysnation.com/2012/05/how-much-might-we-see-cowboys-46-in.html
An tasty piece of defensive candy comes from New York, where the Jets' defensive line coach, Karl Dunbar, tells the Newark Star-Ledger:
“We’re going to play a lot of that 46 defense,” Dunbar said with a grin. “You get in that 46 defense, you’re going to get a lot of one-on-one blocks, and when we put athletic guys on the field, bad things happen for the offense.”
I posted a piece a few days ago, showing how the Cowboys used the 46 as a change-up front and in short-yardage situations. You may recall that Wade Phillips, who served as Buddy Ryan's defensive coordinator at Philadelphia for a year, used the 46 as an effective change-up against Washington in 2008, though he rarely used it after that.
Rob Ryan has claimed that he "learned from the best" when he worked for Bill Belichick in New England, but he, like Rex, is Buddy Ryan's son. Might he tilt more to Daddy Buddy's old scheme in 2012?
In certain situations, he might. The 46 worked very effectively in the '80s, when most teams worked out of 'base' offensive sets, meaning 2 backs, 2 receivers and 1 tight end. It's not as effective against spread formations, because keeping a 46 base against an Ace set (3 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE) means that third wideout will get your strong safety or and outside linebacker in coverage. That's not a bet most coordinators are willing to take.
In his primer on the 3-4, Rex Ryan made the point that the 3-4, his base set, the odd, morphs easily to the 46 and works well against base, or regular personnel groups. From a tactical perspective, the answer is yes, the Cowboys could use the 46 -- when they're facing regular sets, be they one back, two tight ends, or two backs and one tight end. The linked story also shows how Dallas uses it against "deuce" or heavy formations, which have two tight ends and two backs.
Here is where personnel flexibility comes in handy. Because it has two big outside linebackers, the Cowboys don't need to make any substitutions to run the 46. They can slide into it from their base personnel. The bigger question is, do they have the pieces in that base package to run it effectively? In 2011, I would have said no. Today, I say maybe.
Let's look at the layout of the 46 and why it can create those key one-on-one match-ups Dunbar refers to. It was utilized as a mutated form of the 4-3 defense. It creates extreme pass pressure on the pocket from three points of attack -- on both edges and over the center. It is also very hard to run against, because it puts eight defenders "in the box" and protects the D's best run pursuers. It does this by overloading the middle of the offensive line and the perimeter to the strong side.
Let's look at the two base 4-3 fronts Ryan had at his disposal in Chicago and Philadelphia:
Bears
LDE -- Dan Hampton (he also played DT in base)
DT -- Steve McMichael
DT -- William Perry
RDE -- Richard Dent
SOLB -- Otis Wilson
MLB -- Mike Singletary
WOLB -- Wilbur Marshall
Eagles
LDE -- Reggie White
DT -- Jerome Brown
DT -- Mike Pitts
RDE -- Clyde Simmons
SOLB -- Al Harris
MLB -- Byron Evans
WOLB -- Seth Joyner
Buddy had plenty of talent he could use in a base 4-3 with both teams. In Chicago, Hampton and Dent were Pro Bowl caliber DEs. Singletary is a Hall of Fame middle 'backer. Marshall was well regarded as speedy edge linebacker who could cover and blitz.
He had similar players for his Eagles front. White is an all timer. Fellow end Simmons was a big time rusher off the weakside. Brown looked like a perennial Pro Bowler before he perished in a car accident. Joyner was a destroyer on the weakside. Evans was a smart and productive middle linebacker.
Each front had the four ingredients necessary. It has two quality edge rushers, a quality middle linebacker who can play the run and play the deep middle in zone coverages, and a fast, do-it-all linebacker on the weak side.
Ryan amplified their skills by taking his best rusher, who usually played the strong side end in a base 4-3 and planting him over the center. In Chicago it was the 265 lb. Hampton, now the 330 lb. Perry, who played the nose. In Philly, Reggie White was taken off the edge and put in the pivot. On the strong side, where that end used to be, Ryan was move his weakside hit man and stack him with the strong -side backer on each side of the tight end.
Here, again, are the still showing how you can morph the 3-4 into the 46 with minimal fuss:
By sliding the two DEs inside over the guards and walking the strong-side inside backer over the tight end, you can jump into a 46 look in literally a second.
Dallas may indeed have the four key front-7 parts to want to make this switch. Demarcus Ware plays the weakside, the role Richard Dent played for the Bears and Clyde Simmons for the Eagles. He's very effective one-on-one and is a perennial among the NFL's sack leaders. Over the nose, it has Jay Ratliff, who is quick, powerful and very tough on centers when he can work one-on-one. And the 46 will get isolate him by putting defensive linemen over each guard, so that they cannot slide inside and double-team number 90.
The three linemen stack over the center and guards means that the middle linebacker is covered. No offensive lineman can reach him directly, so he can chase runs unimpeded. In Sean Lee, Dallas has an all-arounder, who can attack runs and get his hands on footballs when he drops into coverage.
The big incentive for more 46 calls this year could come on the outside. In 2011, Bradie James and Keith Brooking were Dallas' options to play the Wilbur Marshall-Seth Joyner role. James was never known for his wheels. Brooking was a terror in his younger days at Atlanta, but they are long past. Both were suspect in coverage last year and neither had the closing speed to be a dependable blitz weapon.
This year, Bruce Carter would fill that role. A lot of fans have questioned whether he's right for the second inside backer spot in the odd 3-4, but he seems tailor made for the 46. He played weak-side OLB at North Carolina and built his reputation on pursuit speed and blitzing skill. He could thrive in this front and might tempt Rob Ryan to follow brother Rex's 46 binge -- if Rob has the confidence that his secondary can cover for the 46's pressure.
An tasty piece of defensive candy comes from New York, where the Jets' defensive line coach, Karl Dunbar, tells the Newark Star-Ledger:
“We’re going to play a lot of that 46 defense,” Dunbar said with a grin. “You get in that 46 defense, you’re going to get a lot of one-on-one blocks, and when we put athletic guys on the field, bad things happen for the offense.”
I posted a piece a few days ago, showing how the Cowboys used the 46 as a change-up front and in short-yardage situations. You may recall that Wade Phillips, who served as Buddy Ryan's defensive coordinator at Philadelphia for a year, used the 46 as an effective change-up against Washington in 2008, though he rarely used it after that.
Rob Ryan has claimed that he "learned from the best" when he worked for Bill Belichick in New England, but he, like Rex, is Buddy Ryan's son. Might he tilt more to Daddy Buddy's old scheme in 2012?
In certain situations, he might. The 46 worked very effectively in the '80s, when most teams worked out of 'base' offensive sets, meaning 2 backs, 2 receivers and 1 tight end. It's not as effective against spread formations, because keeping a 46 base against an Ace set (3 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE) means that third wideout will get your strong safety or and outside linebacker in coverage. That's not a bet most coordinators are willing to take.
In his primer on the 3-4, Rex Ryan made the point that the 3-4, his base set, the odd, morphs easily to the 46 and works well against base, or regular personnel groups. From a tactical perspective, the answer is yes, the Cowboys could use the 46 -- when they're facing regular sets, be they one back, two tight ends, or two backs and one tight end. The linked story also shows how Dallas uses it against "deuce" or heavy formations, which have two tight ends and two backs.
Here is where personnel flexibility comes in handy. Because it has two big outside linebackers, the Cowboys don't need to make any substitutions to run the 46. They can slide into it from their base personnel. The bigger question is, do they have the pieces in that base package to run it effectively? In 2011, I would have said no. Today, I say maybe.
Let's look at the layout of the 46 and why it can create those key one-on-one match-ups Dunbar refers to. It was utilized as a mutated form of the 4-3 defense. It creates extreme pass pressure on the pocket from three points of attack -- on both edges and over the center. It is also very hard to run against, because it puts eight defenders "in the box" and protects the D's best run pursuers. It does this by overloading the middle of the offensive line and the perimeter to the strong side.
Let's look at the two base 4-3 fronts Ryan had at his disposal in Chicago and Philadelphia:
Bears
LDE -- Dan Hampton (he also played DT in base)
DT -- Steve McMichael
DT -- William Perry
RDE -- Richard Dent
SOLB -- Otis Wilson
MLB -- Mike Singletary
WOLB -- Wilbur Marshall
Eagles
LDE -- Reggie White
DT -- Jerome Brown
DT -- Mike Pitts
RDE -- Clyde Simmons
SOLB -- Al Harris
MLB -- Byron Evans
WOLB -- Seth Joyner
Buddy had plenty of talent he could use in a base 4-3 with both teams. In Chicago, Hampton and Dent were Pro Bowl caliber DEs. Singletary is a Hall of Fame middle 'backer. Marshall was well regarded as speedy edge linebacker who could cover and blitz.
He had similar players for his Eagles front. White is an all timer. Fellow end Simmons was a big time rusher off the weakside. Brown looked like a perennial Pro Bowler before he perished in a car accident. Joyner was a destroyer on the weakside. Evans was a smart and productive middle linebacker.
Each front had the four ingredients necessary. It has two quality edge rushers, a quality middle linebacker who can play the run and play the deep middle in zone coverages, and a fast, do-it-all linebacker on the weak side.
Ryan amplified their skills by taking his best rusher, who usually played the strong side end in a base 4-3 and planting him over the center. In Chicago it was the 265 lb. Hampton, now the 330 lb. Perry, who played the nose. In Philly, Reggie White was taken off the edge and put in the pivot. On the strong side, where that end used to be, Ryan was move his weakside hit man and stack him with the strong -side backer on each side of the tight end.
Here, again, are the still showing how you can morph the 3-4 into the 46 with minimal fuss:
By sliding the two DEs inside over the guards and walking the strong-side inside backer over the tight end, you can jump into a 46 look in literally a second.
Dallas may indeed have the four key front-7 parts to want to make this switch. Demarcus Ware plays the weakside, the role Richard Dent played for the Bears and Clyde Simmons for the Eagles. He's very effective one-on-one and is a perennial among the NFL's sack leaders. Over the nose, it has Jay Ratliff, who is quick, powerful and very tough on centers when he can work one-on-one. And the 46 will get isolate him by putting defensive linemen over each guard, so that they cannot slide inside and double-team number 90.
The three linemen stack over the center and guards means that the middle linebacker is covered. No offensive lineman can reach him directly, so he can chase runs unimpeded. In Sean Lee, Dallas has an all-arounder, who can attack runs and get his hands on footballs when he drops into coverage.
The big incentive for more 46 calls this year could come on the outside. In 2011, Bradie James and Keith Brooking were Dallas' options to play the Wilbur Marshall-Seth Joyner role. James was never known for his wheels. Brooking was a terror in his younger days at Atlanta, but they are long past. Both were suspect in coverage last year and neither had the closing speed to be a dependable blitz weapon.
This year, Bruce Carter would fill that role. A lot of fans have questioned whether he's right for the second inside backer spot in the odd 3-4, but he seems tailor made for the 46. He played weak-side OLB at North Carolina and built his reputation on pursuit speed and blitzing skill. He could thrive in this front and might tempt Rob Ryan to follow brother Rex's 46 binge -- if Rob has the confidence that his secondary can cover for the 46's pressure.
