New defensive scheme

[LOSTHOG]

Williams ditching Cover-2 defensive scheme


Redskins Defense Coach Gregg Williams is altering his defensive scheme to better take advantage of the quickness and speed of FS Sean Taylor. Devastated by over 50 completed long passes last season, Williams' defense was in desperate need of an overhaul this season and Williams appears prepared to do what is necessary.

In his first public comments of the new season, Williams mentioned a change he will make: For the first time in his tenure with the Redskins, his safeties will have traditional designations. Sean Taylor will be the free safety and LSU rookie LaRon Landry, should he win a starting role in training camp, will be the strong safety.

"I think that Sean Taylor's skill is that he can go so far to go and get balls, but we had to use him in the box an awful lot last year," Williams said. "He can do it all. He can do anything you want him to do. I think this young man can do that, too, and I'd like to put Sean Taylor more in the position to get the ball in the passing game."
...
This year, Williams wants to take advantage of Taylor's coverage abilities, especially the amount of ground he can cover in the defensive backfield, allowing Landry to play closer to the line of scrimmage.

The strategy is consistent with Williams's steady distancing from the heavy reliance on the cover-2 and Tampa-2 schemes the Redskins employed over much of the past two season. Last season, the Redskins yielded 54 pass plays of 20 yards or more, many of which were the byproduct of exploiting the seams between the hash marks.
...
During the offseason, some Redskins players have said they believed Williams now has the personnel to use a cover-1 scheme, with Taylor as the lone safety charged with covering the deep part of the field and the second safety, presumably Landry, playing closer to the line to blitz and impact the run.

Another reason some of Williams's players think he has moved in this direction is his confidence in his projected team of cornerbacks. With Shawn Springs, Carlos Rogers and the newly acquired Fred Smoot, the Redskins will be able to cover teams capably man-to-man on the outside part of the field.

Apparently, this is the reasoning behind Washington's decision not to draft a defensive lineman in the first round. I still don't like that decision, but I'm glad that at least the decision was made as part of some larger plan. Makes for a welcome change at Redskins Park.

The shift also provides a degree of context for the Redskins' drafting of Landry instead of a defensive lineman, which was considered a greater need after a season in which the defensive line had just 13 sacks. Landry, however, seems to give Williams the personnel flexibility to play a more aggressive defense.

It seems that Head Coach Joe Gibbs' laughable assertion that nobody the team drafted in the first round would be good enough to start right away [on a 5-11 team, no less!] was precisely the joke I thought it was. Williams' plan pre-supposes the quick development of Laron Landry and immediate insertion into the starting lineup. That shouldn't be difficult in any case. Look at his competition on the roster.



I'm all for it. offenses today can easily attack the cover 2. Let's let our athleticism in the secondary work for us.

[Fios]

Donde esta el link?

[LOSTHOG]

It is from another "blog site" which we said we would never say the name of here. So who knows how credible it may be

[Gibbs4Life]

Altering the scheme of the whole defense for a guy that isn't even practicing with his teamates. Stupid.

[HEROHAMO]

It makes percect sense. I like the idea if this article is true.

[LOSTHOG]

yeah, who would have ever thought to run a scheme that best fits your personnel? That's why GW gets the big bucks

[Irn-Bru]

Interesting move. It's not as if the Cover 2 is even a dated scheme, even though it's been around for a few years now. Both the Colts and the Bears ran a version of the Cover 2 last year.

I've always felt like Taylor has played more like a strong safety than a free safety. Maybe this year we'll see more of a focus on Taylor covering deep balls, and less of his role of meeting running backs just beyond the line of scrimmage. Taylor has gotten the majority of his picks on those deeper balls.

[Chris Luva Luva]

Someone must have gotten GW a copy of Madden because I swear that's exactly how I use Sean Taylor and I got crazy amounts of INT's with him.

I doubt that GW is straying too far from his scheme is just adding a few adjustments here and there.

[PulpExposure]

Interesting move. It's not as if the Cover 2 is even a dated scheme, even though it's been around for a few years now. Both the Colts and the Bears ran a version of the Cover 2 last year.

Yeah...the problem we had is that we didn't have the personnel to RUN a cover-2 defense. It's not like it's some outdated formation like the full house backfield. We just didn't have the guys you need to make it run. #1 on that list is a defensive line that can generate pressure on it's own (notice both the Colts and Bears, and even the Bucs when they ran the cover-2 to perfection, never blitzed...).

Someone must have gotten GW a copy of Madden because I swear that's exactly how I use Sean Taylor and I got crazy amounts of INT's with him.

Did you actually bring Madden into a conversation...seriously?

Oh CLL....oh my.

[SkinsFreak]

Someone must have gotten GW a copy of Madden because I swear that's exactly how I use Sean Taylor and I got crazy amounts of INT's with him.

I doubt that GW is straying too far from his scheme is just adding a few adjustments here and there.

Agreed Chris. Funny how some seem to forget things so easily. Taylor is at his best in coverage, it's where he made a name for himself in Miami. He has even played corner at times. The fact that he can hit you like a mack truck is simply a bonus. I predict Sean will have a huge year in this scheme.

[Chris Luva Luva]

Did you actually bring Madden into a conversation...seriously?

Oh CLL....oh my.

I sure did because that's exactly how I use him in Madden, it's a factual statement. I drop AA down near the line and play center field with Sean Taylor because in Madden he's incredibly fast and I simply found it funny that this article points to the same reasons for using Taylor in real life.

I applaud whomever purchased GW a copy of Madden 06. Thankfully in real life GW won't have to deal with canned animations and clipping of polygons.


So what's your issue? The fact that I mentioned Madden in a jokingly manner? Don't be mad at me because I used Sean Taylor in a more productive way on 2006 than Gregg Williams could have, thankfully the AI version of AA isn't a terrible against the pass as he is in real life.

[sonofyens]

It makes percect sense. I like the idea if this article is true.

This thread is based on a faulty assumption.
The assumption is that GW is CHANGING his scheme.
That assumption is flawed.

All GW has said is that he was changing the nomenclature of his two safeties, form his interchangeable concept to the tried and true method of calling one a free safety and calling another a strong safety.

GW is NOT a Tampa 2 or Cover 2 coach.
GW is and always has been a Buddy Ryan disciple.
thats the 46 defense.

The whole reason Archuletta was brought in LAST YEAR was to continue to run the 46 defense, which defense GW has had great success with, which defense GW ran alot during the 2004 season when the Skins had the 3rd or 4th best defense in the league.

remember, Springs led the team in sacks that year and NOONE IN THE NFL said or suggested our dline needed to get after the Qb.
GW was blitzing all over the place, and our safety (Clark I believe) was at or near the line of scrimage with the other safety patrolling the deep secondary.

Archuletta was brought in last year to play the same position that landry is playing this year. Look at thepreseason game against the bangals from last year and youw ills ee what I mean.

It all changed when Springs got hurt and we no longer had a true shutdown corner. our corners needed help, so GW abandoned his baby, his precious 46 defense, and returned to the cover2 or Tampa 2.

problem...AA cannot play in that scheme., so AA's weaknesses were exposed. Much mroe cover responsibiliity and less blitzing.

Sure fire recipe for disaster.

I am sure we will see some of the cover 2 and Tampa 2 defense this year, if for no other reason than GW likes to shake things up and keep the offense off balance, but with Springs and Rogers and Smoot in the secondary, with taylor being the deep ball hawk, and with landry attacking the line of scrimmage, expect to see much more of the 46 defense.

Just like 2004.

[Chris Luva Luva]

Sono, I enjoyed your post and I think it gels with what I believe is happening also.

2007 - This year is all about getting back to par. We have never been a defense that pressures the QB heavily with the front four under GW. We're just trying to get back to being able to blitz heavily this year.

2008 - This is the year where I think GW will try to bolster the line with a pass rush. It'll enhance an already deadly blitz and throw offenses off even more.

[SkinsFreak]

^Yep.

For many, many years, when the defense took the field, that was the time to get another beer, hit the head, grab something to eat or do whatever you needed to do. Along came GW and in 2004 and 2005, it was a different story. I couldn't leave the TV because our defense was so exciting to watch. I believe that will be the case this year and in 2008.

[1niksder]

Came across this while on another site...

Given the players he has and Williams penchant for tweaking defenses to suit personnel and what he sees as ways to gain an edge of modern day offenses, his defense will likely be a mixture of the following defensive schemes............


46 Defense
Gregg Williams is a disciple of Buddy Ryan and has used a form of or variation of the 46 as his base scheme until last year.

A variation of "8 in the box" in the NFL is called the 46 or "Bear" defense. It is designed to put pressure on the QB by lining up the defense with 3 defensive linemen covering the center & guards, and the 4th defensive linemen lined up either "wide" outside the TE or wide off the weak-side Tackle. The linebackers & strong safety are lined up behind the defensive line to put pressure on the QB as well.

The name "46" originally came from the jersey number of Doug Plank, who was a starting safety for the Chicago Bears when Bears' defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan originally developed the defense, and typically played in that formation as a surrogate linebacker. It also refers to the idea that the cornerbacks often play bump and run coverage and blitz, acting almost like two extra linebackers.

The key feature of the "46" is that both outside linebackers play on the same side of the formation. The linebackers line up behind the linemen two or three yards from the line of scrimmage. The primary tactic is to rush five to eight players on each play, either to get to the quarterback quickly or disrupt running plays.

The formation was very effective in the 1980s NFL because it often eliminated a team's running game and forced them to throw the ball. This was difficult for many teams at the time because most offensive passing games centered around the play action pass. Many modern day NFL teams use the 46 as a package in addition to a base defense. The Baltimore Ravens in particular are known for using the 46 and variations to great effect, as the defensive coordinator Rex Ryan is Buddy Ryan's son. Rex's brother, Rob Ryan, is a defensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders.

However the 46 defense is susceptible to the pass, especially quick and timed ones, such as those in the West coast offense. The Bears' only loss in their Super Bowl-winning 1985 season occurred against the heavily pass-oriented offense of the Miami Dolphins and quarterback Dan Marino, who was known for his quick-release on passes.


Cover 1

Gregg Williams also learned alot from Titans HC Jeff Fisher while with him at Tennessee eventually becoming Fisher's defensive coordinator. Fisher likes to to run the Cover 1 defense which is not too dissimilar to Buddy Ryan's 46 in many respects.

Cover 1 schemes employ only one deep defender, usually a safety. Many underneath coverages paired with Cover 1 shells are strictly man-to-man with LBs and defensive backs each assigned a different offensive player to cover. By using only one deep defender in Cover 1, the other deep defender is free to blitz the quarterback or provide man-to-man pass coverage help.

Cover 1 schemes are usually very aggressive, preferring to proactively disrupt the offense by giving the quarterback little time to make a decision while collapsing the pocket quickly. This is the main advantage of Cover 1 schemes--the ability to blitz from various pre-snap formations while engaging in complex man-to-man coverage schemes post-snap. For example, a safety may blitz while a CB is locked in man coverage with a WR. Or the CB may blitz with the safety rotating into man coverage on the WR post-snap.

The main weakness of Cover 1 schemes is the lone deep defender that must cover a large amount of field and provide help on any deep threats. Offenses can attack Cover 1 schemes with a vertical stretch by sending two receivers on deep routes, provided that the quarterback has enough time for his receivers to get open. The deep defender must decide which receiver to help out on, leaving the other in man coverage which may be a mismatch.

A secondary weakness is inherent its design: the use of man coverage opens up yards after catch lanes. Man coverage is attacked by offenses in various ways that try to isolate their best athletes on defenders by passing them the ball quickly before the defender can react or designing plays that clear defenders from certain areas thus opening yards after catch lanes.


Cover 2

In traditional Cover 2 schemes the free safety (FS) and strong safety (SS) have deep responsibilities, each guarding half of the field. The NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, and Detroit Lions run a variant of this defense called the Tampa 2.

Cover 2 can be run from any seven-man defensive fronts such as the 3-4 and the 4-3. (It is difficult to implement Cover 2 from an eight-in-the-box front, because the strong safety or someone replacing him is usually the eighth man. Various "underneath" coverage played by cornerbacks and linebackers may also be implemented. For example, Cover 2 Man means 2 safeties have deep responsibility while the cornerbacks and linebackers follow their offensive assignment in one-on-one coverage. Cover 2 can also be paired with underneath zone schemes: Cover 2 Zone refers to 2 safeties with deep responsibility but now the CBs and LBs drop back into specific coverage zones where they defend passes only in their assigned area.

Teams that play Cover 2 shells usually ascribe to the "bend-but-don't-break" philosophy, preferring to keep offensive players in front of them for short gains while limiting long passes. This is in stark contrast to a more aggressive Cover 1 type scheme which leaves the offensive team's wide receivers in single man-to-man coverage with only one deep helper. By splitting the deep field between two defenders, the defense can drastically reduce the number of long gains.

The main weakness of the Cover 2 shell occurs in the middle of the field between the safeties. The safeties attempt to gain width upon the snap of the ball to cover any long passes to quick wide receivers down the sideline. This movement creates a natural hole between the safeties that can be attacked. By sending a receiver (usually a tight end) into the hole, the offense forces the safety to make a decision: play the vulnerable hole in the middle of the field or help out on the wide receiver. The quarterback reads the safety's decision and decides on the best matchup (i.e. which mismatch is better--TE vs S or WR vs CB).



Cover 3
Cover 3 refers to 3 deep defenders each guarding one-third of the deep zone. Cover 3 schemes are usually used to defend against passes, mainly those towards the deep middle of the field. Unlike Cover 2 schemes that create a natural hole between safeties, Cover 3's extra deep defender is able to patrol the middle area effectively.

The most basic Cover 3 scheme involves 2 CBs and a safety. Upon snap, the CBs work for depth, backpedaling into their assigned zone. One safety moves toward the center of the field. The other safety is free to rotate into the flat area (about 2-4 yards beyond the line of scrimmage), provide pass coverage help, or blitz.

One of the biggest benefits of the cover 3 coverage scheme is the ability to walk the the SS up into the box with minimal to no changes in the coverage due to the pre-snap centerfield position of the FS. This enables the defense to play both man and zone coverage out of an 8 man front while cover 2 schemes allow only for man coverage with 8 man fronts. The New England Patriots are notorious for using SS Rodney Harrison as more of a third OLB than a coverage safety and regularly employ cover 3 coverages.

Cover 3 schemes are succeptable to short, timed passes to the outside due to the hard drop of both CBs. This puts pressure on the OLBs to get into their drop quickly. Another disadvantage of cover 3 schemes is they are relatively easy to diagnose by oposing QBs. Because of this teams will often employ slight wrinkles in their coverage to confuse offenses. An example of this includes employing man coverage on one side and zone on another or swaping coverage zones between defenders.


Tampa 2
Tampa 2 refers to a style of defense played by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and implemented by its coaches, Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith, and Monte Kiffin, in recent years. Because of its success it has become popular with many professional and college teams. It blends the Cover 2 and Cover 3 defenses by having two defensives backs, usually the safeties, in deep coverage on either side of the field, and a middle linebacker covering the medium to deep middle. Its benefit over the Cover 2 is that the sidelines and middle of the field are better protected against deep threats, with the drawback being a larger open area in the short middle of the field underneath the middle linebacker. Its benefit over the Cover 3 is that it only dedicates two defensive backs to deep coverage rather than three, allowing for better protection against short outside routes.

[Irn-Bru]

Thanks for posting that, 1nik. Is there a link?

For many, many years, when the defense took the field, that was the time to get another beer, hit the head, grab something to eat or do whatever you needed to do. Along came GW and in 2004 and 2005, it was a different story. I couldn't leave the TV because our defense was so exciting to watch. I believe that will be the case this year and in 2008.

I agree completely. My dad and I were happier in those couple of years when we lost the coin toss than when we won it.

[Chris Luva Luva]

Thanks for posting that, 1nik. Is there a link?

For many, many years, when the defense took the field, that was the time to get another beer, hit the head, grab something to eat or do whatever you needed to do. Along came GW and in 2004 and 2005, it was a different story. I couldn't leave the TV because our defense was so exciting to watch. I believe that will be the case this year and in 2008.

I agree completely. My dad and I were happier in those couple of years when we lost the coin toss than when we won it.

I actually prefer getting the ball back at the half, especially if you're able to be up by a score heading into it!!!

I do that in Madden too.

[PulpExposure]

I sure did because that's exactly how I use him in Madden, it's a factual statement.

Well, I can factually say that I traded Clinton Portis and a first round draft pick for Peyton Manning in one of my Madden seasons....but how likely is that ever going to happen? Or I went through an entire Madden season without punting once...I just went for it all the time.

It's just funny when someone brings in a video game (full of holes, might I add....) to buttress their point. Because Madden is alike to the real NFL as playing Rainbow 6 makes a real life anti-terrorism expert.

[Chris Luva Luva]

I sure did because that's exactly how I use him in Madden, it's a factual statement.

Well, I can factually say that I traded Clinton Portis and a first round draft pick for Peyton Manning in one of my Madden seasons....but how likely is that ever going to happen? Or I went through an entire Madden season without punting once...I just went for it all the time.

It's just funny when someone brings in a video game (full of holes, might I add....) to buttress their point. Because Madden is alike to the real NFL as playing Rainbow 6 makes a real life anti-terrorism expert.

You're taking yourself entirely too seriously. The original post I made was OBVIOUSLY a JOKE.



And since it works in Madden, it will work in real life.

[PulpExposure]

I sure did because that's exactly how I use him in Madden, it's a factual statement.

Well, I can factually say that I traded Clinton Portis and a first round draft pick for Peyton Manning in one of my Madden seasons....but how likely is that ever going to happen? Or I went through an entire Madden season without punting once...I just went for it all the time.

It's just funny when someone brings in a video game (full of holes, might I add....) to buttress their point. Because Madden is alike to the real NFL as playing Rainbow 6 makes a real life anti-terrorism expert.

You're taking yourself entirely too seriously. The original post I made was OBVIOUSLY a JOKE.



And since it works in Madden, it will work in real life.

Got you!

[Chris Luva Luva]

I sure did because that's exactly how I use him in Madden, it's a factual statement.

Well, I can factually say that I traded Clinton Portis and a first round draft pick for Peyton Manning in one of my Madden seasons....but how likely is that ever going to happen? Or I went through an entire Madden season without punting once...I just went for it all the time.

It's just funny when someone brings in a video game (full of holes, might I add....) to buttress their point. Because Madden is alike to the real NFL as playing Rainbow 6 makes a real life anti-terrorism expert.

You're taking yourself entirely too seriously. The original post I made was OBVIOUSLY a JOKE.



And since it works in Madden, it will work in real life.

Got you!

I got you, clearly you didn't see the hidden text!!

You really did get me.

[PulpExposure]

I sure did because that's exactly how I use him in Madden, it's a factual statement.

Well, I can factually say that I traded Clinton Portis and a first round draft pick for Peyton Manning in one of my Madden seasons....but how likely is that ever going to happen? Or I went through an entire Madden season without punting once...I just went for it all the time.

It's just funny when someone brings in a video game (full of holes, might I add....) to buttress their point. Because Madden is alike to the real NFL as playing Rainbow 6 makes a real life anti-terrorism expert.

You're taking yourself entirely too seriously. The original post I made was OBVIOUSLY a JOKE.



And since it works in Madden, it will work in real life.

Got you!

I got you, clearly you didn't see the hidden text!!

You really did get me.

Lol. I actually got you when you spun defensive after my first post.

And the black text, I saw it when I hit the quote button, since color tags don't work in the reply part, you punk