Posted on 01/17/2006 4:11:09 AM PST by goarmy
The Jets will face a tough challenge when they take on Pittsburgh's stingy defense this week, but they go into the game better prepared than most of the Steelers' opponents.
The one thing in the Jets' favor is that they played New England last week, and the Patriots do play some 3-4 defense and do a lot of blitzing out of the 3-4 defense. The Steelers, of course, play the 3-4 defense almost exclusively. So the Jets will have some "repeating knowledge" in back-to-back games.
Every time there was a big moment in the Patriots-Jets game last week, the Pats lined up in the 3-4 defense. They had everybody moving around and trying to find ways to confuse the Jets' offensive line and get to the quarterback. Vinny Testaverde can expect more of the same this week.
Being that those are the only two teams in the NFL that really play the 3-4 these days, it can be confusing. It's confusing for the offensive linemen. It's different for opposing coaches, because almost everything in their playbooks is drawn up and designed to go against a 4-3 defense. So for pass protection and run blocking, it's a tremendous difference for players and coaches to adjust to what they're going to see.
There's no question to me that you can create more confusion with the 3-4 defense than you can with a 4-3 defense. The extra linebacker standing up makes the difference.
Now, you might read this and think, "Well, it's only one more guy." True, but to a quarterback, it looks like five more guys.
Offensive guards are used to having a defensive tackle lined up over them in the 4-3. All of a sudden, they've got to play in space. Centers, who often are uncovered in the 4-3, now have a guy over them on every single play of the game.
I spoke to Dan Marino last week and we talked about the 3-4 defense. And he hated the 3-4 defense. All Dan Marino did in his career was throw for over 60,000 yards. But that 3-4 always bothered him, because he did not like the extra guy standing up. It creates problems for your protection.
Which one do you treat as a defensive lineman? Which one is the linebacker? You can really never label them.
When the 3-4 teams blitz two linebackers, that creates problems for the offensive line. That's a total of five rushers -- no big deal to most NFL offenses. But usually the offense is dealing with four defensive linemen and one other rusher. What makes this a big problem is that sometimes two linebackers come from the same side and it's just hard for the offense to make the adjustment to pick up those blitzers.
When you play a 3-4 defense, it goes without saying that you lose size. But you bring more speed and more athletes to the equation. That extra linebacker does make a difference.
More teams played 3-4 defenses back in the '80s, especially after the New York Giants had a lot of success with it. But teams slowly got away from it. They wanted to put more pressure on the quarterback with bigger defensive linemen.
Also, the 4-3 is easier to teach. It's easier to gameplan. When you play a 3-4 defense, it truly has to be taught completely different. In the 4-3 defense, basically they teach everybody to run to a spot on the field and hold your ground.
There is more technique involved in the 3-4 as opposed to the 4-3. That's one big reason why you don't see more of the 3-4, especially with player movement, guys in and out of the lineup. Is there time to bring in new guys and teach them all the little techniques they need to know to have success in that defense? I don't know. From my standpoint, I think that's why we don't see more of it.
Of course, the defensive linemen in the 3-4 are there to protect linebackers and to stop runs. They're not there to rush the passer. There is no glory. As far as the fans are concerned, it's unappreciated work. In all the years Bill Cowher has been head coach with the Steelers, how many names can you pick from the Pittsburgh defensive line?
I just watched a tape of last week's Vikings-Steelers game, and I'm not sure that I heard a Steelers defensive lineman's name called three times in the whole game. All the activity centers around the safeties and the linebackers.
With the Giants in the '80s, it was the tandem of Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks that got all the accolades. The Steelers have gone through many pairs of outside guys -- from Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd to this year's duo of Jason Gildon and Joey Porter. Gildon has been tremendous on the outside this season. The stars of the Steelers are going to be those linebackers. The 3-4 is designed for the outside linebackers to have success.
The biggest reason I like the 3-4 defense is its deceptiveness. In the NFL, like in most sports, success sometimes has a lot to do with fooling the opposition. Make them guess, or just get them a little out of position so that you can make the play. What better way to do that than with the 3-4 defense? You have more people moving around and you're able to catch a team by surprise. You can divert a team's attention: Put two linebackers and a safety moving around on one side. But they don't do anything and the blitz comes from the other side. The chances of fooling people are much greater in the 3-4 than the 4-3. You have more combinations to show an offense.
It will be interesting to see how the Jets tackle it this week.
What's the matchup between the front line look like?
"What's the matchup between the front line look like?"
On average, our linemen are 30-40 pounds lighter than their peers on different teams. Hence, they're faster on their feet, so I like to think that they're capable of making the quick lateral movements to pick up blitzers, but I could be sorely mistaken.
PING!
For the record I also see Seattle beating Carolina who was many analysts pick for the Superbowl but really are inconsistent. Steve Smith had about 100 of his yards and two touchdowns on plays where the corner fell down. Chicago scored 21 points and had an opportunity for 28 on this D with Grossman as their QB. Look for Alexander and Hasslebeck to have big games as well as Darryl Jackson. If Holmgren puts Bobby Engram back on punt return that will eliminate the sorry Special Teams play of their current returner. Holmgren also is a great adjuster against defensive game plans and I also assume he will watch the Cowboys-Carolina game to figure out how to frustrate Smith.I also find it hard to see Carolina flying home from Chicago then a few days later flying back across country to Seattle to play in those soggy conditions. Its one thing to fly up the coast to NY or even to Chicago but that Seattle trip and time zone change is tough, thats why Seattle is 8-0 at home this season and gets mouthed for losing on the east coast so often.
Denver-Seattle in the Superbowl where Seattle exorcises its final demons.. the AFC and the AFC West and an old AFC West rival. Play the old Elway-Bozworth thing, the Kingdome crowd causing Elway all kinds of problems, the Largent knocking that corner out after being knocked out earlier in the season by the same guy. You also have two WCO teams at the top, Jake the Snake getting some redemption, Shanahan getting some respect and Holmgren being the only head coach to win two titles with different teams (i think).
Denver only managed 96 yards rushing against New England despite constantly being fed the ball.
"...Largent knocking that corner out..."
That would be Mike Harden. My teeth hurt just thinking about that hit.
Yeah, I also like Seattle for the same reason that your mentioned: Chicago hung 21 on 'em.
I look for Seattle and Denver to not get their due this week either but it should be a good Superbowl.
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