The 3-2 has some pretty obvious pros & cons. You are extremely vulnerable against the run, but you also have 8 guys in coverage, so typically you don't have anything open downfield, and force the QB to go with a high percentage/low yardage throw. Match that with the way our defense pursues to the football, along with higher quality DBs than in previous years, and it is pretty effective on passing downs.
My biggest issue with a 3-2 (at least the way Rod plays it) is it becomes very difficult to disguise your pass rush. With 3 DL and 2 LBs it makes the O-line assignments pretty straight forward. Other teams will often show an all out blitz just to fall into coverage after the snap, which can help cause confusion on the oline, force teams to keep in TEs/RBs for pass pro, and on occasion cause a QB to force a pass to his hot route that was covered after all. For this reason I would prefer a 4-1-6 or 4-2-5 to a 3-2-6 when we are at full strength. Especially with the improved pass rush that we have seen as the season progresses I would rather give our guys a shot at the QB.
My guess in in two weeks we end up playing Green Bay. If that happens we may see a lot of the 3-2 on passing downs. Rod hates to send pressure on the elite QBs, and for good reason. I haven't gone back and re-watched the Lions game for any type of breakdown, but one thing that did pop out to me during the Live broadcast was how often even in a 4 man fronts we were only rushing 3 men. It seems like Tyrone Crawford was dropped into coverage multiple times. Rod still plays everything pretty straight up, but has been adding some small wrinkles to this defense as the year has progressed, and I like it.
...
