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The Grand Poobah
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LT does great job countering moves
by defenseBy Gary Horton
Scouts Inc.
Archive
Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson is arguably the best player in the game and the more you watch him on film, the more he amazes you with his natural skills and versatility. He is a nightmare for defensive coaches when they prepare to play the Chargers, and as we get ready for Bill Belichick and the Patriots' game plan this week, I talked with several NFL defensive coaches and watched a lot of film. Hopefully, we have come up with some ideas on how you try to defend this great player. We will look at LT in four areas:
LaDainian Tomlinson
Running Back
San Diego Chargers
Profile
2006 SEASON STATISTICS
Rush Yds TD Rec Yds TD
348 1815 28 56 508 3
1. What does LT do best? He is the most complete back in the league because he can run inside or outside, he can run with power or speed, and he has enough versatility to not only catch the ball as a receiver, but also throw it out of the backfield. Tomlinson does a great job setting up his blockers by being patient and letting them lead him through the hole, whether it is FB Lorenzo Neal or a pulling offensive lineman. He has great change-of-direction skills and a burst when he is following his lead block, and his vision and instincts are so good that he can get deep into the hole and lure defenders into the box before breaking it to the outside. He also is a great runner on the perimeter. With all these skills to contend with, most defenses struggle against him.
2. How not to defend Tomlinson: A lot of defenses believe in the philosophy that you must penetrate or use run blitzes to attack LT before he gets to the line of scrimmage and gets up to full speed. There is also a common perception that bringing a safety into the box to have eight defenders in run support is a great way to slow him. All we hear is that defenses must load up versus the run to stop LT and the San Diego run game. Well, all of these assumptions are not exactly foolproof.
First of all, if you penetrate versus LT, you run the risk of opening up a solid run lane and if his blockers can screen off the penetrator, he has explosive speed and first-step quickness to hit the hole and he can cut back against the grain and make a good decision better than any other back in the league. Secondly, if you bring a safety into the box for run support, there is a good chance that Chargers QB Philip Rivers simply will check off at the line of scrimmage and call a run play for LT away from the safety and attack the edge, where he is an athletic mismatch for outside linebackers.
Speaking of that, LT loves to start inside and draw the linebackers to him before he bounces it to the outside. When defenses try to contain him with these OLBs and try to turn him back inside, he will make them pay with his speed to the corner. This is a guy who does a great job countering every scheme you throw at him.
VERSATILITY OF LT
Our experts from Scouts Inc. have gone inside their playbook to break down how the Chargers use LaDainian Tomlinson.
• Scouts Inc. playbook: Versatility of LT
3. How to defend Tomlinson: The first things you must concentrate on versus LT are to corral and contain him. It is imperative that you don't let him bounce it to the outside after drawing defenders inside to stop the run. The most effective defense versus LT is the 34 scheme. You must have a physical defensive line that plays two-gap "read and react" techniques with the concentration on controlling the line of scrimmage and not penetrating and opening up gaps and run lanes. If you try to blitz him inside, he simply will adjust and bounce it to the outside.
So, if the front line of the defense does its job, what do we want from the rest of this unit? Playing a Cover 2 look in the secondary has a chance to be successful versus LT, but it puts a lot of pressure on the corners. As we mentioned earlier, asking outside linebackers to contain LT is an athletic mismatch. But when you put a corner on the edge in run support, he is a good athletic matchup versus LT and if he does his job, he will turn the talented Charger back inside where the "big boys" are waiting for him.
The advantage of the Cover 2 is that the corners are already "squatting" on the perimeter in a "cloud" formation and they are in good position to step up in run support and contain LT. In the Cover 2, most corners are physical enough to handle this responsibility.
4. How the Patriots match up versus LT: The 2006 version of the Pats' defense has an excellent chance to control and contain Tomlinson. Their front three defensive line of ends Richard Seymour and Ty Warren and nose tackle Vince Wilfork are great, physical two-gap run stoppers, and they will make it difficult for LT to run inside. They will simply "sit" in the hole and wait for Tomlinson (and you can add inside linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel to the stout inside run defense).
The Pats also will play a lot of Cover 2 schemes, and they have physical corners who can mirror LT on the edge in either a tackling or contain situation, which is a critical factor in this game because the Pats' outside linebackers lack great range and open-field speed. If they are responsible for getting to the edge with LT, New England is in big trouble.
We know Belichick is a genius at assembling an innovative game plan and giving San Diego's run game unique defensive looks, but in Tomlinson the Patriots might have met their match in this chess game. LT is the smartest back in the league, and he amazes us every week with his ability to make adjustments against defenses that solely concentrate on stopping him and forcing the Chargers to beat them another way. In 16 games in 2006, defenses have failed to stop LT and the Chargers 14 times. Will this Sunday be any different?
by defenseBy Gary Horton
Scouts Inc.
Archive
Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson is arguably the best player in the game and the more you watch him on film, the more he amazes you with his natural skills and versatility. He is a nightmare for defensive coaches when they prepare to play the Chargers, and as we get ready for Bill Belichick and the Patriots' game plan this week, I talked with several NFL defensive coaches and watched a lot of film. Hopefully, we have come up with some ideas on how you try to defend this great player. We will look at LT in four areas:
LaDainian Tomlinson
Running Back
San Diego Chargers
Profile
2006 SEASON STATISTICS
Rush Yds TD Rec Yds TD
348 1815 28 56 508 3
1. What does LT do best? He is the most complete back in the league because he can run inside or outside, he can run with power or speed, and he has enough versatility to not only catch the ball as a receiver, but also throw it out of the backfield. Tomlinson does a great job setting up his blockers by being patient and letting them lead him through the hole, whether it is FB Lorenzo Neal or a pulling offensive lineman. He has great change-of-direction skills and a burst when he is following his lead block, and his vision and instincts are so good that he can get deep into the hole and lure defenders into the box before breaking it to the outside. He also is a great runner on the perimeter. With all these skills to contend with, most defenses struggle against him.
2. How not to defend Tomlinson: A lot of defenses believe in the philosophy that you must penetrate or use run blitzes to attack LT before he gets to the line of scrimmage and gets up to full speed. There is also a common perception that bringing a safety into the box to have eight defenders in run support is a great way to slow him. All we hear is that defenses must load up versus the run to stop LT and the San Diego run game. Well, all of these assumptions are not exactly foolproof.
First of all, if you penetrate versus LT, you run the risk of opening up a solid run lane and if his blockers can screen off the penetrator, he has explosive speed and first-step quickness to hit the hole and he can cut back against the grain and make a good decision better than any other back in the league. Secondly, if you bring a safety into the box for run support, there is a good chance that Chargers QB Philip Rivers simply will check off at the line of scrimmage and call a run play for LT away from the safety and attack the edge, where he is an athletic mismatch for outside linebackers.
Speaking of that, LT loves to start inside and draw the linebackers to him before he bounces it to the outside. When defenses try to contain him with these OLBs and try to turn him back inside, he will make them pay with his speed to the corner. This is a guy who does a great job countering every scheme you throw at him.
VERSATILITY OF LT
Our experts from Scouts Inc. have gone inside their playbook to break down how the Chargers use LaDainian Tomlinson.
• Scouts Inc. playbook: Versatility of LT
3. How to defend Tomlinson: The first things you must concentrate on versus LT are to corral and contain him. It is imperative that you don't let him bounce it to the outside after drawing defenders inside to stop the run. The most effective defense versus LT is the 34 scheme. You must have a physical defensive line that plays two-gap "read and react" techniques with the concentration on controlling the line of scrimmage and not penetrating and opening up gaps and run lanes. If you try to blitz him inside, he simply will adjust and bounce it to the outside.
So, if the front line of the defense does its job, what do we want from the rest of this unit? Playing a Cover 2 look in the secondary has a chance to be successful versus LT, but it puts a lot of pressure on the corners. As we mentioned earlier, asking outside linebackers to contain LT is an athletic mismatch. But when you put a corner on the edge in run support, he is a good athletic matchup versus LT and if he does his job, he will turn the talented Charger back inside where the "big boys" are waiting for him.
The advantage of the Cover 2 is that the corners are already "squatting" on the perimeter in a "cloud" formation and they are in good position to step up in run support and contain LT. In the Cover 2, most corners are physical enough to handle this responsibility.
4. How the Patriots match up versus LT: The 2006 version of the Pats' defense has an excellent chance to control and contain Tomlinson. Their front three defensive line of ends Richard Seymour and Ty Warren and nose tackle Vince Wilfork are great, physical two-gap run stoppers, and they will make it difficult for LT to run inside. They will simply "sit" in the hole and wait for Tomlinson (and you can add inside linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel to the stout inside run defense).
The Pats also will play a lot of Cover 2 schemes, and they have physical corners who can mirror LT on the edge in either a tackling or contain situation, which is a critical factor in this game because the Pats' outside linebackers lack great range and open-field speed. If they are responsible for getting to the edge with LT, New England is in big trouble.
We know Belichick is a genius at assembling an innovative game plan and giving San Diego's run game unique defensive looks, but in Tomlinson the Patriots might have met their match in this chess game. LT is the smartest back in the league, and he amazes us every week with his ability to make adjustments against defenses that solely concentrate on stopping him and forcing the Chargers to beat them another way. In 16 games in 2006, defenses have failed to stop LT and the Chargers 14 times. Will this Sunday be any different?