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11:16 AM Wed, Nov 26, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
There was a stunning play on San Francisco's first offensive series Sunday: DeMarcus Ware missed a sack despite going unblocked.
We'll chalk up Ware's whiff on QB Shaun Hill as a fluke. The fact that he came clean was not. Credit Wade Phillips and Co. for figuring out a way to have the NFC's sacks leader be ignored by a blocking scheme.
It was another case of the Cowboys creating havoc with a variation of their nickel package that uses a 3-3 front, often moving the linebackers around just before the snap to attack the weak points in the opponent's pass protection.
"We try to attack protections and we try to get one-on-one matchups with certain people," Phillips said. "They have to identify the four people that are coming and the middle linebacker and the hots and so forth. We study that and say, 'We can get this guy on this guy, or we can get somebody free.' We try to get somebody free, but you can't always do that."
They got somebody free twice Sunday. On the third-and-long play minutes into the game, Ware and Kevin Burnett both lined up on the same side, outside of left DE Greg Ellis. With that side overloaded and the Niners in a multi-receiver set, there simply wasn't anybody to pick up Ware, who lined up outside Burnett. Same thing happened later with FS Ken Hamlin, who lined up outside Burnett on the left side and came clean to sack Hill and force a fumble.
The Cowboys unveiled the look last season, using it to put Anthony Spencer on the field with Ware and Ellis. Spencer isn't part of it now, with the coaches opting to use their regular nickel personnel, meaning Bradie James joins Burnett and Ware as the linebackers.
Phillips has cracked that it's a "mill-around defense" because of the linebackers' pre-snap movement. It might look like freelancing, but the milling around is carefully timed to mess with the offense's mind as much as possible.
"You just try to create some confusion as far as the offensive line calls," James said.
That's how a guy like DeMarcus Ware can go untouched.
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
There was a stunning play on San Francisco's first offensive series Sunday: DeMarcus Ware missed a sack despite going unblocked.
We'll chalk up Ware's whiff on QB Shaun Hill as a fluke. The fact that he came clean was not. Credit Wade Phillips and Co. for figuring out a way to have the NFC's sacks leader be ignored by a blocking scheme.
It was another case of the Cowboys creating havoc with a variation of their nickel package that uses a 3-3 front, often moving the linebackers around just before the snap to attack the weak points in the opponent's pass protection.
"We try to attack protections and we try to get one-on-one matchups with certain people," Phillips said. "They have to identify the four people that are coming and the middle linebacker and the hots and so forth. We study that and say, 'We can get this guy on this guy, or we can get somebody free.' We try to get somebody free, but you can't always do that."
They got somebody free twice Sunday. On the third-and-long play minutes into the game, Ware and Kevin Burnett both lined up on the same side, outside of left DE Greg Ellis. With that side overloaded and the Niners in a multi-receiver set, there simply wasn't anybody to pick up Ware, who lined up outside Burnett. Same thing happened later with FS Ken Hamlin, who lined up outside Burnett on the left side and came clean to sack Hill and force a fumble.
The Cowboys unveiled the look last season, using it to put Anthony Spencer on the field with Ware and Ellis. Spencer isn't part of it now, with the coaches opting to use their regular nickel personnel, meaning Bradie James joins Burnett and Ware as the linebackers.
Phillips has cracked that it's a "mill-around defense" because of the linebackers' pre-snap movement. It might look like freelancing, but the milling around is carefully timed to mess with the offense's mind as much as possible.
"You just try to create some confusion as far as the offensive line calls," James said.
That's how a guy like DeMarcus Ware can go untouched.
j/k
