Good 3-4 reads - for those curious

[Nors]

3-4 Renaissance





Move to more flexible defensive alignment has San Diego players and coaches excited
By Jay Posner
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 11, 2004



JOHN R. McCUTCHEN / Union-Tribune
Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has plenty of experience with the 3-4 defense he has installed and will oversee with the Chargers.

It won't take much for the Chargers defense to show improvement this season. We're not talking a climb of Mount Everest proportions. Not even Cowles Mountain, actually.

The Chargers ranked at or near the bottom of the NFL in several defensive categories last season. That means all they need to be better in 2004 is to make an occasional third-down stop and force a turnover more than once a week.

Graphic:

New 3-4 defense
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Diary of a Chargers Fan: Week 1



But as the Chargers prepare for tomorrow's season opener in Houston, their hopes for defensive improvement aren't merely modest. They fully expect to be substantially better, and the optimism all starts with two numbers.

Three and four.

As in, the 3-4 defense installed by new coordinator Wade Phillips.

"It's a new look and everybody's excited about the change," said Jamal Williams, who as the nose tackle serves as the focal point of the 3-4.

Most teams use a 4-3 defense, with two tackles and two ends backed up by three linebackers. But coaches such as Phillips prefer the 3-4, with two ends and one tackle surrounded by four linebackers.

The 3-4 has been around since the 1950s, when Bud Wilkinson used it at Oklahoma. It's been in the NFL since the '70s, and in 1980, estimates were that more than two-thirds of the teams were playing it. Just two decades later, however, only Pittsburgh was using the 3-4 as its base defense.

But, in part because New England won two of the last three Super Bowls playing primarily a 3-4, the defense has been enjoying a renaissance. At least half a dozen teams are expected to play it as their base defense this season, and Phillips said "almost everybody I've talked to is going to play some kind of 3-4 this year even though their base is a four-man front."

Why the switch? In the Chargers' case, it's a simple matter of personnel. They appear to have more quality and depth at linebacker than they do on the line.

"It's very, very difficult to find quality defensive linemen," said coach Marty Schottenheimer, who utilized a 3-4 during his nine seasons in Cleveland and his first three in Kansas City. "I got to thinking about the 3-4 defense last year, midway through our season, because of the versatility."

Schottenheimer wasn't the only coach who used words such as versatility and flexibility to describe what they like about the 3-4.

Wade Phillips
Born: June 21, 1947, in Orange, Texas

College: Linebacker at Houston, 1966-68

First coaching job: Graduate assistant, Houston, 1969

NFL experience (27 seasons): Head coach – Denver (1993-94), Buffalo (1998-2000), Atlanta (interim, 3 games, 2003); defensive coordinator – New Orleans (1981-85), Philadelphia (1986-88), Denver (1989-92), Buffalo (1995-97), Atlanta (2002-03); position coach – Houston (1976-80)

Note: The last five times Phillips took over as defensive coordinator or head coach for a team that had a losing record, his new team went to the playoffs in his first season.



"It's the versatility of the defense," said former NFL defensive coordinator Tom Bass, a North County resident who used the 3-4 as his base defense when Tampa Bay advanced to the NFC Championship Game in 1979. "With three down guys, you can do a lot with slanting one way or the other or involving coordinated changes with the adjacent linebackers.

"Then there's always the option of one of two linebackers – and the offense doesn't know which ones – coming (on blitzes). Rather than lining up four big guys and putting big on big, the offense has to make an adjustment."

Bass is a fan of Phillips' scheme.

"I like the way Wade plays it," Bass said. "He brings people, mixes it up."

Chargers players like it, too, especially outside linebacker Steve Foley, a veteran of the 3-4 in Cincinnati and Houston.

"I've played in both and for me, a linebacker of my talent, a 3-4 is a lot better suited for me being an outside guy," Foley said. "It allows me to come off the edge and make plays, drop back, disguise some coverages and hopefully make some big plays in that area also."

While many people look at the 3-4 as a defense suited for linebackers, Foley said the most important position is nose tackle. Williams hasn't played the position in the pros, but at about 350 pounds, he's a "prototype" nose tackle, as Schottenheimer put it.

"As long as we keep the guy healthy, he will be the MVP of the defense," Foley said of Williams. "The defensive line, if they're not able to take on double teams and hold them up, if not defeat them, then it's going to be a long season."

Phillips' track record is a good one. This is his 28th NFL season, and several of his teams have been at or near the top of the league in defense. His unit last year in Atlanta ranked last, but it was plagued by numerous injuries and still managed to force 31 turnovers, above the league average. The Chargers had only 20, tied for the second-lowest total.

General Manager A.J. Smith, who worked with Phillips in Buffalo, likes the "attacking nature" of the 3-4 because it allows players to utilize their athletic ability. Smith also is pleased that the defenders appear to be "understanding" Phillips' scheme better than they did last year's.

"If you don't understand and you hesitate, even though you're individually good players, you don't even show your talent," Smith said. "And then . . . it just goes downhill. That's completely changed."

 

[Nors]

The 3-4 defense is back in vogue
Sunday, September 12, 2004

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
The ability of linebackers such as James Farrior to put heat on the quarterback is the heart of any 3-4 defense.
Click photo for larger image.


More pro football


NFL Insider: Scuffle off to Buffalo

NFL: Five things to look for today

Steelers Fans: Best to arrive early at Heinz Field

More NFL coverage



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The 3-4 defense was as rare in the NFL as the straight-on kicker several years ago. Only one team used a three-man line as its base of operations and it was right here in Pittsburgh.

Today, two of those defenses will play in Heinz Field when the Oakland Raiders and the Steelers open the season at 1 p.m., and the 3-4 is popping up faster than Krispy Kreme Donut shops. The popular defense of the 1980s that neared extinction in the 1990s is back in full force.

Oakland and San Diego in the past few years joined other converts like Houston, Baltimore and New England in adopting the 3-4 defense. That makes six teams, counting the Steelers, that deploy that defense primarily. Others beginning to use it as part of their package are Dallas, San Francisco, the New York Jets and New Orleans. Ten teams, or nearly one third of the league, now use the 3-4 in some form.

"It's a good defense. It is a very good defense," said Steelers end Kimo von Oelhoffen, who led the Steelers with eight sacks out of that defense last season. "If you have the right personnel, it's an excellent defense. It's a defense that limits a lot of what offenses can do. The 4-3 has been around so long that there are so many schemes to block it. It's tough to block the 3-4, it is."

Oakland coach Norv Turner won't say whether the Raiders, long a 4-3 team, will play today in the 3-4 they've used most of the preseason. But he hired Rob Ryan as his defensive coordinator from the New England Patriots to install it, and Buddy Ryan's son firmly believes in it. The Raiders signed 365-pound nose tackle Ted Washington away from New England as their 3-4 centerpiece.

It was the Patriots who helped spawn the 3-4 comeback by using it last season on the way to a Super Bowl victory. But no one has had more continued success with the 3-4 defense than Bill Cowher, who installed it when he became Steelers coach in 1992, carrying on a tradition that Chuck Noll started when he broke up his old Steel Curtain and switched to the 3-4 in 1983.

"Obviously Pittsburgh has played it forever," Turner said. "It takes some pressure off your defensive line. You can create more problems for an offensive football team and you can present more looks, which Pittsburgh has done to people forever."

Cowher's defenses ranked in the league's top 10 nine times in the past 11 seasons, including No. 1 in 2001 when the Steelers went 13-3 and reached the AFC championship game. Besides Cowher, no coach embraces the defense more enthusiastically than his coordinator, Dick LeBeau.

"It gives you more team speed and gives you four 240-pound men who can run who are in 2-point stances," LeBeau said. "And they can also see, so you can do a few more things with them, you can make more adjustments because they're standing up and watching, as opposed to the four down linemen in a 3-point stance and you have to convey all the changes to him down there."

The 3-4 consists of three down linemen -- a nose tackle in the middle flanked by two ends. Two linebackers stand on the outside edge of the ends, with two inside linebackers and the traditional two cornerbacks and two safeties. Most teams, in passing situations, rush four players (five or more is considered a blitz). The linemen in the 4-3 are the traditional rushers, while the 3-4 rush the lineman and one linebacker. But which one?

"It's kind of a balanced set," von Oelhoffen said, "and it's really easy to disguise coverages, because you have four linebackers and three of them are covering. But you don't know which three. The safeties can disguise, the cornerbacks can disguise because of where the safety's at. It's just a good defense."

The 3-4 puts more emphasis on the linebackers to make the plays, particularly sacks, instead of the linemen.

"It expands your pressure abilities," LeBeau said, "because you have that fourth linebacker and it gives you a little more element of surprise, because they have to guess a little bit about which of those four guys are coming.

"I think another plus of the 3-4 is there are more gifted 240-pound athletes [3-4 linebackers] than there are gifted 300-pound athletes [4-3 tackles]. So you open up a little more of the real outstanding college defensive end who is not quite big enough, he's just about right for the 3-4."

The 4-3 produced legendary fronts such as the Fearsome Foursome, Purple People Eaters, Doomsday Defense and, of course, the Steel Curtain. But the 3-4 helped produce Pro Bowl linebackers, at least around these parts, such as Mike Merriweather, Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, Jason Gildon and Joey Porter.

The Steelers put an outside linebacker in the Pro Bowl nine of the 12 years under Cowher. Part of that reason may be the fact Pro Bowl voters use sacks to help determine the best players. The outside linebackers in the 3-4 have a big advantage in that area over their counterparts in the 4-3, where outside linebackers cover receivers more than rush the quarterback. Traditionally, 3-4 outside linebackers play end in nickel and dime passing defenses.

Conversely, the 3-4 ends get short shrift in the voting. No Steelers defensive end made a Pro Bowl since L.C. Greenwood, following the Steeler's last Super Bowl victory in the 1979 season, when they used the 4-3 defense.

The Steelers' line, though, has been a good one, particularly over the past two seasons.

"I think one of the real strengths of our defense is our defensive line," LeBeau said.

Von Oelhoffen became the first end to lead them in sacks since Tim Johnson had four in 1988. Nose tackle Casey Hampton made the past Pro Bowl. Left end Aaron Smith is one of their highest-paid players because he's outstanding against the run and he pushes the pocket, forcing the quarterback to run into the arms of the linebackers.

LeBeau has seen it all in his 45 years in the NFL, including 14 as a player with the Detroit Lions; he's not surprised at the comeback of the 3-4 defense. When he first came into the league, everyone played a four-man front, but the merger in 1970 brought more 3-4 defenses from the AFC and things began to change. They moved back to the 4-3, and now the pendulum is swinging back toward the three-man front.

Coaches love to tinker, but then "If you get a real good bunch of defensive players," LeBeau said, "they're probably going to do all right for you no matter what scheme you put them in."

 

[Nors]

The Birth and Rebirth of the 3-4 Defense
BY: Ray Faustina

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It's been 30 years since Chuck Fairbanks first coached in New England. You know you're old if you can remember it. From 1973-78, he introduced the Patriots to the 3-4 defense and slowly turned around the team's fortunes. Taking over a group that went 3-11 in 1972, he brought them to records of 5-9 and to 7-7 in the two following years, respectively, only to slide back to 3-11 in his third season. But he got it right the next time around, as the team soared to 11-3 in 1976 before finally bowing out of the divisional playoffs at Oakland (24-21). In 1977, they finished a respectable 9-5 but that only got them third place. 1978 was his swan song, with the team going 11-5 only to lose to the divisional playoffs 31-14 to the Houston Oilers. With all due respect to Patriots fans, that was quite a fitting way to go out.

The reason I can say that is simple. Fairbanks didn't invent the 3-4 Defense, he just borrowed it while serving as Head Coach of Michigan State. It enjoyed a long life in New England, from 1973 to 1996, until Bill Parcells in his third year with the Patriots pulled a stunner by switching from his preferred 3-4 Defense to a 4-3 Defense. It seems Parcells found out that Willie McGinest wasn't Lawrence Taylor, and that he would be best utilized as a pass rushing lineman. No longer would they have a read and react front seven but an attacking one. That startegy worked well enough to improve on a 6-10 record to a 11-5 record and a Super Bowl loss to Green Bay (35-21). Of course, we know it was Bill Belichick operating the switches behind all those tactical moves. But the fact remains that they didn't invent the 3-4. Instead, the Patriots lost the 1978 playoffs to the coach who actually created it and to the team who first employed it.


In 1975, as Defensive Coordinator under Oilers Head Coach Sid Gillman, O.A. "Bum" Phillips introduced the 3-4 set as his base Defense. Phillips turned around a team that went 1-13 and 7-7 in 1973-4 to suddenly go 10-4 in 1975. For the next three years, their place atop the division was firmly entrenched. The reason behind the switch was simple: personnel dictated the change.


According to NFL.com, Phillips says, "To work the 3-4, you need linebackers who can really run. Defensive lineman in the 3-4 can all be tackle-types. It's a whole lot easier to find defensive tackles than ends. We still rushed four people 90 percent of the time and sometimes we sent five." He continues, "It gave you a chance to get a linebacker rushing against a halfback and they couldn't block them one-on-one. I remember (with Houston) one time up in Buffalo, we rushed (outside linebacker) Robert Brazile on O.J. Simpson's side. Well, O.J. never came out of the backfield." And by 1980, 19 of the league's 28 teams had bought into Phillips 3-4 scheme.


To make his system go, Phillips installed Curley Culp at the critical Nose Guard spot. Culp would become the standard by which all Nose Guards are measured. Culp was incredibly strong, despite being terribly undersized. He's listed at 6'-1" 265lbs. Altough he was obviously a "tweener," he managed to enjoy a 13 year career (1968-81) with the Chiefs, Oilers and Lions. That's great longevity, despite suffering the constant pounding normally associated with the Nose position. His career peaked as an Oiler in 1975 with 11.5 sacks plus All-Pro and Defensive Player of the Year honors.


What made him most unique, I think, was that he was a former NCAA heavyweight wrestling Champion in 1967 while at Arizona State, where he won four Conference titles (1965-8). The man was a beast. As a two-sport star, he's rumored to have smashed the helmets of three different college teammates in scrimmage. He wasn't just powerful but relentless. No one, I repeat, no one could handle him one-on-one. His leverage techniques and quickness were far advanced for the interior line. Getting low in his stance was second nature to him, as a former wrestler, which was a distinct advantage. His hands and pad level were excellent. That is the prototype Nose Guard, despite football myths to the contrary.


Even Hank Stram, as Head Coach of the Chiefs, realized this. He first coached Curley Culp, then went about trying to duplicate Culp. Legend has it that he once called Penn State University due to his interest in lineman Charlie Getty. Stram wanted to fly him back to Kansas City for a workout but Getty refused on the grounds that he had an upcoming NCAA wresting tournament. Stram was so excited to learn that he was a former wrestler that the Chiefs drafted and signed him to a contract. Getty went on to enjoy a standout nine year career with the Chiefs.


The Raiders, on the other hand, had to draft both Art Shell and Gene Upshaw just to counter Curley Culp. That's not unlike the Commanders switching to a one-back set to counter Lawrence Taylor or the Packers drafting 3 DB's to counter Randy Moss. That's the measure of greatness.


Nevertheless, with the rebirth of the 3-4 Defense will come, and indeed has come, NFL teams looking for "the next Curley Culp." The Providence Journal's Tom Curran reports that Bill Belichick would seem to agree. Commenting on whether or not Jarvis Green has the bulk to handle playing the Nose, we read:


"There are different styles," said Belichick. "Look at a guy like (Anthony) McFarland (of the Buccaneers) or Brad Culpepper (formerly of Tampa). Jarvis is 285. We played Ernie Logan there with the Jets. He was about the same size. Tim Goad played here for a long time. He was one of the better noses in the league. I doubt if he weighed 260. There are different styles, different body types . . . different styles and techniques. In the end, for a player to be effective, he has to have some quickness and hand usage ability and play with strength and balance like a wrestler would."


He continued, "We don't want to be slow," he said. "We want to be fast. Size is important, but speed and quickness are important, too. If you look at the more effective noses in the league -- McFarland -- guys that are fast and quick inside are the best noses. Big slow guys that can't run are great in certain plays. Nobody can move (350-plus pound) Ted Washington and that's great on running plays, but being an effective pass rusher?


"There's always the possibility we could move (Green) back out (to end), but the upside is there's not an established nose at this point on our team and he has an opportunity to go in and get a head start on that position and win it if he's the best guy."


This would seem to support my position that suggests that Jarvis Green may only be a stopgap measure for the 2003 season until (1.) 2003 4th round draft pick Dan Klecko establishes himself as a legitimate NFL Nose Guard, and (2.) the Patriots can revisit the position in round one of the 2004 draft. At this writing those primary targets for the Patriots include (a.) Tommie Harris of Oklahoma, (b.) Brandon Kennedy of North Texas, and (c.) Demarco McNeil of Auburn. Since the beginning, this team has looked at Jarvis Green as an inside-outside guy, as well as being the eventual replacement for an aging but experienced Anthony Pleasant.


But Green, Klecko and these 2004 draft possibilities mark a clear indication of the direction the Patriots want to go at Nose Guard. That's a little surprising if you consider that former 300lb Patriots NG Chad Eaton was allowed to leave via Free Agency under Belichick's promise to bring in a bigger (320lb+) and more "ideal" body, a promise he nearly made good on in the first round of the 2003 draft. But I think that just goes to show the flexibility of Bill Belichick, and perhaps to a lesser extent the 3-4 Defense. I might also suggest that in Belichick's capacity as Football Historian, he is well aware that the 320lb body is best suited for a 4-3 Defense (aka: Miami Slide 4-3 Defense) or Buddy Ryan's famed 46 Defense, or some variation of either. But Curley Culp will likely always be the prototype 3-4 Nose Guard.


While potentially investing another #1 pick on the Patriots defensive line might seem like overkill, consider also that Belichick is on record as having stated frequently that the Patriots will always be looking for another Richard Seymour. It wouldn't be too hard to imagine him wanting the next Curley Culp either, especially since it's a position that regularly shortens careers and frequently requires some sort of platoon system in order to keep bodies fresh. However, this rather large investment marks yet another subtle change of the 3-4 scheme under the pressure of Belichick's "Genius" mind.


In "Bum" Phillips days, it was, as he said, easier to find DT's than DE's. That explains why he wanted to get three DT's out there, instead of two subpar DE's. But his initial premise may no longer be true. Nowadays, finding even one quality DT can be a nightmare for teams. And since the days of Lawrence Taylor, perhaps teams no longer need pass rushing DE's the way they once did. Heat can come from anywhere, most especially OLB. The OLB would, in essence, act as a DE, particularly in a 3-4 Defense. The DE's in a 3-4 scheme, meanwhile, are no longer asked just to hold up blockers and fight through double-teams while LB's make the plays, but rather are frequently asked to provide a 3-man rush while the LB's and DB's drop into coverage. That's a much more difficult task than those the Oilers lineman faced.


It might also be noted that the Oilers lucked into landing NG Curley Culp and also had a major draft find in Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea out of North Carolina A&T. Then there was Buck Buchannon, who some feel was better than both. So, they had the playmakers they needed on the line after all, but I don't think anyone could've anticipated just how successful they'd become, including Phillips.


It must be noted too that they played in an age when the 4-3 Defense was king, and Vince Lombardi's influence could still be felt. Lombardi countered the 4-3 Defense with a quick and agile Center in the form of Hall of Famer and All-Century team's Jim Ringo, who played from 1953-63. Ringo was only 6'-1" and weighed 235lbs, soaking wet. He was a former seventh round draft pick who was first thought to be a bust.


Lombardi saw in him something different and assigned him the responsibility of quickly cutting off the MLB who was shooting the "A" gap in the 4-3 scheme. Mind you, this was at a time where no player in his right mind wanted to snap a ball only to be hammered by a lineman or plowed over by his own running back. Though playing Center was generally thought to be some form of punishment or a sign of weakness, Ringo excelled with the Packers from 1954-63. This would start a trend of teams using smaller and quicker Centers, and it's one that must be accounted for when discussing the talent needed at DL now.


Some teams currently reject that notion, however, such as the Texans Dom Capers. He insists, as does Phillips, that in a 3-4 defense linemen don't have to be the stars. He says they only need to be decent since the system is set up for the LB's to dominate the game. The Baltimore Ravens Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan, for one, seems to agree.


The Patriots Bill Belichick, however, seems to be well aware that there are no more Lawrence Taylors. Instead, he's installed a defense that has the DL as its foundation and also believes that he can make a group of great, or at least adequate, LB's.


It's one defensive scheme, but two schools of thought. Whose side is history on? Well, the Historian's of course!