I talked about how to beat the 46 defense for years before the NFL figured it out. I’ve said for the last few years that if I was a defensive coach playing the Packers or the other good passing teams, I’d play more safeties at the expense of linebackers. Safeties can cover the receivers, tight ends, and running backs that go out for passes, while linebackers can’t or can’t as well, and can still play the run. They are faster than linebackers. In the WSJ a day or so ago, there was an article titled “The Future of NFL Defense.” Here are some excerpts:
“Last year, NFL defense hit a new low: The 697 total yards earned in an average game was the most in league history. The previous high was set in 2012. And that replaced 2011’s mark. You get the picture.
But one team is fighting back. Those inside the league say the New Orleans Saints are quietly crafting an unorthodox defense that could change the game and become the shape of defenses to come.
The idea was hatched by accident last year, when injuries to linebackers gave Rob Ryan a dilemma: play bad linebackers or get creative with positions. Ryan went the latter route and stressed the safety position, playing as many as four safeties at once and playing three at a time in his default defensive package. In the NFL, some teams play as few as one safety and almost no team ever employs more than two.
Safeties are bigger than cornerbacks, who typically cover wide receivers, but faster than linebackers, who are built to stop a running back and take on offensive linemen. They can be 60 pounds lighter than some linebackers but 20 pounds heavier than some corners. They can cover the insanely athletic crop of tight ends now in the NFL and take on the league’s rising group of tall receivers all while giving up only a little bit of speed from a cornerback.
A bonus in Ryan’s mad-scientist scheme is that he can position the safety anywhere from 20 yards away from the quarterback to right on the line of scrimmage, rushing the quarterback off the edge.
The result? The Saints improved from last in the NFL in yards allowed in 2012 to fourth last season, Ryan’s first with the team.”
Once again I saw something that was so obvious well before the NFL coaches did, and this was discovered “by accident!” How could teams not figure out that they should have more DBs playing, even if only against the great passing teams? Why let teams continue to beat you through passing and not adjust?