46 Defense

[dshadow]

I been a fan of the Fins for 20+ something years, but in the last 12 years or so, i have become a serious football fan. Not easy to do from Australia, but i gorge myself on as much football stuff as i can. I am partial to defense and i been looking at learning alot more about the 46 defense. In particular, wat kind of players are prototypical 46 players. Obviously in 3-4 the 3 down lineman are usually bigger and stronger to hold the point of attack to allow the linebackers to penetrate and make plays. In just the little info i have started researching, it seems with the whole philosophy of the 46, that the lighter, quicker Dline and LB's are favored for the Pressure and Run Blitzing.

Any info or opinions on the kinds of players used for this system would be appreciated.

I plan on ordering the real 46 defense discs once i become a little more familiar with the system so i can get stuck right in....

 

[Keepiru]

To me, the 46 defense has always relied on a few different things - a quick line, good safeties and linebackers and corners who can play in bump and run coverage. Basially, the 46 is a 4-3 defensive formation where the strong safety is in a linebacker position, crowding the box so to speak.

The alignment brings the strong safety into a linebacker position on the weakside, playing just a few yards off of the line, with the free safety dropped back into a coverage position, some 10 to 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The linebackers crowd the strong side, creating a mismatch problem for the offensive line. Since the strong safety has weak side coverage, he often has a chance to blitz, depending on how well the line deals with the overloaded pressure on the strong side.

In order to give the attacking defense a chance, the corners have to be able to play man. If the qb does a 3 or 5 step drop and gets rid of the ball quickly, the corners have to be in position to stop the pass or be able to disrupt the pass pattern. If they dont, unlike a traditional 43 alignment chances are the strong safety will not be in position to help them in the zone, leaving only the free safety as a backstop.

When it works, the 46 defense can be a monster. However, it leaves a lot to be desired imo in the current pass happy NFL. The recievers are protected by the officials a lot more than they were when buddy ryan brought this monster to bear in chicago.