As Belichick's creativity suggests, not all 3-4 defenses are created equally.
That was the gist of the phone call from Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman to Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware in the offseason after former San Diego defensive coordinator Wade Phillips became Dallas head coach and former Chargers defensive backs coach Brian Stewart was hired as coordinator.
"I told him that he had some (great) coaches coming his way," Merriman recalled this week, "and that he was going to love it."
Ware played in a 3-4 during his first two NFL seasons under Bill Parcells, but it was a vastly different scheme. Parcells' 3-4 was built on power; Phillips' scheme emphasizes speed and is more aggressive. "Instead of a big boy's game," Stewart says, "we made it a finesse, go-get-em type of game."
One of Stewart's first tasks in introducing the scheme was producing a highlight DVD of the Chargers defense with clips of big plays by different players in various situations. San Diego led the NFL with 61 sacks in 2006, so the message was more flashing neon than subliminal: You can do this, too.
Players quickly bought in. "It's totally, totally different," inside linebacker Bradie James says. "I think you can see from our body language. We're actually having fun."
To adjust, James, a fifth-year pro, dropped more than 20 pounds after weighing 260 last year.
"Last year, I couldn't play the position at the weight I am now," James says. "I wouldn't have made it to Game 8. Now I don't have to wrestle with 300-pound (linemen in the trenches). I can play linebacker from sideline to sideline."
Dallas' 13th-ranked defense faded down the stretch last season, allowing 425 yards and 33 points a game as the Cowboys lost three of their final four. Their overall ninth-ranked unit this season rated third in sacks in the NFL with 46, an increase of 12 from 2006.
Ware fulfilled Merriman's projection. He enjoys the scheme and tied for third in the NFL with a career-high 14 sacks. "It's not just Xs and Os," Stewart says. "You've got to have some Jessies and Joes — as in cats who can play."
