Football's Best Defenses

The 4-3 Defense has been around for a long time, but the version that I prefer is the 4-3 Miami or 4-3 Over Front Defense. This version was developed by Jimmy Johnson and his staff at the University of Miami in the 1980's. The original purpose was to stop the Wishbone Option being run at Oklahoma by Barry Switzer. And if you need to stop the Triple Option, this is the defense for you.

The Defensive Line is an Even Front, with a Tackle on the outside shade of the Guard and another Tackle in a weak shade on the Center. The two Defensive Ends can be lighter and faster players because they are aligned outside of the End Man on the Line of Scrimmage and crashing down hard. The premise of the defensive front is to spill everything outside.

The Linebackers are two-gap players. The Mike Linebacker is a punisher. He reads the Fullback in the offense and crashes hard to the open gap on whichever side the back heads to. If he goes strong, Mike plays the strong A-gap. If the Fullback is going weak, Mike plays the weakside B-gap. The Sam Linebacker handles the C gap to the strong side and plays for the cutback on plays run to the weak side. The Will Linebacker is playing cutback on plays to the strong side and functions as an extra body on the weak side run.

The natural coverages to run with the 4-3 Defense are the Cover 2 and Cover 4 (or Quarters). In Quarters coverage, the Safeties are the contain players. Run plays are being spilled out to the Safeties, who box the play. They are extremely physical, athletic players. The Corners would need to be more aggressive for the Cover 2. By rolling down the Safeties, the defense also works well with the Cover 3.

The 4-3 Defense is great for not only stopping power running games, but also can be easily adapted to stop the most flexible Spread Offenses in the game today. More on the 4-3 Defense

The 3-5-3 Defense has grown faster in popularity than any other defense in the last ten years. The obvious advantage is getting 8 players who can run on the field. This is an advantage not only in combating the Spread Offense, but also helping teams who have trouble getting true Defensive Linemen out for the team.

This defense is often referred to as the Odd Stack, and that's a pretty descriptive name. It is an Odd Front, meaning that there is a player covering up the Center. The other two Defensive Linemen are commonly lined head up on the Offensive Tackles. The three Inside Linebackers stack directly behind the three Defensive Linemen. Many 3-5-3 defensive alignments are focused on never breaking the stack, that is never adjusting this part of the defense.

The two outside players, generally responsible for containing the run and playing the flats against the pass, have many names. They can be called Outside Linebackers, Overhang Safeties, Spurs and Bandits, or a whole range of other names. Some coaches will flop these guys with the strength, others play them as Left and Right.

The natural coverage for the 3-5-3 is the Cover 3 because of the single high Free Safety. It is uncommon for the 3-5-3 Defense to be run with eight players dropping into coverage. You can expect a blitz to be coming from at least one Linebacker on most snaps. More on the 3-5-3 Defense

The 4-4 Defense is one of the most popular defenses in football, and the 4-2-5 is simply an adaptation of the 4-4 to today's modern Spread Offenses.

The two outside linebackers were replaced by two hybrid Safeties. Those guys are what makes the 4-2-5 so adaptable. The defense features an Even front with two Defensive Ends and two Defensive Tackles. The Inside Linebackers are going to handle one open gap on the line. Cover 3 is the natural fit with the single-high Free Safety playing the middle 1/3 and the Corners responsible for the outside 1/3's.

Installing the 4-2-5 or 4-4 Defense can be done at any level and can be done quickly. You can make infinite adaptations of the defense as well to fit your own player's talents. More on the 4-2-5 Defense

3-4 Defense features an Odd Front and a two high Safety look that allow this defense to be extremely versatile and effective. It is actually just an adjustment to the old 5-2 Defense, with the Defensive Ends moved off the line and outside, becoming Outside Linebackers. It is easier to cover the flats from here, and also keep the offense off balance with blitzes and line movements.

The three down linemen are head up on the center and the two Offensive Tackles. The two Inside Linebackers stack over top of the Offensive Guards. The players up the middle are crucial to the success of the defense. With a dominant Nose Guard and two physical, athletic Linebackers, this defense can be very tough to beat.

The two high safeties make Cover 2 and Cover 4 easy to fit with the 3-4 Defense. By buzzing down a safety to replace a blitzing Outside Linebacker, we also easily create a Cover 3.