Defensive playcalling

[ggsimmonds]

Quote: Originally Posted by heelphreak

I agree with the poster who said that you must know your personnel. It's crucial. Against an opponent who's base set is 3wr/1rb/1te I'm not always going nickel, especially on early downs or if my olb has decent cover skills. That being said, matching personnel is still vital. If the opponent comes out in 4/5 wide sets you have to have at least 5db's or there. If they come out with 2te inside your 10 you might be better off going goal line with man d and man align presnap. You have to be able to cover but you also have to have bodies at the point of attack. It's all situational too. If your opponent had a strong run game and typically runs on first down, blitz or play a cover 1. Blitzing stops the run as well as sacking the qb. I blitz on 1st down more than any other. Get them behind the chains and then tee off on their qb. Bring the strength of your defense to the wider side of the field presnap and then match their strength with adjustments if needed at the line of scrimmage. Again, it's about bodies at the point of attack.

Matching personnel is vital but what I meant was that it should not be a universal rule.

If I am playing against the Patriots they can come out in a 2/2/1 set all they want but I am staying in Nickel. With some teams I treat the TE as a WR. The last thing I want to see if I am the Ravens is Suggs or Dumervil trying to cover a guy like Vernon Davis.

As for blitzing to stop the run, it is often overlooked. Too many people think blitzes are only designed to get to the QB. However not all blitzes are equally effective as run blitzes. Opinions differ but I avoid man blitzes if I am expecting run. There are some exceptions but man blitzing is risky. My opinion is that the best run blitzes are zone blitzes, particularly the scrape blitzes and safety blitzes (my go to run blitz is SS str snake 3). Of course if they run away from the blitz it is less effective.
Edit: I will man blitz versus a run out of the 3-4 but I try to avoid it if I run a 4-3 or am in my nickel package.

[skinnybonez]

whats the best goal line zone play? i get score on everytime...

[heelphreak]

Play man coverage on the goalline.