Struggling to handle deep passes while dealing with the running game? You might want to rethink how your defense operates. Defense can be challenging for any team to master, especially in this era of complex passing offenses. For example, Seth Keysor States in his article “Super Bowl Film Review,” that Patrick Mahomes never has bad games. and to some extent this is true, with his talent and the reliable weapons he has carving up the field it’s for him to fail. Yet that means your defense is just that much more important, as mastering blitzes and coverages will give your team a competitive edge, even against teams with an unstoppable passing game like the Superbowl 54 champs. A 3-4 defense stops the passing game with it’s 7 defensive backs, and stops the run game with it’s linebackers ready to step up and fill any whole the ball is being run through. Unlike a 4-3 defense that, according to Vincent Frank in his article about the strengths and weaknesses of every defensive scheme, works well against the run but poor against passing. It also allows players the freedom to make adjustments before the snap. Therefore, new high school football coaches would be smart to implement a 3-4 defense, as players will quickly learn their individual assignments, and appreciate how much more versatility they have when covering the run and playing in zone or even man coverage.
How It Works
The Line
There are usually three linemen in the 3-4 base scheme: two ends over the tackles and a nose guard. However, the ends may not always line up there, it depends on your blitzes from your defensive backs and whether or not you want your a linebacker or two to line up on the line of scrimmage. After the offense lines up in their formation, the defense will choose how it lines up in response to that formation. If it’s a likely running formation, you want extras LB’s on the line, but we will get into more of that later. Sometimes, you might want to trick the offensive line by running a trap play. This would be accomplished by having your nose guard crash down sideways quickly at the snap of the ball, and your end stalling for a second, letting the nose hit the hole in front of him and then the going through the hole the nose was originally lined up over. What this does is cause the center on the offense to move down the line trying to block the nose, which in turn opens the whole wider for the end to run through. If you combine this with a blitz from any defensive back, it can be an extremely effective trick to gain a clutch sack. While trap plays can be conducted with other defensive schemes, they are most effective in the 3-4 set up because of the option to blitz a safety or fast line backer through a wide open whole.
In addition, with the 3-4 defense, you have the option of having your corners press the line of scrimmage. This means that they would play close to the receivers they are lining up across from at the line of scrimmage and jam them at the start of a play. This jamming can only go for the first five yards of the receiver’s route before your corner must let them go. This is very useful to cause confusion and miscommunication between the wide outs and the quarterback as they may not be on the same timing because your corners slowed him down. This could also create enough time for a trap play and blitz from a defensive back to be carried out, which would most likely result in a huge sack for a loss.These small details can make huge differences come game time when your players are laying it all down on the field.
The Versatile Muscle
The 3-4 defense’s strongest trait is its linebackers. There are a total of four Linebackers: two middle, one left, and one right. The weak side LB is typically called “will,” the strong side middle “mike,” strong side outside “sam,” and the remaining position is usually called “jack.” These nicknames or similar ones are recommended to be used as placeholders when discussing plays so each player can assume the responsibility of a nickname for that specific play. It can not be stressed enough that your players must learn all aspects of the position they are playing, as the strength of the 3-4 scheme comes it’s adaptability before the snap. So, your players have to know what they’re doing in order to make adjustments. Your linebackers should memorize the responsibilities for any of the positions that they could hold, as the names switch around in relevance to the formation and personel the offense lines up in. Your outside linebackers should memorize the positions of Sam and Mike, and your inside linebackers should learn Will and Jack. You may want your Sam or Mike linebackers to go to the line of scrimmage on an obvious running play, like third and short. On an obvious passing play, like second and long or third and long, you may want your linebackers to line up in man coverage and have them spread out behind the defensive line. Zone coverage also works wonderfully, and personally I prefer zone coverage when running a 3-4 defense. The amount of defensive backs the 3-4 scheme uses provides complete coverage downfield, making it extremely difficult for a quarterback to squeeze the ball in between the areas of the field your four linebackers are locking down. It may take a little time for your players to adjust to zone coverage if they are used to being in man, but they will soon appreciate the fact that they have to run less to cover the recievers that they are up against. This helps your defense keep from getting tired and will come in handy in close fourth quarter scenarios.
Your Quick Guys
Your defensive backs are an important part of a strong 3-4 scheme. They play an integral role in closing up any areas of the field your LB’s and linemen might leave open. On running plays, your two safeties should step up quickly after identifying that the offense is in fact running the ball. They need to play downfield so to stop the opposing running back in his tracks in case he breaks free from the mess your four linebackers will create at the line. It’s important to inform them to not to bite too quickly on seemingly run plays, as this can open option pass plays either down or across the field, in the form of a fly or slant route respectively. This applies to your corners as well, whom on run plays should try to maintain outside containment on anyone attempting to block them until after the ball has passed them or the play is over.
Implementing
The 3-4 defense is one that is usually easy for coaches to install. When adopting a 3-4 set up, the simple nature of the defense will be a tool for you to instruct your players of their individual roles. This lies in the fact that this type of defense is extremely versatile, and what your players will do in their assignments should be determined by their personal strengths. Ultimately, the complexity of your play calls can be completely up to your coaches discretion and can be made to fit your team’s play style. For example, if you have strong linebackers that are good using their hands to shred blocks, you should make a play call where you send extra LB’s to the line. Or, if you have really fast corners who are good at playing the ball in the air you may want to have your corners in man coverage most of the time. Your players will eventually begin to make these adjustments on their own and that is exactly what you want as a coach. Your goal should be to familiarize your players with their assignments so much so that they start to use their own critical thinking skills to figure out what to do against a certain formation. This is necessary because you will not always have the time to call a defensive audible before the center hikes the ball. In the long run, your team will benefit much more from knowing their roles well enough to make their own split-second decision than from seeing the offense make a change and then having to wait for your adjustment call. In addition, these adjustments allow for a versatility in your defense that you won’t find with any other base formation. The complexity of today’s passing offenses is easily handled by the 8 total defensive backs that can be used in a multitude of ways to lockdown any QB. At the end of the day, your players will greatly appreciate a switch to a much more versatile and rewarding scheme with a greater potential for success.
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