Denver Native (Carol)
09-19-2009, 09:51 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13370513
There's been a bit of magic in Denver's defensive transformation, courtesy of Mike Nolan and the Great McD
Slicing through a fog of forecasted gloom come Elvis Dumervil and Mario Haggan, rushing from the outside.
Penetrating beyond predictions of woe comes Andra Davis, churning forward from the inside.
As Champ Bailey darts in from his spot at cornerback, as Brian Dawkins blitzes in from his position at safety, hope trickles into this Broncos' season.
While offseason attention focused on the firing of longtime coach Mike Shanahan, the hiring of first-time coach Josh McDaniels and the shocking departure of star quarterback Jay Cutler, the Broncos were quietly developing some magic known as the 3-4 defense.
All the 3-4 defense does is win Super Bowls. As recently as the 2003 season, only two NFL teams were using the 3-4 as their base defense. The other 30 teams, including the Broncos, employed the 4-3.
Yet, those two 3-4 teams — the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers — have won four of the last six Super Bowls, and the 2007 Patriots brought an 18-0 record into a fifth Super Bowl during that span.
For the Broncos, hope comes not necessarily in numbers, but in the arrangement of numbers. Gone is the 4-3, which was so easily pushed aside, anyway. In is the 3-4, which McDaniels brought from New England.
The 3-4 got off to a rousing start last Sunday, holding Cincinnati to seven points.
"In the NFL, it's tough to go into every game and think you're going to just kick somebody's tail with a straight-up defense," Broncos defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said, "because everybody has good players. So, if you don't utilize some scheme to assist your players and give them a chance to win some battles, or throw an offense off-balance a little bit, it's hard in the long run to be good.
"Every now and then you'll just be better than somebody and you can stay vanilla and beat them, but that's not very often. If you get to the playoffs, I don't care if it's offense, defense or special teams, if you don't have some different tools to use, then you don't really give your players a good chance to win that game."
Not surprisingly, the Patriots and Steelers are no longer the only teams lining up their defense with three down linemen and four linebackers. Invesco Field at Mile High will host a 3-4 game, and nothing but, as the Browns and Broncos both employ three down linemen and four linebackers.
Eleven teams are now utilizing the 3-4 as their base defense.
"You don't see it as much as you see the 4-3, so it makes the week of preparation more involved," Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley said. "It's kind of like the spread offense. But now that you're seeing it more, we'll see what happens."
In theory, the 3-4 is supposedly more vulnerable against the run. Fewer linemen filling the line of scrimmage means more space up front to run. The Broncos have also been susceptible to the midrange pass play. But by nature, the 3-4 is a faster defense because it essentially replaces a lumbering 300-pound lineman with an athletically sculpted 240-pound linebacker.
Against Cincinnati, each of the Broncos' three sacks came from linebackers, and nickel linebacker Wesley Woodyard had an interception.
Compare that to 2006, when Broncos linebackers combined for two sacks and zero interceptions, or 2007, when they had 3 1/2 sacks and two interceptions, or 2008, when zero interceptions came from the linebackers.
"The (3-4) scheme is pretty much based around the linebacker," said Haggan, a backup middle linebacker in the 4-3 who has experienced a midcareer renaissance as an outside backer in the 3-4. "We feel that if we don't get going, the rest of the defense suffers. Coach Nolan has a lot of schemes where he calls everybody's number. But the linebacker plays a huge role."
At a time when the wide receiver screen has replaced the tailback pitch as a favorite of offensive coordinators, rushing the passer has become as important as stopping the rush.
The 3-4 brings uncertainty to the pass rush. Technically, the NFL defines a blitz as a play on which a defense sends more than four pass rushers at the quarterback. But if that fourth pass rusher is a safety, it looks like a blitz anyway.
Thus, a 3-4 creates a sense of chaos on nearly every play.
"It's just easier to see in the 4-3," Broncos right tackle Ryan Harris said. "Bringing three linemen and a fourth backer is a lot different from rushing four guys up front."
The Broncos are attempting to reverse three consecutive seasons of poor defensive play. In 2006, Denver allowed a league-high 26.1 points in the final 10 games. Afterward, defensive coordinator Larry Coyer refused a demotion and resigned.
In 2007, the Broncos ranked 28th in points allowed (25.6). Defensive coordinator Jim Bates refused a demotion and resigned.
In 2008, they ranked 30th in points allowed (28.0). Defensive coordinator Bob Slowik followed Shanahan out the door.
In 2009, is it possible the identity of McDaniels' first Broncos team will eventually become its 3-4 defense?
"You can see the level of communication on the field that they have, which is huge defensively," said Browns coach Eric Mangini in a conference call this week. "And there's the '34' element that they're able to build 4-3 fronts off of it. There's game-plan pressures. And things that are going to show up against us probably haven't shown up against other people because it's specific for us. So that creates some challenges."
There's been a bit of magic in Denver's defensive transformation, courtesy of Mike Nolan and the Great McD
Slicing through a fog of forecasted gloom come Elvis Dumervil and Mario Haggan, rushing from the outside.
Penetrating beyond predictions of woe comes Andra Davis, churning forward from the inside.
As Champ Bailey darts in from his spot at cornerback, as Brian Dawkins blitzes in from his position at safety, hope trickles into this Broncos' season.
While offseason attention focused on the firing of longtime coach Mike Shanahan, the hiring of first-time coach Josh McDaniels and the shocking departure of star quarterback Jay Cutler, the Broncos were quietly developing some magic known as the 3-4 defense.
All the 3-4 defense does is win Super Bowls. As recently as the 2003 season, only two NFL teams were using the 3-4 as their base defense. The other 30 teams, including the Broncos, employed the 4-3.
Yet, those two 3-4 teams — the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers — have won four of the last six Super Bowls, and the 2007 Patriots brought an 18-0 record into a fifth Super Bowl during that span.
For the Broncos, hope comes not necessarily in numbers, but in the arrangement of numbers. Gone is the 4-3, which was so easily pushed aside, anyway. In is the 3-4, which McDaniels brought from New England.
The 3-4 got off to a rousing start last Sunday, holding Cincinnati to seven points.
"In the NFL, it's tough to go into every game and think you're going to just kick somebody's tail with a straight-up defense," Broncos defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said, "because everybody has good players. So, if you don't utilize some scheme to assist your players and give them a chance to win some battles, or throw an offense off-balance a little bit, it's hard in the long run to be good.
"Every now and then you'll just be better than somebody and you can stay vanilla and beat them, but that's not very often. If you get to the playoffs, I don't care if it's offense, defense or special teams, if you don't have some different tools to use, then you don't really give your players a good chance to win that game."
Not surprisingly, the Patriots and Steelers are no longer the only teams lining up their defense with three down linemen and four linebackers. Invesco Field at Mile High will host a 3-4 game, and nothing but, as the Browns and Broncos both employ three down linemen and four linebackers.
Eleven teams are now utilizing the 3-4 as their base defense.
"You don't see it as much as you see the 4-3, so it makes the week of preparation more involved," Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley said. "It's kind of like the spread offense. But now that you're seeing it more, we'll see what happens."
In theory, the 3-4 is supposedly more vulnerable against the run. Fewer linemen filling the line of scrimmage means more space up front to run. The Broncos have also been susceptible to the midrange pass play. But by nature, the 3-4 is a faster defense because it essentially replaces a lumbering 300-pound lineman with an athletically sculpted 240-pound linebacker.
Against Cincinnati, each of the Broncos' three sacks came from linebackers, and nickel linebacker Wesley Woodyard had an interception.
Compare that to 2006, when Broncos linebackers combined for two sacks and zero interceptions, or 2007, when they had 3 1/2 sacks and two interceptions, or 2008, when zero interceptions came from the linebackers.
"The (3-4) scheme is pretty much based around the linebacker," said Haggan, a backup middle linebacker in the 4-3 who has experienced a midcareer renaissance as an outside backer in the 3-4. "We feel that if we don't get going, the rest of the defense suffers. Coach Nolan has a lot of schemes where he calls everybody's number. But the linebacker plays a huge role."
At a time when the wide receiver screen has replaced the tailback pitch as a favorite of offensive coordinators, rushing the passer has become as important as stopping the rush.
The 3-4 brings uncertainty to the pass rush. Technically, the NFL defines a blitz as a play on which a defense sends more than four pass rushers at the quarterback. But if that fourth pass rusher is a safety, it looks like a blitz anyway.
Thus, a 3-4 creates a sense of chaos on nearly every play.
"It's just easier to see in the 4-3," Broncos right tackle Ryan Harris said. "Bringing three linemen and a fourth backer is a lot different from rushing four guys up front."
The Broncos are attempting to reverse three consecutive seasons of poor defensive play. In 2006, Denver allowed a league-high 26.1 points in the final 10 games. Afterward, defensive coordinator Larry Coyer refused a demotion and resigned.
In 2007, the Broncos ranked 28th in points allowed (25.6). Defensive coordinator Jim Bates refused a demotion and resigned.
In 2008, they ranked 30th in points allowed (28.0). Defensive coordinator Bob Slowik followed Shanahan out the door.
In 2009, is it possible the identity of McDaniels' first Broncos team will eventually become its 3-4 defense?
"You can see the level of communication on the field that they have, which is huge defensively," said Browns coach Eric Mangini in a conference call this week. "And there's the '34' element that they're able to build 4-3 fronts off of it. There's game-plan pressures. And things that are going to show up against us probably haven't shown up against other people because it's specific for us. So that creates some challenges."