Category: Offense
ATTACKING THE 8-MAN FRONT
The eight-man defensive front, either a 4-4 or a 5-3, can be a very powerful weapon, literally assaulting an offensive line and potentially shutting down a running game. It is however, open to exploitation for potentially big gains if you know where to attack. We’ll take a look at those weaknesses, first in the pass coverage, which is similar between 4-4 and 5-3, then in run coverage, which is less similar but still has some common threads.
Pass Attack
Since both defenses are playing eight men forward for run, only three are available for pass coverage, especially deep. There are only two legitimate choices of coverage to deal with this – three-deep zone (cover three), and man-to-man. A three- deep zone leaves a lot of gaps, and a lot of gaps that are filled with linebackers. It’s extremely vulnerable to zone floods and underneath crossing/pick patterns (where the linebackers are forced into extended coverage, and has wide zone seams between the defensive backs (The Baltimore Ravens were very good in 2000 at running a 4 receiver “sprint” into the secondary, placing 4 receivers in the gaps between three defenders).
If the defense is in man coverage, the picture changes slightly. There aren’t any zone seams to get into, but the quick attack patterns (like a short-drop slant in a la Young/Rice) where the defender can be caught off guard or has a bad angle on the ball, are. The crossing/pick patters are still there, and now they may work deeper against the backs rather than just underneath. Since the defenders are all alone on their men, fade patterns and other “outrun” plays are open. Finally, remember that the man-on-man coverage generally plays tighter than zone. One or two steps may make a big difference, so the play-action fake can be very useful.
In both man and zone schemes, the secondary may also be vulnerable to attack from four receiver sets, either three to one side (trips) or two on either side (doubles). There simply aren’t enough DB’s to cover all the receivers. Somewhere, depending on the team, there will be a gap – either the inside or weakside receiver covered by a linebacker, an overloaded zone, or someplace else. Find it and attack it.
Run Attack: the 4-4
The 4-4 has four defensive linemen, usually stacked more or less over the offensive linemen, and four linebackers. The middle two generally stack behind the interior linemen (the DT’s) and the outer two can be from direct stack behind the DE’s to relatively far outside and forward, almost presenting a 6-2 alignment. That’s a lot of bodies to block. Most blocking trouble occurs when the scheme fails to address the second inside linebacker (the weak side one). But, despite the trouble blocking, there can be some large weaknesses available.
If the Outside linebackers do play inside there is a large and obvious gap off tackle. It can be a mirage, though. If they play tight they can be taught to flow very quickly to the outside, closing down the gap before you’re there. But, if you address this by getting blockers out in a hurry (it’ll be hard to pull guards but the backside ones can fire out at the linebackers an at least slow down some pursuit) you can get through and into the secondary. If the Outside ‘backers do play wide, the same type of gap is still there, only moved inside to the tackle-end (or C) gap. The same rules apply - get there fast and get your guys into position quickly to negate the “fast flow”.
You can also exploit the “fast flow” mentality with misdirection. Those inside linebackers can get pretty comfortable with four linemen to screen for them, and may overbite on fakes knowing they have help. You have to be quick, though. If you take too long to develop, letting them “see the fake”, they’ll read it and shut you down. Keep your counter/crossbuck tight and quick, with the comeback aimed right at the backside LB’s starting point. Try to hit the gap when he’s only taken one or two steps, hasn’t read that the naked dive is a fake, and can’t reset in time. I’ve worked it a few times against some 1A-recruited linebackers for big gains. Just remember to actually run a few of those dives to fix them in place.
Attacking the 5-3
The 5-3 actually presents more of a challenge to run against simply because there are so many variants. Is it a true three-across linebacker set, or is it a two-LB set with a “monster back”? Are the LB’s over the guards (“Okie set”) or over tackles (“Eagle”)? Where are the DT’s lined up – in a true “Eagle” (on or outside shade of Guards), in the Guard-Tackle (B) gap, or out over the Tackles (Okie set)? That’s a lot of variables to consider.
There’s really only one constant - unlike the 4-4, the outside linebackers are generally tighter towards the center and less able to flow outside really quickly to meet the sweep.
Another weakness is its vulnerability to “down blocking”. If you use a close-in wingback, many times he is able to attack the outside ‘backer on his side almost unopposed. Once you can get that to happen, attacking with power or isolation dives against a line with no linebacker gets much less difficult.
One last thing – if the middle safety shifts toward strong side, the defensive backfield on the weakside becomes a very lonely place for the one linebacker over there. Since you’re 3 on 2 for linemen there a sweep may not work, but the power game in the B gap definitely should, especially if your center or strongside guard can get to the middle ‘backer.
Coach Moscato is currently entertaining options for coaching vacancies in the Baltimore Metro area. He can be reached at johnmoscato@eteamz.com. More of his work can be found in the Football Library
Submitted by: John Moscato
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