On Passing Zones and Coverages
 

This is my first post in a long time, so pull up a chair and listen to Boss Hogg Riff it. I made some diagrams for you so feel free to download them and use 'em well.

Defense: The main idea of pass defense and defense in general is this: to defend one area of the field, you must relinquish defense of another area, but mask that fact from the opponent.

The idea is to attack the offense and disrupt their timing and / or execution before the open area of the defense can be located. The whole purpose of play-calling, and signal calling (audibles) by the offense at the line are to anticipate where the opening in the defense will be as there will surely be one and to get the right player into that area. This is why the Patriots and Spy Gate is such a serious issue in terms of cheating the process of reading the defense by knowing thier hand signals in advance.

A good defense's greatest trick is smoke and mirrors. To appear to have no weaknesses and to appear to give up nothing on the field. The best friend of pass defense is a good front four. The front four is useless if coverage is broken. Penetration and good coverage are useless with out strong fundamentals like speed and especially tackling.

The only way to have total dominance on defense is for one of the following: (a). an inaccurate quarterback who will hand over the game to the defense i.e., Rex Grossman (sorry Rex). (b). undisciplined skill position players who will fumble the ball, or have stupid penalties (i.e., Baltimore last Monday Night (11/5/07). (c). Apply so much pressure so as to force the offense to play defense i.e., 1985 Bears. (d). and most importantly, the ability of the 11 defenseive players to individually dominate the offensive players so that there is no blocking, no broken tackles, and no yards after the catch (i.e., Steel Curtain, or Baltimore 2000).

Football is 11 players executing in perfect concert just as in a symphony orchestra. A single sour note ruins the entire piece or play in this case. In order to be a championship team, you must be in perfect concert more often than your opponent. The first one who blinks, slips, or fatigues, looses.

Look at the diagrams below and give feedback if you please. I wrote this in response to another post about pass coverage.

To the MPFL coaches and others...

When building your team you must have a good foundation in these areas. Refer to the DVD Special Features "Recommended Reading" section and get those books.

Also, to my TIVO users, record games, pick the winning team and watch plays in freeze frame. Record the formation, package (players) set, and notice that the same 4 or 5 plays are being run over and over again while formations may vary. Ask yourself why your team is running this particular play. The answer is to exploit a mismatch between individual players. The same plays that Tiki Barber ripped through last year, Brandon Jacobs is ripping through this year. Hint: the offensive line is the same as last year. You can trade away skill position playes and still win sometimes, but for my money, don't mess with my offensive line and my quarterback.

When playing MPFL, or any other style of EF, you must have a grasp of who your best players are and try to structure play calling that highlights that player's abilities. Sort of like Michael Jordan on the isolation play. It works because he can beat any player (except Joe Dumars) in a one on one situation. Sit Mike on the bench and that play no longer works. Same with Randy Moss or Plaxico Burress on the deep pass (jump ball). A mis-match of height and catching ability.

In the case of a Deion Sanders, a mismatch of technique, speed and confidence make throwing to his side a real risk. Most teams didn't even teams with Pro Bowl receivers. Mismatching; GET IT?

Winning a football game is about match-ups, coaching, and nothing more.

Beautiful
 

post
 

hey decal...may i use your post on my web page????

Go for it man. I was worried that the post was so long that no one would read it. I appreciate the response.

I actually made a mistake. The three top zones are not called hook. Let me fix that. I knew I would do this so I emailed the file to myself. Let me update the image before you download it.

Me Too
 

:D :D :D :D :D

DID You Know
 

great points on this one....
 

you make a fine point on this one ...... and not knowing your players will cause you pain during the game because you would not know who to call on for that big play. You won't know how to find the mis-matches that you can exploit without knowing your own team first.

Show me this play on video
 

I would like to see these plays work can you show it??

AB,

We are all a family in this area man as most will attest. We are all behind this!

One man playing EF by himself is as bad as a man playing with himself. LOL. Like Bill Walsh says "we are a brotherhood, we all have a role, and everybody plays."

Jimmie,

On the MPFL DVD, there is a Special Features section called "Plays from scrimmage." We basically shot three possessions, one ending in an interception, the second in a saftey, and the third in a touchdown. Couldn't really use them so they were cut and moved to the extras section. There were about 6 or 7 plays in all on that feature. There are also plays run during the demonstrations themselves.

That is why we made the video. I can't think of a single thing on that DVD that we could have done better. Lord knows we took our time and great care in getting it done.

But the answer is yes, we are able to show these plays in action.

bump

Wow....
 

....this thread's explanation is great! Do any of you more experienced coaches incorporate these strategies?

DC

I Know It's An Old Post, But...
 

...these plays ONLY work if you play with stoppages as in the MPFL System or my College Season. With the traditional "Mug the WR at the LOS" style that most everyone plays, and especially since you can see if a guy lines up in Zone or not from the initial setup, there is very little room for deception, which is needed to run these types of REAL Defenses.

Sure I could lineup in a Cover 2 or 3, but unless you allow stoppages, you could just let your WRs run right thru or past the zone coverage before you turn the board off. If you do allow stoppages, then the DC can gauge the depth of his coverage based on the speed and direction of your WRs instead of just running backwards blindly.

I can show video after video, but if you don't play that way, then it's just like watching TV - it wouldn't apply. thmbsp$

Sounds like I need to investigate the MPFL system.