[MplsTom]

Good post Anthony...

My general philosophy on defense is:

- Keep the ball in front of you
- Bring pressure from the outsides
- Try to be sure that everyone is involved in the play


Front of you: I will usually spin at least one safety, often two. Depends on the opponent and their ability to run. Those safeties serve the following purposes:

a) Makes the opponent think about their passes
b) Avoids the big play


Pressure from the outside: Serves multiple purposes

a) Makes the opponent short switch, gets in his head
b) Prevents many sweeps
c) Gives a pivot option to tackle for the inside screens


Everyone involved: If the play is going outside, the last thing I want is a def lineman not chasing the ball. You have to cover the backside on the setup, but be sure that everyone has a shot at making a play.


As for avoiding the screens and flares, I sometimes move the spinning safeties further to the outside and closer to the line if that is his tendancy. Granted, you give up some in the middle then, but on defense you have to always give up one thing...it is up to the offense to exploit it.

I truly enjoy defense as much if not more than offense. One other thing to keep in mind is that you're defending the end zone more often than you're defending the first down, especially in tournament play.

I concede the first downs, especially to the great passers, and only press the issue when I get a sack or big loss. That's when the heat gets turned up to make a stop.

One other thing...I see a lot about "jamming at the line"...a good tip on offense is to angle the receivers either at the beginning or on pivot as the defense either has to run his cb out of the potential lane or bring his safety/lb up (in which case you can get behind him if he misses). A good QB that can sweep either way is a key to success in that environment.