Community Question

[Anthony D Burgess]

As I was checking some of the past and current post, a thought comes to mind.

Why is there hardly any post on football related things?

What is the best defense vs the pass ?

How do I defend against a screen ?

What defense is best to use vs a team that likes to run out side ?

What role does the OLB play in pass coverage vs a TE split out ?

WHo covers the back out of the back field ?

I mean no disrespect to any one , and I apologies if any one is offended.

Bases, tweaking, TTQB Passing, etc but there is very little topics on actual football relates subjects ?

Why ?

[Tomkat]

Man, you ask alot of questions

[RavennaAl]

Good question Anthony. My guess is that the answers would all depend on which rule set you're playing by. For example, defending the pass. From what I've seen, most leagues allow you to mug the reciever, so that's what they do. Guys will put 2 defenders on each reciever in an effort to keep that player from getting open. Then they pile the other 7 between the tackles to stop the run. They do that because it's what works best. Under the rule set that I've always played by, the defense has to allow the reciever to run his route. The tight end can still be blocked, as long as he was lined up next to the tackle. If he was off the line or out from the tackle, then he has to be able to run as well. This creates a little different thinking for the defense. Now he has to figure out the best way to cover the reciever. Do I go man on man and hope the corner back keeps up? Do I have my outside linebacker cover short while the corner back takes a deep zone? Is it best to have the safeties cover inside and corner backs take the outside? Do I use all 6 and make an umbrella zone with the middle linebacker in the center? Or do I use some of them to try and get a better pass rush and hope the rest can still cover? As you can see, different rules create different answers.

[Silverhorse 228]

I'll take them one at a time:

Best defense versus the pass...for me it is to find a weakness and exploit it, for me I am a blitzer type of coach, ask anyone in my league...I bring the pressure. Last season in my first six games, I registered 39 team sacks. Pressure on the quarterback can really make a difference and lucky for me, I have an outstanding secondary.

Defending against the screen pass...tough question, but again my answer is pressure. If you can blitz effectively, then you can disrupt any timing situation in a screen pass. However, if you don't have a good pass rush, then another defense I use is to shadow the backs using 2-3 linebackers. By committing linebackers to specific backs you can sometimes limit short screen pass gain.

Best defense versus sweeping teams...if you go up against a good rushing team that runs outside, the best defense is to have really good corners. If you have some strong corners and teams continually sweep on you, then jam your corners up field on a sweep, and bring in your safeties to clean up the play...speed and timing will also beat a sweep...when I played in high school we always played a strong safety to the strong side help to stop sweeping offenses and it always worked...miniature football is no different...I actually still use my old high school playbook for some of my plays...IT WORKS!

OLB vs split TE...Split TE can create havoc in a defense that does not know how to stuff TEs at the line. The best defense for this is to obviously jam the TE at the line, but if you are playing off, in my opinion, it is better to play zone and get safety help rather than play man on man. In the NFL, teams exploit this matchup repeadedly...Dallas Clark, Jason Witten...etc. these guys know how to get separation and go across the middle..so how do you stop them...easy...hit them at the line, release them into coverage and keep them in front of you...it is no different in miniature football. The only difference is that the TE is not going to find the hole in the defense, so once again safety help is the answer.

Covering backs out of the backfield...in real football, this duty falls on the linebackers...in miniature football this duty can fall to corners or defensive lineman. I like to occasionaly fall DE back in coverage to their side of the field to stop backs who are hooking in the flat. In miniature football, you can create holes using your line to get backs open, when you can't get them to hook. The key on defense is to plug every hole and make sure your LB or corners have a realistic chance of intersecting any backs hooking out of the backfield.

I am a football fan first...miniature football guy second...I love Saturday's and Sunday's in the Fall...I live for them and I try to use my High School playbook, plays I see on college gameday on Saturday's and of course I study the NFL closely. Sean Salisbury on ESPN is someone I watch very closely and I listen to him. JAWS from ESPN is also another great analyst.

Anything else Anthony...I would love to give you my opinion...

Matthew Culp

[TVsCHACHI]

Maybe cats are paranoid to talk shop lest it give future opponents too much meat .

[Coach_J]

Hi Anthony,

Greetings my friend. I hope you are doing well.

This is my take on your questions. By the way I aplogize in advance because I can get lengthy.

1) This is an Electric/Miniature football chatboard and thus most topics will consist of questions like Decals, Painting, Tweaking and other things that relate to Electric/Miniature football. So if I were to go to a Fantasy Football chatboard I would expect most topics to be centered on Fantasy Football. If someone asks a question about regular football that people want to answer then they will. I hope you understand where I am coming from regarding the first question.

2) I am old school and to me everything starts up front on both offense and defense. The front five and TE are the backbone of the offense and the front seven are the backbone on defense. You can have the best DB's who can play man to man, and zone defenses that confuse the best QB's in the game. In my book if you don't get pressure upfront then zones and the greatest DB's can be taken advantage of. I look at the DL as boxers who punch to the body. Enough body punches will cause your opponent to drop his guard. If a QB is pressured and hit enough after each throw then you can throw his timing off, get in his head, and possibly get an interception. A good example is when the Colts were 13-0 in '05 and played the Chargers. The Chargers sacked Manning four times and through his timing off. They eventually won the game. The same thing happened a few weeks later in the playoffs when the Steelers upset the Colts at home.

3) Teach your DL and LB's how to use there eyes and understand that the OL will NEVER lie. When you are lined up across an OL and you are able to rush past them TOO easily on a pass play then you know something is up. The LB's should be reading as well. If an OL has let your DL pursue the QB too easily without continue to block then BINGO that should mean screen. Also if the OL has let you get pass them too easily and the QB is not in a panic when you are rushing him then again BINGO that usually should mean screen. Watch which side the RB is sliding to and which way the linemen are leaning and that tells you the direction of the screen.

4) Remember the OL do NOT lie. If you are in the 4-3 lined up across a tackle or guard and they pull hard to the the right, which is the left of the defense, then at 75% of the time that means sweep. Instruct your DL when the guard or tackle pulls HARD then you follow. Remember the guard may pull and peel back which could mean rollout. It is how HARD they pull. As for the MLB in the 4-3 whichever way the guard pulls then you go in that direction. Make sure you stay in your lane to guard against the cutback. If it is a 3-4 then again when the guard pulls then both MLB's must go in the direction that the guard pulls and stay in your lane to protect against the cutback. As for the OLB if you are on the weakside and the sweep comes your way then you must neutralize the pulling guard and try to prevent him from going upfield. A classic example of this was illustrated in Super Bowl VII. That was the game where the Dolphins completed there undefeated season. The Dolphins ran a sweep in 1st Quarter. Believe it or not Larry Czonka was the ball carrier. Redskins OLB Jack Pardee cut pulling guard Larry Little before he could get upfield and block. This neutralized Larry Czonka because no longer did he have a blocker out front and 5'9" 175 pound DB Pat Fischer made a solo tackle. If you are the LB on the strong side and the sweep comes your way then your job is to neutralize the TE who more than likely will be blocking you. One would need to teach the front seven that the OL will often tell you what kind of play is taking place once the ball is snapped. For example if the OL raise up then you know more than likely it is pass. The next time Super Bowl VII is shown either on ESPN or the NFL Network watch for the sweep that the Dolphins ran in the 1st quarter and how OLB Jack Pardee defended the sweep.

5) That is a tough one because you really do not want your OLB going wide to cover or jam a TE. If my memory is correct Dallas Clark and Antonio Gates are TE's who are occasionally split wide. I am with Matt on this one and that is play zone and jam them the best you can. The last thing I would want is a TE running loose in the secondary without anyone at least putting a hand on him before he gets into his pass pattern.

6) I might be wrong but at least 90% of the time it is up to the LB's to cover the RB's coming out of the backfield on pass plays. Players like Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk were nightmares to defensive coordinators and LB's because of how well they caught passes out of the backfield. LT is another RB who is gifted when it comes to catching passes out of the backfield. Go back to Super Bowl XIX when the 49ers played the Dolphins. Because of how well Roger Craig caught passes neutralized the Dolphins MLB's. Bill Walsh designed plays where the RB's went out as if they were going on flare patterns. The middle of the field was wide open for TE Russ Francis. I apologize for getting carried away but as I said initially 90% of the time the RB's are the responsibility of the LB's on pass plays.

That is my .02 cents worth.

Coach_J

[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.

[Coach K-LO]

great answer Tom R.

i like to think that you can do just about any play in MF, but talking about it can be so long to T-Y-P-E ..........

[MplsTom]

Thanks Coach Lomax...

For all of you who want to know how to run effectively in electric football, listen to Lomax and Pratt. They're the 2 best I've seen at running the football in creative ways to exploit the defense.

One thing they do especially well is have angles and runners that can bounce. I still haven't come close to mastering that yet...getting the guy to hit the back of the ol base and bounce it outside or inside.

Shut the Hell Up!

You guys ask to many questions! You put to much stock in these little plastic idols! You know you can't play the game any way! It's all luck! For some reason, the chumps always win. I guess it's to those of us who are truly great to keep us in a humble posture? Hmmm! I'll ponder this further until then BE Silent! I'm trying to paint some figures! Settle down children!