So, someone asked what are the A/B gaps and 3 techniques and 5 techniques. I realized I didn't know either. So i looked it up. I didn't like the diagrams that were available, so I made my own showing both. Gaps are pretty self explanatory. Techniques can be a little weird though. - The blue even numbers mean the defender lines up directly in front of the corresponding o-lineman. So a 2 technique means he lines up directly in front of a guard. - The light blue even numbers with an "i", mean they are lined up on the inside shoulder (the shoulder closest to the Center) of o-lineman. - The green odd numbers, mean they are lined up on the outside shoulders (the shoulder farthest from the Center) of the o-lineman. - 7 means inside shoulder of TE and 9 means outside shoulder of TE. Hope that helped and more importantly, I hope I got it right.............
Pat Kirwan's book... Take Your Eye off the Ball, How to watch football by knowing where to look, does a good job explaining alot of the little things like this about the game. I recommend it to anyone looking for more basic, but in depth knowledge of things like this.
Actually that would be 2i ****EDIT: I was trying bust out the lower case cursive "i" for imaginary numbers, but i suck and couldn't find it in my special characters. Moral of the story is I hate you even more.*****
I remember a clueless John Madden on Monday Night Football diagraming a play and repeatedly saying, "...and then he goes right up the A-hole". His description was accurate in terms of football, but he was clueless to why his co-anchor and imagine much of the country was giggling at his description.
Geico guy: "What are you better at?" Kid with black hair: "Making jokes." Geico guy: "Whatcha got?" Kid with black hair: "Knock, knock" Geico guy: "Who's there?" Kid with black hair: "A, B, or C." Geico guy: "A, B, or C who?" Kid with black hair: "A-, B-, or C-hole!" Freckled kid with red hair looks up, bug-eyed: "@ss, butt, or corn!" he yells with satisfaction. Kid with black hair: "A, B, or C to make it funny." Freckled kid with red hair looks puzzled. Geico guy points his thumb over to the freckled kid with red hair: "He doesn't get it."
I'll put this out there, if anyone with knowledge would like to, I'd be willing to do these type graphics for anyone that would like to explain more football things like zones, clouds, stunts, etc.
Wow, I am more smarter now. Thanks. I have always been confused by the # technique lingo. Now I will know.
Cloud - Is a term used by defenses in several different ways but the basic meaning of this term is an area of the field you are prioritizing your coverage or trying to take away from the offense. Often the Cloud defender is called the "Force" defender. For example - Joe Haden would be in man coverage on Mike Wallace with a Cloud Top. Meaning a Safety would be responsible for anything deep on Wallace, allowing Haden to be able to "jump" any short routes without fear of a double move springing him deep. In a Cover 2 or Cover 3 cloud - Your just changing your "force" defender from a safety to a CB with the cloud being the flats on the 2 reciever side of a 3 reciever set. It is a gap degredational adjustment from the Cover 2 or Cover 3 sky. In the most basic meanings - A Cloud is simply an area of the field you use a "Force" defender to keep the offense from attacking. It is the defensive answer or adjustment to the weakness the Cover 2 and Cover 3 has against the run, wide reciever screens, etc. When Cleveland would "Cloud" Wallace, the safety is "forcing" Wallace short.
Stunts - Is a term used by defensive linemen when rushing the QB. A stunt is designed to confuse blocking schemes when rushing the QB. There are multiple stunts but the two most basic styles involve two defensive lineman criss-crossing at the snap and creating a confusion between the two blockers. This works because the inside crosser occupies two blockers while the outsider crosser takes the now open lane to the QB. The other type of commonly used stunt, involves a defense end and linebacker, where the defensive end will create a moment of indecision with his blocker by dropping into coverage, while a blitzing linebacker, will gain a step on the tackle coming off the edge. This edge rusher can be a CB or a safety as well.
That alone is why this 0-3 technique guy in HS football never ventured further than college algebra! My 'imagination' extends to more literary conventions! But, I sure enjoyed playing 0!
Off topic, sorry, but I LOVE the sig pic there Rick (my name's Rick also haha). Reminds me of my North Atlantic trips...40 footers of fun!
And 40 footers are just 'normal' for a N.A. storm. Loved going up on the sig bridge during those things... just before time to take a shower!
It's also worth mentioning in the context of the original posting, you can generally get an idea what kind of gap responsibility that defensive linemen are playing because of their positioning. It isn't always the case, but generally players in even techniques or are lined up directly over linemen are playing 2-gap, and players in odd techniques lined up shaded or in gaps are 1-gap players.
I also never understood why so often colloquially that defensive ends who are lined up heads up on a tackle are called 5-techniques. That seems to be the most common designation for 3-4 defensive ends lining up eyeball to eyeball to offensive tackles.