So I have noticed from the beginning of the year a distinct lack of gap control from our defense like almost none other than Soliai on occasion and the standard outside guys keeping contain/leverage...am I missing or not understanding what I'm seeing ?? Or is this just Coyles style IE "playing the run on the way to the quarterback". It seems to me that the middle of the defense is stunting and blitzing constantly leaving the Backer that's not blitzing in charge of cleanup....other than obvious short yardage situations. Anyone care to shed a little light or discuss ??
More or less, running lots of twists and stunts which leaves running lanes open A G or C on Ellerbe is NOT a good matchup for us
thanks Pads glad my eyes weren't lying..I do like the style I've never really believed "you have to stop the run" you can't let them sustain a running attack at a 5 yard clip but giving up some chunks every now and then is ok when you also have a few tfl thrown in. But it does seem quite a bit different than what they did last year. I'm also inclined to grade Ellerbe/Wheeler on a curve considering the fact that they are basically janitors when it comes to the run game since the DL isn't really protecting them at all.
It's a mostly 1-gap defense. It isn't super aggressive in terms of getting upfield as some, I think you're mostly noticing how terrible the linebackers are.
I don't think this issue is "protecting" them. If your defensive line is playing well, then your linebackers will be protected be it 1-gap or 2-gap. The Dolphins defensive tackle unit might be the best in the league right now.
I think we're seeing more of a transition this year from a 2 gap to a 1 gap DL. IMO Starks and Soliai are very good 2 gap players. Odrick is a very good 1 gap player. We've been used to seeing them in 2 gap situations the last several years where much less stunting and shifting occurs. Definitely seeing our interior d line take themselves out of plays with these moves and the linebackers not available due to either poor play or being washed out to protect the back side.
In general, ideal front-seven players in the 3–4 are bigger and need to take on and defeat blocks more often in the running game. A 4–3 defense is a defensive alignment consisting of four down linemen and three linebackers. They switch up in hybrid at times over scheming making it confusing for both sides when just keeping it simple seems to do a better job.