Do not adjust your screen or protective cup … this is a test of the EEB network… We are re-positioning a previous “Shady” blurrger to outwit the recent server migration error which obliterated our Pulitzer Prize-winning essay on the 4-2-5 defensive scheme…
We do this thing… as Brizer completes the final gmish on his Spanish Rabbit Roast…and it’s full sail ahead from here…
Shady’s Deal is still Cloudy…
I’m not worried about LeSean McCoy’s ability to get a contract extension that will pay him feature-back money and keep him happy in 2012… I am a little worried about a possible hold-out through training camp…
T-Bone broke the latest update on the Shady negotiations….
“The Philadelphia Daily News reports the Eagles offered LeSean McCoy a contract extension worth $6 million annually last season…McCoy, of course, turned it down, which could be wise considering Arian Foster’s recent five-year extension is worth over $8 million annually. Still only 23 years old, McCoy is currently set to earn $615,000 during the final year of his rookie deal. It would behoove both sides to get an extension done before the start of the season. “
I’m okay with Shady holding out if it results in the extended deal he’s looking for in 2012… but there’s no guarantee of that happening as we saw in the DeSean Jackson holdout last summer. The Eagles front office does not cave in to stars holding out…
Here’s my “exhibit A” for supporting a Shady holdout if necessary: Marion Barber’s broken down body at only age 29…and now retired.
Pay the young man now. There’s no guarantee of tomorrow in this harsh sport…
Speaking of cruel fate, I apologize to all our EEB readers who witnesed a fresh blurgger vanish before their eyes on Saturday morning. It was a piece called “Eagles quietly installing a 4-2-5 defense…”
No need to rewrite it, I decided. Besides, spies everywhere!
Ironically, the piece got picked up by nearly every major news aggregator, like USA Today.com and Yardbarker.com, but all you get is the headline and a tease of the opening paragraphs…and a link to to a cyberspace station that no longer exists. That’s because our network server was migrating all of our work here to a bigger and faster server. Somehow the “4-2-5” piece got lost in the transition.
We’ll revisit the subject another day… Besides, it’s not as revolutionary a subject as the news services seemed to think. Belichick used it a lot in 2009 and he even used it against the Eagles in the 2006 Super Bowl. The Redskins used it last year against the Packers with very mixed results.
The 4-2-5 concept is simple enough. Instead of 3 linebackers and 2 safeties, you go with 2 linebackers and 3 safeties. We saw a little of that last year when Nnamdi dropped back into a safety position on certain coverages with a linebacker dropping out in coverage, and also when OLB Brian Rolle was basically playing a safety coverage role on certain downs.
Maybe the quickest way to understand the 4-2-5 base defense is to quote coach Johnny Ringo from TCU, which has used the sytem extensively…
In a nutshell:
“We divide our packages into attack groups. The 4 DL & 2 LB’s are one segment of our defense. We align the front 6 and they go one direction. The coverage behind them is what we call a double-quarterback system. We play with 3 safeties on the field. We have a strong, weak and free safety. The free and weak safeties are going to control both halves of the field. They are the quarterbacks and they will make all the calls…
“…In our coverage scheme we are going to divide the formation at the center every snap. We play with 5 defensive backs in the secondary…
“…[If the passing strength is to the defensive left] the FS calls ‘read’ left. The FS is going to talk to the LCB, SS, and the read side LB. The weak safety aligns on the other side and talks to the right corner and right LB…
“…Starting in spring practice, the 1st Monday we teach Cover 2 (Robber). On Tuesday, we teach our Blue coverage (quarters)….On Wednesday we teach squats-&-halves coverage (Cover 5). After that we are done teaching our zone coverages…
“…We don’t worry about formations any more. When you divide the formation down the middle, to each side there are only 3 formations the offense can give the secondary. The offense can give you a pro set, which is a tight end and wideout; a twin set, which is 2 wideouts; or some kind of trips set that the defense will have to defend. That is all they can give you.
“In 3 days we teach our kids to line up in all 3 coverages against those formations…when we start talking about our game play, we never talk about lining up. All we talk about is what the opponent is going to be doing and how we are going to adjust to it.
“Unless the offense lines up in a 3-back wishbone or a no-back set, there are only 3 ways the offense can be aligned and still be sound. Unless we want the coverage to overplay something to one side, we don’t worry about formations….
“…(When we blitz) the secondary doesn’t care what is going on with the front and LB’s. All they know is there is going to be a blitz and both LB’s are going to rush. That tells them they have to cover everybody if there is a pass…
“…If there is a double smoke being run, the FS knows the SS and WS are blitzing off the edge. He has to talk to the 2 LB’s to get them into coverage…
“…In the secondary we have 3 zone coverages. We split the difference in those 3 coverages and it gives us 9 coverages…We can also play cover 25. That means we are playing Cover 2 (Robber) to the FS side and Cover 5 to the weak safety side. The 1st digit in the number is the FS side and the 2nd digit is the weak side…
“…If the offense can’t outrun your defense, they may get some big plays, but there is a chance they won’t score. That is our philosophy…”
That last sentence sums up for me why I think the 4-2-5 is relevant to the Eagles defensive personnel. They’re fast enough and quick enough on defense to avoid being outrun…they have big guys in the middle of the line that can stop the run and quick defensive ends on the edges that can rush the pass. They now have a stronger presence at inside linebacker and strong-side linebacker, with the added flexibility of having only 6 men in the box while still rushing the quarterback. Extra pass coverage and tackling support is now allegedly free to come from the 5 guys on the back end.
If the safeties read the offensive play correctly and communicate effectively, you should see a tremendous decrease in the amount of gaping holes and dead coverage zones that were exposed in the early 2011 season with the debut of the “Wide 9” formation.
But it is always prudent to remember Brizer’s Law of Scheme: “Great players overcome great schemes…” No defensive scheme is foolproof. Call it a hunch, but judging by the types of personnel the Eagles have been recruiting and promoting over the past two years, I consider them highly 4-2-5 qualified at this point.
Transactions and Notables…
—Patriots sign WR Chad (“Ochocinco”) Johnson to a 1-year, $1 mlilion deal with incentives…
—Arizona signs CB William Gay (Steelers) to a 1-year contract, further terms undisclosed…
—New Orleans signs MLB Curtis Lofton to a 5-year, $30 million contract with $9 million guaranteed….
—Denver signs QB Caleb Hanie (Bears) to a 2-year contract, terms undisclosed…
—Buffalo re-signs RB Tashard Choice, terms undisclosed…
—Bengals re-sign DT Pat Sims, terms undisclosed…
—Ravens re-signed ILB and ST specialist Albert McClellan, terms undiscolsed…
—Carolina signed WR Chris Manno (Chiefs, Hofstra), terms undisclosed…
—Arizona re-signed K Jay Feely to a 2-year contract, money terms undisclosed….
—Minnesota re-signed WR Devin Aromashadu to a 1-year deal, terms undisclosed…
—Bengals signed DT/DE Jamaal Anderson (Colts) to a 1-year deal, terms undisclosed…
—New Orleans signed OLB Chris Chamb
erlain (Rams) to a 3-year contract at $10 million, with $3 milz guaranteed…
—Colts signed WR Donnie Avery (Titans) to a 1-year deal, terms undisclosed…
—Green Bay signed DT Daniel Muir (Colts) to a 1-year deal, terms undisclosed…
—Colts acquired QB Drew Stanton (Jets) and a 7th round draft pick in a trade with Jets for 6th round draft pick in 2012…
—Seattle signed RB Kregg Lumpkin (Tampa Bay) to a 1-year deal, terms undisclosed…
—Atlanta re-signed LS/TE Joe Zelenka to a 1-year deal, terms undisclosed…
—Minnesota re-signed LB Erin Henderson to a 3-year deal, terms undisclosed…
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