Mojomajik9
Team Gleason
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Really great read by Underhill. He gets into the nuts and bolts of DA's defense like no one else has. Underhill doesn't shy away from digging deep into the Xs and Os.
Simple, yet multiple and daring: Under Dennis Allen, the Saints want their defense to take the fight to the offense | Saints | theadvocate.com
Simple, yet multiple and daring: Under Dennis Allen, the Saints want their defense to take the fight to the offense | Saints | theadvocate.com
Maybe the best way to understand Dennis Allen’s defense is to realize he isn’t going to settle for anything.
Even when playing Cover 2, one of football's more passive coverages, the Saints defensive coordinator wants his team to find ways to take the action to the offense. That’s always possible — even if the defense is showing a vanilla, bend-but-don’t-break look at the snap.
Even a look like that can turn into an attack defense. It depends on the cornerbacks. If those guys can evaluate the indicators properly and identify run or pass, Cover 2 can turn into a constricting run defense. It’s up to the cornerbacks to act aggressively. If they read the play correctly, they can pull in and turn a seven-man box into a nine-man box.
And there aren’t many running backs who are going to have success with that many players clogging the middle of the field.
“People think Cover 2, they think seven-man box; you’re not loading it,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “When your corners can really set the force at the numbers, then you pick up an extra defender, so you’re an attacking Cover 2.”
That mentality is a good summation of Allen’s vision for the Saints defense. It’s aggressive, nothing is as it seems and his players have the freedom to make an impact by reading and reacting.