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Capital Obsession: Two Isn't Always Better Than One... But Sometimes... It is.

KDawg

The 1st Round Pick
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The basic premise of this posting is to point out why 2-gap and 1-gap 3-4 defensive systems differ, and how they differ. First off, I’d be doing a...

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Wow...nice write up, sir. I learned a lot.

So Dallas would be a current example of a 1 Gap 3-4 and Pittsburgh an example of a 2 Gap?

Washington is running which one most of the time...a 1 Gap due to personnel?
 
I'm going to have to read this one 3 times just to make sure I can pass the post-test! Excited to have KDawg on board as a BGO blogger. We've got, without question, the best fan-produced content/commentary in the Redskins web-o-sphere.

Great first entry :cheers:
 
very nice there Dawg!

recommendation: take this defense 101 and apply it to what we have watched all season long with the Skins.....good, bad and the ugly. I know I'd read it closely.

also....and I'm sure you've thought about this...where do you fall (talent being equal) between 3-4 and 4-3? some of the best defenses in the NFL are still 4-3.
 
Wow...nice write up, sir. I learned a lot.

So Dallas would be a current example of a 1 Gap 3-4 and Pittsburgh an example of a 2 Gap?

Washington is running which one most of the time...a 1 Gap due to personnel?

Kdawg was simplifying it a bit for non DC types. Its a great write up though and helps with a basic understanding of the 3-4 schemes. best write up ive seen in a while.

Dallas and pittsburgh both run a combo, in dallass, they have one DE who usually two gaps, it used to be canty, now its spears/ that kid they got from san diego. They also sometimes two gap ratliff but they do a great job of playing to his strengths. Pittsburgh often two gaps the nose and sometimes the strong side end. the best 3-4 scheme uses a combination of one and two gap because a strictly one gap 3-4 has too many bubbles unless you run it almost as a 5 front which negates its natural angle advantage and a strictly 2 gap isnt gonna get the pressure that you get from a one gap attacking defence.

We SHOULD be running a one gap if we run a 3-4, thats what Haslett said we would run early on, but we have been running a lot of two gap.

A good example of a mostly two gap would be San Diego but very few 3-4 schemes run exclusively one or the other.
 
Wow...nice write up, sir. I learned a lot.

So Dallas would be a current example of a 1 Gap 3-4 and Pittsburgh an example of a 2 Gap?

I don't know what Dallas is running with Pasqualoni. They were a 1-gap style defense with Phillips. Two gap is teams like New England, Baltimore, Cleveland.

Pittsburgh runs a VERY hybrid style of 3-4. The 3-4 Zone Blitz is a complete combination. Wade Phillips 1-gap defense incorporates some zone blitz elements in it.

Washington is running which one most of the time...a 1 Gap due to personnel?

It looks like we run mostly a 2-gap scheme. But, as Ryman said, and I tried not to mention due to the KISS principle is that no one runs one or the other all the time. It's all a mixture. But their base is usually one or the other.

We've made several mistakes with the 3-4 transition, running a 2-gap scheme is one of them. Glad you picked up on that part of the article. Didn't really want to come out and say that, but yes, we have more of the personnel for a one gap system.

I'm going to have to read this one 3 times just to make sure I can pass the post-test! Excited to have KDawg on board as a BGO blogger. We've got, without question, the best fan-produced content/commentary in the Redskins web-o-sphere.

Great first entry :cheers:

Hope I haven't set the bar too high (or low) for myself :pirate:

very nice there Dawg!

recommendation: take this defense 101 and apply it to what we have watched all season long with the Skins.....good, bad and the ugly. I know I'd read it closely.

To do this, I'd like to have game film of the Redskins. I don't. I delete most of the games from my DVR as they're too painful to rewatch. If I can get my hands on some film this may be something I do in the offseason, though. It's a great idea.

also....and I'm sure you've thought about this...where do you fall (talent being equal) between 3-4 and 4-3? some of the best defenses in the NFL are still 4-3.

Talent being equal? Either/or. If you have the personnel to run either one correctly, both defenses are effective. It also depends on what level. I prefer (and run) the 3-3-5 (or 3-5-3) at the high school level, but you need a nose. 4-4 is effective too.

In college it's a complete mixed bag.

NFL, I'd run any defense I had the personnel for. A good coordinator, no matter what the level, will adapt a scheme to fit what they have while teaching the principles of the scheme they hope the primarily run.

But the Jets, Ravens, Patriots, Steelers etc are all 3-4. If I was an NFL DC, I'd install elements of both if I had the personnel to do so. Variety is the spice of life :)


Kdawg was simplifying it a bit for non DC types. Its a great write up though and helps with a basic understanding of the 3-4 schemes. best write up ive seen in a while.

Just a tad ;)

Dallas and pittsburgh both run a combo, in dallass, they have one DE who usually two gaps, it used to be canty, now its spears/ that kid they got from san diego. They also sometimes two gap ratliff but they do a great job of playing to his strengths. Pittsburgh often two gaps the nose and sometimes the strong side end. the best 3-4 scheme uses a combination of one and two gap because a strictly one gap 3-4 has too many bubbles unless you run it almost as a 5 front which negates its natural angle advantage and a strictly 2 gap isnt gonna get the pressure that you get from a one gap attacking defence.

Olshansky is the guy from San Diego. And yeah, most teams combo it.

We SHOULD be running a one gap if we run a 3-4, thats what Haslett said we would run early on, but we have been running a lot of two gap.

That's what I see as well.

A good example of a mostly two gap would be San Diego but very few 3-4 schemes run exclusively one or the other.

Yessir.
 
"NFL, I'd run any defense I had the personnel for. A good coordinator, no matter what the level, will adapt a scheme to fit what they have while teaching the principles of the scheme they hope the primarily run."

Thats what Ive been harping on since day one of this switch. I dont hate the 3-4 I hate the 3-4 here. I don't see why its so difficult for some people to see this because to me its about as basic as basic gets in the football world. when you break basic tenets bad things happen.
 

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