Originally posted by fryet:
I have a question about the defensive line slanting to stop the run. It appears to me that when you can a line slant, you can either get lucky and it is against the offensive run play, or unlucky and you slant the same way that the offense is running. It is a 50/50 shot on whether you slant the desired way. Or does it still work if you slant in the same way the offense is running?
Final thought - in previous weeks you showed how we have these intricate run plays that punishes an aggressive/reacting defense. Would a slant also give us trouble on our own run plays? I sure hope Saleh didn't show the rest of the league how to break our own run offense!
Yes and no. It's a tool in the toolbox but not the only one. It can potentially come and bite you, that's why there are a number of adjustments throughout the game. The thing with slants is that the whole defense has to understand what's going on, even to the safeties. The safeties will have specific run fits, just like LB's, in this system it's a one-gap system. Meaning, each guy is responsible for one gap. 3-4 defenses are usually a 2-gap system where DT's are going to look to control whatever gap they are getting doubled out of, which could be either side. with a one-gap, the LB's and S's have to know exactly which gaps the guys will be going in to, not where they're lined up, and know who is going to fill which vacated gaps now. One example of this is the scrape-exchange. Where you'll bring a DE into a D, C or B gap while the 2nd level defender stacking them is now responsible for outside contain.
Would a slant give our running offense trouble? Sure. However, we are better equipped to deal with those as we have a FB, that allows us more flexibility in the run game and makes it hard for defenses to clue into and execute their slants. That's why we'll run our outside zone to the weakside a lot and then strong side and then counters to either side. Slanting against our run game is less than 50/50. It's more like 80/20 they're going to be wrong.