Rufio's Playbook: Pattern Matching in Zone Defenses
by rufio on Feb 9, 2010 3:00 AM EST
in Rufio's Playbook
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Zone defenders play an area instead of a man, right? Not always. Not the good zone defenses, anyway.
Have you ever seen a Browns defender guarding a patch of grass while his teammate has to try to hopelessly guard two receivers? Were you frustrated? If you answered yes, this post is for you.
There are two schools on teaching zone defense. pattern matching, and spot dropping. Spot dropping is exactly what it sounds like: dropping to a landmark on the field while reading the QB's eyes. It is simpler to teach than pattern matching, which requires a lot of study and practice. Pattern matching is basically a set of rules that help zone defenders play a man within their zone, and on some occasions play a coverage that will not look like the original call.
For brevity's sake, I will give a simplified version of these rules and we can see how they apply to a few common pass plays.
A few preliminaries
- Releases. The first thing each defender is watching is the initial release of a specific receiver or two. Generally, a receiver's release can be classified as vertical or not vertical.
Some teams have tendencies such that the combination of the releases/stems of the receivers' routes will actually give away the exact play they are running. This is the best thing that could happen for a well prepared, smart defense. If an offense isn't able to run multiple plays from the same stems, a pattern matching defense can effectively predict the future, and that means big plays (sacks, INTs, 3rd down stops).
Even if the receivers' releases don't narrow things down to one play for a defense, the initial releases at least narrow things down. Instead of having to guard 10 routes, a defender only has to guard 2 or 3 and can better anticipate the route.
- IDing the receivers. The defense will usually number the receivers 1 to 3 or 4, starting with the widest and moving in for each side of the formation.
Note above that because the RBs are directly over the center, their eventual number will depend on the side to which they release.
- Seams. Good offensive coordinators look to do more than put their receivers in good one-on-one matchups, they look to outnumber the opposing defense in a given area. Offensive coordinators want to put their guys in 2 receivers vs. 1 defender, 3 receivers vs. 2 defenders, etc. One of the best ways to do this against Cover-3 defense is to attack the seams as pictured below. Remember, we are playing a Cover-3 here.
Let's take a look at what this might look like on the field. We'll say our team plays a 4-3 defense and the offense is in a 2RB, 1TE, 2WR (pro) formation. Our defense on this play will be a traditional Cover-3 zone.
Pattern matching rules
Strong side CB
The strong-side CB will be keying first the #1 receiver, and then the #2 receiver. If #1 is vertical, the CB must stay with #1. If #1 breaks, the CB must then determine if #2 is vertical. If #2 is vertical, the CB must pick him up, if not, the CB is free to jump the route of #1.
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Strong Safety
The SS is first and foremost concerned with the seam on his side. Between the SS and the Sam, one must reroute #2. He could attempt to jam or press #2 within 5 yards, and even simply place his body between #2 and the seam as to re-route him (by making the receiver run around him). The SS will take any underneath break by #1 and hold that route until another receiver crosses in front of him.
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Sam Linebacker
The Sam linebacker will first take away any underneath route by #2, and carry him to the ball if #2 releases inside. If #2 releases outside, the Sam looks to cover whichever of #1, #2, or #3 are closest to the Center and then works to a "Hook" zone.
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Mike Linebacker
The Mike linebacker will essentially do the same thing as the Sam linebacker, but on the weak side of the formation. He can pay more attention to #1 or receivers coming from the strong side because there is no immediate threat as #2.
Will Linebacker
The Will is taking away any underneath route by #1 weak. He will hold that route until #2 crosses him horizontally, and then he will flow to #2 (if a RB releases to his side). The Will and the Mike must work together to not allow anyone to get into the seam without being rerouted. Note that this is essentially what the SS is doing on the other side of the field.
Weak (Free) Safety
The Free Safety plays the deep center 1/3 of the field. Vs. this pro formation, he is looking at the TE, who presents the most immediate inside vertical threat (remember those seams?). If the formation has two such receivers (such as 1 TE and a slot WR), he is praying one of the underneath guys can reroute one of them.
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Weak side CB
The weak side CB uses the same keys as the strong side CB, only for #1 and #2 on the weak side.
All together now
Lets take a look at what this looks like against a few common passing concepts.
Smash
All curls
Four verticals
There you have it, pattern matching.
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Comments
Brilliant.
Just a question, how the heck do you know all this? You’ve mentioned you’re doing some sorta art course. But did you play football or coach?
Probably the only Cleveland Browns fan in all of Sydney, NSW.
rufio, I appreciate your work. But why do you clobber us with such an onslaught of confusion?
That´s exactly the problem with our defense, if all you have is options, you have no choice.
Play the ball and play the man, at the same time. Position yourself intuitively. React individually to defend pass or rush. It´s about split second decisions.
Your responsible for a zone, and for the players coming through it or into it. It does come down to that patch of grass being covered and the players that frequent it.
The only time you “cover” and follow a guy around, is per “assignment”, like when a flanker runs a reverse. The only other time you reposition yourself out of the ordinary is if there is a “misalignment”, that is several receivers on one side.
Do not allow the offense to compel you to be out of position! There is no excuse, not even the Defensive Coordinator has you covered, you fail you fail!
The Offense and Defense have just one thing in common, they study offensive play-calling. Plays on defense to me, is a fiction.
I´ve warned on this before. What they trivially call “complementary football” will count as collaboration, that is cheating! Defenses will no longer negotiate yardage or receptions. All science will go to hell, when defensive players simply do their job individually. The only group action is the Gang tackle.
This is an athletes game first and foremost. If you can add brains to brawn, more power to you. But stop assuming you can fool us.
Complete horse feecies, Moonie. I have listened to your “Grandpa Muto” nonsense for too long, and being the defensive raised player I am, I am sick of seeing your misconceptions about defense. Hopefully, I can clear this up for you once and for all. (Although it may prove futile)
I played on a team that one it’s high school championship as defensively as it can get. Our offense scored 10 pts and only had 3 FIRST DOWNS.
Each player needs to react individually? We called that selfish football. It’s all teamwork. It’s all about communicating to your brothers on the field about what you see. If you went it alone, you got pulled for trying to be a hero. We don’t need hereos, we need guys who’re going to trust each other to hold up their tasks.
When we were taught to play zone, we were taught to find “our threat”. We were never taught to look for a specific guy or guard a patch of grass. Heck, I could guard a patch of grass. If all Brandon McDonald had to do was gaurd grass, he’d be all-pro by now. Keep your head on a swivel and be aware of your threats and responsiblities.
The idea that the defense doesn’t run plays is a complete crock. We were always successful BECAUSE we didn’t react to the first things we saw. We would practice executing blitzes and coverages. The only reacting that occurs is after everyone’s started their assignments. Linebackers start their blitz, lineman begin their stunts, and DB’s begin dropping back or bumping the WR at the LoS. Then, as the play ‘plays out’ do we react. If a blitzing linebacker sees the QB hand the ball of to the RB, unless he’s 100% sure (i.e. he can clearly see the ball) that the RB truly has the ball he still goes after the QB and leaves it to his brothers to take care of it. Otherwise he’d be faked out by a play action and fall out of his assignment which was to knock the QB out.
Of course both study offensive plays. But they both study defense too! The defense needs to see what is being run, and what it is being run against. The offense needs to see the same thing. The defense will choose their plays based on offensive tendancies. If a team likes to run a lot of vertical routes, the team will call a lot of defensive plays that use cover-2 and cover 3 or 4. Doesn’t an offense call a lot of running plays if the opposing defense is weak against the run?
Complimentary football is more than just the defense shutting down the offense. It means that the offense takes care of the ball and doesn’t put the defense in a position where they’d have a hard time winning (i.e. throwing a pick while backed up against the goal line forcing the D to play goal line defense from the begining). Likewise, the defense doesn’t allow big plays to cause bigger deficits that forces the offense to start passing more to catch up at a faster pace. And special teams (one of the most underappreciated aspects of the game outside of Cleveland and Columbus) will try and set up their offense with good starting position (returns) while be trying to force the opposing offense to drive a greater distance to reach the endzone (kicks, punts). A longer field gives the defense more opportunities to stop the offense. Hence, complimentary football.
by BrownDawg1409 on Feb 9, 2010 9:22 AM EST up reply actions 3 recs
You should have used the word “bullocks” as opposed to “horse feces”, he might understand you better.
The sporting gods hate Cleveland, they give us false hopes, then yank it out from under us like a tablecloth.
by North Coast Flea on Feb 9, 2010 6:19 PM EST up reply actions
BrownDawg, that was awesome! I like to think of myself as a defensive minded player from my " glory days,"’ although I use that term loosely ;). And what you wrote is perfect for how I was taught to play defense, as well. I also get the impression rufio will agree!
by Legoman0721 on Feb 10, 2010 12:53 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Awww, sweet! I got a rec! Thank you. I like to believe that I can pump out the rec worthy post every now and then.
by BrownDawg1409 on Feb 10, 2010 9:32 AM EST up reply actions
It´s nice that you can describe in detail how this cheating is done.
I wonder how many talented players played golf or tennis at your school, based on parents, teachers and such people endorsing this honky dory imperative.
Quite a few actually. The boy’s golf team won a state title before the football team did. And the tennis team is usually competitive, but they play in the spring. Our girl’s volleyball team made it to the final eight in the 9 of the 10 past years in the state tournament.
And how, in the name of buggary, is that cheating?
by BrownDawg1409 on Feb 10, 2010 3:49 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Is there anything that you actually DO realize, or is all conspircy theories regarding madden and fantasy football?
by BrownDawg1409 on Feb 11, 2010 9:37 AM EST up reply actions
Is it? I’ve never written it before, so I didn’t know. Thanks.
by BrownDawg1409 on Feb 10, 2010 3:47 PM EST up reply actions
Yes, but I was just looking for a reason to post feces.
by Roger Dorn on Feb 11, 2010 9:13 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Just be like Mooncamping. His posts are usually covered with it.
by BrownDawg1409 on Feb 11, 2010 9:38 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
If all you have is options, you have no choice.
This is like a lesson for life, man! You’ve a got a with words my friend. Well, at least you crap out a golden egg every so often. This right here is our Mooncampingism for the month.
Live by it, quote Sir Moon like your quoting Shakespeare. Actually, a more fair comparison might that he’s like an unknown Picasso of the football world.
Strangely fitting? Perhaps not.
While I’m on the subject, maybe Van Gogh. I can see Moon cutting off a piece of his ear and mailing it to his favorite fullback.
by Simmsinns on Feb 9, 2010 12:31 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
You’ve always been a guru to some of us, moon. Now a guru of what exactly, that’s a bigger question….
by RelapsingDawgCatcher on Feb 11, 2010 10:07 AM EST up reply actions
Guru of feces most of the time.
The sporting gods hate Cleveland, they give us false hopes, then yank it out from under us like a tablecloth.
by North Coast Flea on Feb 11, 2010 9:25 PM EST up reply actions
Ok, feces counts as funny, because it´s like instead of saying shit you say feces, and that´s funny ridiculous. Imagine a turrette guy trying to change the vocabulary on his expletives. That´s horrible.
That is horrible. Seriously, for you that’s not cool. Don’t make fun of a non – controllable disease.
If I hear "There's always next year" one more time...
by SpecialBrownie on Feb 15, 2010 10:12 AM EST up reply actions
Play the ball and play the man, at the same time.
You would be a terrible DB coach. Players must make a decision, ball or man. Be decisive, don’t get caught in no-man’s land.
It does come down to that patch of grass being covered and the players that frequent it.
If you guard grass, you are guarding nothing.
I was trying to remember
If a blade of grass ever converted a first down, then I forgot I was on the wrong board.
Seriously though moon, you’re crazy. Assed out crazy. That’s good shit.
As far as your idea of playing man on man play after play. That might work if you are a pro team playing a high school team. However, in reality, you have to create a sense of confusion. Wow! You amaze me with your witless thoughts that drag on and on……………..
And with this post, we can see that it won’t neccesarily matter if Haden “can’t play man and only plays zone well”.
I think CBs in the NFL need to be able to play man. Especially if you are picking them in the 1st. I think the most commonly run coverage in the pros is some form of man-1, so it’s important to be able to play. That said, most corners are better at zone, and true man coverage (“on an island”) is almost impossible to play nowadays.
Haden is good, clearly the best CB in this draft, IMO. We clearly need a good CB. Does that mean he’s worth our pick? I don’t know.
Right. But if a team that plays mostly zone picks guys who prefer that scheme, doesn’t that make it easier for them? Not arguing, just wondering.
by BrownDawg1409 on Feb 10, 2010 9:34 AM EST up reply actions
Scheme counts, definitely. “Tampa-2” teams, for instance, can get by with CBs who are not as fast as other teams would probably want, but more physical. They will play a short zone more often vs. other teams. Even with scheme differentiation taken in to account, you want your 1st round CB to be able to play man. And Haden can, I think reports that he can’t are way overblown.
Right, that’s what I thought. Rhonde Barber is a good example of such a scheme player, no?
I think Haden’s lack of man coverage has been spread around mostly by our certain “outspoken member”.
by BrownDawg1409 on Feb 10, 2010 3:50 PM EST up reply actions
Also, specific to the Browns, Ryan seemed to run man under a majority of the time. He seemed to swtich from cover 0 to cover 2- man under. But it was only in select instances that he would run a (usually well timed) zone blitz.
fka "DaytonDogg". Now a contributor to SBN's Dawgs By Nature. www.dawgsbynature.com
OK, question for you guys. We’ve had posts on how offenses react to defenses, both pre-snap and post-snap. Receivers and qb’s especially look at where people are lined up before the snap so they have an idea of what routes will be run, but then right when the ball is snapped they read again to see where to go. As such, the offense is reacting to the defense’s “play.” But the defense is reacting to the offense, no?
I feel like what it comes down to, ultimately, is execution. We saw some pretty exotic schemes with Ryan’s defense, especially toward the end of the season. Some of them even worked pretty well, like the ones with no linemen and all linebackers. But none of it really matters if your players blow their assignments and coverages, which has been a major problem for us. Even worse, they don’t blow their assignment and instead miss tackles, COUGH BMAC.
To link it to what Bernie is doing with his drafting philosophy articles, and this is why mangini, if not a great coach, at least has a good foundation, it’s not ultra-important to get the best athletes and players coming out of college. Mangini always talks about getting a good football guy – someone who is smart and dedicated, which means he will be in the right position and will do the right thing more often than not. A great athlete means nothing if he’s out of position and hurting the team, hello oakland. the patriots were built on this philosophy of having smart players who could execute, and once they were all executing on all cylinders, they made each other all look better.
A lot of it is execution. If you can’t execute, nothing else matters.
Putting yourself in position to be able to execute is huge, which is why Mangini makes players diagram plays and describe everyone’s roles—players must know about the larger concepts in play and not just their own individual assignment.
Good preparation will allow you to know that the Jets’ go-to run play is the power to the right, or that the Colts love the “levels” concept, so you can be a step quicker to react when you see it happen. Maybe you can correctly guess that the opposing defense is going to blitz on this down or that the opposing offense is going to use a play action fake. All that preparation means you can be one step ahead of the other team.
That one step means a lot, because the NFL is a league where .2 (4.30 vs 4.50) seconds is the difference between a really fast corner and a really slow corner, and that difference is similarly small at most positions.
As for defense reacting to offense, absolutely.
I´m not against concepts.
But defensive play-calling per definition, includes a margin for error in anticipation.
by mooncamping on Feb 10, 2010 10:02 AM EST up reply actions
This was awesome. Great job!
Columbus til I die, Columbus til I die. I know I am, I swear I am, Columbus til I die!
Damn it feels good to be a Buckeye!
FKA BLAZER_FAN_199. Now an author for the Jackets Cannon! Check it out!
by Andrew Tolliver on Feb 11, 2010 11:54 AM EST reply actions
Having not played football, can you explain to me what “pro” mean?
" We’ll say our team plays a 4-3 defense and the offense is in a 2RB, 1TE, 2WR (pro) formation."
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge..." C. Darwin
by Spidey on Feb 11, 2010 6:52 PM EST via mobile reply actions
It’s the general term for the weak I, strong I, and Power I formations I believe, which are all ran with the 2WR 2RB 1TE setup. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.)
The sporting gods hate Cleveland, they give us false hopes, then yank it out from under us like a tablecloth.
by North Coast Flea on Feb 11, 2010 9:28 PM EST up reply actions
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