Today
Sections
More
Features
advertisement
|
your ad here
Home of the San Francisco Chronicle
- 49ers
- Raiders
- Giants
- A's
- Warriors
- Sharks
- NFL
- MLB
- NBA
- NHL
- College
- Preps
- Golf
- NASCAR
- Outdoors
- Other
- On TV & Radio
- Shop
X's and O's
3-4
The wide-ranging discussion in Monday's post about the 3-4 defense goaded me into two things: Looking at Bill Walsh's "Finding the Winning Edge" and finding out what the 49ers mainly run defensively.
While Reno and Nofear basically established that Bill Walsh didn't invent the 3-4 defense, he did make some brilliant offensive adjustments to the 3-4, mainly to stop the Bill Parcells-coached Giants and Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor.
When the 3-4 made a resurgence in the 1980's, offenses attempted to thwart the blitzing outside linebacker with a fullback or running back. As Taylor terrorized quarterbacks, it became clear that no fullback or running back could stop him. So Walsh had John Ayers read Taylor, and if Taylor blitzed, Ayers pulled from his guard spot and picked up Taylor. It was called an "open" protection.
In terms of defense, Walsh never mentions the 3-4 in his 1998 manual for coaches "Finding the Winning Edge." He does mention a "sliding 4-3" defense and says a defense must be flexible and take advantage of mismatches. He also states several times, that defensive coaches should tailor their schemes to their talent, which segues appropriately into what the 49ers have tried to do dating back to Dennis Erickson and that's establish a 3-4.
Read More '3-4' »| February 20 2008 at 10:32 PM
A Solution
The 49ers might not have to look outside their organization to find solutions to their offensive woes. Look no further than how coach Al Everest runs his special teams. Players rave about Everest and the 49ers have responded to his coaching. Andy Lee has the best net punting average in the Conference and the 49ers coverage teams ranked third(punt returns) and 12th (kickoff returns) in the league.
Everest's game plans are simple, straight forward and easy to digest. So he spends most of his time drilling and inspiring players to perform the task.
Offensively, the 49ers have simplified the game plans, you'll notice less motion than last year under Norv Turner. But maybe the 49ers need to be even more straight forward. Often, quarterbacks have to repeat a play in the huddle, which is something that should never happen. In fact players should know their responsibilities by hearing only part of the call. Often in loud stadiums players can't hear the entire play anyway.
The game plan should be honed enough each week so everyone knows what's going on.
Over the offseason, the 49ers expanded the playbook and coach Mike Nolan said recently the running game has more plays. They should go with Everest's philosophy of drilling a simple game plan each week so players feel some command when they break the huddle.
| November 23 2007 at 05:12 PM
The Running Game
We hope to provide readers with an keener understanding of the game through an occasional feature highlighting an aspect of 49ers' football. This week, how to watch Frank Gore and the 49ers' running game:
The offense employs two basic approaches to the running game - the stretch or zone play and the power or gap run. Ninety percent of the 49ers running game is made up of these two concepts.
THE ZONE OR STRETCH
The play was popularized by former Broncos coach Alex Gibbs and is a reason Denver has been a dominant run team for more than a decade. Unlike most running plays, which emphasize straight ahead blocking, the stretch - as it names suggests - is a lateral attack. At the snap, the offensive line starts towards the sideline, when the running back gets the ball, he looks for holes to appear along the defense's front wall. He then darts through a gap and emerges into the secondary.
Run defenses are defined by players controlling gaps. The defensive linemen and linebackers each have a gap they fill, like spackling a hole in a wall. When an offensive line moves laterally, gaps move too and thus are difficult to maintain. At times, offensive linemen cut block during stretch runs. If a stretch is going to the right for example, the left tackle and sometimes the left guard, try to level their defender in front of them by hurling their bodies at their legs and "cutting" them to the ground. Meanwhile the front side blockers try to create holes by shoving their defenders out of the way.
Read More 'The Running Game' »| November 08 2007 at 04:52 PM
Veteran 49ers writers Kevin Lynch and David White analyze the stats with an insider's insight.
By Kevin Lynch, David White, Read Bios
advertisement
|
your ad here
more