Sean McDermott's vaunted Dual A gap

[Buffalo716]

With the season right around the corner I thought I would rehash some things that make his defense special 

 

Going back to Philadelphia and Carolina, it is his vaunted Dual A Gap look on 3rd downs

 

 

 

It's not even about blitzing necessarily... It's about making the quarterback think you're going to blitz.. make him think for one more second and hold on to the ball for a little bit longer 

 

From here he has a lot of options... he can bring all six up front and man up... He can bring four and drop in to cover 3 or 2 .. or even cover 1 man 

 

 

As you can see it's a numbers game.. he has no choice but to Max protect or risk getting destroyed 

 

 

He only will bring the heat ever 3-4th time... But when he does like above... You have no time, and you're getting a monster like AJ Klein taking your head off 

 

This is exotic zone zone blitz scheme's he learned from Jim Johnson and perfected 

 

McDermott's vaunted dual a gap formation

 

 

 

 

 

[Malazan]

Eh, we all know he barely knows a 3-4 from a 4-3 and is just a motivational guy, right?

Edited September 2, 2021 by jeremy2020

[marky]

The Klein play was when they were down by 14 with 6 to go. In the NFL, you should be able to do any scheme. Too much talent looking for a job.

[Buffalo716]

8 minutes ago, beavis said:

The Klein play was when they were down by 14 with 6 to go. In the NFL, you should be able to do any scheme. Too much talent looking for a job.

He has 10+ years of clips in this formation stifling offenses 

 

This is his look , that others have adopted around the league 

 

he is the master of confusing defense's with this look... Some coordinators try it and look foolish

Edited September 2, 2021 by Buffalo716

[billybrew1]

"I like that play."  - Joe Willy Namath

[Shaw66]

Thanks.  Interesting simple look at it.  Easy to see why you need speed in your linebackers.   Sticking them right in there and then expecting them to make the necessary zone drops is pretty demanding.  

[LeGOATski]

Do the LBs have the choice to blitz or drop based on the protection? That would make sense to me and provide the defense with the advantage, as long as the LBs and DBs are all on the same page.

[Buffalo716]

24 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Thanks.  Interesting simple look at it.  Easy to see why you need speed in your linebackers.   Sticking them right in there and then expecting them to make the necessary zone drops is pretty demanding.  

Edmund's length also makes him ideal

 

He swallows up seam routes in the 5 to 15 yard range.. and his quickness allows him to reach his drops from that formation 

 

There's been times he's misread a play fake... Been picked up by a center/guard ... QB throws it hot to his zone... And he still gets his arms up bats the ball down

 

Insane length

[Rubes]

28 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Thanks.  Interesting simple look at it.  Easy to see why you need speed in your linebackers.   Sticking them right in there and then expecting them to make the necessary zone drops is pretty demanding.  

 

What's interesting about the Seattle sack/fumble play linked above is that it wasn't the linebackers in the A gaps.

 

The four rushers on the play were Klein, Edwards, Oliver, and...I think Jefferson?

 

The two guys in the A gaps who both drop into coverage there are Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison, I believe.

 

[Buffalo716]

2 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

Do the LBs have the choice to blitz or drop based on the protection? That would make sense to me and provide the defense with the advantage, as long as the LBs and DBs are all on the same page.

There are certain calls and adjustments based on offensive formations 

 

McDermott's favorite is what's called a green dog... And it effects the play in man to man... When you have a green dog called... It allows the linebackers or Safeties in man coverage.. to blitz if their man stays home to pass block 

 

His other favorite is a peel off.. which if the linebacker or safeties man stays in .. they peel off to double an undercutting route

[Shaw66]

2 minutes ago, Rubes said:

 

What's interesting about the Seattle sack/fumble play linked above is that it wasn't the linebackers in the A gaps.

 

The four rushers on the play were Klein, Edwards, Oliver, and...I think Jefferson?

 

The two guys in the A gaps who both drop into coverage there are Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison, I believe.

 

Yeah, I wasn't sure who dropped.  But what I found interesting is looking at the still photo and explanation of how the lineup challenges the offense to go nearly max protect.   That formation says "you know that we're sending four, and probably only four, but you have no idea which four.  And maybe it's five.  And it it's five, the fifth may be a safety, or the slot corner.  And maybe it's six.  You figure it out."  So, then you watch the video, and there it is - Klein and Edmunds coming, some other guys dropping.   They don't adjust protections properly, Bills rush four and Wilson's on his back.   Simple, consistent look, but it requires your QB, line and backs to be ready for a lot of different things.   

[Rubes]

Just now, Shaw66 said:

Yeah, I wasn't sure who dropped.  But what I found interesting is looking at the still photo and explanation of how the lineup challenges the offense to go nearly max protect.   That formation says "you know that we're sending four, and probably only four, but you have no idea which four.  And maybe it's five.  And it it's five, the fifth may be a safety, or the slot corner.  And maybe it's six.  You figure it out."  So, then you watch the video, and there it is - Klein and Edmunds coming, some other guys dropping.   They don't adjust protections properly, Bills rush four and Wilson's on his back.   Simple, consistent look, but it requires your QB, line and backs to be ready for a lot of different things.   

 

Yeah, it was really interesting to watch. I think part of it is that maybe Seattle thought there's no way they're really dropping two standing D-linemen into coverage, are they? And perhaps it messed up the assignments.

 

[Shaw66]

9 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

Edmund's length also makes him ideal

 

He swallows up seam routes in the 5 to 15 yard range.. and his quickness allows him to reach his drops from that formation 

 

There's been times he's misread a play fake... Been picked up by a center/guard ... QB throws it hot to his zone... And he still gets his arms up bats the ball down

 

Insane length

Thanks.  That's an example of what I've been saying about Edmunds and not even known exactly what situations show it.  His length and athleticism allow him to lineup effectively as a down lineman and still cover the short zones, because he can get out their quickly, but even if he can't get all the way back, his height and length save him.  

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, Rubes said:

 

Yeah, it was really interesting to watch. I think part of it is that maybe Seattle thought there's no way they're really dropping two standing D-linemen into coverage, are they? And perhaps it messed up the assignments.

 

McDermott has mastered this over a 10+ year span learning from Jim Johnson 

 

Johnson was a lot more aggressive with it.. McDermott wants you to think he's going to be aggressive... And when you finally think he's not going to send five or six... He does from different angles

[Shaw66]

2 minutes ago, Rubes said:

 

Yeah, it was really interesting to watch. I think part of it is that maybe Seattle thought there's no way they're really dropping two standing D-linemen into coverage, are they? And perhaps it messed up the assignments.

 

What people say about McDermott's defense, and McDermott admits it, is that he makes it really hard to make any useful pre-snap reads.  He forces the offense to read and adjust post-snap, and on this play it's obvious that someone on the offense didn't adjust.   

 

And add to that a growing list of guys who can simply beat their man one on one - Hughes, Oliver, Epenesa, Rousseau, Zimmer, even maybe Basham, and you're putting immense pressure on the offensive line.   Those guys don't know who's coming, and the guys who ARE coming can beat you off the ball.  

[MasterStrategist]

1 hour ago, Buffalo716 said:

With the season right around the corner I thought I would rehash some things that make his defense special 

 

Going back to Philadelphia and Carolina, it is his vaunted Dual A Gap look on 3rd downs

 

 

 

It's not even about blitzing necessarily... It's about making the quarterback think you're going to blitz.. make him think for one more second and hold on to the ball for a little bit longer 

 

From here he has a lot of options... he can bring all six up front and man up... He can bring four and drop in to cover 3 or 2 .. or even cover 1 man 

 

 

As you can see it's a numbers game.. he has no choice but to Max protect or risk getting destroyed 

 

 

He only will bring the heat ever 3-4th time... But when he does like above... You have no time, and you're getting a monster like AJ Klein taking your head off 

 

This is exotic zone zone blitz scheme's he learned from Jim Johnson and perfected 

 

McDermott's vaunted dual a gap formation

 

 

 

 

 

Great post!

 

Definitely a great way to "simulate" pressure, as they say, or bring the heat with man/ more exotic zone schemes behind it.  Definitely important to have LBs that can not only blitz but drop into coverage as Milano and Edmunds have proven capable of.

 

Especially going up against a young/new oline of Pitt Week 1 should be a great opportunity to be aggressive with these looks and see how they can adjust.  

 

 

[Buffalo716]

2 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

What people say about McDermott's defense, and McDermott admits it, is that he makes it really hard to make any useful pre-snap reads.  He forces the offense to read and adjust post-snap, and on this play it's obvious that someone on the offense didn't adjust.   

 

And add to that a growing list of guys who can simply beat their man one on one - Hughes, Oliver, Epenesa, Rousseau, Zimmer, even maybe Basham, and you're putting immense pressure on the offensive line.   Those guys don't know who's coming, and the guys who ARE coming can beat you off the ball.  

That is why he's a master.. you get zero, none, zilch pre snap from him 

 

His favorite first down play, is a cover 3 Robber... Not exotic, easy to dissect... But he runs it pre-snap like cover two man... or he will mask the single high as the robber

 

He never gives you a straight up look

[Shaw66]

3 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

McDermott has mastered this over a 10+ year span learning from Jim Johnson 

 

Johnson was a lot more aggressive with it.. McDermott wants you to think he's going to be aggressive... And when you finally think he's not going to send five or six... He does from different angles

Thanks for your intitial explanation and the discussion it started.  I now see much more clearly what's going on up front.   I never understood why Edmunds lines up on the line so often.   I would think "come on, everyone knows he's dropping, why doesn't he line up two yards back, like in a more traditional 4-3?"   Well, because he isn't dropping every time.  And because he's good enough to drop from there.  

 

McDermott always says he wants to get pass rush from four.   It's easy to see the technique.   He is getting pass rush from four, most of the time.   He's able to do it by making it difficult for the offense to understand which four it is.  When you plug the A gaps like that, and you have guys who can drop, the combinations of four you can send at the offense can be pretty confusing.  

2 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

That is why he's a master.. you get zero, none, zilch pre snap from him 

 

His favorite first down play, is a cover 3 Robber... Not exotic, easy to dissect... But he runs it pre-snap like cover two man... or he will mask the single high as the robber

 

He never gives you a straight up look

And he's apparently a master with the safeties, as well.  I remember reading something where one of them was describing how their interchangeable, and how they are regularly disguising their coverage assignments presnap.   

 

So, the opposing QB starts the play not knowing where the rush is coming from and knowing where is go-to receiver likely will be.   He as to figure it all out on the fly, post-snap.  

[Buffalo716]

10 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Thanks for your intitial explanation and the discussion it started.  I now see much more clearly what's going on up front.   I never understood why Edmunds lines up on the line so often.   I would think "come on, everyone knows he's dropping, why doesn't he line up two yards back, like in a more traditional 4-3?"   Well, because he isn't dropping every time.  And because he's good enough to drop from there.  

 

McDermott always says he wants to get pass rush from four.   It's easy to see the technique.   He is getting pass rush from four, most of the time.   He's able to do it by making it difficult for the offense to understand which four it is.  When you plug the A gaps like that, and you have guys who can drop, the combinations of four you can send at the offense can be pretty confusing.  

And he's apparently a master with the safeties, as well.  I remember reading something where one of them was describing how their interchangeable, and how they are regularly disguising their coverage assignments presnap.   

 

So, the opposing QB starts the play not knowing where the rush is coming from and knowing where is go-to receiver likely will be.   He as to figure it all out on the fly, post-snap.  

Yes the way you disguise looks like cover 3 and such is with manipulating the Safeties 

 

And nobody does it better than him 

 

There is no defined role like in a Kam Chancellor Earl Thomas safety relationship... Micah and Jordan Mix Max their positions, their techniques .. and quarterbacks have no idea what role they will be in Post snap 

 

McDermott's hands down the best I've ever seen with manipulating safeties

[HardyBoy]

13 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

That is why he's a master.. you get zero, none, zilch pre snap from him 

 

His favorite first down play, is a cover 3 Robber... Not exotic, easy to dissect... But he runs it pre-snap like cover two man... or he will mask the single high as the robber

 

He never gives you a straight up look

With the robber look, having the safety basically coming down into the box, especially with how late and unexpectedly the bills safety’s shift (which was not as significant last year without crowd noise because easy to call an audible even with two seconds on the play clock), gotta think that it basically allows Edmunds or Milano to sell out on the pass and have the safety come in and fill that gap if it is a run. 
 

Like it’s not just that the lb is not blitzing, but he is potentially cycling back to the safety’s robber position and having the safety rotate down and the entire defense pivots kind of. 
 

lol, that is actually more of a question, I am not a football player, but I try and pay attention to smart people talking about it and have played soccer, lax and bball and understand defensive principles. Basically synergizing what I’ve heard smart people say in parts, along with my conceptual understanding of defense in other sports.

Am I right, or at least rightish?!