Football 401

 

The BDFL furthers your football education

 

 

 

Hobnail boots - In footwear, a hobnail is a short nail with a thick head used to increase the durability of boot soles. Hobnailed boots (known in Scotland as 'tackety boots') are boots with hobnails, usually installed in a regular pattern, over the sole. They also usually have an iron horseshoe-shaped insert, called a heel iron, to strengthen the heel, and an iron toe-piece. The hobnails project below the sole and provide traction on soft or rocky ground, but they tend to slide on smooth hard surfaces. They have been used since antiquity for inexpensive durable footwear, often by workmen and the military, including as the trench boots of World War I. Listen now how hobnail boots relate to football: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFzYJ0HmQnk

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Tampa Two Defense - The Tampa Two, or Cover Two, is football defensive strategy popularized by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League (NFL) team in the mid 1990s-early 2000s. The term rose to popularity due to the installation and excellent execution of this defensive scheme by then-head coach Tony Dungy and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. The roots of the Tampa Two system actually are in the Steel Curtain days of Pittsburgh football. Dungy credits Steelers Head Coach Chuck Noll and Defensive Coordinator Bud Carson as the original developers. Chicago Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith mentions having played the system in junior high school during the 1970s, though Carson introduced the idea of moving the middle linebacker into coverage. Carson's system became especially effective with the Steelers' addition of aggressive and athletic middle linebacker Jack Lambert.

 

The Tampa Two typically consists of four linemen, three linebackers, two cornerbacks, and two safeties. The scheme is known for its simple format, speed, and the aggressive mentality of its players. Although it lacks the complexity of other defenses, it instead relies heavily on the attitudes of its players and tremendous team speed. Tampa Two teams are known as gang tacklers and practice to always run to the ball. It also requires a hard hitting secondary to cause turnovers. Tampa Two defenders typically don't have the prototypical size of other NFL defenders, but rely more on speed, smarts and sure tackling. A quick defensive line is a must, but the middle linebacker position, like Lambert, is the key. To truly be effective, the defensive linemen in this scheme have to be quick and agile enough to create pressure on the quarterback without the aid of a blitz and need above-average tackling skills to help stop run.

The middle linebacker must have better-than-average speed, and additional skills to be able to read the play quickly and either maintain his central position to help the outside linebackers cover short passes, or run up to the line of scrimmage to help assist in stopping the runs. “It takes a special linebacker to do that, a guy with speed,” says Pete Prisco, senior NFL writer for CBSSports.com. The cornerbacks protect the sidelines of the field from the line of scrimmage to anywhere between 15-20 yards out. According to Prisco, they “don't have to be great man-to-man cover players, but they have to be guys who can tackle.” An additional requirement for all of Dungy's linebackers and cornerbacks is to be above-average tacklers, as they are usually the primary tacklers in the defense.

The two safeties are responsible for covering their respective halves of the field from 20 yards out and more. The safeties in the system are expected to be above-average cover men with the ability to break up passes, but each safety also is expected to have additional specific skills. The strong safeties, while not expected to be great tacklers, are expected to be hard hitters. The hard hitting strong safety protects the middle of the field from being exploited by small, fast receivers, and running backs on wheel routes, by intimidating them to not run their routes in that direction. The free safety plays the pass first, but can be used to blitz and support the run stop.

To defend running plays, the Tampa Two is a single gap defense where each player is responsible to defend his own gap. The assigned gap changes with game conditions and personnel.

 

The Tampa Two is particularly effective against high-scoring teams, or teams who are playing with a lead, because it limits big plays. It forces offenses to be patient and to settle for short gains and time-consuming drives.

When executed properly, the Tampa Two defense is difficult to beat, which speaks for its longevity that it has fundamentally not changed since first introduced in 1970s. Teams that have been successful against this defense have managed to run the ball through a straw up the middle past the defensive tackles, or throw passes in the seams between the outside linebackers and the cornerbacks (often the most effective receiver against a Tampa Two defense is a tight end, since they often line up against this seam). Other tactics that have shown to be effective on occasion are misdirection plays that take advantage of the defensive speed and rely on the defense 'over-running' the play (such as the middle linebacker rushing to the line of scrimmage on a play-action pass), or overloading the safeties by having multiple receivers running deep routes, creating more targets in a zone than defenders. Recently, some teams have also been able to exploit the seam between the cornerbacks and the safeties, when the quarterback can throw a pass to a receiver in that seam faster than the safety can rush up to close it and cover the receiver. A recent trend is for teams to send a receiver up the middle, creating a mismatch against the linebacker in coverage. The popularity of the Tampa Two means that offenses are now finding it effective to exploit the deep middle, where the safeties have to cover the most ground.

Typically this style of defense utilizes smaller but faster linemen and linebackers with above average speed. Also, the defensive backs must be above average hitters.