Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldcolt
My memory is different than yours. It seemed like people ran where ever and how ever they wanted to. I only remember our run defense being stout in those days when Sanders was flying all over the place.
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The opposition ran inside of the DE's. Every once and a while they would stunt in, but the DE's job was to get up the field and push the QB forward into the DT's. There were so many times that Freeney or Mathis would just run past a T. The Dungy D doesn't work if you don't have a Bruckner pushing a G or C into the QB's feet.
The Dungy D was designed to disrupt the West Coast 3-5-7 step drop progression. Force that QB out of his drop pattern and mess up the timing. That's why getting McFarland finally made that D work. Outside pressure is great, but if no one threatens up the middle, it's less effective.
Sanders was the equalizer. Look at the Tampa D, The S Safety acts like a linebacker. He comes up and and makes plays. People forget how well Bethea played behind Sanders on Pass D, with pass coverage on the back end.