The Dick LeBeau 3-4 Defense
By Scott Carasik (with some consulting of The Steelers N'at about certain intricacies)
Teams that use this defense: Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers
Overview
Part IV of this series goes over the Dick LeBeau "Blitzburgh" 3-4 defense. He runs one of the highest blitz % defenses in the NFL Lebeau is dubbed as the father of the Zone Blitz. The basis of this scheme is to put more pressure on the offense than they can handle in both the pass and the run game.
LeBeau uses an interesting alignment based on a variety of schemes. His base alignment is closest to the original 46 defense used by the 85 Bears. His scheme however is completely different in terms of how it is executed. The defensive line is in a traditional 2-gap alignment with the Nose Tackle in a 0-tech over the center, and the DE's in 5-techs over the OT's. The OLB's are on the LOS just outside of the OT's on each side. The WILB is shaded over the weakside OG. The SILB is shaded over the strongside A gap. the SS is about 5 yards off the LOS shaded over the OT behind the DE. the FS is in a 10 yards deep spot shaded across from the A-gap on the weakside. The corners are lined up traditionally in their spots across from the CB's.
Defensive Line Responsibilities
The alignment of the defensive line is the same as the 2 gap defense. As is the responsibilities in the run game. The weakside DE is suppose to control the B and C gaps on the weakside. The strongside DE is suppose to control the B and C gaps on the strong side, and the Nose Tackle is suppose to control the A gaps. In the passing game their responsibilities are a bit different from the 2-gap. Since it's a zone blitz scheme any of the players will be called on to drop back into a short zone or stunt to help with the blitz. The Ideal players for this scheme based on the roles in the 2011 draft:
LeBeau Strongside DE - Marcell Dareus, played 3-4 DE at the University of Alabama
LeBeau Nose Tackle - Stephen Paea, played 4-3 DT at Oregon State University
LeBeau Weakside DE - Cameron Jordan, played 3-4 DE at the University of California
Linebacker Responsibilities
This is by far one of the most unique alignments in the NFL for a defense. They drop their strong safety into the box more than 75% of the time. They also use him more like a 5th LB than an actual S. So I am including him in this group. The WOLB and SOLB are on the LOS in their alignment as opposed to the traditional 4-5 yards back. The WILB is over the OG in a 2-gap alignment. The SILB is over the A-gap as if in a 1-gap alignment, and the SS is behing the strongside DE at about 5-6 yards back. The WOLB's responsibilities are to blitz over 60% of the time while also being able to play short zones and man up on a RB; they also are supposed to control the outside in the run game. The WILB's responsibilities are to blitz around 30% of the time, cover more intermediate zones and be in charge of the A and B gap on the weak side. The SILB is in charge of the A gap on his side and will blitz over 50% of the time as well. He is the one who will make the calls and wear the green dot. The MLB's do an interesting blitz most of the time called a Fire-X A-gap blitz. It's where both MLB's will attempt to shoot through the A-gaps causing havoc in the middle of the OL. The SOLB is in charge of the C-gap and outside of the TE in the run game and will be called on to cover the TE in man and blitz quite a bit as well. The SS is the most interesting spot out there. He is used as another LB essentially and will be in intermediate zones, blitzing over 35% of the time and in the run game is a guy who is more in charge of cleaning up the mess than anything else. The Ideal players for this scheme based on the roles in the 2011 draft:
LeBeau Strongside OLB "Sam" - Justin Houston, played 4-3 DE and 3-4 OLB at the University of Georgia
LeBeau Strongside ILB "Ted" - Martez Wilson, played 4-3 MLB at the University of Illinois
LeBeau Weakside ILB "Mike" - Quan Sturdivant, played 4-3 MLB at the University of North Carolina
LeBeau Weakside OLB "Will" - Von Miller, played 4-3 OLB at Texas A&M University
LeBeau Strong Safety - Dontay Moch, played 4-3 DE and OLB at the University of Nevada
Secondary Responsibilities
The SS was covered in the linebackers section. The FS is aligned across from the A-gap and about 10 yards deep. Their main role is too cover the deep half of the field and basically act like an eraser to all the mistakes that happen. The CB's are pure man coverage CB's. They are supposed to lock down their man in every possible way and will be in charge of the WR's one on one for over 90% of the plays. They will send the CB and S on blitzes a lot too though and are known to run a lot of cover 0 sets as well. The Ideal players for this scheme based on the roles in the 2011 draft:
LeBeau #1 CB - Patrick Peterson, played CB at Louisiana State University
LeBeau #2 CB - Prince Amukamura, played CB at the University of Wisconsin
LeBeau Free Safety - Aaron Williams, played CB at the University of Texas
