Having a hard time wrapping my brain around how DL calls to stop run or pass can effectively, over time, be independent from then defensive backfiled calls to stop the run or pass.
I'm getting the sense that I'm to tied to the legacy way of doing things and defensive philosophies are passing me by...if it works for the Patriots, who the **** am I to differ right?
So, help me out...
I'm assuming that even if the DL and DB calls are "disconnected", one or the other can limit the damage if one (or both) calls get it "wrong" in matching a given offensive play.
I can get on board with that...am I headed in the right direction?
It's more about understanding down & distance, game situations, and the gameplan. As long as everyone is on the same page with that, then you can make those calls independently of each other, and as long as you have competent playcallers...you should be fine.
For instance, if it's 4th and 2 from your own 30, your opponent is out of timeouts, and there are 2 minutes to go, and you're up by...let's say 5...and the offensive personnel comes out in double TE with one WR to the wide side.
You're going to watch for the run first, most likely. You might call a run blitz to the strong side of the line by your front 7 if you're the DC making the run game calls. The pass game DC might call some variant of Cover 1 or Man Free in the back end if you're selling out to stop this 4th & 2 so you can get the ball back and run out the clock. In that situation, common sense given the situation and that offense's tendencies will dictate the calls made by both co-DC's.
Same thing with 3rd and 25 with the same game situation. You want to play zone in the back end to keep everything in front of you so you don't get beat deep and give up the 1st Down (also allows you to read the QB and either break on the run or stop the scramble). You want to force them in to 4th and forever, or at least 4th and long. So, up front the run game DC might send 3 or 4 on the rush (which will also be guarding against the draw or screen plays), but play some variant of Cover 4 behind that. You could see a zone blitz call up front IF you've had success with that, in combination with a Cover 3 look in the back end.
So...I guess what I'm saying is, it's never completely "disconnected", because if you're given the Co-DC duties, you're never completely oblivious to what the other DC is going to call. You're going to likely complement the other DC's play call given all of the variables that are taken into consideration. It gets pretty complicated, but it still hearkens back to conventional playcalling wisdom. The Co-DC's calls may not be strictly connected by ONE play call, but they will always be connected by how all the variables tell them to attack either the run or the pass.
And we haven't even mentioned the numerous checks and audibles that each position group is allowed to make pre-snap as the offense aligns and shows motion.
Basically, the traditional defensive way of playcalling is still there. That's not lost. What making these separate calls does is makes the offense's pre-snap reads harder. You can't read the way the LB's are lined up and say that the coverage is either man or zone. If you split the secondary calls by sides of the formation, you can't really read one S or another and truly know what the entire coverage look is, either. You can't really read where the Mike or the SDE is lined up to pick up a blitz read. It's just mass chaos meant to confuse the offense while your D knows their duties.
