Chip Kelly just hired Jim O'Neill as his defensive coordinator. I'm not a stalker, and won't bash either guy here. Anyway, O'Neill wasn't the boss, and implemented what he was told to implement in Cleveland. In fact, I wish the guy luck.
Thanks to Oscar Aparicio in San Fran, I got a more detailed read, according to a player, of part of the problem with Mike Pettine's defensive system:
Nothing the defensive linemen did was pre-determined. Instead, they were told to react to how they were blocked.
This actually makes sense, and in the past I've suggested it myself. But that was when I was dumber.
Offenses caught into this quickly. Oscar didn't get to this in his article, but I can guarantee you that offensive linemen started faking the defensive linemen out, and getting them to commit the wrong way.
What Oscar did point out was based on what a player or players told him: The defensive linemen were perpetually uncertain, and thinking too hard. It was worse for the linebackers, who (likewise being clueless about what was about to happen) were expected to read the blocks in front of them before deciding what to do.
All of this caused all these players to play on their heels on every neutral or running down. They were suckered, or didn't read what they saw correctly, and were usually a step or two late.
The player(s) Oscar heard from (they may have been Buffalo Bills by the way; same system) may have been veterans. It has to be worse for rookies.
This article discussed the reasons it failed against the run. I'm not sure what Mike Pettine had these guys doing on passing downs (aside from dropping the outside linebackers into coverage too often).
The Ray Horton system is very, very different, and that's the biggest reason why his defenses tend to improve immediately over their previous year wherever he goes.
Philosophically, it's almost the opposite. Ray Horton forces offenses to react to him.
I'm not saying that his is a superior system. The Ryan system works with a veteran team which includes a Ray Lewis "field general" type. But Horton's far more aggressive schemes allow inexperienced players to rely on their instincts more. The linebackers and defensive linemen are on the same page, and know what they're supposed to do pre-snap.
Further, they're usually doing pretty much the same thing, situationally, on every down. Naturally, they get better at it, faster.
So last season, guys like Danny Shelton and Xavier Cooper (and even Jamie Meder), as the quarterback is making his calls and guys are going in motion, had to wait to see what they should do until they were engaged by one or more blockers. All they could do to help themselves was to try to put a blocker off-balance, and hope they could read his intentions before getting hopelessly locked up.
I have to say that for an extremely smart guy, Mike Pettine was pretty stubborn.
In a Horton defense, you might have a Cooper (or Bryant) between the left guard and tackle, and a Shelton between center and right guard. Their only instructions are "penetrate to the heels and THEN react".
The linebackers now have predefined gaps and obvious reads, depending on how successful the linemen are in doing what the linebacker knew they were going to do.
Digressing a little further here, this front is designed to make a mess, even if neither defensive lineman makes a tackle. Keep in mind that the center lines up about two feet in front of the other offensive linemen. In pass-blocking, that's no biggee, but as a run blocker vs an attacking defensive lineman, he has a tough angle to try to help out the right guard. He has to run backward, then turn foreward. He can go after a linebacker, leaving his right guard on an island, or he can rotate behind left guard to pick up a blitzing outside linebacker or seal off the defender that guard is blocking.
When neither defensive lineman (both of which are routinely double-teamed) makes much headway, they are still expected not to budge.
This forms two big "clots" to the left and right of the center. A running back can go up the middle, but the linebackers and safeties are as aware of that as he is. If he goes outside, he has to run all the way outside, giving smaller defenders time to head him off at the pass.
Don't forget the defensive lineman (maybe Hughes) in the right tackle's face. Only a tight end can help the right tackle, and that defender may either try to hold him there, or get past him.
For every player, this is fairly simple. The Browns players who have played for both Mike Pettine and Ray Horton are grinning ear-to-ear.
They know they probably won't instantly become a dominating defense, but will be much better, and will have fun playing football again.
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