When watching a football game, its important to be aware of the defense. The defense is the 11 players who try to keep the 11 players on the offense from scoring. Coaches love defense and are often quoted as saying, Defense wins games. Meaning that if the other team doesnt score, youve got a shot at winning. Of course, if you dont score, you wont win either. The defense comes in different configurations which are used to mainly confuse the TV audience and give the former- player commentators something to sound expert about. It used to be that most defenses operated out of a 4-3 setup. This meant that there were four down linemen on the line of scrimmage backed up by three linebackers. This led to colorful names for the four down linemen, such as The Fearsome Foursome, The Purple People Eaters, and the Doomsday Defense. Today, however, many teams employ the 3-4 defense which has only three down linemen. No one has yet to come up with a zippy nickname for the front three. Tres Machetes, Gang of Three, and the Trio of Death just dont have the same zing. The two outside players on the line of scrimmage are the defensive ends. These are big, fast, strong players. They are not as big as the offensive tackles blocking them, however offensive tackles are approximately the size of Delaware. The defensive ends job is to sack the quarterback on passing plays. They do this with quickness and agility, employing different moves (including spins) to throw off the balance of the large mounds trying to block them. Should they elude their blockers, they then try to tackle the quarterback. Of course, theyre not allowed to hit him in the head or below the waist. Quarterbacks have been placed on the NFLs endangered species list. When they sack the quarterback, they go into wild gyrations, apparently with the hope that theyll be discovered by Dancing with the Stars. One of the most famous defensive ends was David Deacon Jones of the Fearsome Foursome Los Angeles Rams. His best move was the head slap, in which he would clobber the tackle upside the head, and while the tackle was slipping into unconsciousness, he would sack the quarterback. The head slap is no longer legal since retired offensive tackles couldnt be employed as television color men, being unable to utter a comprehensible sentence. Some did find work at MSNBC as political commentators. In the center of the three down linemen is the nose tackle. He is generally huge and is responsible for taking up a lot of blockers and space on plays. Nose tackle confuses some people into thinking that they are only allowed to tackle players by their nose. This is not the case. Some people might also think that a nose tackle could describe a person with piercings in his nose consisting of a sinker and a hook. While this may be technically correct, this is not what its meant in football. The down linemen are backed up by four linebackers in the 3-4 defensive setup. The linebackers are marginally smaller than the down linemen and more agile. They have to be prepared to stop runners, fend off blockers, and cover receivers. Often one of the linebackers will become a down lineman and rush the passer. The most famous of these was Lawrence L.T. Taylor of the New York Giants. Many people remember when he broke Redskins quarterback Joe Theismanns leg. This caused Joe to retire and hawk Super Beta Prostate for bladder control in TV commercials. The remaining four players are cornerbacks and safeties. Their responsibility is primarily to stop receivers from catching the ball. They are easily recognizable by their hair, which is so long that it obscures their names and numbers. This makes it more difficult for the officials to call them for pass interference.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 09:57:45 +0000
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