5-2 or 3-4?

here. The distinction is a fine point, but was mostly made in the context of MSM criticism that the Broncos didn’t have the personnel to run a 3-4.

…is found here.

1) There are 5 guys at the line, and two that are back (the classical definition).

2) The outermost guys on the line are true DEs (such as Dumervil), and never even played OLB (an alternative definition).

Coaches use one of those two definitions, and by both standards, we have a 5-2.

However, several 3-4s in the League have started putting there OLBs on the line (like the Pats), and the media hasn’t switched over. The coaches call it a 3-4 (as I did before this year) because that is how it is commonly known in the fanbase and amongst the media types. I even call it a 3-4 often, and find myself refering to the DEs as “DE/OLBs” as it creates less confusion.

I wrote under another post that a doctor often says “stomach” to refer to the “abdomen” when speaking to patients because this is the more common usage (though the stomach is a specific organ, while the abdomen is an area from the rib cage to the pelvic bone). The doctor knows better, but it is simpler when speaking to a patient.

The coaches and the media (out of politeness, not ignorance) dumb down some of the information that fans get. The intent is to not speak over people’s heads. But if you want to dig deeper (knowing how plays work, football systems, etc), you can talk to a coach, become a coach, or read a site like MHR. At our “lofty” level, we talk about the 5-2, but recognize that it will more commonly be refered to as a 3-4. MHR (and I) will refer to it both ways, depending on the context of the article.

I had read HT’s article when it came out, but this was the first time I took the time to read SWG’s article. What a great read! Ever since I read HT’s article, I started paying much closer attention to the defensive formations. The more I paid attention, the more different formations and uses of those formations I saw. Just as SWG wrote in his article, a totally bewildering array of combinations!

During a postgame interview on the radio, Vonnie was asked what defensive adjustments were made at halftime. His reply was that “we weren’t disguising very well in the first half”, and that their main adjustment was “disguise a little better”. To watch that defense at work is bewildering for us fans, I also have to imagine it is pretty darn tough for the opposing QBs as well.

In high school I still see it being called a 5-2, which I find quite interesting by itself.

In the 5-2, the middle LBs better be tackling machines…we just happen to have 2 of them!

but the distinction between 5-2 and 3-4 or even 4-3 is really more for the fans. Whether a defense is in a 5-man, 4-man, or 3-man front is not that crucial to the offense. At least not as important as whether they are in an odd front (man over the center) or an even front (no one over center) or whether they are running a 2-gap scheme (where the D-line locks up the O-line and keeps them off the LBs) or a 1-gap (where they try to penetrate between blockers). But that gets too technical for most fans.

Steve (HT) has some great posts explaining these concepts in MH University