I hate having to say this again every year, but aggression in football scheme is always a gamble. Every pressure tactic exposes or creates a weakness that can be exploited. You want aggressive? How did you like the blitz heavy Haslett approach that regularly gave up explosives? Wanna hire Wink? Same thing.
Today's NFL requires teams to morph into other principles within games. One can prepare for a zone heavy look to combat what you expect but find you need to play more man concepts because they anticipated your approach. McVay learned that the hard way in the Super Bowl against NE. They were primarily a man concept squad that basically transformed into the Bears scheme and McVay didn't have the plays repped to combat it well enough.
Just as offenses may change up a snap count to ensure unpredictability, defenses change coverage and pressure concepts regularly to confuse the opponent. Sometimes pressure works. Other times, feigning pressure works even better. If you're only watching the corners, you aren't understanding the pressure design.
I think some people may be influenced by the scene in Remember the Titans when Coach Yoast tells his defense,
"All right, now, I don't want them to gain *another yard!* * You blitz... all... night!* If they cross the line of scrimmage, I'm gonna take every last one of you out! You make sure they remember, *forever*, the night they played the Titans!"
[defense cheers]
Unfortunately, that strategy can only work in high school football in the 70's. It sure is fun to dream of though.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2024 11:03AM by Leoram.
