Its the Bear front.
* Its a five-man front with the nose tackle head over the center as opposed to a gap at the centers shoulder. Then, the two defensive ends line up at the outside shoulders of the guards. This forces each guard to play to his outside gap without help, as the center is occupied with the nose tackle. Then, outside linebackers rush the passer from the outside of the formation in one-on-one battles against offensive tacklesthough at times they get chip blocks from tight ends and running backs.
The Bear Front worked then and works now because in addition to the matchups issues it creates at the line of scrimmage, it also allows inside linebackers to naturally flow though and disrupt the pocket. Bears linebacker Mike Singletary made it to the Hall of Fame in part because of his ability to break through those openings quickly and effectively.
Its easiest for a 3-4 base defense to run a Bear front without substituting players from a personnel perspective, but youll see different iterations from 4-3 base teams as well. The Eagles like to present a linebacker where the nose tackle would be to create pre-snap confusion for the quarterback, and as long as the spacing causes problems for the offensive line, youll see the Bear Front in the modern NFL.
- [ ] 3-4 Notes
