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The Patriots, Eagles and Colts have defenses that: get bent but don't break, giving opposing offenses the chance to implode
Sporting News, The, Jan 14, 2005 by Dan Pompei
Calling a defense "bend but don't break" is kind of like calling a woman "pretty for her size." Somewhere in those descriptions, insult lurks.
You might as well label a defense "passive," "soft" or just plain "limp-wristed." No defense wants to consider itself "bend-but-don't-break" because of the connotations. Yet the numbers say three of the best teams in the playoffs are achieving bend-but-don't-break results, and the style undoubtedly will leave an imprint on the NFL postseason.
The Patriots rank 17th in passing yards allowed, but that hasn't prevented them from winning 14 games because they have allowed fewer touchdowns per possession in the red zone than every team but two.
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The Colts' defense gave up more yards than all but three teams, but this undiscovered unit has been an ideal complement to the Indianapolis offense because it came up with the third most takeaways.
The Eagles allowed more drives of 10 plays or more than any team, but they still gave up fewer points than all but one (even after surrendering 38 to the Bengals in a meaningless regular-season finale).
Allowing a lot of yards is like using a lot of minutes on a cell phone. It doesn't really matter if you have a plan. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, like Patriots coach Bill Belichick, is most concerned with red zone scoring percentage and third-down defense. Johnson also stresses takeaways, but Belichick underlines number of big plays allowed.
Interestingly, the Colts, Eagles and Patriots have arrived at similar places by taking different paths. The Colts are a more traditional bend-but-don't-break defense, playing zone about 80 percent of the time. The Eagles continue to use a blitz-oriented defense that plays man-to-man coverage about 70 percent of the time, even with two new starting cornerbacks in Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown. The Patriots are the most schizophrenic of the three--their game plans change the most depending on the opponent. But they have gone from a team that primarily played man-free (man-to-man with a free safety allowed to roam) a year ago, to a team that plays zone 75 percent of the time, mostly because of injuries to cornerbacks Ty Law and Tyrone Poole.
The three defenses share the belief that, given enough opportunities, most offenses will splatter themselves with their own paint balls--the offensive coordinator will make a nonsensical call, the quarterback will make a calamitous decision, the offensive line will foul up a protection scheme or some inconsequential doofus will commit a penalty that will paralyze a drive.
The philosophy played out to perfection for the Eagles in their November 21 game against the Redskins. In a 12-play drive, the Eagles allowed the Redskins to reach the 20-yard line with ease. Three incomplete passes, two false starts and one offensive holding penalty later, the Redskins attempted--and missed--a 48-yard field goal.
"The bend-but-don't-break basically says we think we can put you in a situation where you are going to make a mistake before we do," says Ravens coach Brian Billick, whose team opposed all three defenses this season.
The idea of letting offenses beat themselves blends perfectly with the Patriots' roster because smart, experienced players such as safety Rodney Harrison and linebackers Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Ted Johnson, Willie McGinest and Rosevelt Colvin rarely short-circuit. "New England's defense is so veteran, so fundamentally sound, that they're going to he where they are supposed to be doing what they're supposed to be doing," Billick says. "They understand the scheme. They've been together for a while."
Colts coach Tony Dungy says he would much rather give up 50 yards in 12 plays than 50 yards on one play, because at some point in those 12 plays he trusts that something will go right for his fast, opportunistic defense.
In the playoffs, the bend-but-don't-break philosophy becomes riskier, however, because highly efficient playoff offenses such as those belonging to the Colts, Vikings, Patriots, Packers, Eagles and Rams are less likely to implode than many of the offenses these teams have played during the regular season. So the Patriots' and Eagles' defenses are likely to become more aggressive in the next month. If the Colts waver from their personality, though, it will be a first.
The Colts play the same kind of defense no matter the opponent or situation. They change little in the red zone, continuing to play the cover 2 scheme they play on the rest of the field. But the shrunken field inside the 20 makes the two-deep zone seem almost like a four across. The cover 2 is the predominant defense NFL teams play inside the 20, and the teams that major in cover 2 have a red zone advantage.
"If you have the capabilities, you can stretch the Dungy 2 pretty good in the open field," Billick says. "Inside the 20, that Dungy 2 becomes what's called a 'Red 2,' and it's harder to find those seams because the zones are compressed."
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