WAPO on the Tampa-2 (Now the LA-2) and Aaron Donald(NFC Defensive Player of the Week)

[WestCoastRam]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...e-best-player-in-the-nfl/?tid=pm_sports_pop_b

One reason the L.A. Rams are 3-1? They have the best player in the NFL.

Let’s take a look at the two biggest factors behind the Rams’ surprising 3-1 start, and how the two fit so well together.

A shift in scheme

Instead of inventing new coverage principles, Fisher and company turned back the clock to a tried-and-true defensive scheme from the 1970s.

When Lovie Smith was fired from his head coaching position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after last season, many thought it signaled the death of the Tampa-2 defense, a scheme in which two safeties are responsible for the two deep zones with the cornerbacks and linebackers responsible for five underneath zones. The truth is that the coverage scheme as a philosophy was already all but abandoned. Tampa Bay was running cover-1 more often than the scheme with the city’s namesake in 2015 as the Tampa-2 accounted for only 29 percent of their coverage – still a much higher rate than anyone else in the league though. The defense that rose to fame when Tony Dungy was hired to the same position 20 years prior was now a coverage employed almost exclusively on third-and-long and end-of-game situations.

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Outside of the coverage aspect, there is still one last thing the defense requires to run properly: a dominant defensive line against both the run and pass. Against the run, keeping both safeties deep means there’s one fewer man in the box and the middle linebacker can’t play nearly as downhill because of his deep coverage responsibilities against play action. Against the pass the Tampa-2 requires defenders to drop to a spot instead of matching up with receivers, making the defense susceptible to spacing issues when certain route combinations pull defenders to the edges of their zones. To counteract this, receivers are jammed at the line of scrimmage to slow down that pulling effect, but the defensive line still needs to be getting home and forcing the ball out quickly, as big holes in the zone will eventually be created.

And that’s where the NFL’s best player comes in.

Donald’s dominance

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Lucky enough for the Rams they currently have the single most adept player in the NFL at rushing the passer and stopping the run. And with J.J. Watt out for the season it really isn’t close. The kind of impact defensive tackle Aaron Donald is having snap-to-snap from his spot exclusively between the tackles is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. When I talked about the Rams’ need to force the ball out quickly, it’s Donald who has done just that. He may only have two sacks, but he’s on pace for 100 total pressures on the season and has been unblockable in one-on-one situations. In 10 years of data, Watt’s 2014 season is the only one that’s cracked 100 pressures (119).

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The biggest concerns about Donald coming out of college were if he’d be able to hold up against the run with his small stature (6-foot-1, 285 pounds) in the NFL. Those concerns have been proven dead wrong at this point. Even at sub-300 pounds, Donald could likely be one of the best nose tackles in the NFL if he wanted to be and he routinely plays there with 58 of his 232 snaps coming over the center this season. Through four games he’s made a stop on 14.5 percent of his snaps, the third highest rate in the NFL. As mentioned before, stopping the run with the safeties removed from the box is a difficult task for most teams in the NFL. So far, on the 29 carries against the Rams this year where that’s been the case, opposing offenses are averaging only 3.28 yards per carry.

 

[WvuIN02]

Off topic but I have never understood why they call it the Tampa 2. Even Dungy says he took the defense from his playing days where they used this defense on the 1970s Steel Curtain teams.

 

[SteveBrown]

It's the 'tampa 2' because Dungy made it superior without having Steeler like talent (7+ HOFers). He had Lynch, Sapp and D. Brooks and Ronde Barber, the rest were 2nd class citizens mostly.....most defenses have many talents. IN the passing era, Dungy's defenses were giving up 150-180 yards passing a game.

Ya, I know Simeon Rice got it in there, too....but, he wasn't there in 98-2000 when they had Chidi etc. at DE.

Only my opinion

 

[SteveBrown]

"So far, on the 29 carries against the Rams this year where that’s been the case, opposing offenses are averaging only 3.28 yards per carry."--from article
This, for me, is the key stat. With Barron at OLB and OGltree still learning his postion they are giving up only 3.3 that is awesome....if all stay healthy it will get better. Then they focus on the pass rush

 

[Bruce2980]

Tampa 2 drops the MLB deep center, where as in a cover 2 that deep center is more open and vulnerable, especially for TEs to exploit. I'm no expert though. Is that where Ogletree was heading when he ran toward the play to strip the ball from the Seagulls?

 

[WvuIN02]

It's the 'tampa 2' because Dungy made it superior without having Steeler like talent (7+ HOFers). He had Lynch, Sapp and D. Brooks and Ronde Barber, the rest were 2nd class citizens mostly.....most defenses have many talents. IN the passing era, Dungy's defenses were giving up 150-180 yards passing a game.

Ya, I know Simeon Rice got it in there, too....but, he wasn't there in 98-2000 when they had Chidi etc. at DE.

Only my opinion

He definitely had the right personnel to run it. But in interviews he himself has said it should be called the Steel Curtain defense and not the Tampa 2. The principles/design of the defense and the personnel he drafted to run it (rangy MLB and safeties) was the exact same as the Steelers which he played for. Just find it strange, I guess the credit is because he is the one who really brought it back from the 70s when the 80s and 90s were full of teams using the 46 defense or the Blitzburgh type of defenses.

 

[SteveBrown]

Well, the tampa 2 is about stopping the pass, which I think DUngy did it superior to every team in the league over a long period of time. THe steelers were an all time defense, but their were other D's like Vikings, Rams, Denver (1977) and Dallas who on any one year were just as good as Pittsburg's defense. E.g. the Rams were the best D in 1975 (points) and 1978....Dungy was the difference, not the players....he did a lot with a little. THose Steeler DBs Bloung, Wagner, Johnson,Shell all had pro bowls and all played for 7-10 years.....while Tampa kept rotating safeties and corners and MLBs, but the result was the same.

So, Dungy made it much better than Knoll ever did in Pitsbury....so renamed for Dungy's exellence.


Air Coryell was taken from Sid Gilliam. Mike Martz learned at SD and then increased his stuff from Norv Turner, who learned it from Ernie Zampese who learned it from Joe Gibbs (?) who learned it from Don Coryell.....so, who gets the most fame? Martz of course....LOL

 

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/10/05/aaron-donald-named-nfc-defensive-player-of-the-week/

Aaron Donald named NFC defensive player of the week
Posted by Darin Gantt on October 5, 2016

AP

Don’t tell Rex Ryan. This Aaron Donald kid is pretty good.

The Rams defensive tackle was named NFC defensive player of the week, the third time in the last 20 weeks he’s won that award.

Donald had 1.5 sacks and forced a fumble as the Rams improved to 3-1 with a win over the Cardinals.

And since he’s fired up about Ryan’s comments about his talents relative to Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson, this week’s game against the Bills could provide more opportunity for big numbers for the dominant interior rusher.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/10/04/aaron-donald-remembers-rex-ryans-words-well/

Aaron Donald remembers Rex Ryan’s words well
Posted by Mike Florio on October 4, 2016

Getty Images

When the Rams host the Bills on Sunday, one player will find a little extra meaning in the contest.

Two years ago, when Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald qualified for the Pro Bowl over Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, former Jets coach Rex Ryan complained about the move, not by building up Richardson but by taking shots at Donald.

Ryan said at the time he was “kind of shocked” by Donald’s selection over Richardson, and then Ryan said this: “If it kept him out of the Pro Bowl because some guy had ‘X’ amount of sacks, and that guy can’t hold his jock as a player, to be honest with you, I think that’s kind of strange to me.”

A source with knowledge of Donald’s position on the matter tells PFT that the comments “struck a chord” with Donald, and that Donald keenly remembers what Ryan said.

So look for Donald to have extra motivation on Sunday — and look for Donald and Ryan to be asked about Ryan’s comments in the days leading up to the game.

 

[Legatron4]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/10/05/aaron-donald-named-nfc-defensive-player-of-the-week/

Aaron Donald named NFC defensive player of the week
Posted by Darin Gantt on October 5, 2016

AP

Don’t tell Rex Ryan. This Aaron Donald kid is pretty good.

The Rams defensive tackle was named NFC defensive player of the week, the third time in the last 20 weeks he’s won that award.

Donald had 1.5 sacks and forced a fumble as the Rams improved to 3-1 with a win over the Cardinals.

And since he’s fired up about Ryan’s comments about his talents relative to Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson, this week’s game against the Bills could provide more opportunity for big numbers for the dominant interior rusher.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/10/04/aaron-donald-remembers-rex-ryans-words-well/

Aaron Donald remembers Rex Ryan’s words well
Posted by Mike Florio on October 4, 2016

Getty Images

When the Rams host the Bills on Sunday, one player will find a little extra meaning in the contest.

Two years ago, when Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald qualified for the Pro Bowl over Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, former Jets coach Rex Ryan complained about the move, not by building up Richardson but by taking shots at Donald.

Ryan said at the time he was “kind of shocked” by Donald’s selection over Richardson, and then Ryan said this: “If it kept him out of the Pro Bowl because some guy had ‘X’ amount of sacks, and that guy can’t hold his jock as a player, to be honest with you, I think that’s kind of strange to me.”

A source with knowledge of Donald’s position on the matter tells PFT that the comments “struck a chord” with Donald, and that Donald keenly remembers what Ryan said.

So look for Donald to have extra motivation on Sunday — and look for Donald and Ryan to be asked about Ryan’s comments in the days leading up to the game.

Why in the world do teams continue trying to motivate this guy? You really want him playing angry against you?

 

[WestCoastRam]

It's kinda stupid-simple-genius when you think about it... having Ogletree and Barron at LB and Donald at DT, it's basically an analogue to the players Dungy had when he was in Tampa.