using the nickel package as our base defense..

[zoogs]

Yeah, what you really need to combat spread offenses with strong passing attacks is a 5-2.

[HuskerTrucker]

Another thing that would be affective against it would be noise ... if they are spread out and can't hear the count, then they all don't take off at the same time, or someone will jump.

[caveman99]

nickel defense = bad defense. It used to drive me crazy when Missouri would pass underneath the defense time after time under Osborne when he would go to the nickel late in the game to keep them from going deep.

 

I am not a fan of the nickel defense.

 

Nickel Defense is not the same as prevent. You can still blitz and do a lot of good things on D with 5 DB's as opposed to the standard 4.

nickel defense prevents you from winning.....same difference.

 

If you think you can cover wide receivers with LB's then go ahead and stay in that mind set. I don't see why you wouldn't want to put in personnel packages to match up with the offense, that is all Nickel is a personnel package. The coaches then decide what defense they want to run out of it, cover 2, man coverage, etc. Bo talks about it all the time, NU matches personnel. They will use Base, Nickel, Dime, and Dollar personnel packages to run their defenses.

[Ohio Pete]

nickel defense = bad defense. It used to drive me crazy when Missouri would pass underneath the defense time after time under Osborne when he would go to the nickel late in the game to keep them from going deep.

 

I am not a fan of the nickel defense.

 

Nickel Defense is not the same as prevent. You can still blitz and do a lot of good things on D with 5 DB's as opposed to the standard 4.

nickel defense prevents you from winning.....same difference.

If you think you can cover wide receivers with LB's then go ahead and stay in that mind set. I don't see why you wouldn't want to put in personnel packages to match up with the offense, that is all Nickel is a personnel package. The coaches then decide what defense they want to run out of it, cover 2, man coverage, etc. Bo talks about it all the time, NU matches personnel. They will use Base, Nickel, Dime, and Dollar personnel packages to run their defenses.

Dime looked pretty effective against NMST

[DaveH]

Yeah, what you really need to combat spread offenses with strong passing attacks is a 5-2.

Fugg it, 11-0.

 

As long as we are being ridiculous...

[DJR313]

nickel defense = bad defense. It used to drive me crazy when Missouri would pass underneath the defense time after time under Osborne when he would go to the nickel late in the game to keep them from going deep.

 

I am not a fan of the nickel defense.

 

Nickel Defense is not the same as prevent. You can still blitz and do a lot of good things on D with 5 DB's as opposed to the standard 4.

nickel defense prevents you from winning.....same difference.

 

Has worked so far this year, been in the nickel/dime formation 90% of all defensive plays. So, not same difference.

 

See below for a detailed explanation on the nickel, dime and prevent defenses and see how distinctly different a prevent and nickel defenses are. Huskerboard, we're all about education.

 

The nickel defense was popularized by the Miami Dolphins (Head Coach Don Shula and Defensive Coordinator Bill Arnsparger) in the 1970s and is now commonly employed in obvious passing situations or against a team that frequently uses four wide receiver sets on offense. The defense has 5 defensive backs, and usually has 4 down linemen and 2 linebackers. A lineup of 3 down linemen and 3 linebackers is sometimes used, but this is often called a "3-3-5" defense instead of a "nickel" defense. The 4-2 version of the nickel is more popular because it usually sacrifices less run-stopping ability.

 

Some teams favor the pass more than the run. If a team has a good quarterback and three very good wide receivers, it would be foolish for them to leave a receiver on the bench just because "normal" football alignments include a fullback. Such a team will frequently take their fullback off the field and substitute a third wide receiver, called a slot receiver. This is especially likely if the situation on the field calls for a pass, such as a third and long situation.

 

When a fast wide receiver is put in place for a fullback, this creates a mismatch for the defense. You might expect that the weak side linebacker would cover the third wide receiver, but there is little chance he can successfully do this. A typical linebacker in the NFL weighs around 245 pounds and is trained to deliver big hits whereas the slot receiver is most likely a 185-pound guy who is substantially quicker. The receiver should be able to easily run right by the linebacker and catch an open pass for the first down, so the defense will most likely remove the weak side linebacker from the field and substitute a third cornerback.

 

The defense now has three cornerbacks and two safeties on the field, for a total of five defensive backs. Since there are five backs, this is called a nickel package. If the defense is against a high percentage passing offense, it is likely that they will start out the game in their nickel package and rarely play their base defense.

 

 

Dime

The dime defense is usually employed in obvious passing situations. The formation usually consists of 6 defensive backs, and has either 4 down linemen and 1 linebacker, or 3 down linemen and 2 linebackers. It is very vulnerable to running plays, and the 4-1 version is especially vulnerable to draws, but usually the dime is only employed when an offense can scarcely afford to run even for a good gain, either because of the great distance needed to get a first down, or because of a lack of time, or both. The Arizona Cardinals are one team that use the 3-2-6 Dime package extensively.

 

A dime defense differs from the nickel in that it adds yet another defensive back to the secondary. The sixth defensive back is called a "dime back" (DB). The defense gets its name because a dime is worth two nickels in American currency.

 

There are several running backs in the NFL who are just as accomplished catching the ball as they are running with the ball. In obvious passing situations, many teams will put their running back into motion or split him out as a fourth wide receiver, or in a few cases if the team has four quality wide receivers they might even remove their running back from the game and substitute a fourth wide receiver. In any case, this is another case where a fast guy, either a wide receiver or running back, is being covered by a linebacker. This is again an obvious mismatch, and the defense is in trouble. So the defense will respond by pulling another linebacker off the field and substituting a fourth cornerback. There are now six defensive backs on the field. Just as five defensive backs is called the nickel package, six defensive backs is called a dime package.

 

 

Prevent

Prevent defenses are geared almost exclusively towards stopping an extremely long pass. They are frequently used in obvious passing situations, such as a third-and-very-long situation, or to prevent a long score on the last play of a half, or when the defense believes that the offense must pass (for example, if the offense is trailing late in a game). Otherwise the prevent is almost never used. The defense trades size for speed, and tries to ensure that no receiver can get behind the defense. A prevent defense backs up the coverage so far that it will often give up long yardage, but it makes scoring a touchdown in a single play very difficult.

 

The quarter defense has 3 down linemen, 1 linebacker, and 7 defensive backs. The quarter defense gets its name as the next coin after nickel and dime in the sequence of defenses.

 

Half dollar defenses, with 8 defensive backs, are very rare and are often used to prevent a Hail Mary pass. Professional teams may not have enough defensive backs on the roster to play the quarter or half dollar, so wide receivers are sometimes used to fill the extra positions, particularly in late game situations where the receiver's offensive skills can be put to good defensive use.

 

Quarter or quarters can also be used to describe a type of zone pass coverage, in which 4 defensive backs divide the field into vertical quarters for zone coverage. This coverage may be combined with a 4-3 or 3-4, and is used to take away deep routes but maintain a good pass rush and run coverage.

 

The prevent defense is rarely used on consecutive downs, or with a significant amount of time remaining, since a team with time to move downfield would easily be able to gain plenty of intermediate yardage. John Madden, a coaching and broadcasting legend, once said, All a prevent defense does is prevent you from winning.

 

In the fourth quarter when there is only a few minutes left in the game and one team is winning by 17 or more points, it's common in the NFL for that team to go into a "prevent" defense. In a prevent defense the idea is to make the other team use up a lot of time. The clock is stopped when the player with the ball steps out of bounds, so the first goal of the defense is to keep everyone in bounds. The only danger to the defense is giving up a big play, for example a 25 yard or longer pass or run. It doesn't matter to the defense if the other team makes a lot of plays, and gains four to eight yards per play, as long as the clock keeps running and time keeps ticking down.

 

In this case the defense will pull back into what is called a soft zone. They will most likely play in a nickel, dime, or quarter package. A soft zone means that all the safeties and cornerbacks are playing back, five or ten yards off the line. The free safety will often play as much as 20 yards back. There will be no jamming of receivers on the line. The zone means that each defensive back is responsible for an area of the field, so they're all watching the quarterback's eyes instead of running stride for stride with a receiver. It is very easy for the offense to make short plays against this defense, gaining four to eight yards per play, but it's almost impossible for the offense to make a big play of 20 or more yards against this sort of defense.

 

The bend-but-not-break nature of the prevent defense tends to give the offensive team many easy gains but no big play, so the prevent defense can make the end of the game uninteresting for fans. Some coaches avoid using the prevent defense, choosing instead to continue playing the same defensive schemes that ostensibly gave them the lead to that point. In Super Bowl XXXII, Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan famously instructed his defensive coordinators to keep playing the same defense as the Green Bay Packers attempted to drive downfield in the final two minutes of the game. The Denver defense managed to stop the Packers' drive, which led to the Broncos' 31-24 victory. On the other hand, if a team has a large lead late in the game a prevent defense is almost certain to give victory.