The 46 defense (also known as the "46" or the 46) is an American football defensive formation popularized by Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan who later became head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with A formation in American football refers to the position players line up in before the start of a down. The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. Buddy Ryan (born James David Ryan on February 17, 1934) is a former American football coach The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale Arizona, just outside of Phoenix. The formation comprises four down linemen, three linebackers, and four defensive backs. Lineman in American football. (See also American and Canadian football position names. This article relates to Sports. For the Vietnam War bombing raids see Operation Linebacker and Operation Linebacker II. In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage they

The name "46" originally came from the jersey number of Doug Plank, who was a starting safety for the Bears when Ryan originally developed the defense, and typically played in that formation as a surrogate linebacker. In team Sports the squad number, shirt number, jersey number, sweater number, or uniform number is the Number Douglas Walter Plank (born March 4, 1953 in Greensburg Pennsylvania) is the Head coach of the Georgia Force of the Arena Football ^[1] It also refers to the idea that the cornerbacks often play bump and run coverage and blitz, acting almost like two extra linebackers (i. A cornerback ( CB) (also referred to as a corner) is a positional role played by a member of the defensive team in American and Canadian Bump and run coverage is a strategy often used by Defensive backs in American Football in which a defensive player will line up directly in front of a Wide receiver In American football or Canadian football, a blitz or red dog is a team defensive maneuver in which one or more Linebackers or Defensive e. "4" signifying 4 defensive lineman and "6" representing 6 effective linebackers).

Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

History

The "46" was an innovative defense with a unique defensive front; designed to confuse the qb the line was shifted dramatically to the weak side (opposite the Tight End), with both Offensive Guards and the Center "covered" by the Left Defensive End and both Defensive Tackles. This front forced offenses to immediately account for the defenders directly lined up in front of them, making it considerably harder to execute blocking assignments such as pulling, trapping, and in general, pass protection. Moreover, the Right Defensive End would align outside of the Left Offensive Tackle, leaving him "on an island" when trying to block him.

Another key feature of the "46" is that both outside linebackers play on the same side of the formation. The linebackers line up behind the linemen two or three yards from the line of scrimmage. In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line crossing the football field across its narrower dimension beyond The primary tactic is to rush five to eight players on each play, either to get to the quarterback quickly or disrupt running plays.

The formation was very effective in the 1980s NFL because it often eliminated a team's running game and forced them to throw the ball. The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. This was difficult for many teams at the time because most offensive passing games centered around the play action pass. A play action pass is a type of American football play The play action or "PA" for short appears to be a running play but is actually a pass play in this way

Currently, the "46" is rarely used in modern professional and college football because of the emergence of the West Coast Offense, popularized by San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh, and other offensive schemes that rely on short, timed passes from formations that use multiple receivers (though it should not be forgotten that the Chicago Bears won the NFL championship for 1985 with their famed "46" right in the middle of Walsh's tenure with the 49ers). College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, Colleges and military academies In American football, " West Coast Offense " ("WCO" is one of two similar but distinct offensive-strategic-systems of play (A the "Air Coryell" The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team William Ernest "Bill" Walsh ( November 30 1931 &ndash July 30 2007) was an American head football coach of the A major weakness of the "46" is that too many defensive players line up near the line of scrimmage to blitz, leaving areas wide open for receivers to catch passes. Also, the short, timed passes are thrown before the players blitzing have a chance to reach the quarterback. Another problem is that most teams do not have enough impact players to run the "46" as effectively as the 1980s Bears did. Those teams fielded some of the best front-seven defenses in the history of football, including such players as Mike Singletary, Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, and Wilber Marshall. Michael Singletary (born October 9, 1958 in Houston Texas) is a former American football Linebacker who played his entire career Richard Lamar Dent (born December 13 1960 in Atlanta Georgia) is a former American football Defensive end who played primarily for Daniel Oliver Hampton (born September 19, 1957) is a retired Hall of Fame American football Defensive tackle who played twelve seasons Wilber Buddyhia Marshall (born April 18, 1962 in Titusville, Florida) is a former American football player

In Super Bowl XX, the Bears coincidentally scored 46 points in their victory against the New England Patriots. Super Bowl XX was an American football game played on January 26, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans Louisiana to The New England Patriots, commonly called the " Pats " by sports writers and fans are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston

The ideas of the "46" defense are more often used in today's game by bringing a fourth defensive back (usually the strong safety) up closer to the line of scrimmage (an eighth man in "the box" to help stop the run). In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage they This is done without the radical shift in formation seen in the "46" defense. Defenses today may also run safety blitzes and corner blitzes at crucial moments without committing wholly to the "46" defense.

See also

• Glossary of American football
• 1985 Chicago Bears season

References

External links

• Information on utilizing the 46 Defense
• Dusting off a classic
• Chalk Tallk: 46 Defense

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