Quote:
Originally Posted by Dam8610
The hole that opens is between tackle and guard. That's the B gap. C gap is to the outside of the tackle, and I remember those draw plays all too well. Freeney would run the arc from 9 tech and the back would go to where the tackle was, which is just outside of the guard in the B gap. With a 9 tech DE, the B gap falls squarely on the LB behind him. The Colts may not have had the personnel to run what they were running with Freeney and have a successful run defense, but that's not on Freeney, it's on scheme and personnel the team used. Freeney was actually a very good run defender when he was called upon to do it, and I think the knock he's gotten over the years as a bad run defender is unwarranted. Those criticisms should be put squarely on Ron Meeks, who didn't design a way for Freeney to play 9 tech while maintaining gap integrity for run defense into his scheme.
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It’s the c gap. If the running back ran to the B gap it would actually be easier to defend. The LB would have to cover less space and the DT could help. The RB is running to the outside. The LB is trying to set the edge and turn him back inside to traffic.
Freeney defended well in that playoff run they won the super bowl. Scheme/personnel, blame who you want. We didn’t have the LB to properly cover it nor the DT to match the penetration. That’s why you mainly see it in 3-4 and not 4-3. But if he could play the run, they should have let him do that, not play pass every down. But his biggest asset was his speed and they didn’t want to give that up.