I’m working on understanding the words. I figured some out, but there are some I am still unsure of. I am looking for more than just the definition; I want to know where the terms come from.
Screen Pass: I believe this is a pass thrown to a receiver in the backfield, parallel to the line of scrimmage. Am I right? If so, why is this a “screen?” I used to think that it was like a screen in hockey or soccer, where a player screens the goalie’s view of the play by standing in front of the goal, but that doesn’t translate to football very well.
Nickel and Dime Defenses: I am at a loss. What are they and why are they named in this way?
That’s it for now. Please feel free to add your own confusing terms.
If I remember correctly, Nickel and Dime defenses are based on the number of yards the cornerbacks and their cohorts stay back from the line of scrimmage. Nickel is 5 yards off and Dime is 10 yards. These defenses are meant to allow the offense to gain short yardage, but prevent the big plays. They are also grouped together with a few other defenses under the umbrella of “prevent defenses” for obvious reasons.
I’m not so sure on the Screen Pass, but my WAG is that it is similar to hockey. One of your receivers goes down field slightly, thus screening the defense’s view of the other receiver who is staying behind the line of scrimmage.
A screen pass is usually thrown to a running back. The “screen” refers to the the blockers who set up a screen in front of the receiver. The general technique is for the quarterback to drop back as if in a normal pass play. The offensive linesmen begin to block the rushers and then let the rushers get through. The blockers then form the screen to give the receiver room to run.
Oops, meant to address nickel defense as well. The “nickel” back is a fifth defensive back (cornerback or safety) put in to protect against a pass. A dime defense has six defensive backs. I don’t know why a “dime” when it’s only six – I guess just to distinguish it from the nickel defense.
I think you’re right, Jeff. I believe the “nickel” term came about because it’s the fifth defensive back in the lineup (the norm is four). Beyond that, I guess the coin terminology stuck, because I believe a sixth DB is called a “dime”, and (more rarely) a seventh is referred to as “penny”.
I also agree with you on the screen pass explanation. The “screen” is not a visual screen, but rather a phalanx of blockers in front of the receiver.
A few members of the offensive line hold their blocks only for a short time before heading out to a position in front of the running back, who’s awaiting the pass out near the sideline. This lets a swarm of rushers through, but the idea is that the QB dumps the ball out to the back before being overwhelmed. If this works, the RB has the ball and a few blockers in the relatively open region near the sideline.
But the OP has been answered. The screen pass, properly executed, can be a devastating play for the offense. Defensive coaches always yell out on third down “Watch for the screen!” If the defense is rushing the QB hard and the DBs are falling back, you’ve got a problem.
Of course, if someone is watching out for the screen pass, you get the situation back in the Washington-Oakland Super Bowl when Jack Squirek of the Raiders stepped in front of a screen pass thrown by Joe Theismann and scored an easy touchdown.
I think that in days of yore, it was taken more or less as a given that when a team blitzed it would have to run a man-to-man coverage scheme on the receivers, probably due to lack of manpower in the defensive backfield. Man coverage in general has weaknesses, but it was thought necessary to accept them when blitzing.
My understanding is that a “zone blitz” refers to blitzing extra rushers while maintaining a zone coverage scheme. I think that this is considered something of a calculated risk - it’s a sparse zone coverage, so there are large gaps. One hopes to smash the QB before these can be exploited.
Until reasonably recently, I don’t think anybody was able to make the zone blitz concept work. Now, it seems that it’s been figured out, and it can be devastating if run properly.
Actually, I’m not sure whether “zone blitz” coverage schemes are 100% zone, or a sort of man-zone hybrid. Somebody else probably will.
Logically, the seventh back should have been called a “quarter”, but I guess that would have been too confusing. (I’d never heard the term “penny back” by the way.)
As far as the zone blitz goes, brad_d has it right. The only thing additional I have to add is that in a zone blitz, one of defensive linemen usually (always?) drops back into pass coverage.
The Zone blitz was developed in the early nineties and was perfected by Dom Capers, Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive coordinator. Basically, they “mix up” who blitzes and who falls back into coverage. This is designed to confuse quarterbacks and offensive linemen.
For instance, the left outside linebacker would blitz while the left end drops back into coverage. The right offensive tackle is ready to block the left end who suddenly steps backward to cover the tight end. The offensive lineman is left blocking air. In the confusion the linebacker is halfway to the quarterback who may be sacked or may throw the ball right into the waiting arms of the left end.
The Steelers rode the zone blitz to the Superbowl in '95. In order to use this scheme, a team needs a very athletic defensive line. In the Steelers case, all 3, as they ran and still run a 3-4 defense.