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from Rodrigue, in this thread: https://theramshuddle.com/topic/rams-raiders-saturday-9-19-at-6-pt-9-et/#post-1449
DL overall
Bad hands in their gap-and-a-half technique led to multiple errors for the interior defensive line against the Chargers, and they were gashed by the run game.
So what is “gap and a half” technique?
Here’s an article on that.
….
‘Playing gap and a half’ in Vic Fangio and Brandon Staley’s system
Ted Nguyen
Aug 24, 2021Last season, led by then-defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, the Rams finished the season as the fourth-best team in defensive DVOA, Football Outsider’s metric for efficiency. They did so by focusing their resources more on stopping the pass than the run, playing a ton of two-deep safety defenses with light boxes. Despite routinely not loading up the box with eight defenders, the Rams still finished third in defensive DVOA against the run. It certainly helped to have Aaron Donald and a cast of stout defensive linemen, but the Rams didn’t have any star players on the second level or a traditional box safety.
A lot of the Rams’ success against the run was a result of their execution of sound schemes and techniques. What Staley (now head coach of the Chargers) is doing isn’t exactly new — a lot of it came from Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, and Fangio was influenced by many coaches before him. The way Fangio and Staley apply and adapt these principles to the modern game is what makes their defenses effective. One of the ways their defenses can effectively defend the run with light boxes is having their defensive lines play a gap and a half, rather than just single-gap.
“What we really believe in the run game is we don’t want runs that hit us directly,” Staley said on the Pro Football Focus college football podcast. “Because if they hit you directly then that means that your second- and third-level players are going to have to be there quickly and so what you really want is these runs to slow down so you buy more time for the calvary to get there. So up front, we ask our guys to be really aggressive on blocks, really physical on blocks. We try to play a gap and a half. We’re still coming off the rock. We’re definitely not a two-gap system at all. That would imply that we are reading and reacting.”
A lot of teams, especially with the prevalence of the Seattle Cover 3 system, will have their players fly upfield and play one gap. This aggressive style is easier for players to learn and could lead to tackles in the backfield, but you have to have every gap accounted for, which is why you would need to put an eighth man in the box against certain formations. True two-gapping is out of vogue and could be an extremely difficult technique to properly execute. Additionally, players who can properly two-gap, like Vince Wilfork, don’t have enough pass-rush ability to justify keeping them on the field too long.
Playing a gap and a half is like a happy medium between single-gapping and two-gapping. Defensive linemen can still be aggressive and play a primary gap, but they have to be under control so they can “fall back” to defend a secondary gap after their primary gap is no longer threatened. This offseason, the Rams hired Raheem Morris to replace Staley, but they retained defensive line coach Eric Henderson and will use the same techniques.
Week 1, 8:42 remaining in the second quarter, first-and-10
In this example, edge defender Samson Ebukam (No. 50) was lined up outside of the tight end. Because this was a slot formation without a receiver outside to Ebukam’s side, cornerback Jalen Ramsey was able to line up inside the box and provide secondary support in the run fit. This allowed Ebukam to play the gap inside of the tight end as his primary gap.
After the ball was snapped, Ebukam got his head inside to his primary gap. He focused on extending his outside arm into the blocker’s chest plate so he could maintain control of that side, which would be his secondary gap.
Morris’ teaching emphasizes players’ hands and not missing the target. He coaches players to see their hands home, then put eyes into the gap and using a violent shed to escape.
The point of emphasis is on hand placement and getting your eyes to your target area (inside the blocker’s chest plate) before getting your eyes in your gap. You can’t hit what you can’t see.
Once the running back moved far enough outside, to a point in which Ebukam’s primary gap was no longer threatened, Ebukam used his outside arm to shove the blocker out of the way and pursue the ball carrier.
Ebukam forced the running back to bounce the play outside, which gave Ramsey an excellent angle to contain the play and bought time for the safety to come off the roof to get involved in the run.
Week 1, 5:24 remaining in the third quarter, first-and-10
Here, defensive lineman Morgan Fox (No. 97) was lined up in a three-technique (outside shade of the guard). His primary gap was the strong-side B-gap.
The Cowboys ran inside zone to the left. Fox penetrated upfield while keeping his head in the B-gap. He didn’t shoot the gap and stayed square, moving more horizontally than vertically. He controlled the blocker by keeping the arm away from his primary extended.
As the ball carrier cut back, Fox was able to toss the blocker aside with his outside arm to “fall back” to the C-gap and tackle the running back for a short gain.
Week 3, 14:37 remaining in the first quarter, second-and-12
Again, one of the benefits of using this technique is that it allows the defense to play with light boxes. They don’t need to account for every gap with a defender in each gap. Here, the Rams have two deep safeties, and the offense has a numbers advantage with six blockers for six defenders in the box.
Defensive tackle Michael Brockers’ (90) primary gap was the B-gap. He got upfield and had his head in the gap, but there was no one in the play-side A-gap where the running back was headed.
However, Brockers controlled the blocker with his arm away from his primary gap and was able to slip inside to tackle the running back in the A-gap.
If the back were to bounce the play to the B-gap, the end would have fallen back from the C-gap to the B-gap. If the back bounced the play outside the B-gap, the corner and safety would have had time to pursue him.
Week 3, 11:55 remaining in the third quarter, first-and-10
When Staley talks about his defensive philosophy, he talks about creating overlap at the first level, meaning he wants to crowd a gap with more than one player and do it safely. This play is a good example of that. Brockers’ primary gap was the A-gap. Inside linebacker Micah Kiser (59) was lined up over the opposite A-gap.
After the ball was snapped, Brockers stayed square and moved laterally to his A-gap, while Kiser shuffled to his A-gap.
Brockers forced the ball carrier to cut back to the B-gap and dislodged to play his secondary gap. The quick cutback allowed Kiser to fall back and also fill the B-gap, putting two players in there to make the tackle for a short gain.
After the snap, safety Taylor Rapp (24) entered the box late. He rotated down and was part of the run fit.
“The way we fit the run, we still include a defender as an eighth defender, he’s just coming from depth … whether that is a safety, whether that is a slot defender,” Staley said. “We still associate that person as a fitter, it’s just where he’s coming from. We try to change that up. Change the math that way. Change the rotations. Whether we are playing split safety or single safety. So that we can kind of create an advantage of how they identify blocking support.”
In the example above, Rapp was the extra defender. Offenses adjust their blocking scheme based on who is in the box before the snap. The offense didn’t account for Rapp because they didn’t know he would enter the box, which is what Staley was talking about when he said they want to create an advantage of how they identify blocking support. Although it didn’t look that way pre-snap, the Rams had an extra defender, but the offense didn’t know it yet.
Though Morris coached a different system with the Falcons last season, he empowers his coaches to teach what they have taught, in their language, and to not change that language but to build off it. This applies to Henderson, who added run game coordinator to this title this season. Henderson coached playing a gap and a half last season, and this season, he’ll have a chance to take a larger role in how the Rams will defend the run.
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