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Base 4–4 defense. In American football, the 4–4 defense is a defensive alignment consisting of four down linemen and four linebackers.. Originally seen as a passing defense against the spread, modern versions of the 4-4 are attacking defenses stocked with multiple blitz packages that can easily be concealed and altered.
There are a couple paths to the 4–2–5. One is by removing a linebacker from the standard 4–3 to add the extra defensive back. The second is by converting the ends of a wide tackle six to safeties (the defensive ends of a wide tackle six already have pass defense responsibilities). [49] [50] [51] A variation is the 2–4–5, which is ...
The two most common formations are the 3–4 defense and the 4–3 defense, where the first number refers to the number of defensive linemen, and the second number refers to the number of linebackers (the number of defensive backs can be inferred, since there must be eleven players on the field). Thus, a 3–4 defense consists of three ...
The middle or inside linebacker (MLB or ILB), sometimes called the "Mike" or "Mac", [15] is often referred to as the "quarterback of the defense". [16] Often it is the middle linebacker who receives the defensive play calls from the sideline and relays that play to the rest of the team, and in the NFL he is usually the defensive player with the electronic sideline communicator.
Instead of the position name following the player to a different position, a new position name may be applied in such a substitution situation. This occurs when a team that usually uses four defensive backs (counting cornerbacks and safeties) adds a fifth, thus producing the "nickel" defense (a nickel being a 5 cent piece).
Linebacker (LB): Linebackers are positioned 2 to 4 yards behind the defensive line. The 4-3 defense has 3 linebackers, who are categorized as strong, middle, and weak (SLB, MLB, WLB; also called Sam, Mike, and Will). This is not an indication of strength; it instead refers to the positioning of the linebackers relative to the offense.
In American football, a nickel defense (also known as a 4–2–5 or 3–3–5) is any defensive alignment that uses five defensive backs, of whom the fifth is known as a nickelback. The original and most common form of the nickel defense features four down linemen and two linebackers .
By far the most common alignments are four down linemen and three linebackers (a "4–3" defense) or three down linemen and four linebackers ("3–4"), but other formations such as five linemen and two linebackers ("5–2") or three linemen, three linebackers, and five defensive backs ("3–3–5") are also used by a number of teams.