95 Minnesota Vikings 34/46 Tony DungyPHILOSOPHY OF DEFENSE Our main objectives on defense are to keep our opponent from scoring and to gain posses- sion of the football for our offense with good field position. The *! i | Footbal is If inst it, TEAM DEFENSE is the product of everyone's BEST EFFORT. Each player must know his assign- ment and carry out his assignment in order that the defense may function as a unit. The 0 is in one of two ways: 1. Force them to give up the ball on downs. ‘A. Hold our opponent to 3 yards or less on first down. B. Eliminate mental errors and resulting big plays. C. Play TEAM DEFENSE and eliminate big plays. D. TACKLE. 2. Force a tumover. A. Knock the ball loose by gang tackling - force a fumble or strip the ball. B. Pressure the QB to throw early - INTERCEPTION. C. Cover receivers tight to make the QB hesitate -- SACK, FUMBLE or INTERCEPTION. As we successfully achieve these two objectives, our ultimate goal of limiting the number of points scored against us will take care of itself. RUN DEFENSE ‘Our goal is to.keep the gain to a minimum and prevent a long run. Any long run can be traced to the detense being “split," missed tackles or improper pursuit. It is essential to our defense that every man STAYS ON HIS FEET! To accomplish this, you must: 1. SEE the blocker. 2. NEUTRALIZE him - move your feet. 3. LOCATE the ball. 4. SHED the blocker - move your feet. 5. ATTACK the bail carrier and tackle aggressively. 6. KNOCK HIM BACK. ‘We must win on first down by allowing three vards or less. Our success in doing this will depend on how well we tackle. We must meet the ball carrier near the line of scrimmage and stop his forward progress. Always KN' IM. Basic Info 1PASS DEFENSE iis starts by combining pressure on the passer with i ieceivers and their pattems. We must communicate to be effective in pass coverage. "TALK" code words, "BALL" call and "Hand Signals" are the responsibility of everyone in our secondary. Our basic theory is to mix man to man and zone coverages in pass situa- tions. This, along with varying our secondary alignments, will create uncertainty for oppos- ing QB's and receivers. Nowhere is the concept of TEAM DEFENSE more evident than in Pass defense. The coordination between pressure on the passer by our line and tight coverage by our secondary will produce interceptions, sacks, and the ability to control our ‘opponent. TEAM DEFENSE Alot of things are necessary to have a great defensive football team. 1. INTELLIGENCE - know your defensive assignments. A. Eliminates the possibility we might "beat" ourselves. 8. To play our best, other team members must have confidence in you and they must feel that you are a “team player." Getting blocked is one thing, but getting the other 10 men beat simply because you don't know what to do is inexcusable. C. Eliminates any reason for hesitation. You can be a confident player. 2, SOUND TECHNIQUE - work hard to perfect defensive techniques with practice. A. Perfect your techniques to the point that they are instinctive reactions. B. Work extra on your weaknesses. 3. AGGRESSIVENESS - be mentally and physically tough A. Defensive football always has been and always will be a test of contact courage. Ability alone will not be enough. The surest way to win is to physi cally defeat and intimidate your opponent. Go after them every down -~ challenge your opponent. Basic Info 2