The Death Of The Tampa 2

As we prepare to watch the NFC and AFC championship games on Sunday, I had a thought this week. Like any young aspiring writer, I scribbled it down on Tuesday. It was just a thought at the time, but I believe now is the time to talk about it.

I think the Tampa 2 defense is being phased out of the NFL.

Think about it. More important, think about it as you watch the championship games on Sunday between bowls of Texas chili and cold bottles of Miller High Life. There will be no Tampa 2, no undersized linebackers dropping to a spot and no safeties playing close to 20 yards off the line of scrimmage. No rushing the passer with your front four on third downs and playing coverage behind it, and no middle linebacker running down the middle of the field trying to keep up with a slot receiver who runs a 4.3 in the 40.

Instead, we will watch Pittsburgh (the No. 1 unit in total defense), Baltimore (No. 2 in total defense), Philadelphia (No. 3 in total defense) and Arizona (maybe the most surprising defense in the playoffs). All four of these defenses play with pressure in mind — zone blitzes, man coverage blitzes and even zero coverage blitzes. They don’t sit back and react. They don’t have a “top” to their defense so that nobody can get behind them. They don’t wait — they attack.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the new defense in the NFL. Look, everyone in this league copies the best teams, and if you’re in the final four of the NFL playoffs, you are one of the best teams. Think about the teams who run the Tampa 2 scheme as their No. 1 call: Chicago, Minnesota, Buffalo, Tampa, Indianapolis and Detroit. Where are they now? At home, watching these four defenses go after quarterbacks, challenge receivers and create  turnovers — instead of waiting for them to fall in their laps because of a bad decision by the quarterback.

Plus, Detroit just hired Jim Schwartz from the Tennessee Titans as their new head coach. Last time I checked, the Titans’ defense went after people, so you can forget about playing Tampa 2 in Detroit. In fact, you may never see it again.

My point is that the NFL is cyclical. It changes, it morphs into the “new rage,” and right now, that rage is blitz-happy defenses with corners who can play man to man and get in the face of highly paid wide receivers. They dictate not only the tone of the game, but they alter the game plans of opposing offenses. They tell the offense what they can and can’t do with their pressure.

This is how football generally works. It’s the same in the college game. Gone are the days of Jamelle Holieway and the wishbone triple option attack at Oklahoma, and the days of Tommie Frazier at Nebraska. The University of Miami became great because they recruited defensive players who could run sideline to sideline and stop the triple option. Now it’s the “spread offense” and Tim Tebow. Everyone sets up in the shotgun and slings it all over the field. You now need to recruit quarterbacks who can throw and run, or defensive backs who can cover five-receiver sets. Football changes and so do the schemes that teams run.

For that reason, I see the end of the Tampa 2 in the near future. Sure, every team will run Cover 2 from time to time, but the days of it becoming the lead call in this league are short. Offenses have figured out ways to beat it. The seven-man run front it provides can be carved up by an athletic offensive line and a strong running game, and quarterbacks like Kurt Warner can eat it up with basic routes that expose the holes it allows.

Detroit will be the first team to throw it in the garbage, and soon, others will follow. Monte Kiffin is leaving the Bucs to challenge the SEC, Tony Dungy has retired and the rest of the coaches using the Tampa 2 might be searching for jobs if they don’t win next year.

Everything — even good things — come to an end in life, and now, in the NFL.

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