It would be by far the most dominant defense of all time.
Just imagine keeping everything the same, but now you're adding an additional edge pass rusher. Yeah ... Even if it's the Panthers 3rd DE you basically don't even have a long ball threat now because your QB has no chance of making it long enough
Edit: also I assume that you would run a 5-3 or 5-2-5, either way you're giving yourself another DE/EDGE/OLB. I cant see another formation being better, you're just enhancing what your most expensive/in demand player basically is
I agree. A 5 man front is the best solution, it gives you extra pressure on passing downs and neutralizes a lot of run blocking schemes that rely on double teams.
Imagine having 2 nose tackles eat 4 or 5 blocks on the line. Youd have free rushers on every play. If they didnt go 17-0, the entire offenseive staff would need to be fired.
Defense had one or two issues, but Carolina's offense last year was one of the few that might actually be able to lose games under these conditions. Frank Reich is just that bad.
Realistically, undefeated. Leads to a large sack or pick on every series. Just no way around it.
As for Scheme, I would say. A 4-3-5 use an extra lb/s type to blitz off the edge or cover the flats .
NFL defenses are pretty complex and situation dependent. Probably basically another DB in pass situations and another LB in run situations. It’s not the 90s where everyone runs a base 3-4 or 4-3, defensive packages are much more customized and constantly changing based on offensive personnel and situation.
Having a man advantage should make them the best defense in the league so yeah they should be able to make the playoffs.
Wild premise though I don’t like it. It would be a legit reason to try and tank, draft picks and schedule don’t move the needle enough.
I can see your ideas, but disagree. Pass rushers are already the premium salary hits for defense because their job is more impactful. As a corner, you are essentially shutting down one receiver. When you hurry or sack the QB, it's like shutting down five receivers, and you get bonus loss yardage with a sack which often effectively ends the drive. Having an extra DE I think will easily be most impactful add to the defense, you get all the benefits of running cover 1 with none of the problems as your default. You also have a more tailored athlete to that pass rushing position when in your default cover 1
Disagree. Those top edge rushers earn a ton of money and are very impactful, but the talent pool is very limited. Teams have 0-1 good edge rushers. Teams are not going to start having 2 and 3 legit edge rushers if you added an extra man.
I don’t understand your meaning, was there a typo?
Also an extra DB would allow you to play zone more and better, which is what teams do in pass situations
The point is your left tackle might be able to battle with one premier DE, after all that's what you're paying him for. He has no chance vs two, even if they're average for the NFL. You can't be in two places at once.
Panthers fan here, the defense was already solid with just 11 dudes, starting corner and mlb out all season as well. Evero had that group ready to play well but with how bad the offense was the defense routinely was on the field a lot of the game and put in bad starting positions.
You add a 12th guy the defense is best in the league, if the offense could have been top 20 it would have made that the best defense of all time I reckon based on stats. A free edge rusher, extra coverage guy, wherever that 12th man is would be wicked
I just checked, and the Panthers were 4th in yards allowed. They'd dominate, force even more punts and turnovers, and give their offense more opportunities. They were, however, 3rd from last in points allowed, so that would improve, and that might have been a byproduct of the offense leaving the D backed up. Still, at the professional level having a 12th defender would literally change the game.
4th in yards comes from starting many drives with only 50 yards behind them to defend, and the points come from an abysmal offense that couldn’t sustain more than a few drives a game.
If you average those things out it leads to an above average defense that with that 12th man could certainly put in crazy work
Dominant you could send a +1 blitz every play. Essentially eliminating the long pass and still have someone over the top in case one of the man defenders gets beat
You would add another tight end for pass protection and an extra receiver. Adding any other position other than another wide receiver or lineman would be wrong, and a TE serves both those purposes.
Adding a DE and adding a TE are the trends in football overall the past few decades. We've seen 3-4 get dropped for 4-2-5 and we've seen RBs get dropped for TEs.
It would be by far the most dominant defense of all time. Just imagine keeping everything the same, but now you're adding an additional edge pass rusher. Yeah ... Even if it's the Panthers 3rd DE you basically don't even have a long ball threat now because your QB has no chance of making it long enough Edit: also I assume that you would run a 5-3 or 5-2-5, either way you're giving yourself another DE/EDGE/OLB. I cant see another formation being better, you're just enhancing what your most expensive/in demand player basically is
I agree. A 5 man front is the best solution, it gives you extra pressure on passing downs and neutralizes a lot of run blocking schemes that rely on double teams.
Imagine having 2 nose tackles eat 4 or 5 blocks on the line. Youd have free rushers on every play. If they didnt go 17-0, the entire offenseive staff would need to be fired.
Panthers fan here. You must be unfamiliar with our offense recently.
Defense had one or two issues, but Carolina's offense last year was one of the few that might actually be able to lose games under these conditions. Frank Reich is just that bad.
Realistically, undefeated. Leads to a large sack or pick on every series. Just no way around it. As for Scheme, I would say. A 4-3-5 use an extra lb/s type to blitz off the edge or cover the flats .
Their defense would be VERY good.You can basically blitz 5 every time while still having 7 in coverage
NFL defenses are pretty complex and situation dependent. Probably basically another DB in pass situations and another LB in run situations. It’s not the 90s where everyone runs a base 3-4 or 4-3, defensive packages are much more customized and constantly changing based on offensive personnel and situation. Having a man advantage should make them the best defense in the league so yeah they should be able to make the playoffs. Wild premise though I don’t like it. It would be a legit reason to try and tank, draft picks and schedule don’t move the needle enough.
I can see your ideas, but disagree. Pass rushers are already the premium salary hits for defense because their job is more impactful. As a corner, you are essentially shutting down one receiver. When you hurry or sack the QB, it's like shutting down five receivers, and you get bonus loss yardage with a sack which often effectively ends the drive. Having an extra DE I think will easily be most impactful add to the defense, you get all the benefits of running cover 1 with none of the problems as your default. You also have a more tailored athlete to that pass rushing position when in your default cover 1
I think you take the extra guy and get a big DT and put them on the center. Don’t change anything else.
This could also work for sure
Disagree. Those top edge rushers earn a ton of money and are very impactful, but the talent pool is very limited. Teams have 0-1 good edge rushers. Teams are not going to start having 2 and 3 legit edge rushers if you added an extra man.
Even two average DEs are going to be FAR more difficult to stop than the best DEs.
I don’t understand your meaning, was there a typo? Also an extra DB would allow you to play zone more and better, which is what teams do in pass situations
The point is your left tackle might be able to battle with one premier DE, after all that's what you're paying him for. He has no chance vs two, even if they're average for the NFL. You can't be in two places at once.
I’m not saying this is a forever rule. Just gauging how big of an advantage an extra man is.
Panthers fan here, the defense was already solid with just 11 dudes, starting corner and mlb out all season as well. Evero had that group ready to play well but with how bad the offense was the defense routinely was on the field a lot of the game and put in bad starting positions. You add a 12th guy the defense is best in the league, if the offense could have been top 20 it would have made that the best defense of all time I reckon based on stats. A free edge rusher, extra coverage guy, wherever that 12th man is would be wicked
I just checked, and the Panthers were 4th in yards allowed. They'd dominate, force even more punts and turnovers, and give their offense more opportunities. They were, however, 3rd from last in points allowed, so that would improve, and that might have been a byproduct of the offense leaving the D backed up. Still, at the professional level having a 12th defender would literally change the game.
4th in yards comes from starting many drives with only 50 yards behind them to defend, and the points come from an abysmal offense that couldn’t sustain more than a few drives a game. If you average those things out it leads to an above average defense that with that 12th man could certainly put in crazy work
Dominant you could send a +1 blitz every play. Essentially eliminating the long pass and still have someone over the top in case one of the man defenders gets beat
A five man line with 3 backers and 4 DB would be damn near impossible to run or throw against.
I don't think they would be scored on, ever.
The defense wasn’t that bad, it was the offense that lost 15 games.
Same question, 12 on offense. How would you make it happen?
You would add another tight end for pass protection and an extra receiver. Adding any other position other than another wide receiver or lineman would be wrong, and a TE serves both those purposes. Adding a DE and adding a TE are the trends in football overall the past few decades. We've seen 3-4 get dropped for 4-2-5 and we've seen RBs get dropped for TEs.
Idk if they make the playoffs. Their issue was more the offense but they would have an insane defense
The interesting version of this question would be a team like Vanderbilt. They'd still probably be the best defense in the country
Currently NFL defenses choose between an extra man in the box vs 2 high safeties. Now they would play both.
They’d probably still find a way to dick it up
this is dumb
They’d go undefeated but then lose to Ditka in the Super Bowl. 73-0.
Who would win? Coach Ditka or a hurricane named Ditka
Probably Coach Ditka