Defending Bunch and stack formations with Man to Man Concepts
This article will focus on defensive concepts vs bunch formations and stack formations. You will see quite a bit of stack formations in the NFL and college game and let's look at the concepts in man coverage to defeat these formations and route concepts.
Bunch Formations
Let’s start by looking at some man to man elements. We will look at how leverage is played and some of the different ways teams are playing leverage and how they are using their deep half and middle 1/3 defenders.
The first concept we will discuss is how teams play their bunch formations with leverage and matchups. Who is responsible for who in these situations.
We will look at a few teams and see the different variations.
variation #1 play it straight.
Always notice the leverage with the point man and the 2 off defenders. This allows spacing for them to run through vs the stack formation.
Here the Jags drop the De and only rush 3. They play man free straight up on the bunch wr.
Packers play it straight. They use the LB as a rate defender who is the mike, They go load front and bring the 3 man game.
Th stunt below and they play it straight. Nice coverage down field.
2 more clips
variation #2 combo
CB- play #1 outside
Nickel CB- #2 no matter what(point man)
SS at depth- play #3 inside
Here the Bucs play #2 head up rush 5 and bring the free safety down as a rat defender to jump the crossers. They disrupt the route and end up getting a pick and a sack on back to back plays.
#3 Sort it
Colts vs the Steelers
Nickel-takes #3
Safety-takes #2 the te
CB-takes #1 WR
Here's how the Titans played it vs the Saints to the side of the bunch:
CB-#1 man for man
Nickel CB- He is the point man but he's going to take #3.
SS at 7 yds- He is going to play the #2 WR with inside leverage.
On the 1 wr side- the CB took the #1 wr with the RB being taken by the LB.
With the 2 safeties they play Man Free Lurk. Man free lurk is a concept that you see often opposite 3x1. The safety opposite the trips will dive down to the middle of the field looking to play #2 or 3 on a crossing route. Here the Titans use it with their matchups a little different.
Titans play it straight
CB- play #1
Nickel CB- #2 no matter what(point man)
SS at depth- play #3 inside
The Patriots vs Diggs
They play 2 players straight up but double team the #3 best wr with 2 defensive backs playing inside outside concept. Diggs is in motion and the deepest guys. The front 2 defensive backs are locked on the closest wr to the line of scrimmage.
You can see above how they double Diggs depending on where he goes! The safety takes him because he goes inside.
Nice job in coverage with the bracket concept while still playing man on the other 2 wr.
Stack Formations
There are 2 ways to go when you get stack formations. One is to play the CB tight with the safety off. The CB has the 1st guy and the safety has the deeper player. This method gives your CB a little help with all the rub routes you get and the #1 wr running mesh and shallow concepts. Here the Titans play it vs the Saints. The CB and safety play outside leverage because they know they have help inside from the rat linebacker and the FS in the middle 1/3.
The Vikings use a similar concept:
The Db's understand they have help inside. They double mug and show pressure then drop to man free with 2 rat defenders underneath looking for crossers and a middle safety playing deep 1/3.
Stack Formations
Some teams play front back.
The Cb presses and plays the front wr.
The Safety usually or nickel who is at 7 yards will play the 2nd wr.
The Chiefs motion to stack and the Eagles play it front and back. The safety takes Kelce the back man and the CB takes the front man.
This is just one way to play it and can do either depending on the matchup that you want.
Another concepts is in and out.
The Bucs actually play both in and out and front and back here. TO the bottom they play an in and out concept. To the top they play front an back and play man free.
Georgia vs Tennessee Variations
Georgia did a few things vs Tennessee and it was predicated on coverage. Sometimes they wen front back and other times the corner would take the back guy and the safety would take the front guy. This disrupted some of the routes.
Another example by Georgia of front and back and in and out! To the boundary it is in and out. To the field its front and back.
Another example of front back
The CB has the front man the whole time with the safety playing the back man. You see the Cb playing good technique
3 clips of the concept.
Georgia would switch it up to cause confusion. They would put the cb on the lne but he would take the back man.
Georgia in and out concept
The CB and Safety communicate as Tennessee tries to run some type of pick concept. Georgia plays inside outside on the route
The DB swith and the CB stays on the outside wr after the switch release. Nice communication and concept defensively.
The last concept is back front. That means the CB takes the back wr and the Safety takes the front wr. They did this a few times as well.
You see it executed nicely below.
These are some ways teams defend bunch and stack formations. I hope you ejoyed this article