5 ways DC Brandon Staley unlocks DT Aaron Donald potential

II: Revitalize the flex defense

The Dallas Cowboys former head coach Tom Landry created the flex defense to counter a Green Bay Packers run offense where backs would run to daylight. The flex defense countered that by lining up defenders in all gaps and placed two up on the defensive line, staggering two defenders about a yard off the line of scrimmage.

That formation gave defenses 1-gap assignment, but 2-gap ability to shed blockers and move to the play. Linebackers must be fast, react to the plays unfolding before them, and arrive with enough power to shed the lead blocker and make the tackle.

As offenses moved away from the power running game towards the faster stretch-the-field type of offenses made famous by the college spread offense, defenses have countered by getting faster and more focused upon defending the pass.   Now the San Francisco 49ers are leading the NFL towards that running offense once more, where running backs follow lead blockers and simply run to daylight.

Since the Rams now face the 49ers, and similarly opportunistic offenses of the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, reverting back to a flex-formation defense would make offensive coordinators pause and scratch their heads.  Forcing quarterbacks and offensive linemen to process new defensive alignments reverts the advantage to the defense.