Explaining a concept- Nickel Defense.

Essay by kjv0876College, UndergraduateA, November 2005

download word file, 2 pages 0.0

Downloaded 12 times

Football is one of the most popular American Sports. Millions of fans fill huge stadiums on fall weekends to watch the 11 man team sport. Football first developed from the sport Rugby, a game played in Europe.

In football there is an offense and a defense. The offense tries to score points and the defense tries to stop the offense from scoring points. The most common form of defense is either a 4-3 or a 3-4, which stands for 4 lineman, 3 linebackers, and 4 defensive backs or 3 lineman, 4 linebackers and 4 defensive backs, respectively. A coach would put a 3-4 in if he wanted more speed on the field or a 4-3 in if he needed more size on the field to fill what are called holes that the offense tries to run plays through. When the offense puts 3 or more wide receivers on the field, and ideal defense would be what is called the nickel defense.

The nickel defense consists of 5 defensive backs who try to prevent the wide receivers from catching the football.

The nickel defense is a basic defensive formation that is designed to stop the pass. The alignment features four down lineman, two linebackers, and five defensive backs.

Two cornerbacks, two safeties and one nickel back line up to cover the wide receivers when the offense is in a three-receiver set. A three-receiver set would be used in a situation in which the offense needed a significant number of yards to advance before they would get a first down.

There is a position on the defense that is called a nickel back. The nickel back only comes on the field during nickel and dime situations. A dime package consists of 6 defensive backs. The purpose of this position is to prevent...