Hogs Haven
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)
Looking at how the Vikings used a three safety package and how Washington could look to use one
One of the key parts of the Vikings defense under Flores and Jones last year was the use of a three safety package. The Vikings were one of the few teams that stayed in their base defense most of the time, but when they did go to a sub-package, they typically went for a big nickel, three safety package rather than a typical slot corner. There’s a few reasons for doing that. The first is personnel. The Vikings had three safeties that they wanted on the field, so it makes sense to build a package around that personnel.
But the Vikings had other reasons too. Going with a third safety over a slot corner is a way of matching up against the modern trend of offense. Many NFL offenses are looking to run the ball a lot more often and one of the best ways to run the ball right now is to get the defense into a nickel package and force the slot corner into the run fit as a linebacker. We’ve seen this with the Commanders in recent years when a smaller corner like Mike Sainristil goes into the slot and then the offense lines up their slot receiver tight to the formation, forcing Sainristil to play almost as a linebacker, where his size is attacked.
To counteract that trend, the Vikings use a bigger body instead of a typical slot corner. They put one of their bigger safeties in the slot, giving them the flexibility to fit the run better than a slot corner, but still drop into coverage better than a typical linebacker. The Vikings also protect that third safety by using a lot of zone coverage. So instead of having a third safety have to match up against some of the league’s best receivers in the slot, they drop into zone coverage instead.
So what exactly does this look like and how might Jones look to implement it in Washington? Let’s dive into it.
One of the unique things the Vikings did with their three safety package was change up who was being substituted off the field for the third safety. The Vikings ran a base 3-4, which we’re expecting Jones to run in Washington too. In a 3-4, typically the defense would take off one of their three interior defensive lineman when they switch to a nickel sub-package, but not the Vikings. The Vikings liked to keep all three interior defensive lineman on the field as much as possible...
