Whatever Happened to the 46 Defense?

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for NFLSportChannel.com

Published: November 5, 2009

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... wanted to know why we don’t see the old Bears “46” defense anymore. As I started to reply to him, I thought that this would make for an interesting article for everyone to read.

Here is a bit of trivia before we get into how the 46 defense worked, and why we don’t see it much anymore: The name 46 defense didn’t come from the alignment of the players on defense;  it came from free safety Doug Plank, who wore jersey number 46, and was a hybrid free safety slash linebacker in Buddy Ryan’s system.

The basic idea of the 46 defense is that the defensive tackle lines up over the center, the other defensive tackle lines up over the right guard, and a defensive end lines up over the left guard.  No defenders are placed over the offensive tackles, instead a defensive end is placed to the outside shoulder of the left tackle  and old number “46”, who is a cross between ...

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Article Source: BleacherReport.com


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