6-2 Defense (Gap-8)

Ultra-heavy short-yardage front placing a defender in every gap at the goal line.

Key: All eight box defenders fire their assigned gap low and hard to stop the quarterback sneak and dive.

Front squeezes all gaps on third or fourth and short to deny the first down.

Key: Linemen aim for the blockers' inside hips to close every interior gap and force the ball wide.

Deep-coverage prevent alignment guarding against the long pass late in the game.

Key: Defenders drop to deep zones and keep receivers in front, tackling immediately to preserve the clock.

Passing-down look stressing contain to keep the quarterback in the pocket.

Key: Ends rush wide and squeeze while maintaining outside leverage to prevent scramble lanes.

Backers walk up to show blitz then bail into zone to disguise intentions.

Key: Linebackers creep to the line pre-snap then drop to their hook zones at the snap.

Six-man defensive front with two linebackers, the classic wide-tackle six run-stopping alignment.

Key: Two ends, two tackles, and two guards align head-up across the line with two linebackers reading inside gaps.

Base 6-2 with tackles aligned wide over the offensive tackles to force runs inside.

Key: Tackles play 5-techniques on the offensive tackles' outside shoulders to set a hard edge and spill runs in.

The Mike linebacker blitzes downhill through the A-gap.

Key: Mike fires the open A-gap on his run-pass read while the guards occupy the interior blockers.

The Will linebacker blitzes through the B-gap off the tackle's hip.

Key: Will attacks the B-gap while the tackle to that side slants inside to clear the rush lane.

Both linebackers blitz interior gaps at once for maximum inside pressure.

Key: Mike and Will fire opposite A or B gaps while the safeties rotate down to cover the middle.

A safety blitzes off the edge or interior to add a rusher.

Key: The blitzing safety fires his assigned gap while the coverage rolls to single-high behind him.

A cornerback blitzes off the edge from press alignment.

Key: The corner times the snap and rushes the edge while a safety rotates to cover his receiver deep.

Both linebackers blitz while crossing to confuse interior blocking rules.

Key: Mike and Will cross through opposite A-gaps to beat man and combination protections.

Multiple rushers attack the strong side to outnumber the protection.

Key: A linebacker and safety both blitz the strong edge while the front slants that direction to overload.

One linebacker blitzes while the front drops into a zone behind the pressure.

Key: A backer fires a gap and a lineman drops to the vacated hook zone to keep coverage sound.

Both guards slant into the A-gaps to wall off inside dive and trap runs.

Key: The two interior guards step down into the A-gaps to occupy the center and pinch the middle.

Both defensive tackles pinch into the B-gaps to close inside running lanes.

Key: Tackles slant off the offensive tackles' inside shoulders into the B-gaps while ends hold contain.

Both ends crash inside to the C-gaps to disrupt off-tackle runs.

Key: Ends slant into the C-gaps while linebackers scrape over the top to replace them on contain.

The whole six-man front slants toward the strength to overload the play side.

Key: Every lineman steps to his play-side gap on the snap, shifting the front one gap toward strength.

The six-man front slants to the weak side to jump backside runs.

Key: Each lineman steps to the weak-side gap while backers flow over the top to fill vacated gaps.

A guard and tackle on the same side exchange gaps to beat combo blocks.

Key: The guard penetrates the A-gap first while the tackle loops behind into the vacated B-gap.

Six-man front with three-deep zone behind the two linebackers.

Key: Both corners and the free safety cover deep thirds while the two backers cover the underneath middle.

Six-man front paired with two-deep safety coverage.

Key: Two safeties split the deep halves while corners and linebackers cover flats and hook zones underneath.

Man coverage with a single free safety over the top behind the six-man front.

Key: Corners and backers lock man-to-man while one safety patrols deep middle as the free defender.

Pure man coverage with no deep help, freeing extra defenders to rush.

Key: Every receiver is covered man-to-man so both safeties can support the run or add to the pass rush.

Three-deep zone with the strong safety rotating down to the flat.

Key: Strong safety covers the strong flat while free safety and both corners defend the deep thirds.

Two deep safeties over man coverage on the underneath receivers.

Key: Corners and backers play man while both safeties bracket the deep halves over the top.

Four-deep zone splitting the deep field into quarters against spread passing.

Key: Corners and safeties each defend a deep quarter and read keys to trigger on run support.