Dominant Front Four is a Key Piece to the Puzzle
A dominant front four is critical to earning a spot in the Super Bowl. In recent memory, the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles had four players finish the regular season in double-digit sacks. The New York Giants front four wrecked the 2007 Super Bowl and made life miserable for Tom Brady. Arguably one of the greatest defensive players ever, Aaron Donald, led the Los Angeles Rams to two Super Bowl appearances and one championship. Donald had games where he wrecked the game alone with his pass rushes.
Essentially, it’s a numbers game. When a defensive line of four players can constantly win the reps against five offensive linemen, the back end of the defense has a great chance of shutting off passing lanes with seven defenders covering the field against five targets running around the field. If the offense decides they need a tight end or a running back in pass protection, there would be seven defenders against four targets. And if the defense is in man coverage, they could essentially double-cover almost every target.
Looking at some of the elite quarterbacks and the all-time greats, defenses simply cannot afford to send blitzes. If the defense chose to blitz Brady, Brady had a knack for going after a mismatch in the secondary because it’s likely that the secondary defender has no help behind him in coverage. Now, if the defense chooses to blitz Patrick Mahomes, Mahomes has an elite ability to escape the pocket to find a running lane where there’s no defenders in the second level. Mahomes is also methodically great at taking what the defense gives him and throwing underneath routes that turn into chunks of yardage gain.
A dominant front four is not necessarily needed in the regular season, but typically regular-season success translates to postseason success. When a team has a front four that can generate constant pressure on opposing quarterbacks, that becomes a luxury to have. Now, teams do not have to sacrifice the back end of their defense and put more defenders on the opposing team’s best weapons. In a pass-happy league, having an elite front four counters these aerial attacks.
