3-4 & 4-3 defenses vs West Coast Offense

KingOfTheSquares · 08-31-2002, 10:29 PM

OK, has anybody done any research on the two dominant defense fronts in the NFL vs. the dominant offense? I have a guy telling me that he sees the 3-4 doing better ATS since there are more linebackers and it tends to make the games closer. My db has none of that data so I haven't a clue. Seems to me it's more a factor of team personality than defensive alignment and I'm wndering if a few dominant teams are driving his data. He states its something around a 55-56% win situation (but with no more data than that).

count zero · 08-31-2002, 11:29 PM

Interesting concept. About all I can add is that the fewer 3-4 teams there are in the league, the harder it is to gameplan for them. Last year the Steelers were the only 3-4 team in the NFL and, as we all know, did exceptionally well. Had there been more such defenses in the league, teams would already have had some of the gameplan in place when they prepared for Pitt.

If anyone would care to go to the trouble of identifying every 3-4 defense going back however far, I'll check those teams' ATS record with my database. Or look at whatever you might suggest.