The first thing that went through my mind when a coach called for the prevent defense was "why?"
Being in a position to play the prevent defense usually means
you've played well throughout the game. The thing that always stuck in my mind
was why change what got us to this point. We are in a position to win and as the
saying goes, "if it ain't broke, then don't fix it". I always thought the same
principle should be applied here. To this day, I have never been able to figure
out why some of the best coaches in the National Football League fall into this
trap and lose games because of it.
The main premise behind the prevent defense is to keep the
offense from making a big play. In certain prevent defenses, the coach tells you
to keep everything 10 yards and under. Some even tell you to keep it 15 yards
and under, depending on the score and the exact amount of time left. Basically,
the prevent allows the offense to get the short stuff in the middle of the field
in order to keep the clock ticking.
Granted, sometimes the prevent defense works. However, more often than not it
fails. Heaven forbid it fails and you have to go back to the old game plan. The
prevent defense really puts a team on its heals and makes it difficult to get
the aggressiveness back that got you the lead in the first place. Momentum is an
important thing, especially late in a game or in overtime. Look at the Chicago
game a few weeks ago. The Browns fell into this trap and never recovered.
Players play, coaches coach. It is a coach's responsibility to put his players
in a position to win. But I would say this to any coach, and I often did
whenever I played for a coach who called for the prevent defense, "When you put
us in the prevent defense, you are not putting us in a position to win." Period.
It didn't always work, but I felt better for having said it.
No matter what defensive play or scheme is called and no matter how much you
might personally disagree with a call, as a player, you have to go out and
execute to the best of your ability whatever play the coach calls. He's the boss. You're a player and a competitor and want to
succeed.
My philosophy has always been to go after the other team. I remember a game
very vividly called "The Drive." The Broncos were facing fourth-and-21 and they
ended up getting 23 yards on the play because we were in the prevent defense.
Had we aggressively gone after John Elway, we would have either forced him to
throw the ball early, or we would have forced him out of the pocket. With Elway,
the latter was always a risky proposition, but I believe we would have had a
much better chance of stopping him there had we gone after him rather than sitting back and letting
hire fire away.
Unfortunately, we all remember what happened on that day, January 11, 1987.
The Broncos went on to score the tying touchdown on that drive and tied the
game, sending it into overtime. They had the all-important momentum after that
and went on to win 23-20. I am convinced to this day that had we not played the
prevent defense, we would have played in the Super Bowl that year.
The prevent defense prevented us from winning that day, it prevented the
Browns from winning in Chicago a few weeks ago and it prevents teams week in and
week out from winning.
No matter where you are at in a game, you have to stick with what got you
there. Offenses love it when you let them settle in and play their game.
Taking the pressure off and deviating from a defensive gameplan that has
proven to be successful is not a wise decision, as history has continually shown us
football fans in Cleveland and everywhere for that matter.
Whoever dictates the flow of the game usually wins. That doesn't mean just
three and a half quarters, but the whole game. It is not that difficult a
concept. When will coaches ever learn?
This article was originally published in Bernie's Insiders Magazine on
December 10, 2001