Figure 58
Defensive Left End—He plays a little wider than usual, and he has one of two options depending upon which defense has been called. He either rushes and contains the passer quickly or he will drop off and cover the short flat area. When the latter occurs, the tackle has the outside rush and contain responsibility then in place of the defensive end.
Defensive Left Linebacker—He plays his regular position. He plays the run first, but when he sees a pass develop, he covers his short one-quarter area. If the defensive end is going to contain the passer, the linebacker will check for the run first and then cover the short flat.
Defensive Left Halfback—He lines up on the outside shoulder of the widest man and on the snap of the ball he steps back and out. He plays his regular position, and his area of responsibility is the deep one-third to his side of the field.
Defensive Safety—He lines up in the area where he will be splitting the eligible receivers. His area of responsibility is the deep middle one-third.
Defensive Right Halfback—His first step is toward his outside. As soon as he sees the flow going away from him, however, he turns and gets depth still covering the deep one-third area to his side.
Defensive Right Linebacker—He will play the counter when he sees the flow going away from him. When he sees a pass develop, he will cover his short one-quarter area.
Defensive Right End—The back who is flanked out does not alter the defensive right end’s responsibility. He will start pursuing the ball until he recognizes a pass, then he will cover his short one-quarter area.
Pass Defense Versus End Out
We cover the split end, illustrated in [Figure 59], exactly the same way that we would cover a back out. If the play is an action pass away from the end out, we would cover it as we cover a regular action pass.