The Birth of Football&#039;s Modern 4-3 Defense

T. J. Troup

doi:10.5771/9781442237964

Summary

From 1953 to 1959, professional football’s offensive and defensive tactics were in a transitional phase. As teams developed innovative strategies to attack the 5-2-4 defense, passing efficiency improved. In an attempt to counter this newfound passing success, the 4-3-4 defense evolved. This crucial shift in strategies is often overlooked in histories of the NFL, yet its impact on the game is still seen today.

The Birth of Football’s Modern 4-3 Defense: The Seven Seasons That Changed the NFL chronicles this key development in professional football. In this comprehensive review and analysis, T. J. Troup provides a year-by-year breakdown of these seven seasons. Each team has a separate entry for every season that includes:

The coaching staff
Player personnel
An analysis of the stats
Summation of the team’s season
Outlook for the following season

As Troup compiled this detailed volume, he had unprecedented access to coaches and players from this era, as well as extensive game footage. Drawing upon these resources, Troup scrutinized each team’s success or failure and re-created the key game of the season for each team—bringing the action, intensity, and importance of the game to life.

Including an exclusive interview with Joe Schmidt of the Detroit Lions, this book will entertain and inform all fans and historians of professional football, especially those interested in the early development of the modern defense.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2014
ISBN-Print: 978-1-4422-3795-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4422-3796-4
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 339
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. Foreword No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
4. Introduction No access
1. Chicago Cardinals No access
2. Green Bay Packers No access
3. New York Giants No access
4. Baltimore Colts No access
5. Pittsburgh Steelers No access
6. Chicago Bears No access
7. Washington Redskins No access
8. Los Angeles Rams No access
9. Philadelphia Eagles No access
10. San Francisco 49ers No access
11. Cleveland Browns No access
12. Detroit Lions No access
1. Baltimore Colts No access
2. Chicago Cardinals No access
3. Green Bay Packers No access
4. Washington Redskins No access
5. Los Angeles Rams No access
6. Pittsburgh Steelers No access
7. San Francisco 49ers No access
8. New York Giants No access
9. Chicago Bears No access
10. Philadelphia Eagles No access
11. Detroit Lions No access
12. Cleveland Browns No access
1. Detroit Lions No access
2. Pittsburgh Steelers No access
3. San Francisco 49ers No access
4. Philadelphia Eagles No access
5. Baltimore Colts No access
6. Chicago Cardinals No access
7. Green Bay Packers No access
8. New York Giants No access
9. Chicago Bears No access
10. Washington Redskins No access
11. Los Angeles Rams No access
12. Cleveland Browns No access
1. Green Bay Packers No access
2. Philadelphia Eagles No access
3. Los Angeles Rams No access
4. Pittsburgh Steelers No access
5. Baltimore Colts No access
6. Cleveland Browns No access
7. San Francisco 49ers No access
8. Washington Redskins No access
9. Detroit Lions No access
10. Joe Schmidt and the Evolution of the 4-3 No access
11. Chicago Cardinals No access
12. Chicago Bears No access
13. New York Giants No access
1. Chicago Cardinals No access
2. Green Bay Packers No access
3. Philadelphia Eagles No access
4. Chicago Bears No access
5. Washington Redskins No access
6. Los Angeles Rams No access
7. Pittsburgh Steelers No access
8. Baltimore Colts No access
9. New York Giants No access
10. San Francisco 49ers No access
11. Cleveland Browns No access
12. Detroit Lions No access
1. Chicago Cardinals No access
2. Green Bay Packers No access
3. Philadelphia Eagles No access
4. Detroit Lions No access
5. Washington Redskins No access
6. San Francisco 49ers No access
7. Pittsburgh Steelers No access
8. Los Angeles Rams No access
9. Cleveland Browns No access
10. Chicago Bears No access
11. New York Giants No access
12. Baltimore Colts No access
1. Chicago Cardinals No access
2. Los Angeles Rams No access
3. Washington Redskins No access
4. Detroit Lions No access
5. Pittsburgh Steelers No access
6. San Francisco 49ers No access
7. Philadelphia Eagles No access
8. Green Bay Packers No access
9. Cleveland Browns No access
10. Chicago Bears No access
11. New York Giants No access
12. Baltimore Colts No access
Bibliography No access Pages 333 - 334
Selective Index No access Pages 335 - 338
About the Author No access Pages 339 - 339