i was just about to mention that. aside from Dick LeBeau this guy is a blitzmaster. always respected the units he fielded. even though it is the Eagles.
I hate the Eagles, but he ran his defense like I always wished the Jets would... Very aggressively. You always knew they were coming at you on 3rd down with the house. And it wasn't the players. It was their DC. IMO, possibly the best DC in the game in recent years.
Rest in Peace. I always enjoyed watching Eagles defense; their swarming, attacking defense was always a joy to watch, even in loss. This is one colossal loss for the entire NFL.
Last, but not the least: Does anybody know how Jim Johnson attacked the pocket, and the offense in general? In case of Rex Ryan, he has a book on 46 defense (which is exceptional by the way). I know that, the fire zone schemes employed by Spags (from NYG) is a direct descendant of Jim Johnson's attacking method - yet I haven't been able to find anything about how Jim Johnson conducted his attack on the fortress. Is there anyone who can help me out on this one?
The Eagles' defense was a marriage of their personnel and Jim Johnson's scheme (though you can say this about defense, I guess). The Eagles' FO invests heavily in the dline and secondary. Their scheme often involves dlinemen stunting while LBs blitz creatively and the secondary matches up man-to-man. The stunting creates schematic and matchup problelms for the OL. It also, ideally gives the blitzing LBS a free lane to rush through. In the event that the LB gets picked up, they try to match them up with an OL. This has one OL engaged in what should be an easy win for them whilst one of their talented DL gets (and ideally beats) a one-on-one matchup. Johnson also liked to show heavy from one side and then blitz from the other. He liked overloading sides to force the hot read while the DBs pressed and knocked guys off their routes (thus preventing the hot read from happening). One of the greatest football minds I ever saw, and he would have a ring if the Eagles ever fielded an offense that could play in big games.
Actually, I saw this news on ESPN while I was on the treadmill. There was a whopping :10 segment on his passing, then they moved on to Favre, Plax, Shaq and so on. I knew he was battling cancer but still, the news totally shocked me. As a football fan, I respected the man's defensive mind. Tough loss for the Eagles organization. RIP Jim Johnson.
Extremely underrated football mind. One of the guys I'd love to talk X's and O's w/. A real old schooler that believed aggressive play wins football games. Rip and he will be missed
