LOS ANGELES -- Wade Phillips wore his Super Bowl ring as he made the rounds in Houston last week. The Denver Broncos, his former team, were defending champions right up until the end of Super Bowl LI. And though their one-year reign ended with the Patriots, who beat the Falcons by orchestrating the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, Phillips is bringing a championship pedigree with him to the West Coast, as the Los Angeles Rams' new defensive coordinator.
Phillips, 69, was the first hire made by 31-year-old rookie head coach Sean McVay. Phillips has nine seasons as a full-time head coach and was a defensive coordinator for 25 other seasons. Since joining the NFL in 1976, he has been part of 20 top-10 defenses and coached 30 Pro Bowlers, five of whom are in the Hall of Fame. And in each of his last six stops as a defensive coordinator, Phillips has overseen drastic improvement. When he took over the Broncos the first time, they went from 27th to fourth in DVOA in one season. The Bills went from 19th to 10th; the Falcons: 26th to 12th; Chargers: 30th to 13th; the Texans: 31st to sixth.
In his second stint with the Broncos, they went from fourth to first.
Phillips' Broncos had the NFL's best defense each of the last two seasons, one of which ended in that Super Bowl 50 title. Though perhaps not as dynamic and deep, Phillips inherits another solid defense with the Rams, led by arguably the game's best interior lineman in Aaron Donald. Phillips will convert the unit from a 4-3 to a 3-4, but it might not be all that different.
Here, we'll isolate three key traits from Phillips' defense in Denver from 2015 to '16. You can find the same for McVay's offense with the Washington Redskins in this post.
A 3-4 that acts like a 4-3
A lot has been made about the Rams going from four down linemen to three under Phillips, but Phillips himself has stressed that "those who can rush are going to rush."
Under Phillips these last two years, the Broncos used three pass-rushers on only 41 offensive snaps, lower than all but four teams during that time. ESPN Stats & Info has the Broncos ranking fourth in the amount of times they utilized five pass-rushers during that stretch, slightly more than Gregg Williams' defense with the Rams. But ESPN Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold, who charts every defensive play, will tell you that Phillips used four pass-rushers the vast majority of the time, continually varying which linebacker he used to get to the quarterback.
For the Rams, it seems like that extra rusher will mainly be Robert Quinn, a two-time Pro Bowler who will probably transition from defensive end to outside linebacker. In all likelihood, Quinn will still spend most of his time trying to get around the edge to get to the quarterback. And nothing will change for Donald; he will remain a three-technique, which means he will continue to line up on the outside shoulder of the opposing guard.
Below are a couple of looks at how Phillips lined his defense up early in Week 4 against the Buccaneers this past season. The first is a first-down situation early in the game, where you'll notice a three-technique down lineman and two outside linebackers at the line of scrimmage ready to rush.
It's pretty easy to picture the four to the left being Quinn, Donald, Michael Brockers and William Hayes, respectively. On the very next play, 2nd-and-9, Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston set up in the shotgun and Phillips used one of his linebackers in coverage. He still had a rushing linebacker, a three-technique and two other down linemen, essentially serving the purpose of a 4-3.
Lots of man coverage
The main reason Phillips was able to be so aggressive and unpredictable with his pass-rush was because he had the defensive backs who could play man coverage and at times be left on an island. Phillips would be inclined to mix in zone concepts at various places on the field if he didn't have the cover corners, but most of the time -- with Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. on the outside -- he did.
The Broncos were one of only three teams -- along with the Texans and Vikings -- to allow just one regular-season game of 300 or more passing yards over the last two seasons. They ranked first in DVOA against the pass in each of those seasons. The Rams, who mainly used five defensive backs, slipped to 20th in 2016. Their top three cornerbacks outside of Trumaine Johnson, a pending free agent, are no taller than 5-foot-10.
Phillips might have to play a lot more zone in L.A.
Adjusting to the opponent
The Broncos won it all last year largely because of the way Phillips adjusted. It's evident in the way he navigated the last two games, the AFC Championship against the Patriots and the Super Bowl against the Panthers.
The Broncos couldn't have faced two more different offenses.
The Patriots focused mostly on Tom Brady getting rid of the football quickly, using an assortment of short to intermediate routes that gained chunk yardage. The Panthers featured a dynamic running game -- with running back Jonathan Stewart and quarterback Cam Newton -- and also liked to throw the ball downfield, often using max protection to give Newton enough time in the pocket.
Against the Patriots, Phillips disguised pass rushes without being so aggressive that his defensive backs were too often in space. On Cover-2 looks, his safeties were aggressive attacking short throws, which allowed them to sustain the Patriots' assortment of pick plays, as pointed out by Cian Fahey in this Football Outsiders post. Below is an example of a second-down stop on a short route that eventually led to a punt, with the safety's pursuit highlighted ...
In the Super Bowl, Phillips got aggressive. Newton is probably the NFL's most athletic quarterback, but Phillips noticed that he would rather sit in the pocket than scramble, as noted by Andy Benoit of MMQB.com. His biggest decision was what to do with his extra defender, who would be on either a tight end or a fullback who would be used frequently to help an inadequate offensive line. Phillips decided to blitz that extra defender, putting constant pressure on Newton and allowing some of his best pass rushers -- Von Miller, for example -- to go up against man-to-man coverage.
The Broncos hit Newton 13 times in that game, and below is a look at just how many pass-rushers they used at times ...