Vic Fangio Defense 101: Part 4 – Runs Fits and Pressure Looks

The “Fangio defense”. Named after its creator, Vic Fangio, who was recently hired as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator, this defense is known for being complex. In particular, Fangio’s defense is known for using confusing terminology that can make things sound more complicated than they are. I wanted to study Fangio’s defense again and write a series of posts where I will attempt to simplify the Vic Fangio style defense, breaking it down into easy-to-understand parts.

Numerous writers have already written incredibly in-depth articles on Fangio’s defense. I have learned the most from Honest NFL, Shawn Syed, and Cody Alexander (Match Quarters). I will frequently use their work in these articles, and I can’t thank them enough for their work and for teaching me the intricacies of Fangio’s defense.

However, while these accounts do a brilliant job explaining the intricacies of the Fangio defense, I think some of it can be too complicated or necessary for the fan who wants to understand the basics when watching the game on Sunday. Not everyone needs to analyze football, but understanding the schemes can make watching the game more enjoyable. So, my goal for this series is to simplify the Vic Fangio-style defense and break it down into easy-to-understand parts. Please read the articles in order so they make sense.

Previously: Previously: Part 1: The Basics / Part 2: MFO Coverages / Part 3: MFC Coverages

This will be the final one, so I hope you have enjoyed and found this study on Fangio interesting!

Run Fits

In this section, I must discuss gap identification and technique alignments. This handy graph from Big Blue View includes both the gaps and the techniques of defensive linemen.

The nose tackle is the 0 technique directly over the top of the center. Anything shaded to the center’s outside shoulder is called a 1 technique or a shade.

A handy note to remember is that any defender aligned directly in front of an offensive player receives an even number. You can see that above. Additionally, Any defender aligned on the inside shoulder of a guard or tackle is referred to as the corresponding number with an “i” next to it. It’s pretty simple!

Historically, you will have heard analysts talk about ‘2-gap’ and ‘1-gap’. This refers to whether defensive linemen are responsible for 2 separate gaps or 1 specific gap. Linemen love playing in 1-gap systems (think Jim Schwartz) as it makes their role easier! Here are a couple of great examples from Blogging the Boys.

A 2-gap often comes from 3-4 looks, and you must be a big defensive tackle to deal with 2-gaps. Think back to Bennie Logan

1-gap often comes from 4-man fronts as the defensive tackles. Think Fletcher Cox in his prime with Jim Schwartz as the DC.

This is a very simplified version of 2-gap and 1-gap, but it is necessary. Now, let’s get into Vic Fangio’s run fits…

A Gap and a Half?

Some of you may have heard of Vic Fangio’s defense using a technique called a ‘gap and a half.’ Before getting into this, we must remind ourselves that Fangio wants a two-high pre-snap look on most snaps. If you can’t remember why, go back and read part 1. This is a standard Fangio look against 11 personnel.

Let’s do some simple math. Two deep defenders + three cornerbacks = six in the box, just like above. Fangio has a problem. The offense has seven in the box, not even including the quarterback. This means seven gaps are available to the offense, but the defense only has six defenders because the two safeties are deep.

If you aren’t sure what I mean by 7 gaps, have a lovely edited photo from yours truly.

To deal with this, Fangio asks his defenders to play ‘gap and a half.’ This sounds a bit silly, and it is. Now, I had to do some of my own research on this because I haven’t studied Fangio’s run fits in too much detail. So a massive shoutout to one of my favorite football nerds on X @PhillyWannabGM who gave me a ton of information on run fits. I almost have too much information, so I’m just going to fire off a bunch of key points on Fangio’s style. I will call it 1.5 -gap, too, as I’m bored typing out a ‘gap and a half.’ Here we go…

• The defensive tackles usually play a hybrid read-and-react/aggressive style. They have to be stout and get their body in their main gap. However, ideally, they need to ‘help out’ a second gap. So it is a 1-gap defense, but rather than fly upfield, they are a bit more passive to help with a second gap. As the defense is often outnumbered in the box, you almost need to ‘steal’ a gap. You are responsible for your primary gap, but when it is clear that the runner will not take it, you can try to help out your secondary gap.
• Watch #72 Moro Ojomo in this clip below; this is perfect. He controls his gap but still helps out in the gap next to his. This is 1.5-gap, but you can see he doesn’t fly upfield and has to play a read-and-react style.

• Sometimes, you may ask one defender (Jordan Davis) to truly 2-gap to make it easier on the others. When watching a film, it is hard to tell if someone is playing 1.5-gap or 2-gap. It is a grey area.
• Similarly, you may allow certain defensive linemen (Jalen Carter) to 1-gap if they are explosive and want to fly up the field.
• With a 5-man front, you will often see the 3 interior’s 1.5-gap, but the EDGE defenders will set the edge and play contain. In this case, the two 4i techniques will have to control the B gap but will also try to help out the nose tackle in the A gap, too. So it’s sort of a 1.5 gap. This is a great image from @NFL_Journal that shows what I mean.

• Often, a safety or the nickel will come from depth to help out. A nickel will often take the C gap, which is why having a great run defender in the slot can be helpful. Just because a safety comes from depth does not mean they can’t be useful. But they have to get downhill fast. There’s a fantastic quote from Brandon Staley (who ran a Fangio’ style defense) who said on the PFF College Podcast: “The way we fit the run, we still include a defender as an eighth defender; he’s just coming from depth … whether that is a safety, whether that is a slot defender.”

• One of the big criticisms of Fangio’s defense is that due to this passive approach, defenses may not get many tackles for losses, and the defense is content with giving up small chunks of yardage at a time. Unless defensive tackles are getting upfield quickly, you just won’t see many tackles for loss.

Here’s one final example. Watch #95 on the defensive line and notice how the defenders aren’t rushing upfield, but they are staying stout and playing a read-and-react style I mentioned earlier.

TLDR: Gap and a half is where you have a primary gap, but keep an eye out for the secondary gap once the runner has passed your gap. This is necessary because Fangio will often be outnumbered in the box as he wants to have two deep safeties for most snaps. Simple!

Pressuring the Quarterback

Right, I have spent a lot of time on this series. I’m going to keep this brief. Firstly, Fangio will bring different types of pressure. To keep this simple, I will say that anything with 5+ rushers is a blitz, and anything that includes 4 rushers, with one coming from the second level, is either a creeper or simulated pressure. If you are wondering what the difference is…

Creeper Pressure = the defense does not show a pressure look before the snap.

Simulated Pressure = the defense shows a pressure look before the snap.

Here’s an easy diagram from Coach Hoover.

Fire Zone

Fangio’s most common ‘blitz’ is known as a fire zone. There are many different ways of running a fire zone blitz, but the ‘standard fire zone’ will have three deep and three under coverage. This means three defenders are responsible for a deep ¹⁄₃ and three defenders are responsible for an underneath ¹⁄_3. Here’s a nice diagram from Shawn Syed. You can see that although it’s three deep, the safety may carry a receiver vertically because of the match rules. Remember, four verticals should never outnumber Fangio’s 3 deep defenders.

Sometimes, Fangio runs fire zone coverage but only rushes 4 and drops an EDGE defender into coverage as a bonus hook defender. But he still calls it a fire zone. So it’s not technically a blitz, as he doesn’t send 5. Ah, Fangio.

Just like Fangio’s zone coverage, Fangio’s fire zone blitzes include matching rules. This means that it can look like man coverage. Sometimes, it is impossible to tell if it is man coverage or a fire zone. For example, I’ve seen some analysts call this a fire zone, and others call it a Cover 1 blitz. Who knows?!

Simulated/Creeper Pressure

As stated above, simulated/creeper pressure is where you rush 4, but you don’t rush your 4 defensive linemen. If done correctly, this can result in you getting one-on-one matchups or even a free rusher but still having 7 defenders in coverage. However, the downside is that one of these defenders in coverage will likely not be very good in coverage!

There are loads of different versions of this pressure, but I’ll give you a couple to look out for on Sundays. I won’t go into detail on these, so let’s do it quickly!

Whip = drop the EDGE defender away from the weakside linebacker and blitz the weakside linebacker through the B gap. Expect to see this a lot this year; the Eagles have some great pass-rushing linebackers. If he rushes the A gap, Fangio calls this Wasp.

Slug = blitz the nickel and drop the EDGE opposite him.

We saw this in preseason…

That will do. I hope you enjoyed this study! I’ve wanted to do this for a while, so I can refer back to it throughout the season. If Fangio could stay as the DC for several years, it would be great for my well-being…

I hope part four of this breakdown of Fangio’s defense has given you a clearer picture of his MFC coverages. As always, I would love to hear your feedback and thoughts, and if you have any questions, just let me know!