How Dennis Allen Weaponizes Confusion on 3rd Down

Dennis Allen's Deceptive Fronts

On the latest episode of Bears On Tap, Ron and I watched a handful of 3rd down clips from last year's Saints defense and tried to set the offensive line protection plan against the defensive fronts. The purpose was to display how Dennis Allen manipulates pass protection rules to generate pressure in passing situations.

You see, Allen is not much for blitzing. In 2024, the Saints ranked 25th in blitz rate at 20.6. The year before, they ranked 20th at a rate of 22.5%. However, Allen is big on making teams guess who is coming in passing situations. He attacks with scheme and mentality more than volume. The players in a Dennis Allen defense play downhill, instinctive football.

It is not out of the ordinary for him to stack 6-8 defenders on the line of scrimmage on third down, only to send four and have the other players drop back in coverage. He sometimes sends five rushers at the passer and will occasionally bring six, but for the most part, he wants to drop seven players in coverage. Which players are rushing and which are dropping is challenging to decipher, though.

Allen will put pressure on the opponent's quarterback and the offensive line to sort through the crap. Between the aggressive front that aligns six or more players on the line of scrimmage pre-snap and the use of wide-ranging stunts, Allen aims to create chaos within the blocking scheme. When it's working, it's a thing of beauty. But it does require versatile defenders on the defensive line, at linebacker, and in the secondary. Every defensive player is a blitz threat in this defense, even if it means that a defensive lineman has to drop into coverage.

Dennis Allen 3rd Down Charting

Over the last month, I have charted five games from Dennis Allen's 2024 Saints defense. On third down, he aligned six or more players on the line of scrimmage 40% of the time. He brought five or more pass rushers on just 20% of those plays. Further, he brought only three pass rushers on 27% of those plays, electing to drop an extra man into coverage rather than attacking the QB.

Across the five games charted, Allen's defense had a third-down success rate of 55%. That spans 53 plays, resulting in two interceptions, six sacks, and eight explosive plays allowed. Since Allen wants his defensive backs to stay on the attack and play an aggressive brand of football, they get burned at times. That is especially noticeable when the pass rush struggles to generate pressure, leaving defensive backs in vulnerable positions after playing aggressively early in the rep.

When it comes to personnel, Allen likes to utilize a dime package on third down. He ran a dime package on 66% of third downs charted while running a nickel package on 30% of such plays. A dime package is when there are six defensive backs on the field, removing either an extra linebacker or a defensive lineman. Allen ran a 4-1-6 (DL-LB-DB) defense on 43% of third downs charted and a 3-2-6 on 23% of such plays.