Next Big Thing: The Rise of Nickelbacks, the NFL’s Most Versatile Perfomers

September 28, 2016   ·   Mike Tanier   ·   Jump to comments

The Steelers are renowned for their 3-4 defense. They have used the alignment since the early 1980s, the final days of the Steel Curtain era. The 3-4 is part of their identity, a tradition that dates back to Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd and continues through James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons today. 
So if you ask defensive coordinator Kevin Butler if the Steelers still run a 3-4 defense, he will assure you that they do. "That's what we are," he said during training camp, "26 percent of the time.
"And then, 74 percent of the time we're not. We're a 4-2-5, 4-1-6, depending on how technical you want to be."
If we are getting technical, then isn't what you are 74 percent of the time really what you are?
"The nickel's gonna be our base," Butler continued. "When they go to three wide receivers on first and second down, that's our base."
The Steelers aren't alone. Nickel is the base defense around the NFL. Talking about 3-4 and 4-3 defenses is like talking about...

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