[dirk digler]

From that Athletic article

“The two-high and what you run out of that is completely different,” said Lions passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant, who served as the Rams’ cornerbacks coach under Staley in 2020. “I just think with the game being spread out, the game being open, not being able to touch defenders, not being able to touch receivers the way you used to in the first five yards, we try to make it a little more cloudy for the quarterback and make him try to figure out post-snap.”

The central tenet of this defensive philosophy is to limit explosive plays, and Staley’s Rams accomplished that better than any defense in the NFL last season. In a league dominated by high-octane passing, this style of defense sends offenses back to the drawing board, forcing them to reevaluate how they want to shape their passing game.

“[Fangio] is one of the more frustrating coordinators to play, because you’re waiting and waiting for an explosive shot, and they don’t ever give them to you,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “If you’re a QB that likes to do that, it can be really frustrating. You almost have to change your mindset when you play against those guys.”

The newer type of Quarters sweeping the league is far less daring. Rodgers says that it’s inspired by the “Palms” coverage that Fangio has long favored, which features two high safeties with no role in fitting the run. By removing their run responsibilities, both safeties can play with more depth and help negate throws down the field. Different coaches use different imagery when talking about this modified version of Quarters. Some call it an umbrella. Others refer to it as a “dome” look. Staley likes to say he’s putting a “roof” over the defense.

Whatever the terminology, the goal is the same: Force offenses to beat you without the benefit of 30- and 40-yard shot plays. And as that philosophy starts to proliferate around the league, offenses will have to rethink what they’ve been programmed to believe about how to score in the modern NFL. “I think there’s gonna be much less margin for error for the efficiency that’s necessary,” McVay said. “It’s much harder to hunt out those explosives. There’s a premium on offenses that are efficient and explosive.”

No offense was able to exploit the Rams’ defensive strategy quite like the Packers did last season — and that’s because few units around the league are as disciplined as Green Bay’s. That calm and collected approach begins with Rodgers, who honed the ability to pick his spots during nearly a decade of games against Lovie Smith’s Bears.

“That’s always what I had to mentally wrap my head around playing the Bears for so many years: ‘It’s gonna be a checkdown game,’” Rodgers said. “It’s gonna be a dink-and-dunk game — until they come out of their scheme.’”

In 2007, when Rodgers was backing up Brett Favre, the Bears played 14 straight snaps of soft Tampa 2 coverage. “I’m just thinking, ‘Are you kidding me?” Rodgers said. “They’re not gonna do anything different? But that’s what this defense was predicated on.”