Run defense- Going from a 2-4-5 to a traditional 4-3-4

[MightyGiants]

According to Sports Info Solutions (SIS), when the Giants had Lawrence in the lineup, their most frequently used defensive formation against the run was a 2-4-5, which they ran 52% of the time. That was followed by a  3-3-5, which they deployed 46% of the time. 

Once the Giants lost Lawrence to his season-ending elbow injury, Bowen began to deploy more four-man fronts against the run. This helped the makeshift run defense to hold up against Kamara, Henry, and Robinson.

From Weeks 14-16, the Giants ran a 4-3-4 on 65% of their running plays, their most frequently used personnel grouping against the run. Meanwhile, their 2-4-5 alignment was used on just four out of 83 total running plays against them in that three-week span.

This all raises the question of why Bowen didn't switch to a 4-3-4 earlier in the season.

The likely answer is Lawrence.

"Dexter Lawrence does things differently than a typical defensive tackle because he does his job and more on every play," former Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas told the Locked On Giants podcast.

Casillas explained that linebackers playing behind Lawrence might be assigned to cover one of the A-gaps or the B-gap against the run. Because Lawrence is so multitalented and has shown that he can handle multiple gaps on any given play, that sometimes leaves the players alongside him and behind him having to adjust on the fly.

That, Casillas said, is not as easy as it sounds.

"No one can really teach you that until you get out there with the guy like Dexter Lawrence, and you're like, 'Okay, so if he does that on this play, then I can hit this gap. That's not my gap, but it'll be there because Dexter's taking up two gaps.' That takes repetition."

MORE

https://www.si.com/nfl/giants/big-blue-plus/this-change-made-by-giants-dc-shane-bowen-has-helped-team-s-run-defense-01jg219jgm29

[gregf]

This is a huge red flag on coaching to me.  Kudos to changing to improve the run D.  But it would have been even better to do when you had the best DT in the game healthy.