The “Prevent Defense” is a dumb defense that old-school defensive coaches still occasionally use for no good reason. I’m still a bit honked off that Joe Barry used it on Sunday as the Green Bay Packers tried to hold on to an 8-point lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with three minutes left. The prevent is designed to force the offense to complete passes in front of your defense, allowing your defense to make tackles in bounds, and waste clock. It’s also designed to prevent over-the-top bombs by playing most DBs quite deep.
A quick note on the Prevent Defense, that has been true since the first time it was ever used:
1.