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Here is the so called 5 commandmends of Tempa 2 defnese from an SI article
1. The front four must be able to rush the quarterback, because that allows the linebackers freedom. "If you get four men who can rush the passer, you can play Cover Two, Tampa Two, all day," says Jack Ham, Pittsburgh's Hall of Fame outside linebacker. "But you can't play it without a pass rush. It's a zone defense, and there are lots of holes if the quarterback can sit back and wait." The Steelers applied the rush with Joe Greene and L.C. Greenwood, the Buccaneers with Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice; the Bears are doing it with Tommie Harris, Alex Brown and a deep posse of solid defensive linemen. (Here Carroll adds, "Any defense works a lot better when you pressure the quarterback.")
2. The middle linebacker must be able and willing to drop deep into coverage, filling the crossing zone between the safeties and leaving the glamour plays to the outside linebackers or the nickelback. "My primary purpose in that defense," says Urlacher, "is to run back to the huddle and congratulate somebody for making a play while I was running down the field with the tight end."
In truth, Urlacher has redefined the role played by Lambert, Del Rio and Tampa Bay's Shelton Quarles. At 6'4" and 258 pounds but with the speed of a running back (he was a college safety at New Mexico), Urlacher sits on the line of scrimmage longer than most Tampa Two middle linebackers, allowing him to read running plays before bailing out. Yet he is still able to drop 30 yards into coverage and disrupt pass plays. "He's a freak," says Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman. "Trust me, I play against him every day, and I test him. You can't throw over him in the middle."
3. The outside linebackers must be smart and athletic enough to cover receivers in the middle zone or rally to runs at the line of scrimmage. "You're not looking for your old-fashioned linebacker who makes tackles in a phone booth," says Dungy. "You're looking for an open-field tackler and athlete." They also have to jam tight ends and slot receivers to keep them from releasing into the middle zone vacated by the dropping middle linebacker.
4. The cornerbacks must be physical enough to jam wideouts at the line and also tackle ballcarriers. In Tampa Two the corners are not expected to run down the field with receivers but rather to disrupt them and pass them along to the safeties. "One of the big reasons Tampa Two developed was to take pressure off the corners in terms of coverage," says ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski.
Yet disruption is vital. "Our job is to get our hands on the receiver and knock him off his route," says Bears cornerback Charles Tillman. "That little bit of a bump can change the whole play." Mel Blount, the Steelers' 6'3", 205-pound Hall of Famer, was the prototype in the '70s. It's hard to imagine a more perfect Tampa Two corner.
5. The safeties must be smart and quick enough to break properly on balls in the air and physical enough to create -- and survive -- violent collisions with wide receivers or backs after running as much as 25 yards from a deep starting position. "This defense is the reason you see so many penalties on safeties like [the Broncos'] John Lynch," says Ham. "They're out there to create collisions."
Now lets match them against the Bills. I have no doubt Jauron and Co. want to round out their defense this year.
They filled a big void in safeties from last year's draft - remember they started out with none capable in this defense.
They found out that the corners are inadequate - they had to change it up to play Clements man up in the 2nd half, and McGee struggled almost all year with this defense. They did drafted Yubody in the 3rd last year but clearly help is needed. Clements is an UFA. I'm not sure they will go all out to pursue someone who is not exactly a perfect fit for Tampa 2 corners. My guess is that they will draft one and sign one in FA.
They had mixed results from the outside linebacker positions. The good news is that they found Ellison who proved to be a perfect fit in this system. The none news is Crowell performed adequately. The bad news is that TKO, who would be in a perfect spot, had a bad showing the whole year, mainly due to injury and no one knows he can ever recover completely.
They found out the MLB, in which the article on a side column stated is the most important position of this defense, is not adequate. Fletcher made a lot of tackles, but he didn't prevent offense from completing passes in the middle, and he did not stick RB's for short gains up front (not attacking). They have to find a premium or near premium guy here.
They found out the front 4 played adequate, but far from dominating. They need to have more sacks and pressure from the tackle positions and more stout against the run - again from the tackle positions. They had the forsight to draft McCargo but he was injured most of the year for them to have any feel about him.
Looking from this perspective, MLB is the biggest need. CB and DT are tied in second as a need.
1. The front four must be able to rush the quarterback, because that allows the linebackers freedom. "If you get four men who can rush the passer, you can play Cover Two, Tampa Two, all day," says Jack Ham, Pittsburgh's Hall of Fame outside linebacker. "But you can't play it without a pass rush. It's a zone defense, and there are lots of holes if the quarterback can sit back and wait." The Steelers applied the rush with Joe Greene and L.C. Greenwood, the Buccaneers with Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice; the Bears are doing it with Tommie Harris, Alex Brown and a deep posse of solid defensive linemen. (Here Carroll adds, "Any defense works a lot better when you pressure the quarterback.")
2. The middle linebacker must be able and willing to drop deep into coverage, filling the crossing zone between the safeties and leaving the glamour plays to the outside linebackers or the nickelback. "My primary purpose in that defense," says Urlacher, "is to run back to the huddle and congratulate somebody for making a play while I was running down the field with the tight end."
In truth, Urlacher has redefined the role played by Lambert, Del Rio and Tampa Bay's Shelton Quarles. At 6'4" and 258 pounds but with the speed of a running back (he was a college safety at New Mexico), Urlacher sits on the line of scrimmage longer than most Tampa Two middle linebackers, allowing him to read running plays before bailing out. Yet he is still able to drop 30 yards into coverage and disrupt pass plays. "He's a freak," says Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman. "Trust me, I play against him every day, and I test him. You can't throw over him in the middle."
3. The outside linebackers must be smart and athletic enough to cover receivers in the middle zone or rally to runs at the line of scrimmage. "You're not looking for your old-fashioned linebacker who makes tackles in a phone booth," says Dungy. "You're looking for an open-field tackler and athlete." They also have to jam tight ends and slot receivers to keep them from releasing into the middle zone vacated by the dropping middle linebacker.
4. The cornerbacks must be physical enough to jam wideouts at the line and also tackle ballcarriers. In Tampa Two the corners are not expected to run down the field with receivers but rather to disrupt them and pass them along to the safeties. "One of the big reasons Tampa Two developed was to take pressure off the corners in terms of coverage," says ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski.
Yet disruption is vital. "Our job is to get our hands on the receiver and knock him off his route," says Bears cornerback Charles Tillman. "That little bit of a bump can change the whole play." Mel Blount, the Steelers' 6'3", 205-pound Hall of Famer, was the prototype in the '70s. It's hard to imagine a more perfect Tampa Two corner.
5. The safeties must be smart and quick enough to break properly on balls in the air and physical enough to create -- and survive -- violent collisions with wide receivers or backs after running as much as 25 yards from a deep starting position. "This defense is the reason you see so many penalties on safeties like [the Broncos'] John Lynch," says Ham. "They're out there to create collisions."
Now lets match them against the Bills. I have no doubt Jauron and Co. want to round out their defense this year.
They filled a big void in safeties from last year's draft - remember they started out with none capable in this defense.
They found out that the corners are inadequate - they had to change it up to play Clements man up in the 2nd half, and McGee struggled almost all year with this defense. They did drafted Yubody in the 3rd last year but clearly help is needed. Clements is an UFA. I'm not sure they will go all out to pursue someone who is not exactly a perfect fit for Tampa 2 corners. My guess is that they will draft one and sign one in FA.
They had mixed results from the outside linebacker positions. The good news is that they found Ellison who proved to be a perfect fit in this system. The none news is Crowell performed adequately. The bad news is that TKO, who would be in a perfect spot, had a bad showing the whole year, mainly due to injury and no one knows he can ever recover completely.
They found out the MLB, in which the article on a side column stated is the most important position of this defense, is not adequate. Fletcher made a lot of tackles, but he didn't prevent offense from completing passes in the middle, and he did not stick RB's for short gains up front (not attacking). They have to find a premium or near premium guy here.
They found out the front 4 played adequate, but far from dominating. They need to have more sacks and pressure from the tackle positions and more stout against the run - again from the tackle positions. They had the forsight to draft McCargo but he was injured most of the year for them to have any feel about him.
Looking from this perspective, MLB is the biggest need. CB and DT are tied in second as a need.
...I rather have our 3-4 back....I just don't think that this team is talented enough on defense to succeed just yet, and with the possible loss of a couple of veterans I think it's going to get worst and worst...Unless we draft Willis of course...Please Marv don't let us down...
....
"Expect rejection, but expect more to overcome it." 
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