In 1976, Broncos defensive tackle Lyle Alzado — yes, he was a defensive tackle then — suffered a broken leg in Denver’s 17-7 loss in the regular-season opener to the Bengals at Cincinnati.
Defensive coordinator Joe Collier assessed the remaining personnel and made the fateful decision to switch from a 4-3 defense, long the norm in the league, to the 3-4.
It wasn’t all that revolutionary, especially because it looked an awful lot like the old collegiate “Oklahoma” 5-2, with the stand-up “ends” pretty much being linebackers. Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger had fooled around with the 3-4 some, and so had Collier. But in Denver, until Alzado went down, it was only an occasional gimmick.
Then Denver’s second-year defensive tackle, Rubin Carter, a former Miami Hurricane with a bowling ball physique, became the nose tackle. He often tied up two offensive linemen, helping the four agile linebackers — Randy Gradishar and Joe Rizzo on the inside, Tom Jackson and Bob Swenson on the outside — roam and make tackle after tackle. Jackson lined up on the weak side and often went after the passer, and on the other side, Swenson usually took on and, under the rules of the time, manhandled the tight end.
That offseason, the Broncos hired away New England’s offensive coordinator to be the head coach. (Yes, it has happened before.) That coach, Red Miller, retained Collier, his longtime friend, and the Broncos stuck with the 3-4. When Alzado healed, he was switched to defensive end, joining Carter and Barney Chavous up front for 1977 on what became the famed “Orange Crush.”
This gets a bit lost in the discussion of the Orange Crush, overshadowed by the terrific linebackers and a defensive backfield that featured Louis Wright and Billy Thompson, but the Broncos’ 3-4 actually featured six linemen. Collier sent in a second three-man unit — nose tackle John Grant, plus ends Brison Manor and Paul Smith — roughly every third opposition possession.
Getting just enough clutch contributions from the offense — especially the M&M Connection of Craig Morton to Haven Moses — the ’77 Broncos captured the imagination and the passion of the market and became Denver’s first Super Bowl team. The 4-3 remained the most popular defense around the league, but as many as seven teams primarily used the 3-4 — Denver, Oakland, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, New England and Tampa Bay.
So that’s the type of approach the Broncos will be trying to use this season, with former San Francisco 49er Ronald Fields plugged into the nose tackle spot. He’s listed at 6-feet-2 and 314 pounds, nearly 60 pounds heavier than Carter in an era of different benchmarks.
If Elvis Dumervil, previously a defensive end in the 4-3, remains a pass-rushing threat as an outside linebacker and can play the run decently when called upon, and maybe even look a little like Tom Jackson, that will be of considerable help. Champ Bailey, as was Wright in ’77, is one of the game’s elite cornerbacks.
The funny thing about schemes, though, is that the more talent on hand, the better they work.
