OK, good.
To be honest, I don't remember where and when and how the name come about.
(I'm 61, not that young anymore, and too much reading on various subjects, from travel, cooking, business, history, geography, law, science, literature, fictions - from Stephen King to Dean Koontz, whats that guy's name who's famous for all the military and spy stuffs?)
But basically, it stemmed from either the 4 or 3 man front to counter the offense.
..........
You have 5 offensive linemen, and in the old days, a RB and a FB, plus the QB, a TE, and two receivers as a base scheme on offense.
Let's say the TE and the FB stay to block. That's 7 men (along with the 5 linemen).
So the defense usually counters with a 4-3 or 5-2 front.
(7 defenders in the box).
With 2 receivers, it makes sense to have 2 CBs.
That left 2 safeties.
If you want to defend the pass, especially like in a 3rd and long situation, you keep both safeties back.
With a 4-man front, it's only natural that you drop the 3 LBs back along with the 2 CBs in a 5-man zone (if you want to play zone).
With a 3-man front, you can bring the WILB up to rush, and the SILB back (he's facing the LB, for simplicity).
You now have a 4-man front and a 5-2 zone.
The 5 zones are also designed to counter the routes that the offense can run from various formations.
For simplicity sake, the TE can run a quick hook, up 5 yards and stop/turn.
The LB can drop back in the hook zone to defend this route.
The MLB takes care of the middle hole, with an eye on the FB (but also on the TE in case he runs a quick shallow crossing route.)
So on and so forth.
The priority of the 52 zone is to prevent the deep pass.
Theoretically, you have two safeties to help out the 2 CBs on the two receivers - one or both can be a deep threat.
With variations of the routes run by the offense, the 52 can morph into cover 4 (and a host of cover 3), depending on the scheme and the defensive play call.
It's really interesting to read and learn (with video aids) over the years.
I started to learn at the end of the 2006 season.
It's fascinating.
So fascinating that I declare football is the best sport game on earth.
I downloaded playbooks (both NFL and NCAA) and started to learn.
Let's say the offense line up in the standard offset I formation, with a RB and a FB.
And they have a TE (the Y) next to the RT, with a receiver on either side (X on the weakside left, Z on the strong side right.)
And I try to learn what the offense can do out of that base formation, via the playbooks.
And I started to question and look for how the various defenses counter them.
I was semi-retired somewhere between 08 and 09.
I started spending about 360 days a year to watch, read, and learn.
I was more studious than when I was in college.
I went to sleep learning football.
I woke up with thoughts about plays and formations.
I had numerous playbooks in my car.
While I drove, I had my thought about a certain play.
What if this, what if that.
I spent more time learning football than I did on my double-major in college (Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, while also taking business and economy courses).
I had worked for UH System for about 5 years, so I took the advantage to be a "professional student" that never use the degrees.
(I came out and open my own small business - not for money, just for the independence).
The bottom line is it allowed me the free time to learn about football.
At one time, I had said that it's a joy to share the knowledge about the football we come to love.
It's never about being right.
Like when I "defended" KJax and Chris Myers.
It was about appreciation for the players they are.
Or with the misconception that Foster had fumbilitis in college (which mr tex still harps on - I bet you he didn't even see many of those fumbles.)
It's rather sad.
What happens to not guilty until proven?
You just read that the guy "fumble" the ball; you never see how it happened.
Similarly, with a QB's interception; not all of them are the same.
When a guy throw a hail-mary just before the half or at the end of the game is not the same.
When it's 3rd and 29 at midfield, an INT downfield is just like a punt.
A lot of times, i bring up stats, but trust me, I vested those stats more carefully than most.
I do generalize at times, but overall, I do not screw up the integrity of the data - it's just not me.
Thank you for reading, and for the love of the game - whatever is left of it.