Dime Defense
Dime puts six defensive backs on the field, usually with four linemen and one linebacker, to defend obvious passing downs.
Tip: Six X's spread over receivers or sitting deep, with a single linebacker in the middle, means dime.
How to Spot It
Dime means six defensive backs. cover0 counts personnel, so any group with six defensive backs is Dime. The usual mix is four down linemen, one linebacker and six defensive backs, though some teams play three linemen and two linebackers. The name is a coin joke: a dime is worth two nickels, and dime adds a second extra defensive back.
On the diagram, the box gets thin. The box is the area between the offensive tackles, about five yards deep, and in dime you may see just one X standing at linebacker depth inside it. Everyone else spreads out: cornerbacks over each receiver, often one over a slot receiver (the inside receiver), and two or even three X's deep.
Dime defenders sometimes creep toward the line to blitz or to hide their coverage, so a safety can stand near linebacker depth at the snap. Count by role. Anyone across from a receiver or well behind the linebackers is almost always a defensive back, and six of them means dime.
When Teams Use It
Dime is a passing-down defense. Teams use it on third-and-long, in two-minute drills at the end of a half, and late in games when the offense has to throw. It trades size for speed, with six players who can cover and fewer big bodies to stop the run. Offenses sometimes answer with a draw, a handoff dressed up to look like a pass.
Its share has been steady. In the plays cover0 draws from, Dime sat between about 10% and 14% of labeled snaps every season from 2016 to 2025.
History
Dime grew out of nickel. By the early 1970s, some teams were already swapping a linebacker for a fifth defensive back on passing downs, and swapping out a second one was the next step. In 1978 the league limited contact with receivers to the first five yards past the line of scrimmage, and passing grew in the years that followed, giving coaches more reasons to stack the secondary.
One famous use came in Super Bowl XXV in January 1991. Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick faced Buffalo's fast no-huddle offense with only two down linemen for much of the game and as many as six defensive backs. The Giants won 20-19, and his game plan now sits in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
More recently, Kansas City's Steve Spagnuolo has used dime as a core package and sends many of his blitzes from it.
Coaches Known for It
Bill Belichick. As the New York Giants' defensive coordinator, he slowed Buffalo's no-huddle offense in Super Bowl XXV with as few as two down linemen and as many as six defensive backs. The written game plan is kept at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Steve Spagnuolo. As Kansas City's defensive coordinator, he leans on dime far more than most. Pro Football Focus found dime was the Chiefs' most-used package in the playoffs after the 2019 season, and that most of their pressure in those games came from dime groups.
How Often It's Used
Share of the plays cover0 could label each season.
| Season | Share |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 12.0% |
| 2017 | 11.3% |
| 2018 | 12.2% |
| 2019 | 14.4% |
| 2020 | 13.3% |
| 2021 | 12.9% |
| 2022 | 9.7% |
| 2023 | 11.0% |
| 2024 | 10.8% |
| 2025 | 10.3% |
Charted by NFL Next Gen Stats through 2022 and by FTN Data from 2023, so part of any jump between 2022 and 2023 comes from the change of source.
More defensive fronts
Sources
- New York Giants: Belichick's game plan (opens in a new tab)
- Grantland: Beware the Visor (2015) (opens in a new tab)
- Sports Illustrated: Belichick's Super Bowl XXV game plan (opens in a new tab)
- PFF: Steve Spagnuolo's defense before Super Bowl LV (2021) (opens in a new tab)
- Action Network: Chiefs defense under Spagnuolo (2024) (opens in a new tab)
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: 1978 season (opens in a new tab)
Written for cover0. Usage numbers come from the play data credited on the About page.