Shut down the run with your 4-4 Defense. Or whatever you want to call it... Time to shut down the run. Get serious. You don’t defend spread teams every week! Better be ready to play it tough! This week, we’re talking about running that powerhouse 4-4 Defense against all of the most popular offensive run schemes in football today. Okay, time for true confessions. This is how we teach defending the run in the 4-2-5 Defense System, and you can sign up at the top of this article to get instant access to a free video series on it. The 4-4 Defense, 4-2-5 Defense and 6-2 Defense are all essentially the same.