Dime defense

In American football, the dime defense is a defensive alignment that uses six defensive backs. It is usually employed in obvious passing situations.

The formation usually consists of 6 defensive backs, and has either four down linemen and one linebacker, or three down linemen and two linebackers. The formation is very vulnerable to running plays, but usually the dime is only employed when an offense can scarcely afford to run even for a good gain, either because of the great distance needed to get a first down, or because of a lack of time, or both.

A dime defense differs from the nickel in that it adds yet another defensive back to the secondary. This sixth defensive back is called a "dime back" (DB). The defense gets its name because a dime is worth two nickels in American currency.

The dime was used to great effect (and popularized) by the San Francisco 49ers in their defeat of the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX.