Blitzing is a higher-risk strategy, as fewer defensive players are left to cover receivers or to defend against running plays. However, a successful blitz will result in a sack or will force the quarterback into making an error.[1]
Chuck Drulis is widely credited with inventing the safety blitz in 1960 while serving as defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Cardinals. He had devised a play called "Wildcat" which called for a safety to be the extra pass rusher. He believed the pressure on the quarterback would be severe, since defensive backs had almost never taken part in pass rushes before.
The most common blitzes are linebacker blitzes. Safety blitzes, in which a safety (usually the free safety) is sent, and corner blitzes, where a cornerback is sent, are less common. Sending a defensive back on a blitz is even riskier than a linebacker blitz, as it removes a primary pass defender from the coverage scheme. The pressure, however, is very severe because a blitz by a defensive back is usually not anticipated by the offensive team's blockers.
Blitzes are usually run from "Cover 1" coverage shells, which assign one man to guard the entire deep field, though blitzes can be employed in nearly any type of coverage scheme. Cover 1 is most effective in terms of blitzing because it allows a larger number of defensive players to tighten down on the line of scrimmage, thus increasing the variety of blitzes possible.
Since the main goal is to disrupt the offensive play before it even develops, many blitz packages encourage cornerbacks to play tight man bump and run coverage to disrupt the wide receivers' release and prevent them from running their pre-assigned routes. The non-blitzing safety, usually the free safety, has an enormous amount of field to protect and is at a serious disadvantage if the blitz is unsuccessful and receivers threaten his coverage area or if the offense can quickly move the ball forward through immediate checkdown passes or draw plays. As such, he usually works for depth upon the snap of the ball, backpedaling into his assigned zone.
Linebackers are either blitzing or in pass coverage. Blitzing linebackers can employ various stunts to confuse the offense's blockers and break down their protection scheme. Coverage linebackers in a Cover 1 scheme will usually have man responsibility on a halfback, fullback, or tight end.
Some defensive schemes employ "key" blitzes where a player will blitz only if his assigned man stays in to block, thus keying his action off the action of his man. If his man releases into a pass pattern, then the defensive player will cover him. For example, if weak side linebacker has the fullback as his man, if upon the snap of the ball the fullback blocks, the linebacker will blitz.
Advantages gained by blitzing are obvious: proactively disrupt the offense's play before it develops and cause enough pressure on the quarterback to force him into a turnover, sack, or incomplete pass.
Second, the tight man bump and run technique typical of blitz scheme cornerbacks can be defeated with aggressive wide receiver release moves. Once this happens, the cornerback is at a disadvantage and must regain ground and position quickly to prevent a catch. If the blitz is picked up, the wide receiver can create enough separation to become open relatively quickly.
Third, if the blitz is picked up, the one deep defender (usually the free safety) has an enormous amount of territory to guard. If two players simultaneously threaten his zone, he must decide which one to cover. The quarterback can read his reaction and throw to the other receiver, usually for a big gain.
One of those techniques is called "throwing hot," which entails intentionally leaving one blitzing defensive player unblocked. The offensive line usually makes pre-snap adjustments so that the "free" rusher is clearly within the QB's field of vision. This limits devastating blind-side hits on the QB by rushers. When the preparedness of a quarterback allows him to not have to worry about getting hit from behind, it is one less psychological element of the blitz to be taken away, and thus blitz is incrementally made less effective by that particular element.
The other technique, sometimes used in conjunction with throwing hot, is called sight adjustment. Receivers are taught to run into the empty spot vacated by a blitzing player instead of running their pre-assigned pattern. The QB sees the free rusher or blitzing LB/CB and knows that the receiver will sight adjust accordingly and run a route that takes him into the hole left by the defender.
The West Coast Offense is an offense that focuses on ball control and short passes. This is a well timed offense where the quarterback throws the ball quickly to avoid the rush, but still allow the wide receiver to get behind the blitzing players.
Another method is a trick play, known as an "offensive blitz", because it is used when the defense blitzes. A quarterback throws a pass to a receiver to draw the remaining defenders to him, because the blitzers will be in the backfield, and the quarterback runs down the other side of the field; the receiver then throws the ball back to the quarterback with a lateral, who then tries to run in for a touchdown. If executed properly, this play can result in large gains and heavily discourage blitzing. Ideally, the blitzing defenders are all in the backfield while the corners are all over the receiver. The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers have run variations of the play successfully in the National Football League playoffs.
An effective pass rush creates many variables. If a defender can get into the quarterback's space he can cause the QB to throw a bad pass, to miss his intended target, or he can bring him to the ground before he can throw the football, known as a sack.
A football staff is composed of many coaches with many responsibilities. Because of the size of the roster, each position group will have their own coach. For example, on a defense, you will have a lead coach for the defensive line, a lead coach for the linebackers, and a lead coach for the defensive back. Each coach has a responsibility to prepare his position group for game day, but perhaps the most important job of them all lands with the defensive coordinator.
A conventional blitz involves the defense sending five or more defenders to rush the passer (quarterback), while maintaining coverage with the defensive backs in man coverage on the opposition receivers and running backs.
An added benefit of the zone blitz is that they can trick the offense into thinking there are more defenders coming on the blitz than there really is. An offense who falls for this trap will sometimes keep extra players in to block a blitz that isn't coming, leaving more defenders to cover a smaller number of receivers in the pass pattern.
This is a riskier type of blitz because a safety is typically part of the last line of defense. When he rushes, he often leaves a gap open behind him, and if a quarterback is able to exploit that gap, it can result in a big play for the opposition offense.
A zero blitz is the biggest gamble of them all, as it leaves no deep safety covering the deep section of the field. Teams will run a zero blitz when they are almost certain the offense is going to run the football. For example in third and one situations. If a defense runs a zero blitz they leave themselves open to be exploited badly should the offense be able to throw the football in time.
Every professional football team runs their own versions and styles of each of these blitzes. Some of the highest paid defensive coordinators in football have earned their salaries with perfectly timed blitzes and strategies. There is nothing more disastrous to an offense than a blitz they never saw coming.
If a defense can anticipate the run play, or the direction of the run, they can dial up a blitz that gets a lot of defenders to the point of attack in a hurry. If they're successful, they'll be able to stop the runner before he gets going.
If a quarterback can correctly identify a blitz play before he snaps the football, he should know where his open receiver is going to be. If he gets those things right, he can throw the football to an open man before the defense can get to him, and those can often result in big plays depending on how many defenders came with the blitz.
Another way of defeating the blitz is with the mobility of the quarterback, as mentioned earlier. If you have a mobile quarterback with good speed and movement, he can dodge oncoming defenders and wiggle out of the blitz. If he does that, he has room to run, and these broken plays can often result in big gains for a speedy quarterback.
There are also blocking schemes designed to reduce the effectiveness of a blitz. A quarterback can audible his players into a max protection scheme, which means additional players stay back to block rather than running downfield. In this scenario, the quarterback can position his running back and a tight end to block, allowing him more time by slowing down the blitz. He would then be left with man coverage down the field, which could again result in a big play if he can find a receiver who beat his man.
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