We have come to the final piece of our 30-minute, Quick & Easy 4-4 Defense Install. In part one I showed you the base front for the 4-4 Defense. Then we showed all of the adjustments you will need to run your 4-4 Defense in part two. Part three focused on your spot-drop Cover 3 coverage. Now, we’ll put in a very flexible pressure package to run with that.

There are really only two calls to put in here, then you just need to tag who’s going.

A note on coverage: You can run Cover 3 and just vacate zones. If you are not going to see a complex passing game, this is the way to go. You could also use a more complex Zone Blitz strategy here, or go to a man to man coverage. I will show a little bit of each, but in our 30 Minute Install, we would just run the blitzes with vacated zones. You are vulnerable, but you have your 3-Deep shell back there that can make the tackle so you can line up again.

Running All Blast

Before you write in the comments about what a ridiculous idea it is to send 8 guys with no underneath coverage… it probably is. I have still done it. But the purpose here is to show everyone where they go on the Blast call.

The All Blast call tells the Linebackers to blitz to the Inside Linebackers to blitz to their primary gap, and the Outside Linebackers to blitz off the edge.

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The 4-2-5 Defense gives us a lot of opportunities to blitz the offense. We have great angles and multiple coverage options. While you can find plenty on the Zone Blitz in the pages of Football-Defense.com, we haven’t spent much time on more aggressive Cover 0 blitzes.

Blitzes come in 3 main categories, regardless of whether they are Zone or Man blitzes…

1. Middle Pressure: Attacks the interior of the Offensive Line. Good for pocket passers and inside running game. You risk getting hit by outside runs like Outside Zone, or Sprint Out passing. Both could cause you to waste your blitzers and be outnumbered on the outside.
2. Single Edge Pressure: Attack one edge of the defense. Good against Zone Read teams as a change. Great for attacking from the wide side if teams have a tendency to run or sprint to the field. You risk flushing an athletic QB to a side without a numbers advantage.
3. Double Edge Pressure: Attacks from both edges, to contain a QB who likes to move outside of the pocket, or an outside running game. Leaves a numbers advantage for the offense up the middle, because you will often need to blitz at least one of your inside linebackers.

Choosing Your Blitz Coverage

With Cover 0 blitzes, you are able to bring 6 blitzes to get more pressure on the Quarterback. But you lose the benefit of a deep safety that can make a tackle if things go wrong, to let you line up and have another play.

Cover 1 blitzes leave 1 high safety with man coverage, giving more security against the big play. But with 5 eligible receivers to cover, plus 1 deep safety, you only have the ability to blitz 5 men. The same is true for 3 under, 3 deep zone coverage blitzes.

Each type of blitz coverage has its place. Cover 0 blitzes, while having the greatest risk, also have the highest probability of causing a game changing moment.

Coaches must also decide whether they will use press man or off man coverage. Each has its advantages, but you may not have the ability to get every option in. Press coverages can take away player routes and timing immediately, but have the risk of a defender getting beat on the receiver’s get-off. Off man has less risk of big plays. Your defender aligns at 6-8 yards, the break point for most routes. Shorter underneath passes are more likely, though, and can give the QB a better chance to get the ball to hot, or rush, routes.

Middle Blitz with Cover 0

I like middle pressures where the blitzes are attacking the A Gaps, and crossing to give some misdirection to the Center. The Center has to make a decision on who to handle, leaving the back responsible for the other blitzes, in most drop back pass protection schemes.

Here, we’ll bring one Linebacker and the Free Safety. You could also blitz the two linebackers if you are uncomfortable with leaving the backer one on one with a skill player.

We’ll call this blitz Famous, with the F alerting the Free Safety and the M alerting the Mike. The Linebacker needs to alert the Nose Guard to get out of the A Gap. He will align in a 2i on the inside shade of the Guard and use a cut step to cross the face of the Guard.

It is important that the ends take a wider than normal rush, since their ability to contain the Quarterback can be a crucial part of the success of the blitz. [Read more...]

At one of our recent Web Clinics, Kevin stepped up to show us a stunt that he used recently against a Power running attack to help his 3-5-3 Defense. Here we diagram the blitz and talk about how it was used, why it was successful, and some other options that are similar. [Read more...]