Blitz (gridiron football)
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In gridiron football, blitzing is a tactic used by the defense to disrupt pass attempts by the offense. During a blitz, a higher than usual number of defensive players will rush the opposing quarterback, in an attempt either to tackle them or force them to hurry their pass attempt.[1]
In practice, a blitz involves five or more players rushing during a single down, rather than the four or three rushers used during normal play.[2] For example, in a defense that normally uses four defensive linemen to rush, a blitz can be created by adding one or more linebackers or defensive backs.[1][3]
Blitzing is a higher-risk strategy, as fewer defensive players are left to
The term "blitz" is German for "lightning" and a reference to the
History
The “red-dog", likely first completed by Carl Battershell, a MAC football legend.
The term "red-dog" referred to a rushing linebacker that created a six-on-five matchup against the offensive line; and blitz meant rushing seven, thereby leaving one potential receiver uncovered. [4]
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.
Bill Arnsparger is the likely creator of the zone blitz.
How blitzing works
On passing plays, the offense always has at least five people blocking. From the quarterback's left to right, they are the left tackle, left guard, center, right guard, right tackle (known collectively as the
By nature, blitzes are risky endeavors for the defense. Since the defense is taking away coverage defenders to rush the quarterback, this usually means that the secondary can not afford to miss any coverage assignments. The defense does not and cannot cover all offensive players, but rather through the blitz, is proactively involved in pressuring the quarterback—specifically, trying to sack him, throw off his timing, or force him to make an error such as an interception or fumble.
The most common blitzes are linebacker blitzes. Less common is sending a defensive back on a blitz, whether safety blitzes in which a
Defensive shells and techniques
Blitzes are usually run from "
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
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 and disadvantages
Advantages gained by blitzing are obvious: proactively disrupt the
Disadvantages abound in any blitz scheme as well. First, the
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.
Fourth, if the pass is caught, there are fewer defenders and larger gaps between defenders, meaning that the receiver can get more yards after catch and possibly turn a minimal gain into a dangerous play.
Playing against the blitz
Offenses employ the above procedures to beat the blitz as well as two other techniques and passing route combinations designed to exploit weaknesses in a blitzing scheme.
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
See also
- Glossary of American football
- Zone blitz
Citations
- ^ a b c "What is Blitz?". Retrieved 2017-01-01.
- ^ Price, Seth (2016-01-28). "Bob Shoop and the Fire Zone". Football Concepts. Archived from the original on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
- ^ "About Football Glossary - Blitz". About.com Sports. Archived from the original on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
- ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1133924/2/[dead link]
Sources
- Gruver, Edward (2002), Nitschke. Lanham:Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 1-58979-127-4