What's an "exotic blitz"?
December 10, 2009 10:25 AM Subscribe
In the NFL, what is an example of an "exotic" blitz package or a "complicated" defensive scheme?
The cover two is not a blitz package. It is a coverage scheme. It can be combined with blitzes, including the zone blitz. However, the most common variant as a "system," the Tampa Two, is actually defined by its simplicity and lack of blitzing (it relies on getting a good pass rush from the front four, which is sort of the opposite principle of complicated blitzing schemes).
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 10:38 AM on December 10, 2009
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 10:38 AM on December 10, 2009
Oh, and JohnnyGunn's link on the zone blitz is much better than the wikipedia one I put up.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 10:39 AM on December 10, 2009
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 10:39 AM on December 10, 2009
zone blitz.
coverages that are disguised (show man at he snap by marking up on the receivers and then drop to zone)
Stunting an OLB and having the DE drop into coverage. So its not technically a blitz, but will hopefully confuse the tackles.
Rotating the corners so that you end up with a safety playing the man on the blitizing side an an OLB or something covering a slot guy (basically betting you get to the QB before you get burned on that match-up)
all sorts of little gadgets. There are other things that can make a defense complicated - how the dbacks play routes, how the d-line runs stunts, how you shift gap coverage, etc etc
The cover two and cover three are pretty much base NFL defenses. And that is a bad defintion of a zone blitz. A zone blitz is called that purely because you play zone behind blitz rather than M to M. Usually in order to pull that off you have to drop a player who would normally rush the passer into the coverage area for short routes. Usually when you blitz a dback (ex the SS) you play man.
posted by JPD at 10:40 AM on December 10, 2009
coverages that are disguised (show man at he snap by marking up on the receivers and then drop to zone)
Stunting an OLB and having the DE drop into coverage. So its not technically a blitz, but will hopefully confuse the tackles.
Rotating the corners so that you end up with a safety playing the man on the blitizing side an an OLB or something covering a slot guy (basically betting you get to the QB before you get burned on that match-up)
all sorts of little gadgets. There are other things that can make a defense complicated - how the dbacks play routes, how the d-line runs stunts, how you shift gap coverage, etc etc
The cover two and cover three are pretty much base NFL defenses. And that is a bad defintion of a zone blitz. A zone blitz is called that purely because you play zone behind blitz rather than M to M. Usually in order to pull that off you have to drop a player who would normally rush the passer into the coverage area for short routes. Usually when you blitz a dback (ex the SS) you play man.
posted by JPD at 10:40 AM on December 10, 2009
Also smartfootball.com is a great source for questions like this, although he tends to focus more on college and offense.
posted by JPD at 10:41 AM on December 10, 2009
posted by JPD at 10:41 AM on December 10, 2009
I agree that having the middle linebacker drop into coverage and having defensive linemen drop into coverage are exactly what they are talking about.
Are these schemes "exotic" not anymore.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:55 AM on December 10, 2009
Are these schemes "exotic" not anymore.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:55 AM on December 10, 2009
no. And when there were seen as "Exotic" five years ago there were a bunch of articles out there which pointed out the 70's Steelers used to zone blitz regularly.
There is actually very little innovation in how plays get run. Lots of innovation in how players line up. Its still about creating the same 2-1, 3-2 matchups. For example the Urban Meyer Spread is basically a reboot of the old veer from the 70's, the Leach spread is basically a reboot of the run and shoot.
posted by JPD at 11:04 AM on December 10, 2009
There is actually very little innovation in how plays get run. Lots of innovation in how players line up. Its still about creating the same 2-1, 3-2 matchups. For example the Urban Meyer Spread is basically a reboot of the old veer from the 70's, the Leach spread is basically a reboot of the run and shoot.
posted by JPD at 11:04 AM on December 10, 2009
Are you looking for a few buzzwords to throw around in conversation, or an understanding of the principles at issue? If the latter, a starting point may be to search for older playbooks on the Internet. Nick Saban's defensive playbook for the 2001 LSU team is available here: 2001 LSU Defensive Playbook.
Saban is known for his complex defenses and, especially, his blitz packages. In 2003, when LSU won the national championship, it was rumored that they had 30+ blitz packages and that they were named as states (e.g., Alaska, Alabama, etc.) to keep them clear.
Clearly, even a complicated college defense would be a primitive defense in the NFL.
posted by ajr at 11:09 AM on December 10, 2009
Saban is known for his complex defenses and, especially, his blitz packages. In 2003, when LSU won the national championship, it was rumored that they had 30+ blitz packages and that they were named as states (e.g., Alaska, Alabama, etc.) to keep them clear.
Clearly, even a complicated college defense would be a primitive defense in the NFL.
posted by ajr at 11:09 AM on December 10, 2009
I watch the Eagles a lot and Jim Johnson's blitzes were often described as exotic by commentators. This is a less X's and O's defnition, but I think he got that label mainly because he used an amazing array of blitzes from different positions and called them a lot, sometimes hidden and sometimes as obvious as a freight train. It makes inexperienced quarterbacks that don't have a quick release become confused and paranoid because they have no idea what is coming next.
Exotic would be another way of saying unpredictable I think.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 11:15 AM on December 10, 2009
Exotic would be another way of saying unpredictable I think.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 11:15 AM on December 10, 2009
Best answer: Some good tips here. I like JPD's description and he recommends smartfootball.com. I will second it and I have a pointer to s specific article below.
In short, at the NFL and college level there are fairly standard defenses. An "exotic" defense simply tries to do something unexpected or to somehow disguise what is otherwise a standard defense. This can be done by lining up to look like you are running one defense and then you do another or by having certain players do unexpected things. For example, usually the defensive linemen rush the passer in a pass situation and the defensive backs cover receivers. One unexpected move is to have a defensive back rush the passer and have a lineman drop back in coverage.
The purpose of all of this trickeration is to confuse the quarterback and the blockers. If you can have a rusher coming from an unexpected direction or you have more rushers at a specific point than there are blockers you get to the QB very quickly. The QB either gets sacked or has to pass the ball quickly. If you can also have defenders where they are not expected where the QB is trying to throw the ball you make life doubly difficult. A nice description of base and exotic pass defenses can be found here: http://smartfootball.com/passing/attacking-coverages-in-the-passing-game.
posted by Tallguy at 11:39 AM on December 10, 2009
In short, at the NFL and college level there are fairly standard defenses. An "exotic" defense simply tries to do something unexpected or to somehow disguise what is otherwise a standard defense. This can be done by lining up to look like you are running one defense and then you do another or by having certain players do unexpected things. For example, usually the defensive linemen rush the passer in a pass situation and the defensive backs cover receivers. One unexpected move is to have a defensive back rush the passer and have a lineman drop back in coverage.
The purpose of all of this trickeration is to confuse the quarterback and the blockers. If you can have a rusher coming from an unexpected direction or you have more rushers at a specific point than there are blockers you get to the QB very quickly. The QB either gets sacked or has to pass the ball quickly. If you can also have defenders where they are not expected where the QB is trying to throw the ball you make life doubly difficult. A nice description of base and exotic pass defenses can be found here: http://smartfootball.com/passing/attacking-coverages-in-the-passing-game.
posted by Tallguy at 11:39 AM on December 10, 2009
Oh one thing to add. Everyone seems to talk about the zone blitz - well why is it seen as exotic? because when a QB and his receivers read blitz their immediate inclination is to assume the coverage is M-M so the QB will automatically look for the routes best suited to man and the receivers (if they have them) will run the option routes most suited to M-M. Which of course is perfect for a secondary in a zone. Basically its a way into trick the offense into a suboptimal set of choices. Its not just that it confuses the o-line wrt their pickups.
posted by JPD at 11:53 AM on December 10, 2009
posted by JPD at 11:53 AM on December 10, 2009
Another team to look at (if you can handle the bad football) is the Browns. The coach stubbornly refuses to reckognize the level of his players, but on the defense, it has had the effect of getting them to exceed their collective talent level. Lot's of creative defense plays there.
Usually, as mentioned before, a "creative" blitz involves "threat," where a lineman and most likely a linebacker get into an aggressive position, selling the point that they'll be blitzing. When the ball is snapped, though, the lineman will drop into short coverage, usually on a tight end, and the linebacker will jump back into deep coverage like a safety. This is where a lot of the zone blitz stuff comes up. The average lineman can't really guard Tony Gonzalez one on one, so they drop back and try to cover the area immediately behind the line, cutting off the quarterback's quick pass option.
While that's happening, either a defensive back or a safety is storming through as fast as they can to get the quarterback. If done right, there's that moment where an offensive lineman leaps up out of his stance and finds he has no one in front of him, and with any luck, the DB or safety has the sack already.
If the blitz fails, or an offensive lineman blocks the DB, you end up with a situation where the offense has several mismatches down the field, and ugliness ensues.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:16 PM on December 10, 2009
Usually, as mentioned before, a "creative" blitz involves "threat," where a lineman and most likely a linebacker get into an aggressive position, selling the point that they'll be blitzing. When the ball is snapped, though, the lineman will drop into short coverage, usually on a tight end, and the linebacker will jump back into deep coverage like a safety. This is where a lot of the zone blitz stuff comes up. The average lineman can't really guard Tony Gonzalez one on one, so they drop back and try to cover the area immediately behind the line, cutting off the quarterback's quick pass option.
While that's happening, either a defensive back or a safety is storming through as fast as they can to get the quarterback. If done right, there's that moment where an offensive lineman leaps up out of his stance and finds he has no one in front of him, and with any luck, the DB or safety has the sack already.
If the blitz fails, or an offensive lineman blocks the DB, you end up with a situation where the offense has several mismatches down the field, and ugliness ensues.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:16 PM on December 10, 2009
Couple of things not mentioned here yet...
* Nickel and dime backs in coverages are common, but can serve to further complicate blitz schemes.
* Defensive stunts and loops can complicate what the offense sees. The Ravens used do this with Ray Lewis and Tony Siragusa all the time, because Siragusa was so damn huge and Lewis was so damn fast.
* Watch what the Steelers do with Troy Polamalu. Again, he's so damn fast (when he's healthy), they're able to mix up their packages a lot with him.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:43 PM on December 10, 2009
* Nickel and dime backs in coverages are common, but can serve to further complicate blitz schemes.
* Defensive stunts and loops can complicate what the offense sees. The Ravens used do this with Ray Lewis and Tony Siragusa all the time, because Siragusa was so damn huge and Lewis was so damn fast.
* Watch what the Steelers do with Troy Polamalu. Again, he's so damn fast (when he's healthy), they're able to mix up their packages a lot with him.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:43 PM on December 10, 2009
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posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 10:33 AM on December 10, 2009