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Zone Blitz Concepts – Defensive balance is the goal with all areas of the field covered when zone blitzing.

by: Jason Bornn
Head Coach Saugus High School (CA)
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When talking about the zone blitz, it is imperative that some very basic concepts be understood. First, on all run plays, your seam defenders are the force defenders. It is their job to turn the ball back inside. Second, the QB should have only 2.7 seconds to throw the ball. If he has more time than that, you’re putting a lot of stress on your coverage players. Third, pass coverage must be clearly understood by all members of the defense. The most common form of coverage used when utilizing a zone blitz scheme is the three under, three deep concepts, in which the field is divided into six areas that need to be covered. Finally, for each call, gaps to be hit are assigned to defenders. Where they start and how they get there is entirely up to you. They key is that each member of the defense must understand who is in coverage and who/where we are blitzing.
 

   Once these key concepts are understood, the scheme used to employ the zone blitz is irrelevant. There are plenty of 3-3 stack, college 4-3, 4-2-5, 4-4, and 3-4 teams that use the zone blitz. The only thing that matters is that the field is defended. Once these concepts are understood, the possibilities are endless.

    The three under zones are the two seams (one on each side of the formation) and middle of the field (low hole). We assign a defender, depending on the blitz called, to defend the seams on either side of the formation and one defender to defend the middle of the field. Often, the seam defenders will be responsible for the #2 receiver on either side of the formation and the middle of the field (low hole) defender will be responsible for the #3 threat of any offensive formation (See Diagram 1).


How you teach your seam defenders to play the position is up to you. We teach them that they are the force defender on run and on pass and they must get their hands on the #2 receiver carrying him vertically up to 12 yards. After that, they are to read the QB and determine where he is looking and drive to that direction.

The remaining zones to be defended are the two outside thirds and middle third (Diagram 2).




It is important to understand that the flats are one area not defended when employing this coverage (Diagram 3).



    For the purpose of this article, we will be using the 3-4 scheme to walk through the various concepts we use.

    The most popular concept used is often called the “All-American” zone blitz. It involves blitzing a defender from the edge of the formation as well as sending a defender through the B gap. The playside DE will loop into the strong A gap while the NG will slant to the weak A gap. The remaining DT will slant outside to the C gap. The SS will defend the seam on one side while the weak OLB will defend the other. The remaining ILB will defend the low hole, while the FS and CB’s will defend the deep third zones (See Diagram 4).


 
Should the offense come out in trips, Diagram 5 shows how it can be defended.


Again, once the concept is understood, you can determine where you want the defenders to go. Diagram 6 shows the blitzing OLB and ILB switching responsibilities.


 
The next concept involves sending both of the ILB’s. In this scheme, the DE and DT will slant out and control the C gap while the NG will loop to the strong B gap. The strong side ILB will blitz the strong A gap while the weakside ILB will blitz the strong B gap. The OLB’s will be the seam defenders, the FS will be the low hole defender while the SS and CB’s will defend the deep three zones (See Diagram 7).


Diagram 9 is a variation of both ILB’s blitzing.

If the offense was to employ a trips formation, Diagram 8 shows how it can be defended.





The next situation consists of a SS blitz. The scheme is identical to the first scheme discussed with the exception of the OLB and SS. In this scheme, the OLB is the seam defender and the SS blitzes off the edge of the formation (See Diagram 10).


If the offense employed a trips formation, Diagram 11 shows how it can be defended. 







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