setherick wrote:
Instead of nerfing blitzes or making the offense do weird things when they face a blitz every down, why not make it so that draw plays and hot routes, you know, work.
We've talked a lot about how screens would help us beat blitzing teams, but no one has talked about how draw plays can be equally effective against a blitz. The object for them is to pull the LBs to the QB so that they cannot react fast enough when the QB hands the ball off to the RB. If the RB can get to the LOS, then he'd be at the second level immediately because the LBs will have been suckered in. The problem is that they do not work on the game...at all. Just imagine what a good running team could do to a blitz heavy team if the shotgun delay sweep worked.
The other problem is that hot routes do not work outside of one or two plays. The only time I've seen a hot route consistently called when a team blitzes is when a team runs the 113 slot slant play. Few other plays send a hot route right at the LBs either.
IDK about that .....I have always stated the biggest problem is real life rules within the assignments .
DE has many of those like all positions and it all depends on the positioning of the players around him . Inside shoulder....outside shoulder . ....head up.....all of these minute changes change the first step a DE should take.
His main responsibility is to maintain contain. If his assignment is to crash left or right....as long as there another guy outside of him he doesn't need to hold that contain as much. Now he can utilize all his moves not just a outside rush with contain responsibility .
For example the only time a de should crash down like they do every play here is if he is line up inside shoulder to the tackle . ...that's a two gap DE in a 3-4....
Another senerio would be out of a 4-3 where he has a TE to his outside shoulder....he's gonna try ro shoot that gap with outside contain, but if the offensive tackle pulls or drives hard inside he has to go with him to blow up counters the other way. The same will happen if the play is his way, but he better be ready for a big and mobile tackle, guard, or FB to come barreling down on him.
As for a draw or delay those linemen are going to sell pass then seal off the pursuit angles of the rushers. It shouldn't be a given but it should work against a team being aggressive on the outside. Blitzes in the middle would blow that up. That's where I would drop some screens or hot routes to the slot or TE.
This is why team run the option to confuse the guys on the outside....as a DE should really cross the line and wait for the QB to hand it off to the FB....then pursue or wait for the FB fake and bat down that option pass or wait for the QB to turn it up.....then pursue him.....or bat down that lateral to the RB. Hoping your man behind made all there right reads and is there to smash the RB in the face right after he received the lateral.
Here the end would crash and it would be over . Same as a screen same as an end around.
Still, without defensive linemen stunts and proper alignment and cover assignments boosting anything out of offense would be a hasty decision.
As guys align there rules to fit formations/plays to placedefensive players in poor positions in the first place is a way bigger problem .
Those guys have a clear advantage over everone who is not using rules to mitigate a glaring problem in the first place. The way blitzes work is broke too. You don't turn in to a gunner on a blitz . ....you still have gaps that need to be filled first.
A simple play like a quick pitch should work better, but DBS play like ray lewis....taking on huge offensive tackles with ease. These guys are like hitting brick walls ....thier legs are like tree trunks. I don't think I has every seen a db get injured while taking on a block from a big guy head on .
Besides getting mauled, you might get lucky to dive at his legs and only take a knee to hopefully some padded part. Here its like a 80 percent chance that tiny DB will take both the back and the offense tackle.
