Playbooks
Thunder Smoke is a blitz package out of the 2-4-5 Over Wide look designed to bring pressure while disguising the exact rush lanes with the Big Nickel 4-2-5 personnel on the field. It combines a five or six man pressure with man coverage responsibilities behind it, sending extra rushers off the edge or through an interior gap while the secondary plays banjo or lock coverage on the outside receivers. The primary read for the defense is to identify the running back or tight end leaking out as the checkdown, since the blitz is built to collapse the pocket fast and force the quarterback into a hurried decision before that outlet route develops.
Read the running back's release at the snap, if he chips and releases into a route the blitz has one fewer blocker to beat and the pressure will win. Watch for the quarterback sliding the protection toward the strength call, that tells you which side the offense expects the pressure from and where the free rusher lane actually opens. This play beats quick game and shallow crosser concepts because the coverage locks receivers in man before they can settle into zone windows. Play action and rollout concepts hurt this blitz badly because the extra rusher is out of position once the quarterback moves outside the pocket, so respect boot action tendencies on film. Screens are the counter to Thunder Smoke, if the offense shows the same personnel and formation repeatedly, sit on the screen pass and get your defenders to redirect instead of crashing upfield.
Call Thunder Smoke on third and medium to third and long when you expect the offense to sit in the pocket and take a deep shot, since the extra rusher wins before those routes break open.
Pre-snap, count the protection numbers on the offensive line and check for a running back staying in to block, that tells you the blitz has a clean angle to the quarterback.
User the most dangerous rusher off the edge and manually control him through the tackle's block to close the pocket even faster than the CPU AI will.
Pair Thunder Smoke with Cover 1 Sting Wk or Cover 1 Hole earlier in a series so the offense sees the same pre-snap shell and cannot key the extra pressure based on safety depth.
Avoid calling this against empty backfield sets or spread formations where the offense can identify the extra rusher and get the ball out on a quick hitter, since the coverage behind the blitz is thin.