Playbooks
Mike Sam Cross 3 is a five-man man blitz out of the 3-3-5 Over Wide look that sends the Mike and Sam linebackers on crossing paths through the interior gaps while the defense plays Cover 3 behind it. The overlapping blitzers are designed to confuse offensive line blocking assignments and create a free rusher up the middle if the protection slides the wrong direction. Your primary read is the offensive line's slide protection at the snap: if the center and guards flow to one side, the opposite crossing blitzer should have an unblocked lane to the quarterback, so key on the running back's blitz pickup responsibility first.
Pre-snap, identify whether the offense keeps a back or tight end in to block. A two-back or heavy personnel look plays right into the crossing blitz design. Watch the quarterback's eyes and the running back's release. If the back releases immediately into a route instead of blocking, your crossing blitzers should have a clean lane to the pocket. Post-snap, track the guards and center. If they slide protection toward the Mike's rush lane, the Sam's crossing path underneath should come free on the opposite side. This beats quick game and shallow crossers since the underneath defenders are occupied with rush lanes and coverage cushions are tight in the Cover 3 shell. It gets exposed by hot routes that attack the vacated middle of the field or by RPOs where the offensive line does not fully commit to pass blocking, so watch for run action bleeding into a quick throw before the crossers arrive.
Call this on third and medium to third and long when you expect the offense to max protect or use a running back in pass protection, since the crossing action from Mike and Sam is built to beat single blockers picking up blitzers.
Pre-snap, check if the offense has a running back staying in to block. If they show empty or five wide, consider audibling out since there is no extra blocker for the crossers to exploit.
User the Sam linebacker manually right after the snap so you can adjust his path in real time if the guard tries to pick him up early, letting the Mike find the softer angle underneath.
Disguise this look by mixing it with Sam Blitz 3 and Will Blitz 3 from the same set so quarterbacks cannot key blitzer identity from linebacker depth alone.
Avoid calling this against empty backfield sets or against offenses that consistently check into hot route sight adjustments on interior blitzes, since the Cover 3 shell behind it leaves the deep middle vulnerable if the rush does not get home fast.