Playbooks
Breakdown
Corner Blitz 2 out of the Penny 3-3-5 Big Nickel package brings a five man red zone pressure look with both outside corners crashing off the edges while the underneath defenders spike down to fill interior gaps. Behind the pressure the coverage rotates into a two deep shell with both safeties running vertical zone drops to the deep half and the remaining slot corners and linebackers working shallow zone drops underneath. This is a zone blitz designed to disguise the corner pressure and beat both man and quick game concepts, with the primary read being the deep half zone drops from the two high safeties before the quarterback has to deal with the arriving edge pressure.
Defensive Reads
Watch the offensive tackles pre-snap, if they slide protection toward the corner blitz side you know the quarterback has recognized the pressure and will look to hot route away from it. Key the running back alignment, if he stays in to block the interior blitzers will have a free lane but the corner rush could be picked up. Post-snap, track your deep half safeties to make sure they are getting proper width and depth on their zone drops since this coverage is vulnerable to seam routes splitting the two deep defenders. This beats quick game and man beater concepts that rely on the receiver getting a clean release, since the corner blitz disrupts timing at the line. It struggles against max protection empty sets and any offense that immediately identifies the two deep shell and attacks the deep middle void between the safeties before the pressure arrives.
Usage Tips
Call this on early downs or third and medium when you expect the offense to take a shot deep or run a quick game concept, since the deep half safeties clean up over the top while the corners bring immediate pressure. Check the pre-snap alignment of the offensive tackles and running back, if they are not built to pick up edge pressure this blitz will win fast off the corners. Use the hot route tool to widen or tighten the underneath zone droppers based on the slot receiver alignment you see before the snap. Pair this with Corner Blitz 3 and Saw Blitz 1 from the same set to keep the offense guessing on where the pressure originates while showing a similar shell look. Avoid calling this against empty formations or trips looks where the corners have to travel too far to get to the quarterback in time.
