Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Saw O Blast is a five man blitz look out of the Base 5-2 personnel in the 3-4 Over Solid set, designed to bring pressure while leaving two off-ball defenders as underneath spies or hole players. The diagram shows two second level defenders shooting straight downhill through interior gaps while the remaining underneath defenders drop into short vertical zones, with four defenders staying deep to protect against explosive plays. This is a blitz package rather than a coverage shell, so the primary read is presnap identification of blockers who might pick up the extra rushers, and postsnap the quarterback has to feel the interior pressure and unload before the pocket collapses.
Defensive Reads
Presnap, check the offensive line splits and running back alignment, if the back is aligned to help chip a blitzer, expect the interior gap on that side to hold longer. Watch for quick game concepts like slants and stick routes, since this blitz sacrifices some underneath zone integrity to generate pressure, and route runners can settle into vacated windows. Postsnap, track the offensive line slide protection, if both blitzers get picked up cleanly, the coverage behind them is thin and big plays over the middle become a real risk. This blitz beats teams that hold protection or use max protect schemes with no immediate outlet, since the downhill rushers arrive before those routes develop. It gets shredded by quick RPO game and screen plays that attack the vacated space where the blitzers used to sit, so respect any tendency toward bubble screens or quick hitters before calling it.
Usage Tips
Call this out of Over Solid when you expect a run or a quick game passing concept, since the two downhill blitzers close interior lanes fast and blow up screens and draws before they develop.
Check the offensive personnel presnap, if you see extra receivers spread wide, this blitz can be exposed on quick outs and hitches, so pair it with Cover 3 Match or Cover 4 Quarters on the next snap to disguise your intentions.
User one of the shooting linebackers if you want manual control over the interior gap, but only if you trust your CPU teammates to hold underneath zones, otherwise stick with the default assignment for guaranteed home run pressure.
Use this on short yardage or third and short situations where the offense is likely to run or throw quick, since the blitz timing is built to disrupt those exact play calls.
Mix this in after running Cover 1 Sting or FS Blitz so quarterbacks cannot key on your blitz tendencies from the same formation and personnel look.
