Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 12 playbooks
Breakdown
Field Blitz 3 out of the Tite 3-4 Base 5-2 personnel brings four-man pressure off the edge while dropping into a Cover 3 shell behind it. The two outside purple defenders sink into deep thirds while the underneath zone defenders (yellow hook/curl and the blue seam droppers) wall off the middle of the field, leaving the four red arrows to bring an interior blitz through the gaps. This is a zone blitz designed to disguise pressure with three-deep, three-under principles, so the primary read is to trust the pressure to speed up the quarterback while the deep thirds and hook defenders take away any quick access throws behind the rush.
Defensive Reads
Watch for trips or bunch formations pre-snap, since they can overload one of the deep thirds and stress the outside zone defenders in coverage. Identify if the offense is running hot routes or sight adjustments against pressure, since quick slants and stick routes into the vacated blitz lanes can beat this call before the rush arrives. Post-snap, track the two outside purple zone defenders for their depth in the deep thirds, as they are your last line against verticals down the sideline. Look for the yellow hook/curl defender to sink and wall off any crossing routes or drag concepts trying to exploit the vacated interior blitz lanes. This call gets shut down by max protection schemes that pick up all four rushers, so if the quarterback has time to climb the pocket, expect him to find soft spots in the intermediate zone.
Usage Tips
Check pre-snap for empty or spread formations since the four man interior pressure can get gashed by quick screens or hot route outlets against the blitz.
Use this call on early downs against run-heavy personnel to catch offenses off guard, since the underneath defenders can still fill run fits despite the zone blitz look.
Pair this with Cover 3 Sky or Cover 3 Match from the same set so quarterbacks cannot key blitz tendencies off formation alone, forcing them to respect both static zone and pressure calls.
User the middle blitzer through the A or B gap to disrupt the quarterback's climb in the pocket, since the zone shell behind it is designed to hold up if the rush gets home quickly.
Save this for third and medium to third and long situations where the extra rush can force a negative play before receivers work open against the three-deep shell.
