Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Dbl Safety Blitz brings both safeties down into the box from the 2-3 Single Mug look out of Dime personnel, sending five defenders after the quarterback while dropping six into a shortened underneath zone shell. The three interior defenders in the box drop straight down into short curl or hook zones while the two outside linebacker/DB types crash down hard off the edges as the blitzers, creating a five-man rush with a Cover 1 or Cover 0 style structure behind it. This is a pressure package designed to disrupt the timing of quick game and man beater concepts, and the primary read for the offense facing it is getting the ball out before the double safety pressure closes off the middle of the field.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check both safeties for depth and alignment, if they are shaded low and inside the numbers that is a tell for this double safety pressure look. Post-snap, watch for the two outside defenders crashing hard off the edge, if the offensive line slides protection to one side the unblocked rusher wins immediately on the opposite side. This look shuts down man beater concepts like slants, stick, and quick outs since the short zone defenders sit in passing lanes and jump underneath routes. It is vulnerable to quick screens and hot route adjustments to the flat since the blitzers vacate the edge and the running back can leak out before the rush arrives. Watch for user-controlled lurk defenders sitting in the shallow zone, if the CPU or user drops a spy the middle of the field crossing routes get taken away immediately.
Usage Tips
Call this on third and short or in the red zone when you expect the offense to sit in empty or spread sets that cannot handle extra numbers off the edge.
Key the offensive tackles and running back pre-snap, if they are set to pass block on the play side of your blitzers you have a clean lane to the quarterback.
Use hot routes sparingly on the underneath defenders, keep them squatting in their short zones to bait quick hitters like slants and stick routes into pick sixes.
Disguise this look by starting in a two high shell and rotating both safeties down at the snap, this pairs well with calling Cover 2 Man or Tampa 2 earlier in the series to sell a soft shell before dialing up the pressure.
Avoid calling this against heavy play-action or rollout designed plays since the aggressive downhill blitz can be manipulated by misdirection and leave the picture zone underneath area of the field vacated.
