Playbooks
Blitz Loop Sim 3 is a Dime package pressure call out of the 3-2 Swap Dbl Mug set that disguises a five man rush behind a simulated blitz look. Pre-snap it shows the double mug linebackers threatening the A gaps, but at the snap the defensive line loops and exchanges gaps while a linebacker drops into a shallow hole zone, creating a Cover 3 style shell behind the pressure. This is a zone beater killer designed to bait quarterbacks into thinking a max blitz is coming, so it works as a change up against hot route heavy passing offenses. The primary read progression for the defense is watching the quarterback's eyes to the middle of the field, then flowing to the loop rusher's gap exchange to close off scramble lanes while the deep thirds hold up over the top.
Read the quarterback's presnap motion checks first, since offenses that shift protection toward the mug alignment are telling you they respect the pressure and you can lean on coverage. Post-snap, key the running back's release, if he chips the looping lineman the rush will be delayed and you need to widen your zone drops to buy time. Watch for opponents calling hot routes into the vacated A gap immediately after the snap, since that is the primary counter to the mug look and your shallow zone defender must sink fast to take it away. This play beats quarterbacks who lock onto the mug alignment and throw hot before the loop develops, but it gets exposed by play action rollouts that flow away from the loop rusher and put stress on the light side of the defense. Man beater route combos like slant flat away from the pressure side can hurt this call if your loop rusher is slow to disengage, so manually control the exchange defender in crucial moments.
Call this on early downs or third and medium when opponents expect a simple four man rush and are prone to quick game concepts. Show the double mug pre-snap alignment and hold your defenders in place as long as possible to freeze the quarterback into a bad presnap read. User the looping defensive lineman to manually time the gap exchange, since the game AI can be late on the crossover and let a scrambling quarterback escape. Mix this in after running Nickel Sim 2 or SS Sim 2 earlier in the drive so opponents get conditioned to seeing simulated pressure and start settling into their protection instead of checking down immediately. Avoid calling this on third and long against teams with quick slot receivers, since the shallow hole defender can be stressed by fast crossing routes before the loop rusher affects the pocket. Pair with Cover 3 Match or Cover 1 Games later in a series to keep the same double mug picture while varying whether the rush comes from the loop or from additional blitzers.