Playbooks
Hot Blitz 3 is a Cover 3 zone blitz out of the Dollar 3-2 Big Dime personnel, sending an extra rusher off the edge while dropping the remaining defenders into a three deep, four under zone shell. The blocking scheme up front sacrifices a lane defender to bring pressure, so the defense is trading a body in coverage for speed to the quarterback. Primary read progression for the defense is to identify the blitzer's gap and trust the underneath zone droppers to funnel throws into the deep thirds where the three safeties and corner can close.
Read the running back's alignment pre snap, since offenses often check into a hot route or check release when they diagnose the extra rusher coming off the edge. Watch for the quarterback's eyes going immediately to the flat or slant area, which signals he anticipates the blitz and is looking to attack the vacated underneath zone. This call beats slow developing play action rollouts and deep drop dropback passing games because the extra rusher disrupts timing before routes fully develop. Trap or spread concepts with quick outs and screens exploit this blitz, since the shallow zone void created by the extra rusher gives easy completions before the rush arrives. Post snap, track the three deep defenders to confirm they are getting proper width and depth in their thirds, since a blown deep assignment turns into an explosive play against the blitz.
Call Hot Blitz 3 on third and medium to third and long when you expect the offense to sit in shotgun spread or empty sets that need extra time to identify pressure.
Check the offensive formation pre snap for max protect or heavy play action looks, since those alignments often leave the offense unable to pick up the extra rusher.
User the edge blitzer directly at the snap to time your rush with the quarterback's drop, then spy the running back release if you see check release protection.
Pair this call with Cover 3 Lock or Cover 3 Match earlier in a series so the quarterback sees a similar shell and cannot key the blitz off safety rotation.
Avoid calling this against empty formations with quick game concepts, since the extra rusher removes a shallow zone defender and creates easy throwing windows underneath.