Playbooks
Breakdown
1 Sam SS Blitz is a Cover 1 man pressure package out of the Nickel 3-3 Cub front that brings the Sam and Strong Safety off the edge while leaving the rest of the front five to rush. The diagram shows five underneath defenders crashing downhill with the outside rusher looping off the edge, one deep single-high safety sitting in the middle of the field, and man coverage locked on the receivers with no true zone drops shown. This is a blitz beater deterrent, not a coverage beater play, so the primary read progression for the defense is simply to win off the snap on the initial rush lanes since there is no help underneath and the single high safety is on an island against any vertical shot.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the offense is in shotgun spread or under center run personnel, this blitz hits hardest against run heavy sets and slower developing pass plays. Key the running back's release, if he stays in to chip or block the Sam or SS rusher, your interior rush lanes stay clean for a quick sack. Watch for the offense sliding the tight end or back to the play side of the blitz, that is the tell that they diagnosed the pressure and are protecting against it. This look gets exposed by quick game route combos and screens since the underneath defenders are all crashing downhill with no zone drop, spot the screen action and squeeze down immediately. Post-snap, track the single high safety's leverage, if he bites on any play-action fake the offense has a free run at the deep middle of the field.
Usage Tips
Bring this blitz on early downs when the offense shows a run heavy personnel grouping since the extra rusher can blow up the play before the back gets to the hole.
Check the pre-snap alignment of the offensive line and running back to confirm they are not sliding protection toward the Sam or SS rush lane, if they are, consider audibling to a different blitz in the set like Mike Blitz 0 or Nickel Blitz 3.
Since this is Cover 1 with a single high safety and no underneath zone help, only call this against offenses that lack a quick game answer, hot routes or a fast slot option can gash this if your corners do not have tight man coverage ratings.
Mix this blitz in behind Cover 1 Robber or Cover 3 Buzz earlier in the series so the offense cannot key on your single high shell and get comfortable identifying the blitz look.
Use user control on the deep middle safety to help bail out any coverage bust since there is no true deep safety help once the blitz is triggered.
