Playbooks
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Quick Reference
Not in any team playbook.
Breakdown
Nickel Sim 2 is a simulated pressure package out of the 3-3 Over Nickel front that shows a five or six man look at the line while dropping into a Cover 2 zone shell behind it. The diagram shows the two outside defenders bailing to deep zone drops (the blue lanes to the corners) while the defender over the slot and the deep middle defender sink into underneath and deep zone landmarks, with three interior rushers (red arrows) attacking gaps and a spy or scraping linebacker crossing the middle. This is a zone beater disguise concept designed to bait the quarterback into thinking he has a full blitz look pre-snap, only to drop extra defenders into hook and curl zones underneath the two deep safeties. The primary read for the defense is the quarterback's eyes to the flat and curl zones, since the sim pressure is built to jump underneath routes while still generating a four man rush.
Defensive Reads
Read the quarterback's presnap protection check, if he slides protection toward the shown rushers he is telegraphing that he sees pressure and this concept will disguise the drop underneath his first read Key the running back and tight end release, if they stay in to chip or block against the shown three man rush the sim pressure has done its job forcing extra protection This beats offenses that rely on quick game and hot routes against perceived blitzes since the underneath zone defenders sit in curl and hook windows waiting on those exact throws This is vulnerable to play-action rollouts and levels concepts that flood one side, since the deep two safety shell can be outleveraged if the offense stresses the sideline before the zone defenders finish their drop Watch for user controlled receivers sitting down in the void between the underneath droppers and the deep half safeties, that soft spot behind the sim pressure zone is the primary way disciplined offenses attack this call
Usage Tips
Call this out of Nickel personnel on early downs or second and medium when offenses expect a standard blitz look and will check into a hot route or slide protection that leaves the underneath zones vulnerable
Disguise this by mixing it into a play call sequence with Cover 2 Roll and Cover 2 Invert so quarterbacks cannot key the deep two safety shell pre-snap based on defender alignment alone
Use manual control on the crossing linebacker or the defender dropping into the shallow zone to jump quick game throws like slants and stick routes that offenses use to beat pressure
Pair this with Edge Blitz 0 and FS Will Blitz 0 in your call sheet so offenses see multiple pressure shapes from the same Nickel 4-2-5 personnel and cannot tee off on protection
Avoid calling this on obvious passing downs against mobile quarterbacks since the three man interior rush can be picked apart by scrambles if the contain defenders bite on the shown blitz
