Playbooks
SS Dog 3 is a strong safety blitz package out of the 3-3 Swap Dbl Mug set that pairs a five or six man pressure look with a Cover 3 shell behind it. The strong safety fires off the edge or through an interior gap as an extra rusher while the remaining defenders drop into a three deep, three under zone shell to protect against the pass. This is a zone blitz designed to disguise pressure pre-snap with the mugged look at the line, then rotate into coverage, so the primary read for the defense is confirming whether the offense sets protection to the SS blitz side, and the QB read progression on offense that this beats is typically the quick game or three step drops that do not allow time to find the shallow void left underneath.
Presnap, look at the safety alignment and depth. If the strong safety cheats toward the box or shows blitz body language, expect man or blitz beaters like quick outs and hot routes from the offense. Key the offensive line splits and running back alignment. Wider splits or a back set to the blitz side often signal the offense has diagnosed the pressure and is protecting or building in a check release. Post snap, identify whether the offense is running a hot read to the vacated underneath zone. The middle hook and flat zones are the primary void areas this blitz opens up. This play beats teams that rely on five step drop dropback passing concepts and slow developing man beaters since the extra rusher disrupts timing before routes develop. This play struggles against quick game concepts, screens, and RPOs where the ball comes out fast, so if the offense has been attacking the flats and quick outs early, consider dropping into a static Cover 3 look like Cover 3 Sky instead.
Show the mugged double linebacker look pre-snap and let the SS blitz stay disguised until the last possible second before the snap to bait the QB into a bad presnap protection read.
Use this call on third and medium to third and long situations where offenses are more likely to run five step drop concepts that take too long to develop against the extra rusher.
Pair SS Dog 3 with Cover 3 Match and Cover 3 Sky from this same set so the offense sees the same shell every play and cannot distinguish blitz from base coverage presnap.
If the offense starts checking to quick game and screens to beat the pressure, mix in SS 2 Trap or Nickel 2 Trap to keep them honest against the same personnel and shell look.
Spy the running back out of the backfield with your user controlled defender if you diagnose a check release, since SS Dog 3 can be vulnerable to backs leaking out into the vacated underneath zone.