Responding to the Blitz
By: Kyle Cooper
Being able to pick up defensive pressure on offense is the most important thing you can do when attempting to run a successful play. If you're never able to pick up the pressure from your opponent, then you will never have enough time to make your reads downfield. Any top Madden player will tell you that all successful offensive plays start with the protection up front. In this article, we're going to provide you with a few things that you can look for from your opponent before the play begins to give you a better idea of where the potential pressure may be coming from. Furthermore, we'll be including different protection options in the pocket, as well as ways to avoid any pressure that may come in unblocked.
In our example, we've come out of the huddle in the Strong-I Normal TE Corner with the New York Giants. Running back Brandon Jacobs is already assigned to stay in and block to the left on this play. However, we may want to change his assignment based on certain signs that we see before the snap.
Recognizing the Blitz
Aggressive Stance
One of the most common signs that indicate a blitz is when a defender is slightly hunched over instead of standing upright. If both outside linebackers are in the hunched over position, we should suspect some kind of pressure coming. If the two middle linebackers in a 3-4 defensive setup are standing upright near the offensive line, we would assume pressure is coming from the outsides of the offensive line frp, the hunched over outside linebackers. However, suppose Steelers' strong safety Troy Palamalu trotted down near the right side of line of scrimmage before the play began--another sign of an incoming blitz. Now it appears that pressure may be coming from from the strong safety as well. Any time you see a defender slowly jog down towards the line of scrimmage it is safe to assume a blitz. The jogging defender may not always be blitzing, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
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Overloading
Another defensive look that you're going to see that should set off alarms in your head that a possible blitz coming is an overload. Suppose your opponent has shifted the defensive line and linebackers to the left--this may be done because it's easier for the blitzing defenders to exploit the weak side of the play. The reason it's easier for defenses to exploit the weak side of an offensive play is because there aren't as many blockers on that side of the line to help pick up the pressure. When you see an overload such as this one, be sure to either hot route extra players to stay in and block or audible to another play that will allow you to pick up the pressure more effectively.
Manual Positioning
A third sign that you will see that will lead you to believe that pressure is coming is when your opponent is manually moving multiple players around before the snap. It's not always easy for some players to be able to tell where the pressure is coming from when the defense does this. However, you need to be smart enough to realize that your opponent isn't moving around multiple players near the line of scrimmage for no reason. If your opponent is moving defenders to the middle of the line, it's safe to assume that the defense is trying to create pressure there. We know that our opponent won't be able to blitz effectively around the outside of the line because there aren't enough defenders in that area to create an overload. Therefore, we need to make the proper adjustments by keeping additional players back to block.
Fake Blitz The most obvious sign that a blitz is coming is when an opponent used the Fake Blitz feature to bring nine defenders down near the line of scrimmage. What's difficult about this look is that you don't always know where the pressure is coming from because an overload could essentially be created on either side of the offensive line with little work. Fortunately, this type of defensive scheme is also very risky because there is only one safety back to guard against anything deep. Your best bet when first seeing this type of defense is to keep extra players back to block until you learn more about the tendencies of what your opponent likes to do when Fake Blitzing. Once you learn how he likes to use this type of scheme, then you can make educated decisions on which players you need to keep back to block to help pick up the pressure.
Responding to the Blitz
Conservative Response
The conservative response to picking up pressure would be to keep extra players back to block. If see that your opponents' Pittsburgh Steelers defense has created an overload on the right side of the offensive line, a conservative approach would use a player, such as New York Giants' fullback Jim Finn to remain back to block. There's nothing wrong with being a conservative player. In fact, starting every game off a little conservative is a good idea in my opinion because it gives you a safe opportunity to pick up on your opponent's defensive tendencies without the risk of making a big mistake early in the game.
Aggressive Response
The aggressive response to the same 3-4 scheme with defenders overloaded to the right would be to attack the expected open area on the field. Furthermore, this type of player might allow the fullback to go out on a pass, while simply hot routing the running back to block to the right instead of the left to pick up the possible blitz. The aggressive response allows you to maximize your receiving options on the field. However, it may result in an increase in sacks and turnovers because of the lack of protection in the pocket.
When All Else Fails…
Quick Dump
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There are going to be times when you mis-read the defense before the play and the pressure is going to come hard and fast after the snap. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid instant pressure most of the time. The most common receiver to look for when recognizing instant pressure is a running back moving into the flats. Quickly passing the ball to your running back after the snap will only result in a minimal gain, but it will allow you to avoid a signficant loss in the backfield. Keep in mind that most players who blitz will often make sure that the flats are the one area that is guarded because they know you will be looking to those areas of the field first.
Roll Out
Another option when you're hit with unexpected pressure is to roll away from the blitzing defender and try to get rid of the ball outside of the pocket. You don't have to have an extremely fast quarterback to buy enough time to get out of the way. However, you do need to be able to recognize where the pressure is coming from instantly and swiftly make your move to the outside. This is why we always suggest taking a quick glimpse of the line of scrimmage first before making all of your reads downfield.
Throw it Away
The last option you'll have when faced with pressure that you are unprepared for is to simply throw the ball into the ground. The worst thing you can do when under distress in the pocket is to wildly throw the ball into the air and watch your opponent make an interception. Instead, throw the ball away and gain a better understanding of how your opponent set up the unsuspecting pressure. Then, the next time you see your opponent do the same thing you will know how to counter it. The worst result that can happen when throwing the ball away is a wasted down.
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