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The Brilliance Behind the Steelers' Zone Blitz
Monday Night will be the last live game this week, and therefore my last installment in the thread until Thursday. The Cowboys lead draw the the Chargers' quarters coverage both proved effective in the last two games, as both teams used them for much success.
One thing I want to discuss now is the Zone Blitz, made famous by Pittsburgh and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Everybody loves to credit LeBeau for his innovative methods for bringing rushers from different areas, sometimes pulling lineman back or sending defensive backs at the quarterback.
But one thing people don't notice about it is it's not just about confusing offensive linemen. The best part about LeBeau's system is the film study he puts into it and the mismatches he creates.
Pass Protection
There are multiple ways an offense can protect their quarterback. Anything from a five-man protection scheme to an eight-man protection scheme, to a man or zone protection, to checked or delayed protection.
Teams will often leave these protections to their center or quarterback, and they will pick the appropriate protection scheme against the defensive front they see on that play. Obviously, some protections are better or worse than others against different defensive fronts. Simply put, you want your best blockers on their best pass rushers, and for all players to be accounted for.
A quarterback that is good at identifying pressures and getting to the right protection is half the battle when it comes to signal calling in the NFL. A guy like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning are nearly flawless at it; and Matt Ryan tends to play his best football when he's calling the right protections.
But even in the right protection for the front, the defense can still generate pressure by knowing when you will use your protections and how they will work.
Attack the Back
What Pittsburgh does so well isn't about confusing the offenses blocking scheme. In fact, the blocking scheme is generally ok in most cases. The Steelers use a different philosophy when it comes to attacking protection: They want to put a pass rusher on the offenses worst pass blocker - the running back.
If Dick LeBeau can find out when you use certain protections against certain fronts, he can come up with a way to put a pass rusher on your running back. This, in his mind, is the best way to create pressure on the quarterback. The offensive line is skilled in protecting, they can handle stunts, twists, loops and movement. A running back, however, spends much less time during the week on pass protection.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwKt3iSwY8Q&feature=related"]Packers - Steelers Play 2 Steelers blitz.avi - YouTube[/ame]
And this is our first example of it here. Notice that Pittsburgh does not move until the Packers' center makes his final check in the protection. The Steelers know if they use that front, Green Bay will half slide left, man block on the right, and the running back will protect the right-side A gap. That's the guy they want to attack. Right before the ball is snapped, both linebackers fly to the spot and attack Green Bay's worst pass rusher. There's nothing the Packers can do.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wELJ7Fg8nuU&feature=related"]Packers - Steelers Play 6 Steelers blitz.avi - YouTube[/ame]
Here's the same concept against the same team. Watch how helpless Ryan Grant is when trying to protect Rodgers. This is actually a great play by Rodgers, because he gets lit up but still delivers an accurate throw. But you see that Pittsburgh knows how Green Bay will choose to protect against their front, and they're attacking the running back in that protection.
It's not so much about confusion as it is about mismatches. It will be interesting to see how Alex Smith handles this pressure throughout the game tonight.
Monday Night will be the last live game this week, and therefore my last installment in the thread until Thursday. The Cowboys lead draw the the Chargers' quarters coverage both proved effective in the last two games, as both teams used them for much success.
One thing I want to discuss now is the Zone Blitz, made famous by Pittsburgh and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Everybody loves to credit LeBeau for his innovative methods for bringing rushers from different areas, sometimes pulling lineman back or sending defensive backs at the quarterback.
But one thing people don't notice about it is it's not just about confusing offensive linemen. The best part about LeBeau's system is the film study he puts into it and the mismatches he creates.
Pass Protection
There are multiple ways an offense can protect their quarterback. Anything from a five-man protection scheme to an eight-man protection scheme, to a man or zone protection, to checked or delayed protection.
Teams will often leave these protections to their center or quarterback, and they will pick the appropriate protection scheme against the defensive front they see on that play. Obviously, some protections are better or worse than others against different defensive fronts. Simply put, you want your best blockers on their best pass rushers, and for all players to be accounted for.
A quarterback that is good at identifying pressures and getting to the right protection is half the battle when it comes to signal calling in the NFL. A guy like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning are nearly flawless at it; and Matt Ryan tends to play his best football when he's calling the right protections.
But even in the right protection for the front, the defense can still generate pressure by knowing when you will use your protections and how they will work.
Attack the Back
What Pittsburgh does so well isn't about confusing the offenses blocking scheme. In fact, the blocking scheme is generally ok in most cases. The Steelers use a different philosophy when it comes to attacking protection: They want to put a pass rusher on the offenses worst pass blocker - the running back.
If Dick LeBeau can find out when you use certain protections against certain fronts, he can come up with a way to put a pass rusher on your running back. This, in his mind, is the best way to create pressure on the quarterback. The offensive line is skilled in protecting, they can handle stunts, twists, loops and movement. A running back, however, spends much less time during the week on pass protection.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwKt3iSwY8Q&feature=related"]Packers - Steelers Play 2 Steelers blitz.avi - YouTube[/ame]
And this is our first example of it here. Notice that Pittsburgh does not move until the Packers' center makes his final check in the protection. The Steelers know if they use that front, Green Bay will half slide left, man block on the right, and the running back will protect the right-side A gap. That's the guy they want to attack. Right before the ball is snapped, both linebackers fly to the spot and attack Green Bay's worst pass rusher. There's nothing the Packers can do.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wELJ7Fg8nuU&feature=related"]Packers - Steelers Play 6 Steelers blitz.avi - YouTube[/ame]
Here's the same concept against the same team. Watch how helpless Ryan Grant is when trying to protect Rodgers. This is actually a great play by Rodgers, because he gets lit up but still delivers an accurate throw. But you see that Pittsburgh knows how Green Bay will choose to protect against their front, and they're attacking the running back in that protection.
It's not so much about confusion as it is about mismatches. It will be interesting to see how Alex Smith handles this pressure throughout the game tonight.
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