Traditionally… blitzes were considered to be rushing more than 4 guys. With the increased use of zone blitzing… I think it is fair to characterize rushing players from unexpected positions (DBs and off ball LBs) as a blitz even if only 4 guys rush…. particularly on disguised overload blitzes.
In this case…Lions had nickel personnel in on that play.
2 DTs, 2 edge rushers, 2 off ball LBs, and the 5 DBs.
Since JRM rushed, and Harris dropped from his edge position… I would call that a zone blitz… designed to create a numbers advantage against 1 side of the protection.
By definition, no. It’s just trying to disguise who is rushing and who is not and trying to confuse the O-line. Not to mention that it all of a sudden puts a defender underneath the short routes to that side that the DE or DT drops into coverage.
Yeah, it seems whenever you send an off-the-ball LB and/or a Secondary player, it’s a blitz in my mind as well…even though your still only rushing 4 players.
Idk, maybe there’s a better term for it, maybe a “stunt” of sorts.
I’m familiar with what a stunt or twist is on the d-line. When sending LB’s, a lot of times they have a d-lineman go one way or the other to open-up a lane for the LB to run through…stunt is just what came to mind for lack of a better term.
“There are many ways to define a blitz, but here we’re defining it as someone pass rushing that the offense wouldn’t expect to. For example, in a goal-line situation if there are six defensive linemen and they all rush the passer, that wouldn’t count as a blitz. However, in a base 3-4 defense if an ILB pass rushes instead of an OLB, it is a blitz even though it is still potentially just a four-man rush.”
There were pictures being shared last year that showed Detroit rushing 3 the most and blitzing the least. Blitzing was defined as 5 or more rushers. I can’t remember whose stats they were. Ultimately, as far as stats sites go anyway, you just have to look at the fine print.
So, if not on the goal-line and I line-up 6 on the d-line and drop a DT but rush one of the LB’s that are already on the d-line, I wonder how that is scored?
If I line-up 3 on the d-line and drop one into coverage but rush a LB, is it really a blitz if there’s only 3 rushing the QB?
Being doubled and stopped on the initial rush he could also be watching Ryan to try and bat the pass down. Hard to say without knowing more about what they’re asking him to do.
McNeil was also in position to draw two blocks from the 1-tech spot, but the zone blitz left him alone on the Center while Levi is drawing attention from 3 different blockers.
No - the beauty of a 3-4 is to disguise which men in the front are staying home and dropping into coverage. Most teams who run a 3-4 base are bringing 4 guys. Which guy is the blitzing player is depending on what the players reads are.
