[Johnp2]

For you coaches that can blitz on any down---how often do you blitz? Every down? Can the QB run when blitzed?

Our league allows blitzing up to two players once ever four downs. In thinking about it, I did not blitz one time this past season. Most teams either never blitz (like me) or they blitz every opportunity they have.

This thread is not to discuss the philosophy behind "to blitz or not to blitz" but instead I just want to understand the percentage of blitzing you and the teams in your league do per play.

Thanks!

[Charlie]

To me it kind of works like this. If you can't stop the blitz then that's all your going to see. If you burn them when they blitz a couple of times then the ratio drops dramatically.

So I guess the answer is it depends on the team your facing.

Charlie

[coachjoe99]

Our league is 5 on 5 and blitzing is constant. A QB can scramble but cannot run past them line of scrimmage. If you don't blitz, you have a 5 on 4 defensive advantage, but most QBs at 12-13 years old will find an open receiver if there is no pressure.

[yurirdgz]

On our league we can blitz on every down and as many defender we like (its 5 vs 5), rush is made from the 7 yard line and Qb can not run.

I coached 10-11 years old last season and I particularly didn’t like to blitz much, it kind of works this way:

If we got defense on the first game drive we didn’t rush at all, it was kind of a courtesy to the other team expecting them to extend the same courtesy as well, if they did, it was kind of a silent agreement not to blitz the game.

If we got offense on the first game drive and we got rushed they I rush back to them once or trice a drive. This year I’m expecting to rush some more since I got a very elusive Qb on the category. By the other hand I will also be coaching a 12-15 year category where blitzing is done almost every down, it’s a concern for me since my Qb in this age group is very static.

[yurirdgz]

League has added for this oncoming season a new rule which will give the game another dimension and twist.

It’s not actually consider blitzing but it adds pressure to the Qb:

If a play involves run faking (play action) then defenders can go to the Qb from anywhere they stand from, so I got my LOS defenders watching to contain the run and also looking for play action fakes, if they see his kind of play the guy closer to fake becomes a rusher, probably this kind of ruling is allowed on you league and has been overlooked, its another option to get the Qb nervous.

[Johnp2]

yurirdgz, on 24 August 2010 - 05:18 PM, said:

League has added for this oncoming season a new rule which will give the game another dimension and twist.

It’s not actually consider blitzing but it adds pressure to the Qb:

If a play involves run faking (play action) then defenders can go to the Qb from anywhere they stand from, so I got my LOS defenders watching to contain the run and also looking for play action fakes, if they see his kind of play the guy closer to fake becomes a rusher, probably this kind of ruling is allowed on you league and has been overlooked, its another option to get the Qb nervous.

That is interesting. We can only blitz if--during the fake--the ball touches another player. With that, we execute quite a few play-actions, and the idea is as soon as the QB executes the fake the primary receiver should be in position for the ball. Thus the QB fakes--then immediately throws. It's really to take advantage of that split second where the defense makes a move toward the fake--hitting the receiver before they can recover. In fact, offensively, you might be able to turn this into your advantage.

[Coach Rob]

We pretty much sent a rusher 90% of the time. Ran a 3-2 zone, couldn't rush past los unless (like John2p's league) the ball exchanged hands, so we designed a pretty cool play. We'd call an audible for our middle person to run up to the los left or right of the center. If we called it correctly, that player would go right in if the QB handed off like we suspected. If it was a fake, our player knew to backpeddle and cover the middle. We called it correctly a lot (by watching the way a RB was pointed or standing) and this gave us a huge advantage on defense.

[Johnp2]

When we rush, we have to announce it--before the offense breaks their huddle.

99% of the time, the offense then just puts their best runner at QB and he hoofs it once the ball is snapped as it's the only time the QB can run. My DC from a few seasons ago had the genius idea to call "fake blitzes". Essentially we had two blitzers charge right to the LOS and then stop dead in their tracks. When we did this, one of two things would happen: 1) The QB (runner) would cross the LOS--resulting in a penalty, or 2) He would panic, not knowing what to do and either make a feable attempt at completing a pass or just pitch to a lesser-skilled ball-carrier. :-)