Beating the Blitz

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Blitz
Team Captain
Posts: 9094
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:44 am

I really enjoyed your post WCJ. I respexr and appreciated your approach of thinking of the dilemma facing offensive coordinators right now and thinking about play design to combat the blitz.

Not surprising that you came up with a West Coast offence style play with your Lionbackers tag being West Coast Joe. Its easy to design an offensive play book but a different thing to make it work against multiple defenses. I coached on both sides of the football and always found defense easier.

Wish we had a fullback like Tom Rathman. The fullback was such an important aspect of the passing game of the West Coast. When we go power formation defenses rarely account for Lumbala nor do we use him in the passing game which only helps the defense.

These are the things that I see about our offence that are strengths and weaknesses.

In terms of our offence from 2011 on (prior to that it was mainly a spread offence that had a vanilla running game and a predictable passing game.

The POSITIVES

1. We use more formations than any team in the CFL. We use a power formation, a pro split back formation, and the spread formation. In the spread we move receivers around, we use the tight bunch and wide bunch formation, and we often flood a side of the field while isolating on the other side.

2. We are not a predictable offence. Defenses blitz us to get us out of our offence.

3. We have an excellent variety of running plays - more variety than any other CFL team.

4. We use more designed sprint outs, semi-rollouts, and quarter boots than any other CFL team when not being blitzed.

5. Harris is an excellent receiver out of the backfield and we send him out on patterns more than any tailback in the league.

The Weaknesses

1. Our anti-blitz offensive package needs to be improved.

2. We are poor at blitz pickup.

3. We rarely sceeen

4. Our blocking against the blitz from our tailback and fullback is not good enough.


Think abou this. Montreal is coming with the blitz. They are blitzing with 2 linebackers and four down lineman. The middle linebacker is coming up the middle on a stunt with their left tackle. The left tackle goes inside across the face of Norman. If Valli goes for him, the middle linebacker blows through the gap that Valli is vacating. Norman will have difficulty getting over in time.

Valli should not have blocked the tackle but instead passed him to Norman and picked up the linebacker. If he didn’t Lulay had the linebacker untouched in his face.

The outside linebacker comes upfield hard from the outside. Olifoye is occupied with the defensive end and has to block him. The linebacker is free. Harris has to pick him up. If Harris goes out on a pattern the third linebacker, the nickelback has man coverage on Harris. If we are in the spread that means the bltiizng outside lineabacker is unblocked.

So its not so easy to get outside and its easy to say not to keep Lulay in the pocket but a a lot tougher to scheme it against a six man blitz.
If we are in the spread formation, what should we do? We could quarter boot Lulay two steps to change his throwing location. We could try to crack back on the outside linebacker with a receiver but its easier said than done.

The best option in this situation is to keep Harris in to block if he could get the job done. We could do a good job of picking up the inside blitz stunt. We could use three receivers right. The outside receiver could go vertical, the outside slotback could run a skinny corer, and then we could bring the inside slot underneath on an out or quick outside slant for a quick pass. It layers the recivers and provides Lulay with a quick pass.

Coming off this play, we could run a second play, with Lulay take a quarter boot right. The receivers on the right would run the same routes as would the two receivers left. The outside receiver on the left side could run a vertical and the inside receiver could run a post. Harris would set to block. Archibald and Kabongo make initial contact with the defensive end and slide two steps left. Lulay, who has bought time with his quarter boot throws a misdirection slide screen back to Harris. Archibald blocks the nickel back and Kabongo carries on downfield to block the first defensive back who shows. The play should go for huge yardage…but…opps I forgot we don`t sue the slip screen.

A second option in the spread would be to semi-roll Lulay left. The outside linebacker blitz is useless. The left tackle could seal the defensive end or we could chip the defensive end with a receiver. The outside wide receiver on the left side could run a quick out. Harris could slide outside on a quick outside slant. If Lulay gets outside, then the nickelback has to take either Lulay or Harris.

In a power formation, with a tight end right and Lumbala offset right, with three receivers right, we have different options. The middle linebacker is blitz stunting again. The outside linebacker is blitzing on Lulay’s right.

The tight end could pick up the outside linebacker. The outside receiver runs a corner, the slotback runs a seam pattern, and the inside slotback runs a deep out. Harris blocks inside. Lumbala chips on the linebacker to help out the tight end block. Lulay takes two steps to his right, Lumbala slides outside on quick outside slant pattern and and Lulay hits himn for a quick a reception. Only problem is Lumbala is not a good receiver and we don’t use him as a receiver. We could run the same play only have Lumbala block the blitzing outside linebacker. The tight end chip blocks, and then runs a quick outside slant where there is no one covering him. The big problem is that Myddleton is there. He is not a receiver and we don`t use the tight end in a pass pattern.

So, instead without the defense having to cover Myddleton or Lumbala, with the nickel back spying Harris, and with three receivers being covered by 5 defenders, in man coverage, with two defenders playing zone behind them to take away the deep ball, and with 6 defenders coming on the blitz the challenge to complete a pass is much more difficult.

So, instead of a power formation that we could pass effectively out of, the defense can play our running plays tough from this formation. And without a screen game teams can play us differently.

So, what do we get instead. Here is what we get too often. The center/guard positions do not pick up the blitzing stunt and one of them comes completely free right up the middle into Lulay’s face. We also get Lulay trying to escape outside right to often, giving up ground to the blitzing linebacker, with Lulay 15 yards deep, getting hit as he throws the football out of bounds. Or we get Harris, who likes to set up his blocks, trying to pick a hole when there won’t be one, because all the gaps are filled because there are so many defenders up near the line of scrimmage.

The solutions are not just we need to run Harris more or get Lulay outside more. There are effective ways to do both but in order for that we need to do other things effectively first.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
Blitz
Team Captain
Posts: 9094
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:44 am

Blitz wrote:I really enjoyed your post WCJ. I respexr and appreciated your approach of thinking of the dilemma facing offensive coordinators right now and thinking about play design to combat the blitz. Most of us 'arm chair quarterbacks on Lionbackers are very good at criticizing or stating what our Leos coaching staff should do, in terms of generalities, but looking at strategies, in very specific ways, is a much higher level of discussion.

Not surprising that you came up with a West Coast offence style play with your Lionbackers tag being West Coast Joe. Its easy to design an offensive play book but a different thing to make it work against multiple defenses. I coached on both sides of the football and always found defense easier.

Wish we had a fullback like Tom Rathman. The fullback was such an important aspect of the passing game of the West Coast. When we go power formation defenses rarely account for Lumbala nor do we use him in the passing game which only helps the defense.

These are the things that I see about our offence that are strengths and weaknesses.

In terms of our offence from 2011 on (prior to that it was mainly a spread offence that had a vanilla running game and a predictable passing game.

The POSITIVES

1. We use more formations than any team in the CFL. We use a power formation, a pro split back formation, and the spread formation. In the spread we move receivers around, we use the tight bunch and wide bunch formation, and we often flood a side of the field while isolating on the other side.

2. We are not a predictable offence. Defenses blitz us to get us out of our offence.

3. We have an excellent variety of running plays - more variety than any other CFL team.

4. We use more designed sprint outs, semi-rollouts, and quarter boots than any other CFL team when not being blitzed.

5. Harris is an excellent receiver out of the backfield and we send him out on patterns more than any tailback in the league.

The Weaknesses

1. Our anti-blitz offensive package needs to be improved.

2. We are poor at blitz pickup.

3. We rarely sceeen

4. Our blocking against the blitz from our tailback and fullback is not good enough.


Think abou this. Montreal is coming with the blitz. They are blitzing with 2 linebackers and four down lineman. The middle linebacker is coming up the middle on a stunt with their left tackle. The left tackle goes inside across the face of Norman. If Valli goes for him, the middle linebacker blows through the gap that Valli is vacating. Norman will have difficulty getting over in time.

Valli should not have blocked the tackle but instead passed him to Norman and picked up the linebacker. If he didn’t Lulay had the linebacker untouched in his face.

The outside linebacker comes upfield hard from the outside. Olifoye is occupied with the defensive end and has to block him. The linebacker is free. Harris has to pick him up. If Harris goes out on a pattern the third linebacker, the nickelback has man coverage on Harris. If we are in the spread that means the bltiizng outside lineabacker is unblocked.

So its not so easy to get outside and its easy to say not to keep Lulay in the pocket but a a lot tougher to scheme it against a six man blitz.
If we are in the spread formation, what should we do? We could quarter boot Lulay two steps to change his throwing location. We could try to crack back on the outside linebacker with a receiver but its easier said than done.

The best option in this situation is to keep Harris in to block if he could get the job done. We could do a good job of picking up the inside blitz stunt. We could use three receivers right. The outside receiver could go vertical, the outside slotback could run a skinny corer, and then we could bring the inside slot underneath on an out or quick outside slant for a quick pass. It layers the recivers and provides Lulay with a quick pass.

Coming off this play, we could run a second play, with Lulay take a quarter boot right. The receivers on the right would run the same routes as would the two receivers left. The outside receiver on the left side could run a vertical and the inside receiver could run a post. Harris would set to block. Archibald and Kabongo make initial contact with the defensive end and slide two steps left. Lulay, who has bought time with his quarter boot throws a misdirection slide screen back to Harris. Archibald blocks the nickel back and Kabongo carries on downfield to block the first defensive back who shows. The play should go for huge yardage…but…opps I forgot we don`t sue the slip screen.

A second option in the spread would be to semi-roll Lulay left. The outside linebacker blitz is useless. The left tackle could seal the defensive end or we could chip the defensive end with a receiver. The outside wide receiver on the left side could run a quick out. Harris could slide outside on a quick outside slant. If Lulay gets outside, then the nickelback has to take either Lulay or Harris.

In a power formation, with a tight end right and Lumbala offset right, with three receivers right, we have different options. The middle linebacker is blitz stunting again. The outside linebacker is blitzing on Lulay’s right.

The tight end could pick up the outside linebacker. The outside receiver runs a corner, the slotback runs a seam pattern, and the inside slotback runs a deep out. Harris blocks inside. Lumbala chips on the linebacker to help out the tight end block. Lulay takes two steps to his right, Lumbala slides outside on quick outside slant pattern and and Lulay hits himn for a quick a reception. Only problem is Lumbala is not a good receiver and we don’t use him as a receiver. We could run the same play only have Lumbala block the blitzing outside linebacker. The tight end chip blocks, and then runs a quick outside slant where there is no one covering him. The big problem is that Myddleton is there. He is not a receiver and we don`t use the tight end in a pass pattern.

So, instead without the defense having to cover Myddleton or Lumbala, with the nickel back spying Harris, and with three receivers being covered by 5 defenders, in man coverage, with two defenders playing zone behind them to take away the deep ball, and with 6 defenders coming on the blitz the challenge to complete a pass is much more difficult.

So, instead of a power formation that we could pass effectively out of, the defense can play our running plays tough from this formation. And without a screen game teams can play us differently.

So, what do we get instead. Here is what we get too often. The center/guard positions do not pick up the blitzing stunt and one of them comes completely free right up the middle into Lulay’s face. We also get Lulay trying to escape outside right to often, giving up ground to the blitzing linebacker, with Lulay 15 yards deep, getting hit as he throws the football out of bounds. Or we get Harris, who likes to set up his blocks, trying to pick a hole when there won’t be one, because all the gaps are filled because there are so many defenders up near the line of scrimmage.

The solutions are not just we need to run Harris more or get Lulay outside more. There are effective ways to do both but in order for that we need to do other things effectively first.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
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