DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Zone blitzing

Do we ever run a zone blitz?

Watching the MNF game I noticed it once every few plays from both teams, many times being successful.

I swear I have not seen it from us and I don't understand why because that split second of confusion would be enough to get someone free. Why not send Kamerion Wimbley in Shaun Smith's gap while Shaun drops back in coverage and DQ takes Wimbley's gap or something to that effect?

We talk about our scheme all the time and the more I watch it compared to other 3-4's the more frustrated I get because I believe the zone blitz is a big key to Baltimore and Pittsburgh's success...the fact that you have to gameplan for it and when you see it it confuses you is a big thing.

I also don't think we send enough delayed blitzes...I know we DO send those, but not very often.

Just throwing this out there. I think our players would be more successful if the opposing offense had the threat of a zone blitz coming.

For whatever reason... The defense seems to blitz straight up for the most part... and whoever gets by their man makes the play. But I never quite understood our blitzing scheme.

We rarely stunt, we rarely zone blitz, we rarely corner blitz, we rarely use our MLB's to blitz.... It kind of sucks.

We bring Wimbley and Hall, and thats it. Every now and then they will send the safety.

We run a terribly ineffective blitz package, and I have no clue if this is by personnel or design. When we blitz the D rarely accomplishs the task and even rarely gets pressure on the QB, which in the long run opens up the secondary which leaves our already weak DB's out on a pond and they get tore up.

Find a blitz scheme that works and run THAT every once and awhile, but until then were killing ourselves by opening up a weak part of the D.

I missed the play but didn't McDonald get Perry behind the line of scrimmage on a Zone Blitz.. Like I said, I didn't see it, but that's what a friend told me?

That wasn't a zone blitz. That was just a flat out corner blitz and we rolled a safety over the receiver.

While i mostly agree with you Turk, i disagree with the corner blitz aspect. I've noticed at least twice per game a corner blitz coming in. Most times it gets picked up or neutralized by the QB moving the pocket. I think we CB blitz too often.

The biggest issue with our blitz is how obvious it is who is coming b/c we show it SO early....and yes we seem to blitz and then go into man coverage and then give the WR's a nice 12 yd cushion which allows the QB a quick out.

I dont understand our scheme at all....I also saw us try and stunt Smith And Rodgers...who promtly ran into each other....anybodythink it will be different after the bye?

Nope

Oh wait, that's not surprising ...

When Romeo brought his 3-4, I was honestly expecting to see a similar result to what the Steelers get out of their 3-4. We don't have the same type of LB's they have, but I still don't see why we don't run some zone dogs every now and again.

We really need to confuse the defense. I played QB for a long time at different levels, and if a team showed blitz as early as the Browns do, I would float the fade or throw the slant over our DB's heads all day long.

We need to every now and again drop Rogers back 5 yards into the dump off zone and bring one or both of our MLB's right up the gut. Now that is how you get pressure!

Our blitz packages in and of themselves look fine, in fact when we've cornered blitz we seem to have success with it, if only because that doesn't suffer from our early 10 seconds boost to the offense to see guys running up.

Movement on defense is fine but you have to mask it, either dont move until right before presnap or everyone needs to be moving around so the O has difficulty keying on it. If we did a better job of that I think our D could get some good pressure on opposing quarterbacks. We aren't making the tackles worry about whether to cover the edge or the gap, or any lineman for that matter, so they know where to plant and thats gonna kill off most pass rushes off the bat

We need Rex Ryan as our DC.....cant we like just add something onto his title so we can steal him from the Rats? Like DC/LB/DL coach "with administrative input to GM"?

Ryan has an EXCELLENT cast to run his defense. And he has had players for a long time.

this would be a good place to dig up and post one of those informative articles describing the zone blitz.

i don't get to see many games but i haven't seen d linemen going back into coverage.
.02

We have the fattest,slowest d-line in the league.They have enough trouble getting up field to make plays,and you're wanting them to drop into coverage, aint gonna happen.
We run a NE style of 3-4,a more conservative type.

which would be fine, if we ran it with any real execution.

I for one, am really tired of watching our corners run up to the LOS, put on the brakes, and stand there for 3 seconds, while the opposing QB checks down.

I wouldn't even mind seeing them do the above, back [tf] out, and come again on the snap count... ANYTHING but standing there, absolutely upright and motionless. Might as well put all 7 men in a 3-point stance for as effecrive as this stuff has been...


btw... what's wrong with bringing a delayed safety blitz more than once per game? Seems like we've had a bit of success with that, the few times we've run it...


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Those are above the heads of 90% of Browns fans while we watch the games....

it seems like when we do blitz, the majority of the time we get blocked and we're vulnerable to those dink and dunk passes...

plus we have a young linebacking group as well.. they don't get it yet

i would say personnel more than scheming

we all bang on romeo, but the guy knows defense, and he didn't forget it coming here from new england.

We telegraph our blitzes, that's the big problem.

I've been advocating the greater use of zone blitzing since about Week 4 or so of the RAC era in 2005.

Why on God's earth do we run a 3-4 if we're going to take the element of deception out of the equation?!? If I were a QB it wouldn't take long in film study to know where to go on just about every play we were preparing to run that week. Can we find a way to kidnap Dick LeBeau?

The lack of zone blitzing is near the top of the list of frustrations with the current regime and it's the top as far as scheme is concerned.

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Why on God's earth do we run a 3-4 if we're going to take the element of deception out of the equation?!? If I were a QB it wouldn't take long in film study to know where to go on just about every play we were preparing to run that week.

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RAC is saving them for the super bowl.

Oh Ok,, THanks Raleigh,, like I said, I didn't see it..

Just a thought...

Most Pittsburgh linebackers go onto other teams and suck. Is it really due to their goose being cooked? Or does the zone blitz scheme give them opportunities to make them look better than they actually are?

Id say both...Porter is still decent...notice tho, that the Steelers continually have good LB's...they know what they are looking for in a 3-4 backer..we obviously dont.

Alex Hall looks like a keeper, but he may be the only 3-4 backer on this team...I think its partly the scheme but also Pitt knows what to look for in college DE and LB to get what they need...they plug'em in and boom.

Great point OP.

I have been saying this in numerous threads on both boards.

We always "bull rush", straight ahead. We send Cb's and Safetys to mix it up also, but that puts us at an immediate disadvantage. Those blitzes are meant to mix it up, and for the most part they do.

THE PROBLEM IS, WE ALWAYS BLITZ TO OUR OWN GAP! We never stunt, zone, or do anything of the kind.

I would think rolling people around would cause confusion, and not allow someone to put a "hat" on a "hat" with the guy lined up right in front of them!

Someone brought up a scheme we used a long time ago. I think it was the "storm" package. The other team couldnt tell where our blitz was coming from, and it was extremely effective!

Sounds like something we should try.

TOTALLY AGREE 100%

"they know what they are looking for in a 3-4 backer..we obviously dont."

I'm sure thats one way of looking at it but keep this in mind.

They have had that system and coaching philosophy in for a very long time.

Is it the talent they are getting. Or possibly its just easier to fit a new personnel in seamlessly once you have an established and successful system in place.

Us...we are trying to get that system in place - I betcha every penny that I own that if Wimbley went into their system he would be an absolute monster. That is what some of us mean when we state stick with the system...I don't care what system...any system if you ask me. Get proficient in it! Then once in place you add a talented rookie here...there and they will learn faster and play within the system from the get go cause all are on the same page and if the one rookie is undiscipline the error of his ways stick out and are easily mended.

The Steelers are just committed to their system and have been playing it for over a decade. The fact that they can get a LB and plug him in doesn't mean they know how to pick them...it means they got the system in place already.

JMHO

Yeah but they cant just go get any LB's off other teams and plug them into their defense...its combo of them gettin the right players for their system.

Its not just the fact that you put a LB on Pitt and hes awesome...they draft players who they know can thrive in the way they play. We dont have a system to draft into...we run some kind of a wierd 4-3/3-4 hybrid anyways.....we are going after players that fit the 3-4 mold and thats it.

Its both in Pit...its good players they find and a great system then to put those LB's into which equals a great pass rushing defense....take away either and their D aiint overly great.

Id bet too that Wimbley would be better there than here...we cant coach a turtle out of his shell....

IMO- We have neither the scheme nor the players.

"its combo of them gettin the right players for their system."

But not a hard task...its the system that makes their decisions work regarding personnel. As noted...many are disappointed with the development of Wimbley. Wimbley would be a star if drafted by the Steelers.

We don't know how to pickem??? Or we don't have the system in place???

You make the call. I'm pretty sure its the system not being in place.
JMHO

Yeah we don't...but would DQ be Larry Foote for the Steelers? No...

Dra being Farrior?

I think its 70/30 system first and players second....I'd say our "system" is awful...but we dont have a system to be awful at!

I think we need to get real defense in here, whether it be 3-4 or 4-3 and then get players to fit it...I would agree that until we know precisly what we wanna do on defense...we cant precisly find players.

.. " I betcha every penny that I own that if Wimbley went into their system he would be an absolute monster. "

You just Might be right ! .. More than system ; Coaching !

If if remember correctly last year we played around with Willie McGinnest at the nose while lining Ethan Kelley a few yards behind him to penetrate the gap to get our big guy on thier little guy. I have a feeling we'll see more exoctic blitzes at times when McGinnest comes back. Having Hall, Wimbley, and Willie healthey all at once gives a coach alot of tools. Especially if McGinnest can wreak havoc along the line like he did last year.

I think as the season goes on we're going to see more out of our blitz packages as rogers and williams gets more used to the system. Remember 2/3 of our defensive line has never played in this sysem before and they are already alot better than we've had in a long time.

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Especially if McGinnest can wreak havoc along the line like he did last year.

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McGinnest positioned himself very well, and he's a very tall guy so he could knock down passes and obstruct passing lanes. But when did he wreak havoc last year? He was strong against the run, but he was far too slow to be an effective pass rusher. I'm lost on you there

"Year 4 of the RAC era. That excuse went out the door more than a year ago."

Sorry no comparison, we didn't even have a foundation to work with and we had to rebuild the offense just as much as the Defense.

Its one of my main arguments for the Fire this and that people, I want continuity and want to see it to the end. The defense took a back seat to the offense and we just made a significant move this year to bolster up the Run D. But are no where close to having the pieces needed to state ok...all been in the system now for a couple of years it ain't working?

No where close to that. Actually the Superstar additions giving us a DL for the first time are actually done with their 4th game...yeah thats an eternity

I don't get you guys sometimes.

The point I was commenting on was your assertion of the benefits of coaching continuity (remember this is Year 4 for cripes sake) not the caliber of personnel.

Do you have a "Jump to Conclusions" home game?

I started to answer that post but my own post got too long. *L*

You said it well in fewer words. There's no one here from year one. That cuts it down to 3 years plus four games. The DL is new. The LB's are just 1/4 of the way through their 3rd year. That's not a lot of time. Also, I don't think Savage is done obtaining LB's.

IIRC: 1st draft: Edwards, Pool and Frye
........2nd draft: Wimbley, DQ and Williams
........3rd draft: Thomas, Quinn, Wright and McDonald
........4th draft: Cory Williams, Shawn Rogers, Bell, Rucker and Rubin

We do have Willie McG with experience and Shaun Smith and Dra. Everyone else is mentioned above except for Sean Jones and depth.

There's not a lot of experienced veterans on the Browns defense like there is with the Steelers and Rats. We still have a ways to go but are creeping up on it.

I think the timetable the team has in mind and that of the average fan is quite different. The fans want to "win now" and even the media mistakenly thought Savage blew up this past offseason's draft in that effort. But as I hear them talk about the team in their pressers they seem to think they're on track and are not panicing as the media and fans are.

This defense still needs some players. We've filled all the positions but aren't done by a long shot. Williams and Rogers are catching on but still need a lot of work to play as intuitively as the Steelers DL.

I disagree with the idea from some that we should be there by now.

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...remember this is Year 4 for cripes sake

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We like to say it's year 4. But it's really year 3-1/4. There's no one even left here from the first year defensively. Pool and Jones. But Pool hardly played his first year and this year, so far, they haven't even been on the field together.