FAB 2. Breaking Down The Bucs’ Blitzes

Now that I’ve written about Todd Bowles’ brilliance when it comes to blitzing in Fab 1, let’s see some of those blitzes in action. Remember, disguise and confusion is the key – showing one look pre-snap and then morphing into something completely different at the snap of the ball.

Buckle up, Bucs fans. This is going to be some fun film study!

Winfield’s Sack vs. Broncos

Antoine Winfield, Jr. picked up his second sack in as many games coming off a blindside blitz. In order to free the rookie safety up to come in clean, outside linebacker Anthony Nelson, who was lined up in the weakside C gap, takes a hard charge into the weakside B gap, which draws left tackle Garrett Bolles with him. Defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches is lined up in the weakside B and charges hard into the weakside A, which causes the Broncos offensive line to collapse inward like an accordion.

Winfield has plenty of room to operate and comes in under complete control and sacks Jeff Driskel from behind. Blitzing during play-action can be deadly as the running backs are executing their fakes and can’t pass protect, and the QB holds the ball an extra second to carry out the play-action fake, giving the blitzer extra time to rush the passer.

Whitehead’s Sack vs. Broncos

The Bucs show a five-man pressure at the snap with White leaning forward, but inside Lavonte David, who is lined up over Bolles, and outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett, who is lined up over the tight end, drop into pass coverage on the play, as White charges the weakside A gap and safety Jordan Whitehead comes screaming through the strongside A gap on a delay.

Nose tackle Vita Vea occupies rookie center Lloyd Cushenberry III, which allows both A gaps to open up. As the running back comes over to pick up White, Whitehead beats a late block attempt by right guard Graham Glasgow. The key to this play is White’s initial pressure, and outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul, who lines up in the B gap over Glasgow, stunting outside to the C gap, crossing the face of right tackle Elijah Wilkinson. Glasgow passes Pierre-Paul off to Wilkinson, but can’t recover in time to stop Whitehead, who knifes in for his first NFL sack.

Barrett’s Safety vs. Broncos

There goes White crashing the weakside A gap again! Folks, Bowles’ blitzes usually start with him using White’s 4.4 speed and anticipation to attack the middle of the defense right at the snap of the ball. Cushenberry is uncovered and can’t reach White. In fact, the Bucs leave both A gaps wide open to create space for not only White’s blitz, but also Barrett’s loop on a T-E (tackle-end) stunt with Ndamukong Suh, who is lined up in the strongside B gap.

White gets great penetration and forces Driskel to keep backing up into the end zone. Driskel can’t set his feet to throw, and has to slide to the left to avoid White’s charge. Suh almost gets to Driskel for the sack, as he beats his block one-on-one, as Winfield, Jr. blitzes from the strongside, which holds Wilkinson’s attention and prevents a double-team on Suh in the B gap. By this time, Barrett moves laterally down the line of scrimmage to engage Cushenberry and beats him to the outside before jetting up the middle for the safety.

David’s INT vs. Broncos From Nelson’s Pressure

This blitz is absolutely CRAZY! The Bucs show a six-man front at the snap with David in the weakside B gap and White in the weakside A. At the snap, both linebackers drop deep to cover zones left by the blitzing Winfield (from Driskel’s left) and cornerback Calton Davis III (from Driskel’s right). What makes this blitz crazy is not just that David and White drop at the snap, but that Vea, who is lined up in the strongside A gap, and Suh, who is lined up in the strongside B gap, take three steps to attack the line of scrimmage and then THEY drop in coverage in the shallow middle of the defense.

The precision and execution of all four of those defenders is almost as beautiful as the pressure applied by Whitehead and Nelson, who ends up crashing the strongside B gap, blows by the blocking back and nails Driskel as he throws the ball. We all know the outcome – David’s first interception of the year. This is an absolutely mind-blowing blitz by Bowles – or is it?

Since the Bucs are technically only rushing four on this play it really isn’t a blitz, but it’s a brilliant four-man rush nonetheless. Look at Cushenberry and guards Dalton Risner and Glasgow looking for someone to block while Driskel is getting leveled behind them. I’ve never seen anything like this scheme before.

Vea’s Sack vs. Broncos

Bowles shows a five-man front at the snap with David lined up as an outside linebacker to Driskel’s left. He drops into coverage at the snap while Nelson, Vea and Suh slant to the right. Barrett takes Wilkinson, while Whitehead comes on a delayed blitz up the strongside B gap.

Since Vea got the sack, let’s focus on him. His quick, initial charge into the weakside A gap beats Cushenberry, and even a shoulder from Glasgow can’t stop the 335-pound Vea’s charge. Driskel has one last chance to stay upright if the blocking back can get a chip on Vea, but Davis’ charge into the open B gap forces the back to identify the delayed blitz, cross Driskel’s face and go pick up the blitzing cornerback. That flash in front of Driskel causes a moment of hesitation and allows Vea to wrap him up before he can flee the pocket or throw the ball away.

Winfield’s Sack vs. Panthers

It’s worth going back and looking at Winfield’s first career sack, which came against the Panthers in Week 2. Winfield does a great job of attacking the block of running back Mike Davis, which sets the edge and doesn’t allow right-handed quarterback Teddy Bridgewater an escape route to roll to his right. That forced Bridgewater to step up in the pocket where Barrett nearly gets him.

As Bridgewater tries to maneuver around Barrett, David, who has Davis in coverage, identifies that Davis is staying in to block so he attacks the pocket and goes after Bridgewater. This prevents an escape up the middle by Bridgewater, who then is forced to try to get off a pass to a (well-covered) Christian McCaffrey, but Winfield comes back and sacks Bridgewater from behind, forcing a fumble that is recovered by Pierre-Paul.

What’s great about this successful blitz is that it worked against max protect. The Panthers kept Davis and a tight end in to block, so that’s seven blockers against the Bucs’ five rushers – six if you count David on the delay.

Gholston’s Sack vs. Panthers

Will Gholston got his first sack of the season due to some great spacing from Bowles in how he aligned Tampa Bay’s defenders. This is a simple weakside A gap red dog blitz from White. It all starts with Vea hard charging the strongside A gap off the center with Gholston playing the three-technique defensive tackle. Having Pierre-Paul line up in a wide nine technique outside the left tackle is key as he takes a hard charge outside to create a bigger gap for Gholston to work through.

As White blitzes, Davis has to step in front of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to pick him up. Gholston gets a great first step on the left guard, attacks the outside shoulder and then finishes Bridgewater off with a sack. There is no chance for the center or the tackle to help the guard and Gholston won his one-on-one.

Davis’ INT vs. Panthers

Here’s another example where a well-executed blitz forces a takeaway by the Bucs defense. Bowles deploys a six-man blitz against Carolina’s seven-man max protect scheme. David and Suh engage in a twist on the left side of the defense and both are picked up. Gholston and Nunez-Roches also twist with a pass-rush game and Gholston comes free up the middle to pressure Bridgewater.

Gholston’s late pressure up the middle forces Bridgewater to lean into his throw rather than step into it. The result is that it is thrown a few inches behind the receiver and right at Davis, who snares his first interception of the season.

Pierre-Paul’s Sack vs. Saints

The Bucs’ first sack of the season came on a blitz – how fitting. White lines up at left outside linebacker and Barrett moves to middle linebacker right before the snap. David is at the line of scrimmage at left outside linebacker and attacks the weakside C gap on this six-man blitz.

The key is Vea, who lines up over the center and attacks the strongside A gap, which draws the right guard over a double team. Running back Alvin Kamara sees Barrett shift over as the blitzer and goes to attack him in the weakside A, which inexplicably leaves Pierre-Paul to come screaming up the strongside B gap for an easy sack of Drew Brees. Bowles’ blitzes are meant to confuse, and Kamara was definitely confused, as he should have picked up the nearest threat, which was Pierre-Paul.