Five Rules for Attacking Pass Protections

Hey Coach,

Systems are better than starting from scratch every single week.

When you’re designing your pressure packages on defense, having some guiding principles will save you a TON of time, and that’s something that Coach Tyler Manes spends a ton of time talking about in his Tite 3-4 clinic.

Want to delve deeper into the subject? Click HERE and don’t miss the chance.

So let’s talk blitzes and pressures…

1. Know how and when to use different “Paths” and “Pressures”

There’s an almost unlimited supply of pressures and blitz paths. But what’s the difference between the two?

A “Path” is a general concept (for example, the NCAA Blitz, the Double Edge Blitz, etc) whereas Coach Manes defines the “pressure” as how you get to that concept.

In other words, there are lots of ways to bring a double edge blitz, and each variation is defined as its own “Pressure”. 

If you don’t understand the difference between the two, and when to use each one of them, you’re just looking at your call sheet and throwing a dart at a board, and hoping that everything works out properly.

Understanding this means that the “right” pressure changes from year to year, even game to game.

Coach Manes doesn’t carry all of the different paths and pressures in each game, it depends on the personnel and the protection scheme you’re going to see from the opponent.

Another factor is the talent level of your own kids. If your inside linebackers are more talented at rushing the passer than your outside backers, your best pressures are likely going to attack the middle of the protection, and vice versa.

2. Understand the offensive line rules

It’s all about finding ways to break the rules those offensive linemen have, but you have to understand them first.

If you’re unfamiliar with the nuances of pass protection schemes, it’s well-worth it to spend time talking to someone on the other side of the ball who coaches that position to deepen your understanding.

3. Use pressure like a scalpel, not a battering ram

This is something that Coach Manes talks about having an issue with during his first year. The worst feeling you can have as a defensive coordinator is to watch helplessly as the opposing QB just pats the ball, steps up into the pocket, and isn’t threatened by the pass rush at all. It’s even worse if you’re sending four or five guys and you still can’t get to him.

His first year as a defensive coordinator, Coach Manes talked about his struggle to stay level-headed and becoming an emotional play caller, wanting to send more and more pressure blindly as a response to this scenario. Even worse, if that didn’t work, he’d start sending even more guys on the blitz, getting to what he calls his “hot” pressures (cover zero) as fast as possible.

This emphasizes the importance of keeping your cool and not being an emotional play caller.

4. Force the offense to check protection & communicate

The offensive line is a position group that requires a ton of communication pre-snap. They’re gonna be ID’ing the Mike linebacker and figuring out who’s most dangerous between the inside and outside linebackers.

Typically the Mike gets a lot of attention in pass protection pre-snap because he’s got the shortest path to the quarterback, by going straight ahead.

If you know their rules and force them into a protection check to change that up to a more advantageous position for you, that’s where the next layer of the chess game comes into play.

5. Use Pre-snap movement and eye-candy

The same way an offense uses motions and shifts to muddy up the picture a defense, a good defense will use pre-snap movement to cause confusion up front for the offensive line.

If they’re trying to ID the Mike linebacker and the Mike is stepped up into the A-gap, then he takes a step back while someone else creeps up to the line, and you’re doing different things like that each play, you’re creating a confused and timid offensive line.

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