zone blitz

Defense

also: fire zone

Sending an extra rusher while dropping someone unexpected, usually a defensive lineman, into the space the rusher left.

Defense

zone blitz, the pressure

Pressure in which the defense brings extra rushers from one area and replaces the vacated space with a defender the offense did not expect to drop, most often a defensive lineman. Coverage behind it stays zone. The deception is about who rushes and who drops, not about the number of rushers.

Also calledfire zone, zone pressure
Not to be confused withman blitz, bluff

A note on how the term is used

The reason it works is the offense's own answer to pressure. A quarterback reading blitz throws hot into the grass he believes the rusher left, and against a fire zone somebody is standing in exactly that grass. The scheme is aimed at the hot throw specifically, rather than at the protection.

Where you will hear it

  • fire-zone families
  • the Arnsparger and LeBeau lineage

Related terms