A Defense that could dismantle EFLI teams

India, I give you: The Zone Blitz.






I like to call it: "bend, but don't break."

EFLI is still in the learning stages of football, but if a team adapted the zone blitz, it may prove to be unbeatable. Offenses struggled getting points in season one, but now teams will have only improved, so this defense is for teams who aren't as good as their opponent defensively, but strong offensively. 

You have a 5-man rush, while everyone else drops back in a zone coverage, where you guard the passing zone of a particular area. If you have fast pass-rushers, it could cause a rushed pass or even an interception. The downside to the defense, is that it gives your opponent chances for dump-off passes to the running-back or closer receivers. 

Your opponent will get a lot of yards, but have trouble scoring any points because it works great against the run if you hold the runner to within three yards every touch. It can also be misleading to the quarterback and coach on who is blitzing and who is dropping back, as seen in the picture, where it appears SCF/Seam and Hook/#3 could be potential pass-rushers, but they drop back into coverage.

This is a really good play for second down situations, maybe even first down. Third down should always be man-to-man coverage unless it is 4th and long. It is also better to use against an offense when they have four or less receivers. 

Well, there you have it, an effective "option defense formation" that creates a wall up the field and forces the QB to make rushed decisions if pass-rushers are getting to him quick enough. Also, if the quarterback is a scrambler, simply make one of the linebackers a spy, which means he just plays parallel with the QB to contain him.