Blitz ( gridiron football ) In American football or Canadian football , a blitz is when additional players are sent to " rush the quarterback " - - that is , try to tackle the quarterback or disrupt his pass attempt . The term is borrowed from the Blitzkrieg , the German strategy of " Lightning War " employed during World War II . Like the Blitzkrieg , the blitz is a concentration of force at high speed to force a breakthrough and proceed without regard to the flanks . History . The birth of the blitz is considered to be on December 1 , 1957 , when the defense of the San Francisco 49ers forced five fumbles against quarterback New York Giant Chuck Conerly . Don Ettinger , a linebacker for the New York Giants , invented the blitz during his brief NFL career ( 1948 – 1950 ) . Initially , the term " Red Dog " was coined in 1961 by longtime San Francisco 49er announcer Bob Fouts , during a training camp photo op with his Irish Setter Casey posed with his front legs raised up on quarterback John Brodie . From there he used the term when describing a linebacker rushing the opposing quarterback , although the term was later supplanted by ' blitz . ' Larry Wilson , free safety for the St . Louis Cardinals from 1960 to 1972 , pioneered and perfected the " safety blitz " , a play originally code - named " Wildcat . " Defensive coordinator Chuck Drulis is widely credited with inventing the safety blitz . Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is widely regarded as the inventor of the zone blitz . How blitzing works . On passing plays , the offense always has at least five men blocking . From the quarterback ' s left to his right , they are : left tackle , left guard , center , right guard , right tackle . Depending on the personnel , formation , and blocking principles the offense uses , they can have a maximum of nine players blocking on any given pass play ( this type of maximum protection is succinctly called " Max Protect " ) . Since the quarterback is throwing the pass , he cannot block and must have at least one receiver to catch the pass . Assuming the lone wide receiver is covered by a defensive back , this leaves the defense ten players to rush the quarterback versus the offense ' s nine blockers — the offense is outnumbered and at a disadvantage . Because the quarterback cannot block during passing plays , the defense always has one more man available to rush than the offense can block . Usually offenses do not max protect , varying the levels of protection available depending on the play design and the quarterback ' s pre - snap read of the defense . The more receivers the offense has running passing routes , the better their chances are of completing the pass . This factor allows defenses to devise and execute a staggering variety of blitz packages between any number of their coverage personnel , trading tight coverage of receivers for proactive aggressive disruption of the play . By nature , blitzes are risky endeavors for the defense . Since the defense is taking away coverage defenders to rush the quarterback , this usually means that the secondary can ' t afford to miss any coverage assignments . The defense does not and cannot cover all offensive players , but rather through the blitz , is proactively involved in pressuring the quarterback — specifically , trying to sack him , throw off his timing , or force him to make an error such as an interception or fumble . The most common blitzes are linebacker blitzes . Safety blitzes , in which a safety ( usually the free safety ) is sent , and corner blitzes , where a cornerback is sent , are less common . Sending a defensive back on a blitz is even riskier than a linebacker blitz , as it removes a primary pass defender from the coverage scheme . The pressure , however , is very severe because a blitz by a defensive back is usually not anticipated by the offensive team ’ s blockers . Defensive shells and techniques . Blitzes are usually run from " Cover 1 " coverage shells , which assign one man to guard the entire deep field , though blitzes can be employed in nearly any coverage scheme . Cover 1 is most effective because it allows a larger number of defensive players to tighten down on the line of scrimmage , thus increasing the variety of blitzes possible . Since the main goal is to disrupt the offensive play before it even develops , many blitz packages encourage cornerbacks to play tight man bump and run coverage to disrupt the wide receivers ' release and prevent them from running their pre - assigned routes . The non - blitzing safety , usually the free safety , has an enormous amount of field to protect and is at a serious disadvantage if the blitz is unsuccessful and receivers threaten his coverage area . As such , he usually works for depth upon the snap of the ball , backpedaling into his assigned zone . Linebackers are either blitzing or in pass coverage . Blitzing LB s can employ various stunts to confuse the offense ' s blockers and break down their protection scheme . Coverage LBs in a Cover 1 scheme will usually have man responsibility on a halfback , fullback , or tight end . Some defensive schemes employ " key " blitzes where a player will blitz only if his assigned man stays in to block , this keying his action off the action of his man . If his man releases into a pass pattern , then the defensive player will cover him . For example , if weak side linebacker has the fullback as his man , if upon the snap of the ball the fullback blocks , the linebacker will blitz . Lineman can also be blitzers . Advantages and disadvantages . Advantages gained by blitzing are obvious : proactively disrupt the offense ' s play before it develops and cause enough pressure on the quarterback to force him into a turnover , sack or incomplete pass . Disadvantages abound in any blitz scheme as well . First , the offensive linemen are usually trained to recognize a blitzing player before the snap of the ball . They communicate with each other at the line of scrimmage using code words that shift the protection to the blitzing player ' s side , thus strengthening their blocking front . The quarterback can also call other players into the protection scheme with audibles if he feels that his current protection is weak . With good protection calls and fundamental blocking principles , some blitzes can be " picked up " — stopped at the point of attack . Second , the tight man bump and run technique typical of blitz scheme cornerbacks can be defeated with aggressive wide receiver release moves . Once this happens , the cornerback is at a disadvantage and must regain ground and position quickly to prevent a catch . If the blitz is picked up , the wide receiver can create enough separation to become open relatively quickly . Third , if the blitz is picked up , the one deep defender ( usually the free safety ) has an enormous amount of territory to guard . If two players simultaneously threaten his zone , he must decide which one to cover . The quarterback can read his reaction and throw to the other receiver , usually for a big gain . Fourth , if the pass is caught , there are fewer defenders and larger gaps between defenders , meaning that the receiver can get more yards after catch and possibly turn a minimal gain into a dangerous play . Playing against the blitz . Offenses employ the above procedures to beat the blitz as well as two other techniques and passing route combinations designed to exploit weaknesses in a blitzing scheme . One of those techniques is called " throwing hot , " which entails intentionally leaving one blitzing defensive player unblocked . The offensive line usually makes pre - snap adjustments so that the " free " rusher is clearly within the QB ' s field of vision . This limits devastating blind - side hits on the QB by rushers . When the preparedness of a quarterback allows him to not have to worry about getting hit from behind , it ' s one less psychological element of the blitz to be taken away , and thus blitz is incrementally made less effective by that particular element . The other technique , sometimes used in conjunction with throwing hot , is called sight adjustment . Receivers are taught to run into the empty spot vacated by a blitzing player instead of running their pre - assigned pattern . The QB sees the free rusher or blitzing LB / CB and knows that the receiver will sight adjust accordingly and run a route that takes him into the hole left by the defender . The West Coast Offense is an offense that focuses on ball control and short passes . This is a well timed offense where the quarterback throws the ball quickly to avoid the rush , but still allow the wide receiver to get behind the blitzing players . Another method is a trick play , known as an " offensive blitz " , because it is used when the defense blitzes . A quarterback throws a pass to a receiver to draw the remaining defenders to him , because the blitzers will be in the backfield , and the quarterback runs down the other side of the field ; the receiver then throws the ball back to the quarterback with a lateral , who then tries to run in for a touchdown . If executed properly , this can get either a touchdown or a huge chunk of yardage , and heavily discourage blitzing . Ideally , the blitzing defenders are all in the backfield while the corners are all over the receiver . The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers have run variations of the play successfully in the National Football League playoffs .