Kobra's Corner: 3-4 Under Pinch

By Paul "Kobra" Gleason

January 6, 2009

In this week's edition of Kobra's Corner, I want to take a look at a 3-4 man blitz scheme out of the 3-4 Under. The name of the blitz is the 3-4 Under Pinch. Most of you already know man coverage is not as strong as years past. However, there are times when you can call it to keep your opponent off balanced.

Don't forget to check out the video on the Madden Landing Page.

Note: this breakdown was also posted this week in the VG Sports filmroom. For more info about the filmroom, please visit www.maddentips.com.



To set the 3-4 Under Pinch up, we re-blitz the ROLB and LOLB. Their blitz angles will now have them shooting straight rather than at an angle.



Next, we want to pinch the linebackers.



We then take control of the RILB and re-blitz him. His blitz angle will now have him shooting between the LG and C.



This set up gives us six defenders rushing the QB.



While five defenders play man coverage.



When running this defense, there is no coverage deep.



We like to take control of the defender that is covering the FB. If the FB doesn't go out, we can either drop him over the deep middle or manually blitz him.



For this breakdown, the FB is blocking to the right side.



Once the ball is snapped, the FB looks to block to the right. This allows the RILB to shoot through the A Gap between the C and LG without being blocked.



The RILB gets quick pressure on the QB.

Final Thoughts

Because man coverage is not very strong this year, you have to be careful when running these types of man coverage blitz schemes. We suggest throwing this blitz in once in awhile, but don't get to crazy with it. If a gun formation is called, expect to get pressure from one of the outside linebackers.