Baylor 3-3-3 Stunts & Blitzes

In the last post we covered four defensive pressures out of Iowa State's 3-3-3. If you are unfamiliar with the 3-3-3 then I would suggest you go back to that post and read the introduction, which will give you a little insight into the 3 safety defense. Often called the "air raid killer" it's not just ISU running this as their base defense anymore. In 2019 Phil Snow, who is now the DC at the Carolina Panthers, ran the 3-3-3 as an every down defense.

ISU runs the Tite front as their base front which is similar to Saban's Mint front, the only difference is that in the Mint front you have a backer who will walk up to the LOS opposite the passing strength. The base front that Baylor uses is the primarily the standard 50 front; a head up Nose and both DE's outside shade of the OT (505).

Baylor's DE's play whats called a "heavy" technique, meaning they play the C Gap if they get a pass block, they stunt inside to the B Gap if they get a base block, and they would squeeze if they get a down block. This technique gives you the best of both worlds, you get the Tite front with base blocking to spill everything to your scrapping LB's, but you get to set the edge and contain if it's pass blocking and let your LB's fill the lanes that open up in the progression of the pass protection.

You could write a book about the fits in a Tite front but that is not the goal of this post. I want to look at what BU is doing out of their 3 safety defense when it comes to stunts and blitzes. This defense gives the offense the appearance of a "light box", but it is deceiving because this defense is still designed to consistently get 7 or 8 to the box to fit the run. They achieve this by utilizing movement up front, both the DL and the LB's.

We are going to look at four examples of 5 man pressures. BU plays a lot more man than you would see out of ISU so I decided to go with the man coverage pressures since we already covered zone pressures in the last post. We will dissect each play call as if I were teaching this to my high school defense.

Example One: 2nd + 9 at the -26 14:00 2Q

BU is playing a semi Okie front which plays similar to a Bear front once the WILL walks to an outside shade of the OT and the MIKE mugs and plays the B Gap. This should get the attention of the OL and have them check to man protection. SAM will walk up late and blitz a dog path off the strong side while the WILL bluffs and drops to the low hole. SAM must peel with any release from the RB to the strong flat. His path must initially be vertical so he doesn't get caught underneath and lose leverage on the RB or the QB in zone read.

WS plays MOF in this Cover 1. This will play similar to Cover 1 Rat in that the OLB to the RB side, which is the SAM, will take the back out because he has contain. If the back were to release to the weak side then WILL would take him and this would turn into regular Cover 1. The JOKER, who is man-to-man on #3, will need to be ready to trigger and fit if he sees the WR blocking as your weak to strong side perimeter runs. Both safeties and corner to the strong side need to stagger or "stair step" to help with crossing and pick routes.

NOSE will stunt to the strong A Gap. Weak side DE will play his normal B Gap responsibility while the strong side DE long sticks into the weak A Gap. With the man protection your hoping that the Center will ride the NOSE enough and won't see the wrapping DE. The other DE should occupy the OG by working at an angle away from the guard to help contain to the side which should be an open A Gap for the DE to wrap in and up vertically. If the offense runs a 6 man protection with the back then it's likely that the RB will step up an block the dog from the SAM, which would leave the DE a free rusher in the weak A Gap.

Example Two: 3rd + 3 at the -36 7:21 1Q

Here we see a more of a true Bear front than the last example. WILL stems to the LOS and will blitz off the boundary side.. while SAM attacks the outside shoulder of the OT. I call this a "tough" technique because your tight to the OT in order to get under any kick-out block from the H-Back, but you also need to be ready to box any puller. The WILL must also box any pullers on counter, especially if your playing man behind because if you spill here your force player will be the WS from depth and your C won't see run till late. MIKE will read flow and fit cloudy to clear. He must then work to the RB's hip in case of screen.

WS is playing man on #2 and should walk down late expecting a quick throw behind the pressure to the read side. This will also help with fitting weak side perimeter runs. I like bracketing the H-Back with the SS and JOKER here because it would allow the SS to play any out route but also fit if he is vertical. JOKER will slide and play the vertical release of the H-Back.

NOSE will slant to the inside hip of the weak OG, he is responsible for the weak side B Gap. The DE to the H-Back will slant across the face of the OG to the inside hip of the Center, he is responsible for the weak side A Gap. The other DE will long stick to the open gap on the strong side, knowing that he will have to read the OG to fit the A or B Gap.

This would be a good call verse inside zone and gap schemes to the H-Back. 3rd + 3 can be a tricky spot so down and distance breakdown is crucial to understand where the OC's run/pass divide is at on 3rd downs. Taking into consideration field position, time, and score plus your down and distance breakdown should give you an indication as to the likelihood he will call a run this play or a pass.

Example Three: 3rd + 9 at the 47 9:05 2Q

Here we see the standard 50 front but they have walked their WILL up to mug the A Gap. He, along with the NOSE, play what I call a "Stem" technique where they are standing up and have some movement back and forth to disguise where they will stunt to. Ultimately the WILL plays contain on the boundary or weak side. MIKE, who is stacked over the ball, is going to plug the strong A Gap making sure to hip of RB in case of screen. SAM stems down on the cadence to plug the B Gap. The hope is that the OL will half slide the protection and the SAM will be unblocked since the OT should open up to the DE and the OG should slide inside to protect the A Gap.

Normal Cover 1 coverage with the JOKER playing MOF. If you wanted to play this as mix zone pressure then let you C's play man on #1, JOKER play MOF, and WS and SS play over and under of #2 and #3. The advantage of that would be that you now have a down safety to help trigger and fit strong side perimeter runs.

NOSE will slant across the Center's face and play vertical Strong side DE plays vertically to set the edge. Weak side DE will drop to the Hook/Curl and play under #1. For the 4-3 guys this pressure turns into an over front with a MIKE plug.

This is a great safe pressure call for 3rd and long. The only concern here is 2W (the RB) on a wheel route. You would need the WILL to peel with him otherwise you would need the C to come off #1 and take the wheel, JOKER would have to be able to play the post hole from #1.

Example Four: 2nd + 3 at the -31 0:53 2Q

This front resembles a 4-3 over front to the back, or an extreme boundary reduction out of a 3-4. What's interesting is that even with the initial look of the front they get right back to their 50 front post snap, and when you add in the SAM blitz its an over front. The WILL drops and plays this like Cover 1 Rat, which is the same as he did in the first example. If there is a #2 out weak then the WILL takes him and this turns back into a traditional Cover 1. SAM creeps in on the cadence and plugs the strong B Gap. MIKE is stacked and plugs the strong A Gap once the NOSE has cleared.

For the DB's this will play like traditional Cover 1 with the WS playing MOF. Just like in the first example I would "stair step" the DB's to the trips side to help protect them from crossing and pick routes. I would have a reverse stair step so the JOKER is down and close to the box to trigger on any run, like speed option, to their side. Pressing the boundary C would be dependent on the match-up.

The NOSE, who is now in a 3 tech will long stick into the weak A Gap and the MIKE would fit opposite. The weak DE, who is now in a shade, will long stick to the weak C Gap and contain. The strong DE would work vertically to get the OT to turn out and with the OG riding the NOSE inside it should keep the SAM unblocked.

I think this is a good aggressive but safe call verse run or pass on 2nd + 3. That's the beauty of a 5 man pressure, that ability to win some one-on-ones up front and possibly get heat on the QB in case of pass but still be okay verses the run. It is important to understand that playing man, especially man free, mean you have to rethink how you fit verse the run. Spilling can be problematic in these examples since the typical force players will be late to fit.

I hope these last two post gave you a little more insight into the 3-3-3 defense beyond the typical base calls. This scheme can be great if you have the time and the players to implement it. Happy hunting!