Gritz Blitz Returns?

[SoCalFalconFan 1,757]

I don't know about any of you, but I'm old enough to remember watching the swarming, blitzing, #1 statistical defense of all-time in the NFL. The 1977 Gritz Blitz. It was absolutely amazing to watch then, even though we had zero offense and only won 7 games. But they held opposing offenses to 9 points a game. LOL!

Okay, so what's my point? Watching last night's Falcons D made me start to wonder if Jerry Glanville was on the sideline! I'm telling you... maybe it was just me, but I swear I saw some 46 Bear in our scheme last night. I'm wondering if Ulbrich has been studying historical blueprints and dusted off a few of those monster blitzes-of-old to inject into the gameplay moving forward? I can only hope that last night was just the beginning. That kind of pass rush makes the game so much more exciting to watch. If we keep putting some 46 into the scheme, and we get some more players in the secondary, this D could improve quickly. But even this season... things could looks surprisingly optimistic in the coming weeks. 

Gritz Blitz 2.0! I love it! 

[thofin21 3,203]

I agree .Keep putting pressure on the QB .Our secondary looks a lot better when they only defend for 3 seconds not 4 or 5 .

[Spts1 6,888]

14 minutes ago, SoCalFalconFan said:

I don't know about any of you, but I'm old enough to remember watching the swarming, blitzing, #1 statistical defense of all-time in the NFL. The 1977 Gritz Blitz. It was absolutely amazing to watch then, even though we had zero offense and only won 7 games. But they held opposing offenses to 9 points a game. LOL!

Okay, so what's my point? Watching last night's Falcons D made me start to wonder if Jerry Glanville was on the sideline! I'm telling you... maybe it was just me, but I swear I saw some 46 Bear in our scheme last night. I'm wondering if Ulbrich has been studying historical blueprints and dusted off a few of those monster blitzes-of-old to inject into the gameplay moving forward? I can only hope that last night was just the beginning. That kind of pass rush makes the game so much more exciting to watch. If we keep putting some 46 into the scheme, and we get some more players in the secondary, this D could improve quickly. But even this season... things could looks surprisingly optimistic in the coming weeks. 

Gritz Blitz 2.0! I love it! 

I watched that 1977 season also.  Morris's defense is not like that but it IS the most I remember seeing a Falcons defense blitz since Glanville.  Glanville brought the whole defense at times, zero coverage. Morris will overload or bring it from different gaps at the same time...

[PriMeTiiMe 7,924]

Mostly A gap blitzes because the Panthers Guards and Center had absolutely no clue what they were doing. That seems to be a staple of our defense now screaming Deion and Foye through the middle and so far it's been working well. 

Have not seen any Cover 0 send the house blitzes yet but I would not expect that with our secondary 😂

[SoCalFalconFan 1,757]

2 hours ago, PriMeTiiMe said:

Mostly A gap blitzes because the Panthers Guards and Center had absolutely no clue what they were doing. That seems to be a staple of our defense now screaming Deion and Foye through the middle and so far it's been working well. 

Have not seen any Cover 0 send the house blitzes yet but I would not expect that with our secondary 😂

Truth

 

[SoCalFalconFan 1,757]

2 hours ago, Spts1 said:

I watched that 1977 season also.  Morris's defense is not like that but it IS the most I remember seeing a Falcons defense blitz since Glanville.  Glanville brought the whole defense at times, zero coverage. Morris will overload or bring it from different gaps at the same time...

Glanville's 46 usually blitzed 8 and left 3 secondary players on islands, but yeah, he did go Cover 0 at times. 

[mtldirtybird 1,244]

I think Debo blitzed more yesterday than he has in his whole career

[PokerSteve 27,986]

7 hours ago, Spts1 said:

I watched that 1977 season also.  Morris's defense is not like that but it IS the most I remember seeing a Falcons defense blitz since Glanville.  Glanville brought the whole defense at times, zero coverage. Morris will overload or bring it from different gaps at the same time...

Morris is doing it right. The blitz is really effective when the offense doesn't know a blitz is coming, or how many directions it's coming from.

Really enjoyed seeing us put some heat on the QB again like the Gritz Blitz days of yore. If we can just keep up this kind of pressure, we're going to be competitive in pretty much every game we have left.

[NWFALCON 4,377]

Nah. We got the Raheem Scheme. 

[egoprime II 2,785]

12 hours ago, PriMeTiiMe said:

Mostly A gap blitzes because the Panthers Guards and Center had absolutely no clue what they were doing. That seems to be a staple of our defense now screaming Deion and Foye through the middle and so far it's been working well. 

Have not seen any Cover 0 send the house blitzes yet but I would not expect that with our secondary 😂

 

5 hours ago, mtldirtybird said:

I think Debo blitzed more yesterday than he has in his whole career

 

4 hours ago, PokerSteve said:

Morris is doing it right. The blitz is really effective when the offense doesn't know a blitz is coming, or how many directions it's coming from.

Really enjoyed seeing us put some heat on the QB again like the Gritz Blitz days of yore. If we can just keep up this kind of pressure, we're going to be competitive in pretty much every game we have left.

Many AFMB members have been calling for Jones to blitz more.  It got to the point where teams simply stopped worrying about Jones sacking thier QB.

Its time to move Deion Jones outside.   We all saw how effective DeVondre Campell and Brian Poole were rushing the QB from out there.... Jones is even faster and is a sure tackler.

[FalconFanSince1970 24,763]

14 hours ago, PriMeTiiMe said:

Mostly A gap blitzes because the Panthers Guards and Center had absolutely no clue what they were doing. That seems to be a staple of our defense now screaming Deion and Foye through the middle and so far it's been working well. 

Have not seen any Cover 0 send the house blitzes yet but I would not expect that with our secondary 😂

Yeah nothing like the Gritz Blitz which was routinely 7-9 pass rushers. Innovative. League eventually figured it out though.

[Xfactor 4,186]

Nice to see

[FalconsIn2012 35,705]

20 hours ago, PriMeTiiMe said:

Mostly A gap blitzes because the Panthers Guards and Center had absolutely no clue what they were doing. That seems to be a staple of our defense now screaming Deion and Foye through the middle and so far it's been working well. 

Have not seen any Cover 0 send the house blitzes yet but I would not expect that with our secondary 😂

We are blitzing our linebackers because our edge rush is rarely doing much of anything.  For our defense to really take off we need TALK & Fowler to start getting home.  Then those A gap blitzes become even more effective. 

[Jesus 26,624]

6 hours ago, FalconFanSince1970 said:

Yeah nothing like the Gritz Blitz which was routinely 7-9 pass rushers. Innovative. League eventually figured it out though.

Yeah by 1978. 

[FalconFanSince1970 24,763]

37 minutes ago, Jesus said:

Yeah by 1978. 

Yeah but it was fun while it lasted. I used to work at AFCS back then and saw all of our home games, including our first ever playoff game against PHI in 1978. The Mud Bowl. We won too. Good times.

 

[Tim Mazetti 12,123]

14 minutes ago, FalconFanSince1970 said:

Yeah but it was fun while it lasted. I used to work at AFCS back then and saw all of our home games, including our first ever playoff game against PHI in 1978. The Mud Bowl. We won too. Good times.

 

Yep. Tim Mazzetti

Edited October 31, 2020 by Tim Mazetti

[OrthoPTSD 1,138]

14 hours ago, mtldirtybird said:

I think Debo blitzed more yesterday than he has in his whole career

He de cleated Bridgewater a couple of times

[celtiksage 2,802]

12 hours ago, egoprime II said:

 

 

Many AFMB members have been calling for Jones to blitz more.  It got to the point where teams simply stopped worrying about Jones sacking thier QB.

Its time to move Deion Jones outside.   We all saw how effective DeVondre Campell and Brian Poole were rushing the QB from out there.... Jones is even faster and is a sure tackler.

You know, I was thinking this same thing watching Debo on Thursday. What would he look like on the outside of we could draft the best MLB in April.

It's an interesting idea.

 

[PokerSteve 27,986]

3 hours ago, OrthoPTSD said:

He de cleated Bridgewater a couple of times

And each de-cleation elicited a deep, rumbling, evil laugh from moi. 🤣

[Tim Mazetti 12,123]

1 hour ago, PokerSteve said:

And each de-cleation elicited a deep, rumbling, evil laugh from moi. 🤣

Few for us this season, but hey, they have won two games, count the.......................

I must admit that this has been the most disgusting season in my Falcon fandom. The stupid penalties/turnovers/poor play calling/watching a spinning football in awe on an onside kick.....Rankin, are you in charge again?

In previous years/decades it was lack of coaching AND talent. This year reminds me of the early-mid nineties. Except this in one of the most talented teams.

[egoprime II 2,785]

1 hour ago, celtiksage said:

You know, I was thinking this same thing watching Debo on Thursday. What would he look like on the outside of we could draft the best MLB in April.

It's an interesting idea.

 

MLB's are the RBs of the defense.... they have longer careers but not by much.   Constantly taking on OGs and centers simply wears MLBs out.   Patrick Willis and Luke Kuechley both played MLB.

Moving Debo outside extends his career as well as utilizes his blitzing ability.

[TheFatboi 28,995]

On 10/30/2020 at 2:20 PM, PriMeTiiMe said:

Mostly A gap blitzes because the Panthers Guards and Center had absolutely no clue what they were doing. That seems to be a staple of our defense now screaming Deion and Foye through the middle and so far it's been working well. 

Have not seen any Cover 0 send the house blitzes yet but I would not expect that with our secondary 😂

We ran cover 0 a few times against Carolina. Cover 0 just means there’s no deep coverage from the safeties. What you’re talking about is just an all out blitz or the kitchen sink lol. Every time Keke blitzes with a LB that’s cover 0. The safety is blitzing along with Debo or Foye and Allen is in man with a TE. That’s cover 0. Just about every man to man blitz is cover 0 because the safeties have to cover somebody in man and not play deep.

Cover 0 no deep safety depth. Means both safeties are in man or blitzing  

Cover 1 corners and one safety are in man. Which means ONE safety has deep coverage. 

Cover 2 Safeties cover deep halves

Cover 3 Corners and safeties cover a 3rd of the field. FS is usually single high covering dee. Basically 3 covering deep  

Cover 4 corners and safeties cover 1/4 of the field deep zone

[OrthoPTSD 1,138]

If Debo Foye and Neal continue making plays I can stomach watching the rest of the season. Frankly if they continue pace may sniff some pro bowl consideration? Debo in particular is stuffing stat sheet.

That in itself is hard to imagine a couple of weeks ago.

 

[celtiksage 2,802]

5 hours ago, egoprime II said:

MLB's are the RBs of the defense.... they have longer careers but not by much.   Constantly taking on OGs and centers simply wears MLBs out.   Patrick Willis and Luke Kuechley both played MLB.

Moving Debo outside extends his career as well as utilizes his blitzing ability.

I didn't think about how it affected his longevity, but was certainly considering the blitzing aspect. 

Good points.

 

[octoslash 18,240]

Is it brilliant coaching or just to-h*ll-with-it reckless abandon?   It's easy to dial up blitzes when a coaching staff has absolutely nothing to lose.