The blitz is one of the biggest weapons that football defenses have at their disposal. The reason the blitz is so effective is because it gives the offense more attackers than they can handle. The key to beating the blitz is really in the preparation and recognition. If you see the blitz coming, it is much easier to beat it. For this reason you must have good coaching and a quarterback that knows how to manage an offense. There are a few different ways to beat a blitz, and here are several of the more effective ones:

The single best way to beat a blitz is to make it impossible for the defense to do it. Sounds simple, right? This is done by having a good running game. A team that runs the ball well will keep any blitzing defense on their toes. No team can blitz if the running backs and offensive linemen are picking up chunks of yardage. The reason for this is because when a defense blitzes, it opens up running lanes and holes for the running backs.

If you are sending your linebackers on a blitz, for example, then the hole that the linebacker usually covers will be open most often. Another benefit to having a great running game is that it sets up the play action pass down the field. If you are picking up yards over and over, then the safeties will be forced to move up closer to the line of scrimmage. This is when you fake a dive to the running back and then hit a long pass play or crossing route to your faster wide receivers.

Along the same lines, you can beat the blitz with screens and draw plays. These are effective because they are quick hitting and they appear to be passes. While a screen pass is a throw, it is a very quick one that is set up like a running play. If you allow the blitzers to come into the backfield, then the run or screen will be wide open with plenty of blockers out in front. Once they defense is burned by a couple of these plays, they will stop blitzing quite so often.

The hot route is another fine way to stop the blitz. Hot routes are when the quarterback notices the blitz, and signals their wide receiver that they are going to throw a quick route their way. This is usually a hitch or a slant route, as these are the quickest developing passes. The hot route is usually very effective because many defensive backs are coached to give a little room when the defense is blitzing.

Other ways to combat the blitz include moving to the shotgun to give your quarterback more time to throw, and keeping in extra blockers on pass plays. These can be effective, but unless you are also using the techniques above they will be limited in their effectiveness.

Make sure your quarterback is able to recognize a potential blitz before the snap. This is not an exact science, as defensive coaches spend a great deal of time practicing cloaking the blitz. This is something that comes largely with practice. Use varying snap counts as well, as this will sometimes cause the defense to show their hand early.