Traditionally, teams were locked into playing man-to-man coverage if they sent a fifth rusher.
The main problem with that scenario is that vision to the ball is lost.
3-4 Defense: Adding a Fifth Rusher, by Coach Jeff Reinebold, explains how teams playing a 3-4 scheme can blitz five defenders and still play zone structure behind them.
This approach not only gives the defense eyes to the quarterback, it also puts more pressure on the offense to counter the zone blitz.
Coach Reinebold discusses how the front and the two remaining linebackers compensate for the two rushing linebackers.
Coach Reinebold provides six examples of defensive calls involving a fifth rusher.
Among the topics covered: