We’ve written about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Fire X blitz before. It was a staple of Dick LeBeau’s attack, even if it was one phased out towards the end. Our attention usually is on the blitz itself and less on the coverage. We’ll talk about the blitz briefly here but I want to focus on some of the coverages behind it. The ability to pair the rush with sound coverage is what makes a near-perfect defense.
The reason to write about this now is just how much more prevalent the Fire X has been. Based on my charting, the Steelers have blitzed both inside linebackers 15 times over the last four games, the majority of those being the Fire X.