About the play: The zone blitz is a great defense. If you put people in the right spot and get an offense that doesn't react well, it can downright embarrass offenses.

Keys to the play: The key to a successful Steelers' zone blitz against the Falcons is making sure you disguise the blitz. The Steelers would also love to catch Atlanta in scat protection. This protection gives the fullback and tight end a free release without any blocking responsibilities.

The Falcons then must throw to a hot read if the strong-side linebacker comes in this defense. With the center, left guard, left tackle and tight end covered, they have no one to block the strong-side linebacker, so the Falcons must throw quickly to either the tight end or the fullback. The strong-side linebacker will attack the quarterback, while the rolled-up corner will turn inside and look for the fullback in the flat on his hot route. The corner is there to tackle the fullback for a short gain.

The quarterback could throw to the tight end, who is looking inside right after the strong-side linebacker passes. But the man who should be in the throwing lane on his zone-blitz assignment is the defensive end. The defensive end will engage the tackle so it looks like he is rushing, then he will retreat right where the tight end is running his hot route.

This is very hard for a quarterback to see. Quarterbacks are not taught to read defensive linemen in their progression, only linebackers and defensive backs. That is what makes the zone blitz so tough to see. If the Steelers are in the right position the quarterback of the Falcons will have to throw to the hot read or take a sack, which happens a lot on zone blitz.

The whole concept of zone blitz is to force offenses to either throw into coverage, put hits on the quarterback or force interceptions. The zone blitz is a bend-but-don't-break style. This defense is designed to give up short gains. That is why they play zone behind the blitz. If you play blitz-man (all teams do at some point), you risk giving up the big play. You must have smart players to execute zone blitzes.