Blitzing Is More Common Because Formations Are Becoming Tighter 

I was trying to puzzle out how to plagiarize my new podcast best friend while simultaneously filling in for him for this week’s Jamboroo, and for all my skill in stealing other people’s takes, I couldn’t figure out how to effectively disguise it.

So instead, I’ll build off what Drew wrote last week while referencing research someone else did. I was trying to see why teams are blitzing more this year, even setting aside blitz maven Brian Flores (his Vikings defense is currently blitzing at a mind-boggling 76.9 percent for the season, according to PFF) and former Flores assistant Daronte Jones, now defensive coordinator at Washington (the Commanders are second in blitz rate at 52.1 percent).

In 2026, it turns out that teams that already loved to blitz are the ones blitzing more—median and bottom-fifth percentile blitz rates have not increased by any amount over the last few seasons. But it still invites the question: Why are blitz-happy teams blitzing more?