EA Sports' inaugural edition of NFL Blitz is an exaggerated-action football game, featuring the league's real-life pro athletes performing at superhuman levels. Inspired by Midway's arcade original and its annual console revisions, the fast-moving game has a focus on big plays. On the field, NFL athletes make rocketing, line-drive passes, towering, overhead leaps, and wrecking-ball rushes, with a more family-friendly, "E10+" presentation of the sport's violent aspects (controversial in decade-earlier editions on the title). Gamers unlock additional options by playing online.

Xbox Live and PlayStation Network gamers earn "Blitz Bucks" for a wide variety of in-game achievements such as high yardage, touchdowns, interceptions, and sacks, as well as daily bonuses for playing online. These can be spent on card packs, which unlock new players and power-ups, as well as alternate team logos or cheerleader loading screens. Up to four friends or random players can join in co-op and competitive online games, in multiple ranked-play modes. Single players battle through a "Gauntlet" mode, to unlock fantasy team players such as robots, zombies, sasquatches, and humanoid hot dogs. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide