NFL Football Revealed on Squib Kick

Football 101- Attacking the cover 2

by Jesse on May 16th, 2006

Yesterday we started the SquibKick.com series on football 101. We’re starting by doing a week on the cover 2.

Yesterday Aaron did a post and a vidcast explaining how the cover 2 works. Basically you have 2 safeties deep splitting the field in half protecting the long ball. Three linebackers and two defensive backs split the field to defend against the mid-range play, and 4 defensive linemen rush the passer and stop the run.

So there you have it from that point of view. Me, I’m more of an offensive guy. I’m going to take a shot at attacking the cover 2, and what some of the weaknesses are.

As one would guess, the weakness of a cover 2 is in the area between the safeties and the defensive backs/linebackers. All zone coverages are going to have a weak spot. That’s a fact. While there are many advantages of so-called man-to-man coverage, one issue with the zone is that at any given time there’s no guarantee all eleven guys on offense are accounted for.

One basic way of attacking a cover 2 and similar defenses is by flooding it. Having guys run seam routes and hooks can quickly expose a weak cover 2 with the safeties struggling to cover their full territory. Another weakness is the ability to run a quick “fly” pattern that gets the ball to the receiver between the safety and defensive back. Another weakness of the cover 2 is the fact that with a good play you can get a receiver matched up against a safety, and as most people will tell you, that’s no match-up at all. Getting up and outside is key for the receivers. Once you get to the outer part of the field you’ve got the defense cooked assuming your offensive line is holding up. Realistically the safety can’t cover 50% of the field, so getting to the outside forces the safety to try to come over and help, something he may not always be able to do. The fact that he tries, though, can possibly open up the middle of the field to a second receiver as well.

Another way to attack some cover 2 schemes is by using a power runner, if you have one. A lot of emphasis is put on speed. Quickness. The defenders have to be able to cover their area well, and they have to be able to move around according to the offense. The flip side is that while gaining speed you lose size and power. Having a big running back can be a tremendous help against some defenses, because with the loss of power and size the offense suddenly has an easy mode of attack: pound. Pounding away at the core of a cover two successfully forces the safeties to cheat up to secure the run, opening the formerly large hole up top into a gaping chasm where a good quarterback should be able to put the ball.

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