The Cover 2!!

There is one defensive alignment that every team knows well and that is the Cover 2. This style of defense, along with it’s close derivative the “Tampa 2″ is a very successful style that is mostly used to defeat the West Coast Offense that spread defenses out and attacked all over the field. Let’s look closer at the Cover 2.

First, let’s look the Diagram of the Cover 2 and the basic responsibilities of the defensive players.

The first thing that you should notice is a Cover 2 is played out of the 4-3 formation. 4 Down lineman and 3 Linebackers. As you can see, the Free and Strong Safety have the responsibility of Covering the deep halves of the field, hence the name Cover 2. The other very important factor is the play of the Linebackers. In the original Cover 2 the Middle Linebacker didn’t drop that deep. In the Tampa 2, the deep middle of the field is the responsibility of the Middle Linebacker, so it is vital for this defense to have a versatile Middle backer. He must have the speed to cover the deep middle portion, the fluidity to flip his hips and run along with the stoutness that is needed in run support. In addition, the two Outside Linebackers need to be able the cover the remaining section that has now been vacated by the Middle Linebacker.

The Cornerbacks basically stay within a 10-15 yard vicinity of the line of scrimmage. They must be active in run support and mostly cover the Flat, the area at the line of scrimmage outside of the Tackles. Once the Wide Receiver leaves the Cornerback’s coverage area he is then covered by the Safety. This defense is extremely good at taking away the Deep Passing game as it often gives the QB no good window to throw into. An overthrow as well as an under thrown ball is trouble.

The way to attack the Cover 2 is in the seam. The area between the LB and Safety. If the offense has a fast, good pass catching TE or a talented WR in the Slot, that could be a vital weapon against the Cover 2.

For the Defense in the Cover 2, pressure from the front 4 is vital. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their glory day, had Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice who were both unblockable at times. That rush, coupled with the versatility of a Derrick Brooks, gave Tony Dungy and later Jon Gruden many options for attacking the offense. The Tampa 2 is basically a Cover 2 with improvements to the weaknesses of the original Cover 2. The emphasis on gang tackling, swarming to the ball, staying in your zone, pressure from the front 4 and hard hitting Safeties who could cover in the passing game and lay a licking on a Running Back in the run game.

The Tampa 2 was an innovation in the game that made Offensive Coordinators work harder to figure out how to attack such a balanced Defense. The key to the scheme however was found in it’s players. The system requires great athletes, pass rushers and pure tacklers at every position…or the Super Bowl 37 Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers!!