How to: Cover 2
Devon
-Dev
Buc U.
By Seth Wickersham
ESPN The Magazine
Friday, August 29
Updated: September 1
10:59 AM ET
At some point during the NFL season, you will be humiliated. Seriously.
You'll invite some buds over for a game, lean back in your La-Z-Boy and
unload some sharp X's and O's talk about how the pass rush is the key to
Tampa Bay's Cover 2 defense. Then, on a third-and-12, some wiseass
(friend/sib/spouse) on the couch will leap up and, midnachos, scream, "Hey,
the Sam and Will are in the Two Catch set!"
A realization will then sink in: you don't know as much as you think you do.
Well, worry not. We're here to explain what it means to line up in the Two
Catch, to spill to the Will, to fill the B gap and to send the Mike down the
pipe. All these catch phrases, you see, are staples of the Cover 2, which is
not only a defensive alignment but also the most thrown-around NFL term
since, well, the zone blitz (mid-1990s), or possibly the 46 (mid-1980s). But
unlike those two, Cover 2 has been around for 30 years and, with the Bucs
trouncing the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, this scheme is finally getting
its props.
The concept is simple: two safeties divide the deep secondary in half. The
underneath zones are covered by the two cornerbacks and the Will (weakside),
Sam (strongside) and Mike (middle) linebackers. Blitzing is rare. Instead,
the front four attack the quarterback with stunts, shifts and speed. Cover 2
is about containment, its success dependent upon players knowing their jobs,
taking calculated risks and being patient. "There aren't many coverages,"
says Colts coach Tony Dungy, who learned the Cover 2 as a Steelers safety
under defensive coordinator Bud Carson, one of the scheme's earliest
proponents. "But each player has a lot of responsibility."
Dungy gets the credit for resuscitating the Cover 2. He used it to revive
the Bucs in 1996 and employs it now in Indianapolis. His disciples, like
Jets coach Herman Edwards and Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, spread
the gospel around the league. And we're spreading it to you, with five key
phrases and explanations that are all you need to impress -- okay, annoy --
your friends come Week 1. "Cover 2 is not complicated," says Bucs defensive
coordinator Monte Kiffin. "Know the terminology and what to look for and you
won't be embarrassed on the field."
Or, in your case, in the living room.
"Fooled by the Two Catch"
To begin again: it's not Tampa Bay's Cover 2 that causes offensive
coordinators to buy Mylanta by the box. It's Tampa Bay's Two Catch.
In this camouflaged version of the Cover 2, the cornerbacks line up seven to
eight yards off the line, rather than close enough to jam receivers as
required in the vanilla Cover 2 scheme. This positioning "catches" the
quarterback wondering if he's reading a disguised Cover 2 or some other type
of zone. In Tampa, the corners funnel receivers inside, while the Sam, Will
and Mike linebackers drop five to seven yards deep, forming an umbrella over
the pass routes.
This is when film study comes in. With Warren Sapp, Anthony McFarland and
Simeon Rice hell-bent on sacking the quarterback, any slow-developing pass
play can suddenly turn into a dump-off. So the linebackers covering
underneath need to know the quarterback's first, second and third options.
The Bucs' Mike and Sam 'backers, Shelton Quarles and Derrick Brooks, spend
so much time in the film room -- arriving at 6 a.m. during the season for 10
hours a week of study -- that they can anticipate most every pattern that
comes their way. No wonder Brooks scored four defensive touchdowns last
season. "The five underneath are what make Tampa so good," says Falcons
defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. "With that pass rush, you've got to
throw short, and they're always in position."
That's what frustrates opposing quarterbacks. "You just can't force the ball
into coverage," says Brett Favre. "You've got to be patient. You'd think
with them rushing only four guys, you could get the ball off, but it's very
difficult." Take the Bucs' 21-7 win over the Packers in November: the Two
Catch caught four Favre passes.
"Perfect spill to the Will"
You'll read this next sentence and think we've been drinking: One reason the
Bucs won the Super Bowl is that they were so good at missing tackles.
It's true. Dungy and his Cover 2 preachers -- Edwards, Kiffin and Smith --
practice spilling ballcarriers from defender to defender. The theory: if you
can't make a tackle, give your teammate his best chance to do it. The Bucs,
Colts, Jets and Rams spend every Wednesday during the season practicing the
art of the miss. If a back takes a swing pass outside, the linebacker has to
make sure that if he misses the tackle, he does so in a way that turns the
play inside. "Miss one way and you'll have guys there to help," Edwards
says. "Miss wrong, and the play goes for 20 yards."
Passing a ballcarrier like a salt shaker before gang-tackling him is how
Cover 2 teams stop the run despite being stocked with lanky and quick
defensive ends, not to mention small, fast linebackers. "You have only three
linebackers to cover four or five gaps," Quarles says. "So we've got to be
our smartest. If they run toward me, I'm going to turn it back to Brooks.
He'll make the play, or he'll try to spill it to [safety] John Lynch."
Tampa relied on this approach in two wins last year against Mike Vick's
Falcons. Kiffin knew that the southpaw QB scrambled left. But no matter
where the pressure was, Vick would fake right first, setting up a wicked
juke the other way. So when the first Bucs defender closed in, he'd
purposely buy Vick's fake, just to set up a trap. On a third-and-1 in the
first quarter of Tampa's 34-10 win in December, Vick faked right and Brooks
spilled him left, where Rice, Sapp and strong safety John Howell were
waiting. Howell tagged Vick for a 10-yard loss. So when Vikings coach Mike
Tice says, "Nobody tackled better than the Bucs last year," it's only half
the story.
They missed better than anyone else, too.
"Doubling up the B gap"
The Bucs will never be mistaken for the pressure-happy Eagles, who often put
15 to 20 new blitzes into a game plan. But Tampa Bay doesn't sit back
either. "They have a couple of blitzes," says Vikings offensive coordinator
Scott Linehan. "But they don't change formation until it's too late for the
offense, so it's hard to adjust."
In one blitz, Lynch waits until the quarterback is well into his count
before sneaking into the box. At the snap, he and Quarles double up the B
gap, the spot between the right offensive tackle and guard. "They send two
blitzers through one gap," says Linehan. "It's unorthodox, but it forces you
to go to your hot reads." That dupes an offense right into the Two Catch,
which is rotating to the QB's first-look receiver.
In last year's playoffs, Tampa's most reliable blitz had cornerback Ronde
Barber lining up in his usual Cover 2 look, then sneaking down and over to
just outside the defensive end and rushing hard off the edge. During the NFC
championship game, with the Eagles at the Bucs' 48-yard line and down by
seven early in the third quarter, Barber sacked Donovan McNabb and forced a
fumble, which was recovered by defensive tackle Ellis Wyms. In the fourth
quarter, Barber crept to his blitzing spot to bait McNabb, then backed off
into the Two Catch zone. McNabb ended up playing catch with Barber, who
returned the ball 92 yards for a touchdown. "We may not get as many sacks as
some teams," says Quarles, "but because of how we time our blitzes, we
almost always get pressure, and that gets us interceptions."
Last year it got them 31, tops in the NFL.
"The Mike down the pipe"
If every Cover 2 team ran Cover 2 all the time, the defense would be more
transparent than the plot of Girls Gone Wild. Even Tampa switches up by
sending Quarles down the middle of the field -- the pipe -- to cover the
deep third of the secondary. On long-yardage passing downs, a Cover 2 team
expects deep crossing routes, but it wants opponents to throw short,
underneath passes. Putting a 'backer in deep pass coverage, usually just
beyond the first-down marker, forces the quarterback to risk throwing over
him or to play it safe with underneath stuff. Quarles shades in the
direction of the No. 1 receiver, giving the Bucs a sneaky double-team.
Sending the Mike down the pipe helped force three of Rich Gannon's five
picks in Super Bowl XXXVII. And, of course, teams around the league are
following the Bucs' lead. The Rams send Tommy Polley. Miami does it with
Zach Thomas, the Colts with Rob Morris. The Mike is the exception that
improves the rule.
"The Smash Concept"
The Cover 2 is not unbeatable. In fact, when attacked correctly, it has more
gaps than the Mall of America. To really impress your friends the next time
you see Tampa getting crushed -- which isn't often -- listen to Chiefs
offensive coordinator Al Saunders, advocate of the Smash Concept.
Last year, Kansas City scored a combined 77 points against the Dolphins and
Jets, both Cover 2 teams. His Smash Concept works by flooding a zone with
more receivers than defenders can cover. Last year against the Dolphins in
Week 4, Saunders used the Smash this way: receiver Johnnie Morton lined up
wide left and tight end Tony Gonzalez went in motion from the right to the
left slot. Morton ran a 12-yard hook, settling in the middle zone between
cornerback Sam Madison and safety Brock Marion. Meanwhile, Priest Holmes
came out of the backfield and flared left as well, stopping right in front
of Madison. As quarterback Trent Green pumped to Morton, Marion drifted over
and Gonzalez ran past him, heading for the deep corner. At that moment,
Miami's Cover 2 was smashed by three receivers in the same zone. The pass
went deep to Gonzalez, who had Marion beat by, oh, half of Missouri.
The Chiefs ran the Smash out of different looks in the game, and Gonzalez
caught seven passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns. "In Cover 2,"
Saunders says, "your safeties better cover a lot of field, and your corners
better force receivers inside. Otherwise, the tight end will be open."
Cover 2 zones can be smashed even without an All-Pro tight end. During last
season's 41-0 playoff whipping of the Colts -- yes, Dungy's Cover 2 Colts --
Jets QB Chad Pennington consistently sent four receivers into short, quick
routes. He never forced the ball upfield, and when the Colts linebackers
jumped on the short stuff, Pennington countered with outside screens.
Pennington's intentionally quick pace kept the defensive line from getting
pressure, and the zones broke down. "If you're going to play seven guys in
coverage, you've got to have a rush," says Favre. "Without it, you will find
holes and weaknesses in the defense."
But you? You won't have any holes. No, now you're armed with the phrases and
insight to impress your friends and family. You'll see the Mike shooting
down the pipe, leap from your seat and yell, "C'mon, Brett, audible to the
Smash!"
Then your grandma says, "But he won't have time, not with the Mike and the
Will in a cross- zone blitz!"
A what?
Doug O'Neill
Doug
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