Cover 2 Man Defense explained

[zzap999]

How do you defeat this type of defense? Answer: Run right through it.

[onetimejustonce]

unmentioned weakness is a wheel route out of the backfield...you have a linebacker on a back in VERY open space so long as you have the receiver vacate that zone....

[FantasticF00tballer]

The cover 2 man is also vulnerable to a QB that can run. If it's third and six and you are playing against Micheal Vick, and you call Cover 2 man. All Vick needs is an opening on the D- line and he will pick up an easy 15 yards with his feet. You could spy him, though a spy is more effective in a cover one. The good news is this sort of defense is usually called against a pocket passer.

[BaNgInHeAdS]

In cover 2 man the two safeties have deep halves while the corners and all the linebackers are playing man to man coverage. Exactly what was explained in the video. In the tampa 2 the safeties still have deep halves. The corners are now responsible for the flats. Your outside linebackers now have hook to curl.  And the middle backer is responsible for the middle deep hole. So if you have a stud mike linebacker it is almost(but not quite) a type of cover 3. So no, this is not a tampa 2.

[toonsis]

Nice verks

[Blitzbok]

Is there a technical journal out there that I can get that discusses all this stuff? I'm desperate for something like this.

[think4everyone]

you only use this defense if you have quick linebackers, a fast defense, and have continuous,effective pass rush. Without these 3 qualities a tampa 2 will not work.

[urgoing21134]

@think4everyone this is not a Tampa 2... is a Cover 2 Man

[think4everyone]

@urgoing21134 cover 2 is basically a tampa 2, what he showed here is a tampa 2

[Forw1072]

@think4everyone in a tampa 2 the mlb plays a "tad" bit deeper in the middle of the field but its virtually the same

[XRRfan]

@think4everyone no its not, this is cover 2 man, tampa 2 is a zone coverage very different. In a tampa 2 the CB's play zone on the outside the safety;s play deep halves , the M backer plays middle zone & the outside backers play the seams. tony dungy when he used it had a great d line & only needed 4 to rush the passer making it very difficult. Crossing routes R less effective on a tampa 2 than a cover 2 man defense. the tampa 2 if U have protection can get beat deep it will be 1v1 on a saftey

[GreenmonstaLB]

that is why this is a situational defense. Last man with the chalk always wins guys, take it as situational.

[highwater03]

4 Wide outs would kill a cover 2.

[larendixon]

hate to tell you the reason almost all teams use multiple coverages is to avoid such mismatches...you shift out of it into a different coverage that suits what your facing

[chrismedill]

4 WRs would constitute a personal change on the defense adding more DBs on the field, but they could definitely still run a cover 2 (man or zone). Miami ran a 4-3 cover 2 man 99% of the time during their last run at the beginning of the decade. Not my favorite defense but it has been done with success in the past. Their philosophy was to match up skill players with skill players man-to-man. They were confident that their DBs were going to be better athletes than their opponents WRs.

[popolodude]

@highwater03 duh!

[highwater03]

@popolodude

fuck off noob

[popolodude]

@highwater03 ya mama you dick!

[highwater03]

@popolodude

Says someone with a British flag. rofl

How's that "futbol" working for ya?

[popolodude]

@highwater03 your point....idiot.

[TexasLongHorns399]

@highwater03 Not exactly, if all the those wide outs are running shorts routes cover 2 can still be good.

[handballr15]

It's "almost impossible" if you're playing straight man . But here you have help from the Cover 2 safties. I tell the "man under" guys to jam all receivers aggressively, and keep them 6-8 yards from the LOS as long as possible. Every receiver looks "covered " to the QB. When a receiver finally "escapes " deep, the free safties will pick them up.

[Shadapaga]

of course thats what you have to do. Man is very hard if you dont press. This is because you cant get between the qb and wr when you play 5 yards off. In 2 man under press them and tell your db's to NOT LET THE WR INSIDE and be very physical. then basic man principles. playmakers will make plays.

[handballr15]

I think the weakness of a two-deep zone is the fade, or sideline streak routes. The free safeties can't get there. Why not have the corners take away the OUTSIDE routes be taking outside shades?

[emperor1337]

Because the safeties are supposed to keep on top of the receivers, inside their respective zone. The safeties are going to take away outside routes, and the corners are pushing the receivers outside to the safeties.  The fade works because not only is the receiver going up over the corner, but they are going out away from the approaching safety as well, depending on where the ball is spot laterally on the field (hashes or in the middle).

[handballr15]

Well, that's my point. If the corners jam the outside receivers IN, they won't be able to force the safeties to cover the sidelines as much. In other words, keep all receivers more or less INSIDE, so the safeties don't leave a huge space between their zones.

[emperor1337]

I think I understand, so in the case you have your whole defense playing Cover 2 man, and tell your corners to bump inwards, you are pushing the receivers into the crossing routes, which is the weakness of Cover 2 man because the safeties play the deep routes not the underneath ones.

[handballr15]

Exactly! The two safeties have deep halves, and the "5 under " are straight man on all possible receivers. The fun starts if a receiver is in the backfield, or at tight end. Then you can get creative with their assignments (blitze, etc.)

[goody002]

Sorry Shadapaga, I meant shade to the outside, and funnel the receiver inside for Cover 1.

[Shadapaga]

in cover 1 you need to shade inside and play in between the qb and wr

cover2 you shade outside and play the flats keep the reciever inside you if you can if he aligns outside the numbers cover his fade until your flats are threatened.

cover 2 man play just like cover 1. if you play''d it like c2 there would be no point to have the man coverage underneath they would be beat.

[Shadapaga]

this would never work, its impossible to cover a wr man2man from the outside-in, in college wr are taught to get levrage on the d-back by "stacking" them to stack a dback you just try to face the dback head on so he cant take away any of your direction. giving up the inside would be much worse go and play pickup ball and try cover from the outside in you will get burned on everything, when the db is not between the wr and qb he has no influence or guess at which direction the wr is going.

[goody002]

You don't necessary "give" him the inside, but you have help inside with a single deep safety. I know thats how they teach college DB's to approach a cover 1 look. If you're going to have a guy get inside of you, its not as big of a deal because you have a safety in the deep middle.

In this cover 2 look, there isn't any help in the middle of the field, so you have to keep the inside. You force him out and can play a little under because of the half field safeties.

[Shadapaga]

Your theorizing and not focusing on the practical pricipals. there are weakness's in the cover 2 in the middle and on the outside obviously but the defense compensates the fade by db pushing reciever inside toward the hook to curl and the safteys deep half. The deep middle of the field is the weakness your talking about and it shouldnt matter if you have pressure from the dline. the wr is supposed to be rerouted by the flat db and the qb should be sacked before the wr runs a post in the gap.

[goody002]

Theorizing?

I'm talking about cover 2 man under. Not cover 2 zone. You're talking about rerouting, but if you reroute to the inside in a man technique in cover 2 man, you're giving up the biggest hole in the zone. If you beat a guy inside with this look, and you have any type of vertical threat backside, there's going to be a bubble. At least if you reroute him to the outside, somebody is between the man and the ball. That doesn't happen in this look if you give up the inside and play trail.

[Shadapaga]

ill go over how to play the defenses.

Cover 2 zone-outside shade reciever, reroute in and try to avoid fade, if they run 2 vert then shuffle back until someone threatens flats.

cover 2 man under- play man to man inside shade, you have help over the top to prevent the deep ball. you need to play good man coverage because the lb's are in man too.

If you played 2 man under your way, what would happen when they run a slant, automatic 10-15 yards if the safties can make the tackle.what dont you get?

[goody002]

...that's what I've been saying the whole time. I pointed out that you have deep help in the middle of the field in cover 1, so you play it with the knowledge you have help. You don't give up the inside in cover 2 man. The only time you have help in the middle in a man zone scheme is with cover 1. I was under the impression that you were suggesting that you reroute in cover 2 man to the inside and then play trail technique.

I get everything, that I can assure you.

[rapiddominace]

We run a cover 2 designed to take away the middle of the field. All our DB's read #2, if he runs a seam the corner locks on #1 and the Safety takes the seam. If #2 runs an out, corner jumps it and the safety takes deep half vs. #1.

[Shadapaga]

the cover2 is designed to only have holes inbetween the safeties and the fade. Reading inside out is always how you play zone because of crossing routes and anything else.

[rapiddominace]

our cover 2 takes that stuff away...it has to because we always run it against any single back set. Generally we pick or swat 90% of the stuff thrown deep middle.

I would say the soft spots are outs by #3 in trips if we have a sklow outside linebacker. Also you can get us with hitches by number 1 if our corners aint good, but usually the corners ar the best players on the team.

[Shadapaga]

there can always be a weakness in the middle and outside of your safeties but it works with pressure. are you thinking to run it against a singleback because it they cant threaten the flats. Because you could just as easily run a wr or te into the flats.

say in pro form they had

wr1-fade

te-10 yd. hitch

rb-flare

the rb would be wide open if you let your cb's go whenever. the te would occupy the LBs, the wr would pull the corner, and safety, and in high school it would most likely be a td.

[rapiddominace]

We run it against single back so people can't run four verticals on us. It takes all of that away.

In your scheme you gave

Strong safety takes #1 over the top

strong side backer and middle handle your hitch.

Flare is handled by the corner. Wide reciever would not pull the corner because he is reading #2. If my corner sees a TE do a hitch he forgets about #1 and stays in the flat

Where you gonna throw?

[Shadapaga]

you can run 4 verts in singleback but thats besides th point.

You described two different defenses. First you said that the cb would go with the fade if the ran 2 verts on 1 side now you are saying he would sit in the flats. It makes no sense to me, the cbs may be the best players on the field but they cant do 2 things at once.

[Shadapaga]

actually looking at it, i would seriously avoid running cover 2 against singleback. It seems like a really bad idea unless you really count on pressure.

[rapiddominace]

It seems like a bad idea, only because you don't know what you are talking about.....either that or you don't know what I'm talking about.

[Shadapaga]

you said that you cant run 4 verts. from singleback and its the pefect formation for 4 verts. Is your logic messed up or did you make amistake.

[rapiddominace]

not what I said.

We run cover two against single backs specifically to stop four verts. You're the one who made the mistakes. Forgive me, but you aren't the best at reading comprehension.

[rapiddominace]

I didn't describe two defenses. I just described how we run cover 2.

Yep, he reads #2 (the inside reciever). If #2 runs a seam, he goes with the #1(outside guy) if . They can do and have done it, for three years now with great success.

I'm sorry if you don't get it, but alot of people run cover two like that.

[Shadapaga]

i gave you two scenarios and you said the corner could read the differene between the two. I really would love to see the corner play these two scenarios and i guarentee a good qb wwould make the read and score. If the cb recognizes the vert and goes with the fade its the flare for a td. if the cb sits its the skinny post for a td. Theres no way your corners can make that read just because you play it on teams that dont pass doesnt mean its successful either.

[rapiddominace]

our corners, even our JV ones, have been able to make that read for three years. We played it against fucking La Habra and it worked just fine.

The flare for a TD? We don't just stand there and watch the guy run. We do actually close on the ball. Besides......our linebacker picks it up.

[rapiddominace]

And yes, we always put our best athletes at corner.

[Shadapaga]

okay they throw a basic cover2 combo at you

wr1-fade

te-skinny post

rb-flare

thats means you have 2 backside wr which would be very hard to cover in cover 2 without great pressure (fade/post combo) also the 2nd time you described the coverage you said the safty has the fade, the skinny post would be wide open and the cb would cover flats. It also would be impossible for the corner to recognize the te's pattern to read before the fade blows by him.

[rapiddominace]

wr1-fade = corner

te-skinny post = strong safety

rb-flare = strong side backer, hook curl to flat.

The skinny post would not be wide open because both the corner and safety are reading the TE. If he goes deep they both do, unless the wide out runs a hitch, then the corner breaks on it.

It would not be impossible because he six yards off and trained to do it. We do it every day, in fact we did it today about 20 times.

[rapiddominace]

shit, come to think of it, we've even run it on JV for three years and haven't had any problem's

[Shadapaga]

A great coach would recognize the kids reads on film, a decent coach would recognize your in a cover 2 and then just exploit your corners impossible reads. , you are playing against teams that throw the ball maybe 5-10 times a game your pass coverage is almost irrelevant no matter how shitty it is so please dont describe your success.

[rapiddominace]

You're just trying to find any negative....like I said, it isn't impossible. Many team do it, not just mine. It's the way people are running cover two now. I'm in Orange County Ca. I'd say we have teams that throw the ball around here. In fact we went to the coverage out of neccesity to be able to deal with Sunset league teams that constanlty ran four verts with flares.

[rapiddominace]

further, we weren't the only team who ran cover two this way in the CIF finals and state championships. Not to mention all the college and pro teams that run it this way now.

Honestly, when was the last time you sat down with some college coaches, ala Pete Carrol or Jim Heackock (ohio state DC) and watched a shitload of film. They'll let you in if you show up in the spring. Just try it.

I think you are probably behind the times.

[Shadapaga]

i just explained why this defense would get killed with your defense, thats how i know that you made it up yourself. I play college football, my coach interns with NYG, my dbacks coach played NFL, I have a film rooom with any college practice available to me. I dont need to go to their campus to watch their film i also have a coach that played d-back at USC and he just graduated last year and was a 5-year player there so he knows the defense too. I dont need to try it i am not behind the times.

[rapiddominace]

You play college football where? On Xbox. Dude, you have no idea what you are talking about. This is how most people are running cover two these days.

I picked out my DB Coach specifically because he played this coverage in college. So they obviously ran it too.

If it true, what you said about your coaches, then just ask them how people are running cover two now. USC runs it that way. You can't even number recievers correctly.

[Shadapaga]

dont see how the coverage could work because the reads dont make sense to me. how could the corner tell if the te is going on a post, blocking, or running the deep curl. . what if the te takes off down the field the wr1 runs a fade then the cb picksup the fade and the te ends up just running a deep hook. then the flats are wide open. i dont know how the cb makes that read its illogical to assume he just instictively knows what hes doing. i play at a junior college in NY.

[rapiddominace]

Junior college in New York? That explains alot. New York Football is pretty bad. If you came out to Cali, you'd learn to play cover 2 that way.

He can do it because

a: He is used to doing it

b: He is looking at #2

Deep hook, the LB would sink......if you didn't keep your back in to block, deep curl will get sacked. It all works itself out.

Plus yeah, we do give up short shit every now and then, but we rally to the ball and tackle.

[Shadapaga]

You can see i have a great coaching staff, and my conference produced alot of talent. Actually Graig Cooper, LeSean McCoy and shonn greene where all playing in my conference. NY football is pretty good anyways its not FLA, TX, CA, NJ but its good football. to take away the middle of the field in cover 2 its called cover 2 buck i already explained how i would exploit that defense. no matter how used to the reads the corner is he wouldnt know to go with the fade or not, it would b 2 late.

[rapiddominace]

No, I can't see how you have a great coaching staff. You think the normal way to play cover 2 is unsound.

New york football sucks. Play a JC out here that runs the same coverage I'm talking about (most do) and see what happens to you. You'd get annihilated.

The corners would be just fine and in fact they are. They just read #2. I don't know why I have to keep explaining this.

[Shadapaga]

theres no proof that your shit works. Show me film if it is so prevelent.

[rapiddominace]

I was thinking of doing just that, but then I thought shit.....just get yourself Itunes, download some games and watch....most colleges run it that way. I certainly ain't putting film of my team up if that's what you want. That'd just be dumb.

[Shadapaga]

ive never seen it taught that way reading inside out is a great idea but to give the corner two different reads is dumb and unrealistic to me.

[rapiddominace]

You've never seen it taught that way because you're behind the times. Whole state of New York probably is as far as football is concerned.....Tejas, Cali, Ohio, Florida...we're on the cutting edge.

It might seem dumb and unrealistic to you, but you're young and inesperianced etc. You have no idea how much you can make a person do if you teach it right.

[Shadapaga]

there is good and bad football everywhere i explained that alot of players came out of my conference it usually is good competition for a juco.

[rapiddominace]

hold on, ill get you a link.

[rapiddominace]

You can sorta make it out here

"Giambona's 2008 Goldenwest College Highlight Video"

Plenty of four verts in this.

Looks a little slow, but I think its just the film.

[rapiddominace]

actually, #30 on this tape is my DB coach.

[Shadapaga]

at 3:30 you see the cb is slow on his read gets beat deep the only thing that prevents the td is a shitty quarterback. The safety had to cover 3 people because the corner got burnt. But even if he didnt get burnt like that his indecisiveness would have cost his a td and the qb still could have thrown to the flats to a rb or te and it would have been a nice gain.

[rapiddominace]

You think football is a video game where everything goes perfect. There's a mistake on every play.....if every coach was a great as you, then instead of the other couple of hundred times they ran the defense right and didnt fuck up, you still would have scored on every play.

[rapiddominace]

Come to think of it, that's my DB coach getting beat and it's because he gets caught flat footed....he recovers very nicely though and besides...like you've never made a mistake playing football?

[Shadapaga]

he got beat because the recever tricked the shit out of him. In cover 2 he is taught to push the reciever in towards the coverage he never touched the reciever because the reciever faked going in and then the reciever caught him and went down the field untouched. Explain your cb reads again to me because they sounded really bad.

[rapiddominace]

I think on that particular play they had him jamming the guy, which is hard to do in highschool, we don't do that. Nevertheless he got back to where he needed to be.

Again, the corner reads the number 2 (inside receiver). If both recivers go deep, so does the corner.

You think they sound bad because you're behind the times and you guys run an old fashioned cover 2.

[Shadapaga]

its nothing new to run cover 2 and read inside out its not really as groundbreaking as you make it sound. I think it was arrogant and untrue for you to say that your cover 2 takes away the middle of the field and has no weaknesses.

[rapiddominace]

Our cover 2 takes away the middle of the field, that's just the way it goes.....I never said it didn't have weaknesses, but I didn't mention them. The main weakness is draw and screen and we have to cover that with our d-linemen.

[Shadapaga]

how does your cover 2 take away the middle....when do your d lineman cover?

[rapiddominace]

It takes away the middle because any vertical/skinny post etc. is taken away by the safeties. I think I've explained this.

Our defensive linemen cover when they read screen. Aside from that we might drop a backside end or have him cover a throw back, which incidentally is another play that can get us.

[cubuffs42]

d lineman cover in a special play known as the "zone blitz." most high school teams don't use it, it starts with the college game, roughly...

[Shadapaga]

do you know anything about football?

[cubuffs42]

Id like to think so...I guess I misinterpreted your question.

[cubuffs42]

I reread your question, my apologies. I thought you asked when do d-lineman typically cover. Im sorry.

[rapiddominace]

I don't really care if you think we would get killed running this defense because my shiny State Championship ring tells me I know more than you.

[Shadapaga]

a lb will not be able to cover the flare l i would love that matchup because you cant cover "hook-to-curl to flats" especially on the wide side of the field. the cb cant tell if its run or pass reading the te, the cb doesnt have enough time to tell if the te is going vert or not. The te could have just as easily done a deep curl and there is the cb would be following the fade. You get away with it becasue you coach young kids who cant throw the ball, and your competition is weak.

[rapiddominace]

The cb can tell if it's a pass when the fucking tight end runs a rout......the corner back has plenty of time, because it's instinctive. he does it abput fifty times a day.

Deep curl takes time......good luck blocking our d-line. We're better coached up front than anybody else. I coach high school kids in Orange County Ca. The teams I have coached on have won 6 straight league titles and last year, running this coverage, we won a fucking State Chamopionship.

[Shadapaga]

cool what school do you coach at.

If you win with that defense college ball is alllooooooottttt more different than highschool . More so than i thought.

[rapiddominace]

Um, USC runs the same cover two we run....alot of others do too. I can't believe yours doesn't.

[Shadapaga]

Usc actually doesnt my coach just gradutaed from their whoever told you that lied to you. who do you coach.

[rapiddominace]

Um, I saw them run it in their spring game with my own two eyes.

Also, UCLA runs the coverage, in fact, that's who we went to to learn it from after they beat SC with while running it in '06

[Shadapaga]

quite easily, its almost impossible to cover man while the reciever is inside you. you are not inbetween him and the Qb and you will get burnt. watch more film you will see. if you want to push the reciever to the safties go base cover 2.

[goody002]

When you play cover 1 you are supposed to shade to the inside.

The weakness of the cover 2 is the fadeonly if the safety doesn't get over the top. The real weakness is in the center of the field. You give up the middle of the field and play trail technique, you have a guy going 60 yards.

It kind of correlates as to the design of the Tampa 2 defense--deep MLB takes up former hole to an extent.

You can't play trail technique and give up the inside in this look.

[stofva]

Where can you purchase these videos?

[ihaveniceass]

where can i find other videos from this coach?

[TopGunQBAcademy]

This coach is an excellent teacher. All his videos teach - there isn't a lot of fluff and you can learn a lot listening to him teach

[Hotpocketmountiandew]

Awesome! That makes a whole lot of sense and it's cool to see that even though a play is well rounded and can stop the O most of the time that it does have contrasting weaknesses too.