Football: Explain Cover 1, Cover 2, Cover 3

[landrun]

Continuing with this thread: http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103424

Someone explain cover 1, 2 and 3.

All I Know is you attack a cover 2 down the middle (I guess because the safeties are playing out wide each helping a corner - but I don't know for sure)

Also, what defense do you run with each (4-3 etc..) or can you really run any coverage from any formation?

Thanks.... :pop:

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Cover 2 is relatively simple. Starting with the Linebackers. OLB will drop to the curl unless there is a number 2 wide receiver. (Tight Ends do not count.) If there is a number 2 wide receiver, the OLB will wall the number 2 receiver to the outside. Mike Backer will wall the Tight End toward the outside. Basically, all linebackers want to play a "trail technique" . They have to play run first. This means they will be almost chasing the receivers. This will put them between the QB and Receiver. This is good because the QB will have to throw over the linebackers. By throwing over the LB, the ball has to stay in the air longer which will allow the safety to make a play on the ball. The corners are doing the opposite, they want to keep everybody to their inside. They squat and keep outside leverage. They are looking inside at the QB. If the ball is not in the air on the QB's third step, they immediately open and run to the deep out squeezing the passing lane. As you can tell the philosophy of cover 2 is to funnel everybody to the safetys who are aligned up on the hash. You want to keep all the receivers outside the hash. Also do not worry about the short stuff. The defense must rally to the ball and punish the receiver so he will think twice about catching the ball underneath.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Cover 1

That’s man coverage with a deep safety. No defender can control the entire deep part of the field by himself, so any time there’s a single deep safety, other defenders will have to run with their receivers, hence creating man-to-man responsibilities.

[tommieharris91]

Cover 1? :confused:

Cover 2 is well, covered in that thread.

Cover 3 is a 3-deep zone where the corners and the FS play in deep zones. Usually, the linebackers and the SS play the flats, with the outside linebackers playing anything that gets close to the sidelines.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

In a cover 3 alignment one safety joins the two cornerbacks to form a three-deep alignment.

The other safety moves up and becomes the eighth man in the box. This gives the team one less underneath pass defender but does aid in stopping the run. Although this is one of the more conservative alignments on the defensive side of the ball, it is effective against both the run and the pass.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Cover 1 is something you would probably use against a heavy run team

[Curly Bill]

Cover 1 is something you would probably use against a heavy run team

...and/or if you have really good lock-down corners, linebackers that can cover the backs out, and a free safety that can cover more ground then Secretariat.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

...or if you have really good lock-down corners, linebackers that can cover the backs out, and a free safety that can cover more ground then Secretariat.


yeaahh that too:D

[Curly Bill]

...and/or if you have really good lock-down corners, linebackers that can cover the backs out, and a free safety that can cover more ground then Secretariat.

...of course when you have the above you can pretty much run whatever you want. ;)

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Kansas State watch too much game film of Nebraska's and picked up on their Cover 0 defense and used it against the Nebbish

[Fraggle145]

I love these threads... finally some sense on the fb board!

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I love these threads... finally some sense on the fb board!


Dont worry...somewhere someone is plotting a Mike Gundy thread about the BCS, SEC and a playoff system all into one

[Curly Bill]

I love these threads... finally some sense on the fb board!

Well...now you've gone and jinxed us! :D

[JohnnyMack]

...and/or if you have really good lock-down corners, linebackers that can cover the backs out, and a free safety that can cover more ground then Secretariat.

So what you're sayin' is we'll never run a cover 1. Thanks.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

So what you're sayin' is we'll never run a cover 1. Thanks.


OU pretty much did against Air Force...thats why Brandon Everage had half a trillion tackles

[sooner KB]

http://letstalkdefense.com/cover1.gif


http://letstalkdefense.com/cover2.gif


http://letstalkdefense.com/cover3.gif

[Curly Bill]

So what you're sayin' is we'll never run a cover 1. Thanks.

No, actually I wouldn't mind seeing us do some of that. We couldn't do it all the time mind you (neither can anyone else) but to mix it in when the time is right....I can see it now: pick up their backs, receivers, TE's in some man-to-man, and then maximum blitz with everyone else...oh, the carnage! :D

[ashley]

We also run some cover 2 man under. Thats cover 2 with corners in man. Stoops the ep did a very good job. He knows his stuff.

[BIG_IKE]

The Whorns ran Cover 1 90% of the time in 05'.

[JohnnyMack]

No, actually I wouldn't mind seeing us do some of that. We couldn't do it all the time mind you (neither can anyone else) but to mix it in when the time is right....I can see it now: pick up their backs, receivers, TE's in some man-to-man, and then maximum blitz with everyone else...oh, the carnage! :D

For us or them?

[Curly Bill]

Why for them of course, and by them I especially mean the opposing teams QB.

[StuMondo]

Reviewing the Basics of Zone Coverage

Variations of the zone blitz have been around since the 70's, but the popularity of the zone blitz didn't see an upswelling until the early 90's, as smart defensive coordinators were looking for new ways to pressure quarterbacks without having to leave their cornerbacks on the proverbial "island." Dom Capers worked the zone blitz to perfection, taking the Carolina Panthers to the NFC championship in only their second year and defensive coordinators have been tweaking his ideas ever since. Anytime you blitz, you're playing a game of risk-reward, with the risk being the big play or "homerun ball" and the reward being a drive stalling sack, forced incompletions or the momentun changing interception. The zone blitz has allowed the smart defensive coordinator to blunt the risk involved, while still maintaining a high level of reward for a well executed blitz package.

For a quick review, after the Kansas game we went over the Cover 2 Zone package and dabbled with the Cover 3, both drawn up in the pictures below:



Both schemes involve dropping 7 men in coverage, hoping to minimize the pressure placed on individual CBs that would otherwise be present in man coverage. The linebackers often divide the short middle of the field and the secondary is left to cover the vertical passing game. In the Cover 2 on the left, the safeties divide the deep areas, while the LBs and CBs cover fifths in the short passing game. The Cover 3 on the right switches it up a bit, as the safeties and CBs combine to cover the deep areas of the field. In the "cloud" technique, the safeties and one cornerback combine to split the field into thirds, while the other CB and the LBs divide the short field into quarters. In the "sky" technique, which is diagrammed above, both CBs and one safety divide the vertical game into thirds, while the other safety and the LBs divide the intermediate area into quarters.

Basic zones like these are a great way to make sure all areas are covered in the passing game and take pressure away from undermanned secondaries who may not be able to play a true Cover 0, or pure man coverage. Problem is, each zone has holes that can be exploited, and if the front four can't get enough pressure to force quick throws, good quarterbacks can sit back and pick them apart as wide receivers flood the seams of the coverage. To lessen this predictability and to increase the heat on opposing QB's, defensive coordinators often turn to the zone blitz, one of the most effective ways at throwing organized chaos at a green signal caller or offensive line.

Bringing the Blitz, with a little twist

The zone blitz is predicated on confusing the offense by not allowing them to get good pre-snap reads as to what coverage they will be facing. A well executed zone blitz can wreak havoc on young minds, because the formation can easily be confused for one of the base zone coverage schemes we saw above. Moreso, the zone blitz plays with offensive lines, as defenders often switch responsibilites after the snap, with linebackers becoming pass rushers and defensive linemen dropping into coverage. In other words, those who were anticipated to be rushing now become coverage men, and the players the offense had accounted for covering have now become blitzers.

Zone blitzes can be run out of any zone coverage scheme, whether it be a Cover 2, Cover 3 or Cover 4. Our discussion below will primarily focus on the Cover 2 and Cover 3 zone blitzes, as they're the most common we'll see in the next few weeks.

Blitzing from the Cover 2

One of the most basic types of zone blitz is when the defensive end and WILL linebacker switch responsibilities during the play, similar to what we see below:



The scheme of this blitz is quite simple; the coverage results in a Cover 2, with the weakside defensive end dropping back into coverage and the WILL linebacker splitting the defensive tackles. The idea of this blitz is to sell the offense on the DE rushing, so that the offensive tackle is forced to "waste" a blocking assignment on the DE while the LB has a free path to the QB. The WILL-DE switch also shows us another advantage of a zone blitz package; by forcing offensive lines to "waste" assignments, RBs are forced to stay in and help in pass coverage, rather than releasing into the flats or down the field into deeper routes. End result is that the defensive line, while still only rushing four, has dictated what the offense can do with its backfield personnel and also applied intense pressure up the middle, outmanning the interior line with two DTs and the WILL.

The second type of zone blitz also ends up in a Cover 2 scheme, but the personnel bringing the heat is a bit different. This time, we still drop the weakside defensive end, but we allow the MIKE backer to come through on a twist with the nose tackle, illustrated below:



Again, we're "selling" the DE rushing, so that the MIKE backer can hit the A gap hard and force the offense to commit both the center and right guard to block him. Once that happens, the DT "twists" around them, hopefully leaving either a free path to the QB or a size deficient RB left to challenge the DT in the pass rush. The coverage still results in a Cover 2, as the WILL slides over to the MIKE's pass drop and the DE covers the WILL's pass drop. Again, what we've done to the offense is force them to "waste" the assigment of the left tackle on the DE and also made them commit a RB into pass protection, while still maintaining adequate pass coverage downfield should our blitz not reach home.

Blitzing from the Cover 3

Now comes the fun, the blitzes where we really get to turn the playmakers loose on the defense and create some huge mismatch problems for certain areas of the offensive line. The first, the SAM zone blitz, is one of the most common zone blitzes around, and one that nearly every team has some variation of. The basic SAM blitz is diagrammed below:



This might be the granddaddy of them all, as it presents huge problems for the opposing quarterback and the offensive line. The first is that by playing the "sky" technique, with two CBs and one safety dropping, the SAM blitz gives the appearance of a Cover 2 scheme before the snap. What we're hoping is that the opposing quarterback reads Cover 2 and tries to audible into something down the field in the vertical game. The offense is expecting the MIKE and SAM to drop into coverage similar to the Cover 2 we've seen above. Problem is, we've got other ideas and we're going to bring the MIKE and SAM off the right side of the line while dropping the weakside end and the nose tackle. We've still got pretty nice coverage, as the underneath is divided into quarters and the vertical game into thirds. The best thing is we've now got two faster rushers coming hard off the right side, and we've also managed to place tremendous pressure on the right guard and tackle. Conveniently enough, Kansas State just so happens to have two redshirt freshmen who start at both right guard and right tackle (hint, hint).

The next blitz we have that ends up in a Cover 3 formation also happens to be the first where we send more than 4 people at the QB. This blitz, called a cross zone blitz, is bringing 3 defensive linemen while also applying pressure with the MIKE and WILL linebackers as seen below:



Again, we're running this from a base formation, hiding our intentions by giving a Cover 2 look to the quarterback. Nothing pre-snap has changed from the previous figures, and viewing this, the QB most likely thinks we're going to play our same Cover 2. Not so fast as Lee Corso would say, because at the snap we're playing the same "sky" technique as we see above in the SAM blitz. Difference is this time the SS is dropping back, the MIKE is hitting the A gap hard and the WILL is looping around him, with the FS dropping into the box to cover the pass drop that was the MIKE responsibility. The weakside DE drops out covering the old WILL pass drop, and we've given up a bit of coverage on the underneath routes. We can accept that because this blitz forces the offense into bigtime problems; it's almost guaranteed that the offense will have to keep in either both RBs or a RB and a TE, because if they don't, they're at a significant numbers disadvantage and the QB will be open for pot shots all night long. If you have a quick DT (ala Barry Cryer) you can kill the offense as the left guard is forced to match up one on one with him or have the left RB "chip", meaning one less potential receiver out in their routes.

The final blitz out of the Cover 3 is the first one where we involve a member of the secondary. In the model below, we'll see that it's the SS who comes on the blitz, although I'm willing to bet that Cosgrove will tweak this a bit to take advantage of Shanle's speed and ability to hit the blitz gaps. In the diagram below, we again see 5 rushers coming on the blitz, with the "sky" technique throughout the secondary and the field divided into thirds underneath:



Here the MIKE linebacker drops hard into the A gap, hoping to take the center and right guard with him. The SS then follows through the B gap, as the strongside DE occupies the RT and the TE. If the RB goes out into a pass route, the SS is left with a free shot at the QB. If the RB stays in, he has to man up and take on a fast moving safety in pass protection, not the easiest thing to do for true freshman Leon Patton, who goes 5'7" and 184 lbs. He'll be giving up 25 pounds to Andrew Shanle and 16+ to Tierre Green. Even if K-State chooses to chip with their fullback, John McCardle still only goes 200 lbs, making it a tough test to stand up to a similar size man on a full out sprint. If the blitz doesn't reach home though, this scheme presents the biggest opportunity for a pass play, as two LBs and one DE are forced to cover thirds of the field, not exactly the easiest task for their quickness levels.

Beating the Blitz

An old truism among defensive coordinators is the best blitz is one that the quarterback doesn't know is coming, and no other scheme embodies this more than the zone blitz. A well run zone blitz is never supposed to allow the quarterback or offensive line to know what or who is coming, and also who will be covering what areas over the top of the blitz. As offensive coordinators have begun to pick up on the zone blitz, they've also incorporated methods to help ease the decision making process for both quarterbacks and offensive linemen alike.

The first way to beat this blitz is to simply know a) it's coming and b) where it's coming from. Offenses accomplish this by using motion before the snap to force defenses to react with shifts of their own. While much has been made of the WCO's ability to "confuse" defenses with its motion, an often overlooked result of the constant shifting is that defenses are forced to show their coverages by their counter adjustments to the offensive motion. The great quarterbacks are like detectives, reading subtle clues before the snap to get an idea of what coverage and scheme defenses are in. This can be as obvious as CBs following WRs who are in motion, or as minute as a safety taking a single step outside towards a WR. The point is motion forces defenses to react accordingly to the shifts, as a defense that stood still as stone would be subject to huge mismatches resulting from simple formation shifts. As these defenses react before the snap, QBs get great clues as to the coverages and blitz packages that the defensive coordinator has called, allowing them to either change the play or create hot routes to the zone's weak spots. Any zone has weaknesses, and a QB who has studied film may know what types of zone blitzes a team favors; if he does, he simply gets his receivers into routes that take advantage of the defensive linemen that are dropping back into coverage.

The second way to beat the zone blitz may be the easiest, and yet most overlooked way of them all, varying the snap count. The zone blitz is predicated on not giving anything away about the playcall pre-snap, and timing the rush to the snap count. By using longer cadences and mixing in hard counts, savvy QBs are able to bring blitzing LBs up to the line in false anticipation of the snap. Once a QB sees this, they can either audible to a different play if they have time or slide coverage to the side where the most pressure is coming from. Hard counts aren't just about getting people to jump offsides, but also about getting defenses to "tip" their hand before the snap.

The third way to beat a zone blitz scheme is to develop a running game early and then use play action off that success. A defensive linemen's first responsibility is to defend the run, and a strong running game makes defensive coordinators hesitant to call the zone blitz, because all the defensive linemen are then needed at the point of attack to stop the run. Second, if a defensive coordinator sticks with the zone blitz, a smart offense will use the play action pass to freeze the dropping defensive linemen at the line of scrimmage and then pass into the zone the DL was assigned to cover.

The final way to beat a zone blitzing scheme is an effective bubble screen, which was designed to beat the newfangled zone blitzes that offenses were seeing. If the defensive coordinator insists on running a 3-deep zone blitz with CBs bailing out deep in the "sky" technique, offenses will often hit them with the quick bubble screen. The one below shows an effective bubble screen versus a variation of the SAM blitz we had diagrammed above:



If called at the right time, this can be huge trouble for the defense. The CB is bailing out deep down the field, the wideout seals the SS, and the slot receiver who catches the ball only has to beat the CB bailing deep and the FS coming over to help before he can take it to the barn. If you've got a receiver that is particularly good at blocking downfield and a playmaker in the slot, this is a lethal combination for defenses to account for. This is where the attack-counter attack comes in, as well executed screens can force defensive coordinators to slow down the zone blitz or move altogether into more man coverage.

[StuMondo]

Reviewing the Basics of Zone Coverage

Variations of the zone blitz have been around since the 70's, but the popularity of the zone blitz didn't see an upswelling until the early 90's, as smart defensive coordinators were looking for new ways to pressure quarterbacks without having to leave their cornerbacks on the proverbial "island." Dom Capers worked the zone blitz to perfection, taking the Carolina Panthers to the NFC championship in only their second year and defensive coordinators have been tweaking his ideas ever since. Anytime you blitz, you're playing a game of risk-reward, with the risk being the big play or "homerun ball" and the reward being a drive stalling sack, forced incompletions or the momentun changing interception. The zone blitz has allowed the smart defensive coordinator to blunt the risk involved, while still maintaining a high level of reward for a well executed blitz package.

For a quick review, after the Kansas game we went over the Cover 2 Zone package and dabbled with the Cover 3, both drawn up in the pictures below:



Both schemes involve dropping 7 men in coverage, hoping to minimize the pressure placed on individual CBs that would otherwise be present in man coverage. The linebackers often divide the short middle of the field and the secondary is left to cover the vertical passing game. In the Cover 2 on the left, the safeties divide the deep areas, while the LBs and CBs cover fifths in the short passing game. The Cover 3 on the right switches it up a bit, as the safeties and CBs combine to cover the deep areas of the field. In the "cloud" technique, the safeties and one cornerback combine to split the field into thirds, while the other CB and the LBs divide the short field into quarters. In the "sky" technique, which is diagrammed above, both CBs and one safety divide the vertical game into thirds, while the other safety and the LBs divide the intermediate area into quarters.

Basic zones like these are a great way to make sure all areas are covered in the passing game and take pressure away from undermanned secondaries who may not be able to play a true Cover 0, or pure man coverage. Problem is, each zone has holes that can be exploited, and if the front four can't get enough pressure to force quick throws, good quarterbacks can sit back and pick them apart as wide receivers flood the seams of the coverage. To lessen this predictability and to increase the heat on opposing QB's, defensive coordinators often turn to the zone blitz, one of the most effective ways at throwing organized chaos at a green signal caller or offensive line.

Bringing the Blitz, with a little twist

The zone blitz is predicated on confusing the offense by not allowing them to get good pre-snap reads as to what coverage they will be facing. A well executed zone blitz can wreak havoc on young minds, because the formation can easily be confused for one of the base zone coverage schemes we saw above. Moreso, the zone blitz plays with offensive lines, as defenders often switch responsibilites after the snap, with linebackers becoming pass rushers and defensive linemen dropping into coverage. In other words, those who were anticipated to be rushing now become coverage men, and the players the offense had accounted for covering have now become blitzers.

Zone blitzes can be run out of any zone coverage scheme, whether it be a Cover 2, Cover 3 or Cover 4. Our discussion below will primarily focus on the Cover 2 and Cover 3 zone blitzes, as they're the most common we'll see in the next few weeks.

Blitzing from the Cover 2

One of the most basic types of zone blitz is when the defensive end and WILL linebacker switch responsibilities during the play, similar to what we see below:



The scheme of this blitz is quite simple; the coverage results in a Cover 2, with the weakside defensive end dropping back into coverage and the WILL linebacker splitting the defensive tackles. The idea of this blitz is to sell the offense on the DE rushing, so that the offensive tackle is forced to "waste" a blocking assignment on the DE while the LB has a free path to the QB. The WILL-DE switch also shows us another advantage of a zone blitz package; by forcing offensive lines to "waste" assignments, RBs are forced to stay in and help in pass coverage, rather than releasing into the flats or down the field into deeper routes. End result is that the defensive line, while still only rushing four, has dictated what the offense can do with its backfield personnel and also applied intense pressure up the middle, outmanning the interior line with two DTs and the WILL.

The second type of zone blitz also ends up in a Cover 2 scheme, but the personnel bringing the heat is a bit different. This time, we still drop the weakside defensive end, but we allow the MIKE backer to come through on a twist with the nose tackle, illustrated below:



Again, we're "selling" the DE rushing, so that the MIKE backer can hit the A gap hard and force the offense to commit both the center and right guard to block him. Once that happens, the DT "twists" around them, hopefully leaving either a free path to the QB or a size deficient RB left to challenge the DT in the pass rush. The coverage still results in a Cover 2, as the WILL slides over to the MIKE's pass drop and the DE covers the WILL's pass drop. Again, what we've done to the offense is force them to "waste" the assigment of the left tackle on the DE and also made them commit a RB into pass protection, while still maintaining adequate pass coverage downfield should our blitz not reach home.

Blitzing from the Cover 3

Now comes the fun, the blitzes where we really get to turn the playmakers loose on the defense and create some huge mismatch problems for certain areas of the offensive line. The first, the SAM zone blitz, is one of the most common zone blitzes around, and one that nearly every team has some variation of. The basic SAM blitz is diagrammed below:



This might be the granddaddy of them all, as it presents huge problems for the opposing quarterback and the offensive line. The first is that by playing the "sky" technique, with two CBs and one safety dropping, the SAM blitz gives the appearance of a Cover 2 scheme before the snap. What we're hoping is that the opposing quarterback reads Cover 2 and tries to audible into something down the field in the vertical game. The offense is expecting the MIKE and SAM to drop into coverage similar to the Cover 2 we've seen above. Problem is, we've got other ideas and we're going to bring the MIKE and SAM off the right side of the line while dropping the weakside end and the nose tackle. We've still got pretty nice coverage, as the underneath is divided into quarters and the vertical game into thirds. The best thing is we've now got two faster rushers coming hard off the right side, and we've also managed to place tremendous pressure on the right guard and tackle. Conveniently enough, Kansas State just so happens to have two redshirt freshmen who start at both right guard and right tackle (hint, hint).

The next blitz we have that ends up in a Cover 3 formation also happens to be the first where we send more than 4 people at the QB. This blitz, called a cross zone blitz, is bringing 3 defensive linemen while also applying pressure with the MIKE and WILL linebackers as seen below:



Again, we're running this from a base formation, hiding our intentions by giving a Cover 2 look to the quarterback. Nothing pre-snap has changed from the previous figures, and viewing this, the QB most likely thinks we're going to play our same Cover 2. Not so fast as Lee Corso would say, because at the snap we're playing the same "sky" technique as we see above in the SAM blitz. Difference is this time the SS is dropping back, the MIKE is hitting the A gap hard and the WILL is looping around him, with the FS dropping into the box to cover the pass drop that was the MIKE responsibility. The weakside DE drops out covering the old WILL pass drop, and we've given up a bit of coverage on the underneath routes. We can accept that because this blitz forces the offense into bigtime problems; it's almost guaranteed that the offense will have to keep in either both RBs or a RB and a TE, because if they don't, they're at a significant numbers disadvantage and the QB will be open for pot shots all night long. If you have a quick DT (ala Barry Cryer) you can kill the offense as the left guard is forced to match up one on one with him or have the left RB "chip", meaning one less potential receiver out in their routes.

The final blitz out of the Cover 3 is the first one where we involve a member of the secondary. In the model below, we'll see that it's the SS who comes on the blitz, although I'm willing to bet that Cosgrove will tweak this a bit to take advantage of Shanle's speed and ability to hit the blitz gaps. In the diagram below, we again see 5 rushers coming on the blitz, with the "sky" technique throughout the secondary and the field divided into thirds underneath:



Here the MIKE linebacker drops hard into the A gap, hoping to take the center and right guard with him. The SS then follows through the B gap, as the strongside DE occupies the RT and the TE. If the RB goes out into a pass route, the SS is left with a free shot at the QB. If the RB stays in, he has to man up and take on a fast moving safety in pass protection, not the easiest thing to do for true freshman Leon Patton, who goes 5'7" and 184 lbs. He'll be giving up 25 pounds to Andrew Shanle and 16+ to Tierre Green. Even if K-State chooses to chip with their fullback, John McCardle still only goes 200 lbs, making it a tough test to stand up to a similar size man on a full out sprint. If the blitz doesn't reach home though, this scheme presents the biggest opportunity for a pass play, as two LBs and one DE are forced to cover thirds of the field, not exactly the easiest task for their quickness levels.

Beating the Blitz

An old truism among defensive coordinators is the best blitz is one that the quarterback doesn't know is coming, and no other scheme embodies this more than the zone blitz. A well run zone blitz is never supposed to allow the quarterback or offensive line to know what or who is coming, and also who will be covering what areas over the top of the blitz. As offensive coordinators have begun to pick up on the zone blitz, they've also incorporated methods to help ease the decision making process for both quarterbacks and offensive linemen alike.

The first way to beat this blitz is to simply know a) it's coming and b) where it's coming from. Offenses accomplish this by using motion before the snap to force defenses to react with shifts of their own. While much has been made of the WCO's ability to "confuse" defenses with its motion, an often overlooked result of the constant shifting is that defenses are forced to show their coverages by their counter adjustments to the offensive motion. The great quarterbacks are like detectives, reading subtle clues before the snap to get an idea of what coverage and scheme defenses are in. This can be as obvious as CBs following WRs who are in motion, or as minute as a safety taking a single step outside towards a WR. The point is motion forces defenses to react accordingly to the shifts, as a defense that stood still as stone would be subject to huge mismatches resulting from simple formation shifts. As these defenses react before the snap, QBs get great clues as to the coverages and blitz packages that the defensive coordinator has called, allowing them to either change the play or create hot routes to the zone's weak spots. Any zone has weaknesses, and a QB who has studied film may know what types of zone blitzes a team favors; if he does, he simply gets his receivers into routes that take advantage of the defensive linemen that are dropping back into coverage.

The second way to beat the zone blitz may be the easiest, and yet most overlooked way of them all, varying the snap count. The zone blitz is predicated on not giving anything away about the playcall pre-snap, and timing the rush to the snap count. By using longer cadences and mixing in hard counts, savvy QBs are able to bring blitzing LBs up to the line in false anticipation of the snap. Once a QB sees this, they can either audible to a different play if they have time or slide coverage to the side where the most pressure is coming from. Hard counts aren't just about getting people to jump offsides, but also about getting defenses to "tip" their hand before the snap.

The third way to beat a zone blitz scheme is to develop a running game early and then use play action off that success. A defensive linemen's first responsibility is to defend the run, and a strong running game makes defensive coordinators hesitant to call the zone blitz, because all the defensive linemen are then needed at the point of attack to stop the run. Second, if a defensive coordinator sticks with the zone blitz, a smart offense will use the play action pass to freeze the dropping defensive linemen at the line of scrimmage and then pass into the zone the DL was assigned to cover.

The final way to beat a zone blitzing scheme is an effective bubble screen, which was designed to beat the newfangled zone blitzes that offenses were seeing. If the defensive coordinator insists on running a 3-deep zone blitz with CBs bailing out deep in the "sky" technique, offenses will often hit them with the quick bubble screen. The one below shows an effective bubble screen versus a variation of the SAM blitz we had diagrammed above:



If called at the right time, this can be huge trouble for the defense. The CB is bailing out deep down the field, the wideout seals the SS, and the slot receiver who catches the ball only has to beat the CB bailing deep and the FS coming over to help before he can take it to the barn. If you've got a receiver that is particularly good at blocking downfield and a playmaker in the slot, this is a lethal combination for defenses to account for. This is where the attack-counter attack comes in, as well executed screens can force defensive coordinators to slow down the zone blitz or move altogether into more man coverage.

[BudSooner]

****, there is a reason i'm not a D coordinator after all....heh.
man my head hurts after all that readin, back to playing Mortal Kombat. :D

[soonersweetie]

thanks everyone!!! I am pretty good at picking up the offensive schemes, but not the defensive. This really helps!!

[MiccoMacey]

Cover Nine = Prevent defense.