The Situation

© More from this issue

          
You’re on defense and have been using a 4-3, cover 2 defense for most of the game. Your opponent is in a Power I formation with one WR on each side. The ball is on your 30-yard line on the near hash mark and you’re facing a 4th and 2 situation late in the third quarter. As the ball is snapped the QB is in play action, the tight end on the right side flares out and both wide outs look to be in a crossing pattern.

How do you cover this fourth down play and stop your opponent’s offense from making a first down?

Mike Morrison, Defensive Coordinator, and Patrick Russell, Head Coach, Mills University Studies High School, Little Rock, AR. AFM subscribers since 2005 and 2006, respectively.

Since we run a Shade 50 Defense, on 4th and 2 we would call Strong 55 which is our Cover 2 package. We call it Strong 55 as we declare to the strong side of the formation and 55 is our Cover 2 package, but the linebackers and cornerbacks are all in line – 5 across. On the play action, our defensive line would attack their gaps. End has ghost 6. He would be first contain on a run to him and trail on run away. The T4i would attack the B gap from the 4i technique with the Sam linebacker behind him responsible for the A gap. Our Nose would be in a shade to the TE call and would have A gap responsibility. Behind him is the Mike linebacker who is responsible for B gap. The T5 will be in a 5 technique and be responsible for the C gap. Next to him the Will linebacker who is in a 9 technique and has D gap responsibilities which mirror the Defensive End. He’ll be first contain with flow to and trail with flow away.

In this particular play our defensive line would react to the run first. They will all attack their gaps with the Will linebacker noticing the PA and dropping in the hook/curl zone to the TE side. The Mike linebacker will drop into the middle hook/curl zone and the Sam linebacker will drop to the hook/curl zone away from the TE. They will read the QB and look for any crossing routes or slants coming from the receiver or flanker. The cornerbacks are up on the line to the outside of the receivers. They need to get a good jam on the receiver to break up the timing and then drop into the flats looking for the short smash route or the out route from the TE. On a running play they would defeat the receiver block and have second contain on flow to. The Rover and Free Safety are our deep cover 2 guys. Their job is to read the QB. On the PA they will slowly come up then drop into their halves as the QB drops back to pass. The backers will look for the crossing routes while the corner looks for the quick out from the TE. Hopefully our defensive line will get some pressure on the QB, disrupt the timing and maybe bring him down in the backfield.

Strong 55 (cover 2)

---

Bobby Korenic, former HS coach and currently scouting consultant, Northeast Ohio. AFM subscriber since 2005.

As part of our 4-3 cover 2 defense, we have the capability to play the ‘under’ version of the 4-3 which we call our eagle package. The run fits coverage behind the eagle front and is designed to get both safeties involved in the run game and underneath pass coverage. This is perfect to stop the power run game and play action passes that you expect in this situation. If the offense decides to pass, the coverage is called quarters man which allows aggressive play by the safeties and corners.

When the ball is snapped, the strong safety and strong corner are keying the tight end. In this case, the tight end releases on a flare pattern which keys the strong safety to step down from his alignment at eight yards deep and rob the curl area. This puts him in an ideal situation also to play the crossing route by the ‘Z’ WR. As the strong safety robs the curl and plays the crossing routes, the strong corner is also keying the tight end. The flare route by the tight end keys the corner to run with the crossing pattern by the ‘Z’ WR like man coverage. This same scenario occurs to the split end side of the defense. The free safety and weak corner are keying the tackle to the split end side of the offensive line. The tackles’ ‘high hat’ pass read keys the free safety to drop down and play the out route and flat pattern while the weak corner takes the ‘X’ WR man-to-man. Again, the free safety is in great position to help on all underneath routes including the crossing route by the ‘X’ WR.

In this defense we teach the linebackers to pattern-read which helps them play aggressively underneath zone coverage instead of just spot dropping. The Sam linebacker keys the tight end. When the tight end releases on the flare route, the Sam linebacker carries him to the flat and would run with him if he were to run an out and up which is commonly called the ‘wheel’ route. The Will and Mike linebackers take their normal hook to curl pass-drops while pattern reading. As a base rule, the Mike’s pass-drop is dictated by the release of the tight end. In this case, the tight end releases outside which keys the Mike to now look for some type of inside pass route by the ‘Z’ receiver. The Will linebacker drops hook to curl to the weak side of the defense and mirrors the ‘X’ receiver on an inside pass route. In summary, the eagle package with quarters man-pass coverage is an exceptionally effective way to play a nine man front to stop the short yardage, power running game and also defend the play action passing game.

Eagle Defense with Quarters/Man Coverage

NEW BOOK!

Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach