Understanding coverages allows you to know what the defense is trying to do. If you can understand where the defenders are going to be and what their responsibilities are then you can figure out ways to exploit and beat the defense. Mastering the mental side of the game is the separator from good to great and great to elite. Once you start playing at high levels, everyone is big, fast, athletic, and talented so the separation comes from preparation and understanding the mental side of the game better than anyone else on the field.
Cover 2 is a type of defense that has 2 defenders playing deep zones. There are different variations of cover 2 like “tampa 2”, “hard 2”, and “soft 2”, but in this post we are just going to focus on a traditional 4-3 cover 2 defense.
Alright, let’s break it down…
4-3 is referring to how many defensive linemen and how many linebackers there are. You always start with the defensive linemen. One easy way to remember this is to start with the position group that is closest to the ball (Defensive linemen are closer than linebackers). The first 4 in 4-3 means there are 4 defensive linemen. The second number corresponds to how many linebackers there are so 4-3 means there are 3 linebackers.
Cover 2 means there are two defenders in deep zones (Both safeties). A good way to think about this is that the defense is dividing up the field into 2 deep zones (From the middle of the field to the sidelines).
The safeties are responsible for the deep ½ of the field. Typically, safeties line up around 12 yards pre-snap but this can vary team to team and can range from 10-20 yards. The safeties have a lot of ground to cover in cover 2 so they will often line up wider and deeper compared to cover 4 – this can help differentiate between the two pre-snap. Often, at the snap of the ball safeties will be working back and out rather than straight back, but this will vary team to team.
Corners are responsible for the flats in cover 2. They will often jam the WR, force them inside and then sit in the flats. It is critical that they funnel the WR inside and do not let them get a clean release up the sideline because it puts too much pressure on the safeties to get to the sideline if the WR gets a clean outside release. Corners typically line up pressed, but they can also be off initially and then come up tight right before the snap. After jamming the WR, corners can play hard in the flat or sink. Hard in the flat means they stay up in the flats; whereas, sink means they float back deeper in the flat area to help with intermediate sideline shots.
Outside linebackers are responsible for getting to the curl/hook zone. Typically outside linebackers will initially step up for run and/or reroute slot WRs if they release vertical. Often, outside backers will line up in the 4-6 yard range pre-snap.
The middle linebacker is responsible for playing the underneath hole in the middle of the field. Before dropping to his zone, he will step up for run action. This means that if you give a good play fake on play action then he will step up before getting to his zone. Typically, the middle backer will line up anywhere from 3-6 yards pre-snap.
