Scheme Session

Last week we discussed the rage of the National Football League: the Tampa 2 Coverage. For the teams who live and die with it (Tampa, Chicago, Buffalo, Minnesota, and Detroit), it is their bread and butter. In fact, every team has a version of the Tampa 2 in their defensive playbooks, but most of the league still relies on Cover 4 as their lead call on non-pressure downs. 

Cover 4, or “Quarters,”  is exactly what it sounds like– 3 under, 4 deep– as the secondary splits the field into 4 quarters between the 2 corners and the free and strong safeties. The four defenders play anything that is vertical in their zones, with man-to-man principles in mind. The Sam and Will linebackers play the flats to both sides of the field, while the Mike plays the middle hook, walling off anything that comes into this zone. What is unique about this defense is how the safeties adjust based on the routes shown by the offense. Both the free and the strong safety align at 10 yards and read #2 to their respective side. If the #2 receiver (TE to strong side) releases up field past 10 yards then the safety mans up the route. However, if #2 breaks his route off before 10 yards (Flat- Curl- Dig) then he will look to the outside and “cut” the #1 receiver. In this case, the corner, who is playing outside leverage on the #1 receiver, will receive inside help from the safety, which can lead to turnovers. If quarterbacks are reading only the corner, he must be aware that the safety is now free to jump any route that #1 runs due to a lack of a vertical threat by #2. Check out this diagram. As you can see, in reality, the safety is playing two receivers at all time in Cover 4.

Teams who use Cover 4 (Dallas, Jacksonville, Denver, Green Bay to name a few), have corners who excel at man coverage, as the safety is often taken out of the equation when the #2 receiver makes a vertical threat. Thus the corners, who align and hear a zone call in the huddle, play the same techniques as they would in a man-to-man scheme. In certain instances — such as a tight split by #1 to an open side (no #2 receiver), often on the back side of a pro set, or versus a 3×1 alignment (three receivers to the strong side) — the safety will “jump” the #1 receiver to the open side on any underneath crossing routes, freeing up the corner to go over the top and help on any deep vertical routes run from the strong side. 

The reason Cover 4 is still run in today’s game is run support. Compared with the Tampa 2, which only employs a seven-man front, Cover 4 can turn into a nine-man front with safeties who can read their run/pass keys well. As the safeties read run, they come downhill hard, adding two extra run defenders to the defense, while the Tampa 2 safeties play pass first, and run second. However, this can cause some major issues in the coverage, such as play action. Cover 4 teams see play action every Sunday, as offenses entice the safeties to read run, leaving the corners playing outside leverage with no underneath safety help. 

Just like Tampa 2, the Cover 4 is beatable. Do you remember the Monday night Dallas- Washington game in 2005? The one where my Redskins came back to beat Dallas in the final minutes? Both touchdown passes to Santana Moss were against the Cowboys Cover 4 scheme. This play, often called the “pin” route is the primary Cover 4 beater in the league. The #1 receiver runs a post route to the middle of the field, while the #2 receiver runs a 10-12 yard inside dig route (Square In). The safety, in this case Roy Williams, bites on the dig, leaving the corner alone, playing the post from outside leverage, and looking for help from the safety. Instead, the safety is late (after stepping toward the dig) leaving the corner to fend for himself– often resulting in a big play. There are variations of this play, as the #2 can run a corner route as well, or curl up at 12 yards (Red Zone play), but they all work the same. 

Bottom line: Aggressive safeties are susceptible to big plays in Cover 4, but as we will see throughout the season, there is a way to shut down every defense, just as there is a way to shut down every offense. It comes down to the players on  the field– one step in the wrong direction is this league is the difference between an incomplete pass and a touchdown.

Join me next week in Scheme Session where I will take on another aspect of the game, informing you, the fan, on the finer aspects of the NFL. Enjoy the barbeques and the beers this holiday weekend.