Football Fundamental Series-Part I: Defense Cover 0

[Big Turk]

Just thought I'd spread some knowledge for the fellow board members and hopefully help some people get a better understanding of what they are watching on Sundays(or Thursday, or Saturdays, or Mondays, or any other day they are watching football---a lot of this will translate into the college game as well).  So I decided that I will start a Football Fundamentals Series where I go into a detailed break down of one particular play type each day for the next however long...

 

Since it seems there is more confusion about how defense works, I thought I'd start there...

 

So with no further introductions, let's get down to business.

 

A term you'll often heard thrown around when watching defense is the term "Cover X"...where X is a number.  What this simply means is how many deep defenders there are on a given play call(with some of the more exotic playcalls like Cover 5 or Cover 6 it isn't true, but for 95% of defensive plays it is--always gotta be exceptions). With Cover 2, there are 2---the safeties split the field with each responsible for a half.  Cover 3 means there are 3, each responsible for a 1/3 of the field.  Cover 4, means there are 4 deep defenders and each responsible for a quarter of the field.  Not surprisingly this is also known as "Quarters" coverage. 

 

Well...Cover 0(aka "Zero" blitz) follows suit.  It means there are 0 deep defenders, which means its man to man across the board. This is typically a heavy pressure playcall meaning they are sending 7 defenders at the quarterback to attempt to either sack him or force the ball out quickly.  There are two main ways to play the coverage on the backend---the first way is by getting up on the line and playing man to man with inside leverage(playing on the inside shoulder of the WR, trying to force him to the outside)---this way usually is done by teams with strong CB's that can lock down a WR(think Denver or Seattle--up in the receivers faces trying to get that INT).  Their hope is to disrupt the timing of the QB and the receiver and cause the QB to have nowhere to go with the ball or make them try and force it in there leading to a good chance of an INT.  The other way is to play off coverage and allow the quick completion and then have the team rally to the ball and make the tackle before they can get a first down. Obviously you will have situations where a team has a very good CB that will play bump and run and a lesser CB that may play off coverage.

 

The most common place to see this type of defense will be on plays inside the red zone(inside the 10 yard line mainly) where there is really no deep field to defend followed by a 3rd and long situation where they let the QB complete a 3 or 4 yard slant with the defender playing 10 yards off the ball and then have the defender run up and make a tackle after he gains a few more yards. This would be done when the team has a good tackling secondary and doesn't want to risk getting beat deep.  The read on the aggressive bump and run version is to take a deep shot downfield and hope your guy comes down with the ball(or in some instances beats the defender off the line of scrimmage and goes for a TD) or ends up drawing a PI call.  Therefore its potentially more risky for the defense to play this way since there is no help over the top from safeties. However, the defender will also be in better position to get an INT, and if the rushers put quick enough pressure on the QB or he makes a bad decision it could lead to an easy pick 6.  It's a high risk-high reward version versus the lower risk lower reward off coverage version. 

 

The danger is, even if playing the safer version of this coverage, is the blitz doesn't get there and the QB has time to go through his progression and not have to rely on his hot read and burns them for a big play(20+ yards) since it will be very hard for all 4(or 5) defenders to keep coverage for a long time.

 

Cover 0 Look Pre-Snap

 

 

 

When Cover 0 goes right:

 

 

Warner under pressure makes a bad decision and throw and its intercepted and returned for a pick 6...interestingly enough, you'll see the middle LB not rushing and just kinda standing around the LOS.  This is because he had man-to-man coverage responsibility on the RB, Faulk, but since he stayed in to block, he had to make a decision---either rush in or stay back in case he leaked out afterwards on a chip block---he decided to stay back just in case.  The pressure still got there and got it's intended result.

 

When Cover 0 goes wrong:

 

 

If you notice in the above video clip, as Fitzgerald catches the ball, the defender got caught in no man's land and did not aggressively drive on the ball leaving a huge gap for Fitzgerald to run to and nobody there to help him.  This ended up as an 80 yard TD.  It was a brilliant play call as the receivers run double slants and used the inside slant guy to block his defender leaving a big hole for Fitzgerald to run because his defender was too far off and took a very poor angle.

 

So bottom line, the Cover 0 is used in the following situations:

 

• 3rd and long
  • Aggressive: Up in the receivers faces, inside leverage, bump and run---defense is hoping for a pick 6, offense is hoping for a long TD over the top
  • Safer: Defenders play off, give up a short catch and come up aggressively to make a tackle short of the sticks and force a punt.  Offense is hoping their player can break a tackle and get the first down, or a big play since they only will usually have to beat one man.
• Inside the opposition's 10 yard line where there isn't any real "deep" space to defend. 

 

Well, that's it for today's football fundamentals. Let me know if you have any thoughts, questions or comments. 

 

Tomorrow's Topic:  Cover 1

 

Edited November 17, 2017 by matter2003

[RoyBatty is alive]

Thanks.  Outside of the red zone, far too risky for the Bills, corners arent good enough.

 

I like that last clip of Eagles/Cardinals, notice #8 at the bottom with an obvious pick play attempt.

[GoBills808]

2 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Thanks.  Outside of the red zone, far too risky for the Bills, corners arent good enough.

 

I like that last clip of Eagles/Cardinals, notice #8 at the bottom with an obvious pick play attempt.

Is that Barwin rushing at the top of the screen? I think he needs to take a more direct path and get into the throwing lane...

[BuffaloBill]

Thank you for this.

[Big Turk]

4 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

Is that Barwin rushing at the top of the screen? I think he needs to take a more direct path and get into the throwing lane...

 

Didn't even notice that...looks like the design was to get the ball to either one of the receivers who going to be the beneficiaries of the pick...nice catch! 

10 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Thanks.  Outside of the red zone, far too risky for the Bills, corners arent good enough.

 

I like that last clip of Eagles/Cardinals, notice #8 at the bottom with an obvious pick play attempt.

 

If I'm not mistaken I believe the failed Falcon conversion on 4th down late in the game was against a Cover 0 play call by the Bills...

[P51]

38 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

Is that Barwin rushing at the top of the screen? I think he needs to take a more direct path and get into the throwing lane...

That is Barwin, but he is rushing from the wide 9, Vinny Curry who is rushing from the DT position is in the throwing lane but falls and cant get his hands up in the passing lane. Barwin's rushing lane would allow him to deflect a pass in the flat or an out, anything outside the numbers. Currys rush lane and that particular passing lane correspond given the offensive and defensive assignments that I see.

[yungmack]

Good stuff.

[GoBills808]

49 minutes ago, P51 said:

That is Barwin, but he is rushing from the wide 9, Vinny Curry who is rushing from the DT position is in the throwing lane but falls and cant get his hands up in the passing lane. Barwin's rushing lane would allow him to deflect a pass in the flat or an out, anything outside the numbers. Currys rush lane and that particular passing lane correspond given the offensive and defensive assignments that I see.

Is that wide 9 technique? I only see 3 hands in the dirt and no TE.

[Big Turk]

3 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

Is that wide 9 technique? I only see 3 hands in the dirt and no TE.

 

Wide 9 for sure by the LDE on the play...

Edited November 17, 2017 by matter2003

[GoBills808]

Just now, matter2003 said:

 

Wide 9 for sure by the LDE on the play...

Cool. Then he's not really responsible for getting in that throwing lane...still think a little better angle might have helped though.

[jkeerie]

Really appreciate this!  Thanks for your very well written description.

[row_33]

Great!! many thanks!!!

 

Romo's excellent work on TV is explaining things I didn't know all that well either.

 

 

[K D]

probably going to see a lot of man to man cover 1 tomorrow with some heavy blitzing until Peterman can prove that he can stand in the pocket and deliver the football.  he needs to trust Benjamin and just throw it up there.  the result could be some big plays!

[WhoTom]

Nicely done - thanks! I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

 

 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

.....GREAT work.....thank you for taking the time and sharing...........

[P51]

On 11/17/2017 at 2:49 PM, GoBills808 said:

Is that wide 9 technique? I only see 3 hands in the dirt and no TE.

 

Wide 9 refers to the DE split being even farther outside the tackle than the 5 technique (outside shoulder) in a pass rushing stance (can be 2 pt,  3 pt or a 4 pt stance, Mario and Jerry usually 3 pt under Schwartz). If there is no TE, the alignment in a wide 9 for the DE/DPR is where the TE would be and the DE/DPR aligns at that distance outside the Tackles shoulder as if a TE were there. 

 

The Wide 9 is a defense line alignment, it can be run independent of the offensive formation and/or personnel. It can be run against 5,6,7 man lines, the bone, doesnt matter. It can also be run to one side of the field or the other, the open, closed or both sides of the field. 

 

Barwins split is hard to tell there, but I would have to imagine with Palmer in the backfield, 5 wide outs, and his body angle, it is a wide 9 alignment or a really wide 5. IMO looking at that his assignment is to get to Palmer on a 5 or 7 step drop and he is not worried about anything else. 

[Buddy Hix]

Thanks, this is great.

 

In the first pic (Cover 0 Look Pre-Snap), what happens if the RB and TE both run routes? Does the outside LB (#5) and the safety have a plan to cancel the blitz on that side and each take one receiver?