Will Fuller

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Bengals Play Action Yankee Concept TD vs. Jets Cover 3

Week 1 resulted in quite a bit of buzz around Darrelle Revis and his subpar performance against the Bengals. One particular play was a 54-yard touchdown to A.J. Green. Let’s take a further look and break down exactly what happened.

Below, the Bengals are running a play action Yankee Concept with a wide receiver running orbit motion behind the quarterback and running back. A.J. Green is at the top of the screen running a deep over, while Brandon LaFell is at the bottom of the screen running a deep crosser. Revis is lined up outside of the motion man and Green:

The Jets are playing Cover 3, which means the safety and both cornerbacks will cover a deep third of the field (seen in green), while underneath defenders (boxed in white) will cover underneath:

As the play develops, the coverage must adjust responsibilities according to the routes; the deep middle of field safety comes up to cover LaFell’s crosser and passes A.J. Green’s deep over route and middle third coverage to Revis. The basic assignments can be seen in a similar version of the Yankee concept below the Jets vs. Bengals diagram:

However, the design of the Bengals play and motion makes the Jets coverage adjustment more difficult. Because of the orbit motion, Revis starts the play nearly a full 5 yards outside of A.J. Green. In a race to the middle of the field, A.J. Green will beat just about anybody with a 5-yard head start:

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Also note that as the play develops, the underneath defenders get sucked into the play action, creating space underneath for LaFell’s crosser. If this play is run in a different situation, the underneath zone defenders may not come up hard for the play action. Instead, they may sink into their zone and cover LaFell, which may keep the single high safety in his deep third as opposed to coming up to play the crosser.

Overall, while Revis had his struggles Sunday, this touchdown was an example of good play design putting the Jets defense in a bind.

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Steelers 2-Read Fire Zone Coverage

The Steelers intercepted Joe Flacco on Thursday Night Football with a zone blitz pattern reading defense known as “2-Read Fire Zone.” 2-Read Fire Zone involves a 5 man pressure scheme with very specific rules for the LBs/DBs who are in coverage. To get a better understanding of 2-Read Fire Zone, let’s first look at what routes the Ravens are running on 3rd and 6:

At the top of the screen, the Ravens are running a 5-yard speed out and a vertical. At the bottom of the screen, the Ravens are running a “Drive” combination, which involves a drag and a dig route.

The Steelers have the perfect defense called to not only stop the play but also force a turnover. First, the Steelers are sending a 5 man pressure scheme via a Fire Zone blitz using multiple DB’s. The blitz should make the ball come out of the Quarterback’s hands before he can fully identify the trap coverage behind it. Quarterbacks are often taught to throw “hot” by throwing the ball where blitzers are coming from, or replacing blitzers with the ball. 2-Read Fire Zone baits Quarterbacks into throwing to a trap:

With respect to coverage, 2-Read Fire Zone is both a zone and pattern reading concept. The coverage transforms depending on the route combination of the offense, but 2-Read Fire Zone is specifically designed to stop the out/vertical concept. The assignments at the bottom of the screen are fixed; the Cornerback on the short side of the field (bottom of the screen) has deep half coverage responsibility while the Linebacker has the short side flat.

As for the top of the screen, the Cornerback gives a man-to-man look but is actually reading the #2 (slot) receiver first. If the #2 receiver runs to the flat, the Cornerback will squat and trap the flat looking for an interception or big hit. The single high Safety in the middle of the field is also reading “2 to 1.” In this scenario, the Safety must match #1 vertical because the Cornerback has trapped the out route. Finally, the outside Linebacker will “Wall #2”, meaning he will try to keep the #2 WR from getting inside of him, and also try to get underneath any deep out cut by #2. See how perfectly the defense unfolds for Pittsburgh:

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Once the Steelers Corner reads #2 (Steve Smith) he traps the out route, while the Safety stays over top of #1 vertical. Flacco feels the pressure from the blitz and releases the ball quick without properly identifying the coverage. If he had, he probably would have had a window to throw to the vertical for a first down. It appears the Steelers had a good reason to call this coverage, as the Ravens had run out/vertical several times earlier in the game.

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Awareness

Devin McCourty made one of the best plays of the year from the Free Safety position during the 3rd Quarter of the 2014 divisional round due to his awareness and play recognition skills. On the first drive of the game, the Patriots gave up a big gain on this pass play:

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However, in the third quarter, Devin McCourty was able to recognize that the Ravens were in the same formation (flipped the other way) with the same motion pre-snap:

From his centerfield position in Cover 1, Devin McCourty recognizes that he has seen this formation before, and is able to diagnose the play due to his excellent awareness. Once he realizes the route combination, he breaks on the ball and covers nearly 30 yards to make the interception:

Range

The play above certainly also showed excellent range, but may not have been McCourty’s best effort with respect to range in the 2014 season. In week 2, he was in his usual Cover 1 Centerfield role when he broke on a Matt Cassel throw, covering about 30 yards of ground before making a great interception:

The play also shows just how fundamentally sound McCourty is with respect to backpedal technique and his eyes. As you can see, when Cassel is about to release the ball, McCourty is still deeper than the post route.

Versatility

Devin McCourty started his career as a Cornerback before switching to Free Safety. This factor combined with his excellent athleticism has also helped him become one of the most versatile Free Safeties in the game. While McCourty spends most of his time as the “Centerfielder” in Cover 1, he can also play man-to-man when needed:

Devin McCourty was also asked to play Man coverage against the Raven’s Owen Daniels in key situations during the playoffs. This ability gives New England scheme flexibility and enables them to disguise defenses better. The Patriots will certainly appreciate having Devin McCourty around for the next 5 years, even if it is at over 47 million dollars.

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WHEN SEATTLE HAS THE BALL

The zone run game has given the Patriots problems, most recently against Baltimore in the Divisional Round (24 carries for 129 yards). While Seattle primarily runs zone, they use more inside zone and cut defensive lineman less efficiently. Most teams who run the football well have a dominant offensive line; but this isn’t the case for Seattle. Marshawn Lynch’s “beast mode” runs overshadow the fact that the Seahawks offensive line isn’t overly powerful or big.

The Seahawks will likely see a variety of Front-7 looks from the Patriots, including a true 3-4, with Vince Wilfork (#75) playing a 0 technique, Alan Branch (#97) and Sealver Siliga (#96) at Defensive End, Rob Ninkovich (#50) and Chandler Jones (#95) at Outside Linebacker, and Jamie Collins (#91) and Dont’a Hightower (#54) at Inside Linebacker. Look for (#55) Akeem Ayers to also play some outside linebacker in this look. This defensive front gives both teams advantages: While the 3-4 gives the Patriots both athleticism and versatility with 4 linebackers as well as over 1,000 pounds of stout mass on the defensive line against the run, it undoubtedly sacrifices the ability to get any pass rush against Russell Wilson.

The chess game will be particularly important when the Seahawks are in the Shotgun. Because the zone read such a dangerous threat, how the Patriots respond to it will be crucial to the outcome of the game. Expect the Patriots to take away Russell Wilson on the zone read and make him hand the ball off nearly every time. The first way this can be done is the feather technique. Below is an example of the feather technique, where the last defender on the line of scrimmage (#58 Thomas Davis) makes Russell Wilson hand the ball off by slow playing the read. Meanwhile, all the defensive lineman rip to their right hard, making all gaps accounted for. Once Marshawn Lynch has the ball, Davis can fill in the last gap for a one yard gain. (This is against a 4-6 Bear look, which the Seahawks may also see.)

The problem with feathering or slow playing the Zone Read is that it can leave the last defender on the line of scrimmage in a passive position. It also leaves him susceptible to concepts, such as split zone (seen below) that look like zone read, but take advantage of the feather technique’s passiveness:

What the Patriots could also do is aggressively take away the QB run option from Russell Wilson by flying fast downhill and making Wilson make a read quickly. Below isn’t the same exact type of play, (Counter vs. Zone) but Terrell Suggs (#55 on Baltimore) shows how playing fast downhill at the Quarterback can disrupt plays as the unblocked last defender on the line of scrimmage:

Seattle could respond to this type of approach from the Patriots by moving to a double tight end set, making it more difficult for the defense to keep a defender outside of the Tight End, and making it more difficult to play the zone read aggressively. The look below gives Seattle 9 in the box against Carolina’s 7, and the Defensive End let’s Wilson get outside because he does not attack Russell Wilson’s outside shoulder:

With respect to the passing game, expect Darrelle Revis to match up primarily with Doug Baldwin and follow him around the field. Brandon Browner will likely cover Jermaine Kearse (#15) for some of the game, but also expect designated T.Y. Hilton stopper (#25) Kyle Arrington to get some time matched up against the speedy Kearse with Safety help. When Arrington is on Kearse, this could leave Browner to cover speedy Seahawk Tight End Luke Willson (#82).

The Seattle passing game vs. the Patriots secondary isn’t necessarily about X’s and O’s, but a game of attrition: the Patriots will likely sell out to the stop the run and try and contain Russell Wilson instead of outright rushing him. The Patriots secondary is able to cover for long periods of time, while Russell Wilson is excellent extending plays and finding open Wide Receivers. This is a strength on strength, and will likely decide the game: who can win the scramble drill– will New England be able to cover when Wilson extends the play, or will his Receivers find a way to get open?

WHEN NEW ENGLAND HAS THE BALL

The combination of two weeks to prepare and the simplicity of Seattle’s Defensive scheme should make for an interesting New England game plan. The 2012 Patriots vs. Seahawks game featured almost 60 throws for Tom Brady, a ton of empty formations and almost 400 yards passing (The most Seattle has given up in the Legion of Boom era). New England had success throwing underneath with various schemes including their Y-stick and slant/flat combinations.

On the other hand, if Seattle’s defense has any vulnerability, it’s that the Front 7 is slightly undersized and built on speed. New England could run right at the Seattle defense, as all of Seattle’s losses this season had their opponents rushing for 100 or more yards.

Overall, I anticipate New England will implement aspects of both game plans depending on down + distance and field position. Expect New England to swing back and forth between Empty sets and Power and Iso looks with multiple tight ends and Fullback James Develin (#46) isolated on Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (#54). Running the ball will also test Seahawks All-Pro Safety Earl Thomas (#29) injured shoulder. Because Seattle plays so simple schematically, New England could attack and keep Seattle off balance by making the Seahawks defend two completely different styles of football. It also gives the Patriots flexibility to adjust to the scoreboard.

Seattle’s elite pass defense has struggled against a few concepts this year, including Post-Wheel, Switch Verticals, and Seams paired with out and ups:

Courtesy of Matt Bowen (Bleacher Report)

These concepts all have something in common: It exploits the ultra aggressive nature of Seattle’s Cover 3, where Cornerbacks match vertical releases and essentially play man-to-man after 10 yards and also try to undercut seam routes. This puts immense pressure on the linebackers to carry wheel routes and double moves. Of course, Seattle will be well aware of this weakness. In order for New England to take advantage of it, the Patriots could include a play action wrinkle to freeze linebackers, as well as use Rob Gronkowski as a decoy. The play below is a perfect example: The top of the screen features Gronk running a seam route while Tight End Tim Wright (#81) runs a wheel route and is also wide open. If this type of play action can freeze linebackers, and Gronk draws the attention of the Deep 1/3 corner, the Patriots could find huge plays up the sideline:

The Patriots could also attack the seams, but must set up Shane Vereen, Julian Edelman, and Danny Amendola underneath first. The Patriots certainly looked to the San Diego vs. Seattle tape for hints on how to attack Seattle. Many point to Antonio Gates 3 Touchdowns that day, but Danny Woodhead and Eddie Royal had 11 catches that day and provided crucial 3rd down conversions. In the 2012 Seattle/New England game Wes Welker came up with 10 catches for 138 yards and a TD. (Precedent for smaller, shiftier receivers succeeding against Seattle). The following play is a great example of how New England can isolate the Tight End via the Dakota formation, attack the seams, but also open up a versatile running back underneath for a big gain:

If the Patriots can get Earl Thomas and Cam Chancellor to come up to play the underneath routes from Vereen, Edelman, and Amendola, they will be able to attack the seams. In the play below, Safety Cam Chancellor freezes up for just a split second to cover Panthers Running Back Jonathan Stewart (#28) out of the back field, opening up the seam behind him:

Finally, as I’ve wrote about before, the Seahawks seem to move Richard Sherman inside to the slot when they feel the biggest receiving threat is there:

New England can find out early in the game if the Seahawks will move around Richard Sherman by putting Shane Vereen or Rob Gronkowski on the outside with Julian Edelman in the slot. What they will do with this matchup depends on if Edelman can beat Sherman consistently. This will be especially interesting given Sherman’s arm injury.

SPECIAL TEAMS

One interesting statistic of note: Seattle Punter Jon Ryan allowed the lowest number of punts returned this year, while Julian Edelman lead the league with 19.3 yards per return. Look for this strength vs. strength match up to be a key factor in field position and impact the game in a big way.

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The Cardinals had blitzed all game, and were ultra-aggressive on the final play of the game. Arizona played Cover 0, straight man to man with no help, and blitzed 7 defenders:

The Cardinals get immediate pressure with their 7-man blitz, but Eagles QB Nick Foles back pedals quickly enough to let the routes develop:

Chip Kelly designed the perfect play against a Cover 0 defense in this situation: the Deep Crosses cause a lot of traffic for the Cardinals DB’s. Meanwhile, Zach Ertz turns up the field from the flat toward the End Zone:

The Deep Crosses work to perfection: so much traffic is created that Eagles and Cardinals players run into each other in the End Zone, one Cardinals defender is knocked down, and the other cannot stay with his man. Jordan Matthews is able to break free and seems to be wide open for an Eagles TD to win the game. Here is where the Eagles run into a problem, and the awareness of Arizona DB Rashad Johnson is critical. Philly TE Zach Ertz carrying up the field toward the end zone actually hurts the Eagles, because a man to man also brings an Arizona defender. If Zach Ertz stayed in the flat, Jordan Matthews may have been wide open for a TD.

Even so, Rashad Johnson has the awareness to not just stay on his man, but realize the ball is in the air, to locate the ball, to peel off his man, swivel his hips and hit the Eagles WR (Jordan Matthews) before he is able to make the catch with 2 feet in bounds. Below is the video in slow motion, and then standard speed, showing how the Deep Crosses work and how Rashad Johnson peels off and makes the play:

The Eagles were incredibly close to pulling a last play miracle. Chip Kelly called a near perfect play in anticipation of Arizona’s all out blitz and Cover 0. However, even though the Eagles got the cross and route traffic they wanted, Zach Ertz continuing up the field along with Rashad Johnson’s awareness sealed the win for Arizona. Ertz probably should have continued up the field against zone coverage, but in a pure man to man (Cover 0) scenario, he may have been better off staying in the flat and letting the play develop down the field. (Cowboys must be aware of the Cover 0 blitz after last week’s troubles)

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The focus throughout the play should be on the defenders circled in red: the Safety, Linebacker, and Nickelback. The Coverage is a unique pattern read coverage called 2-Blue Solo. I had originally though ‘Bama was playing Cover-5, but after further analysis of the Safeties, there is no doubt ‘Bama was in 2-Blue Solo. This coverage is somewhat like Cover 5 defense, which means 2 Safeties covering a “deep-half” of the field, and all underneath defenders playing man-to-man. The exceptions in 2-blue solo are subtle, but intricate: the two circled underneath defenders will “Pattern-Read.” This means they will play man to man, but will trade off men on certain route combinations. Here, #21 (the nickelback) will take any out-breaking routes, with the Linebacker taking anything inside. Based on Ole Miss’ route combo, the Nickelback should stay outside and the Linebacker should stay inside. Meanwhile the Safeties will play deep and mostly make it look like Cover 5 deep (1/2), but the Trips side (Strong Side) Safety will play “3-2”, meaning he will play a vertical route from the middle (#2) Receiver, while the 1 Receiver side Safety (Weak Side) Safety will play deep to wall off any vertical or deep cross from the inside, or #3 Wide Receiver. Below are the distinctions between basic Cover 5 and 2-blue solo:

Basic Cover 5

2-Blue Solo Intricacies

In 2-Blue Solo, the Strong Side (trips) Safety is playing deep with his eyes on the inside and middle Receivers, or “3-2” (Black lines). Meanwhile, the weak side Safety (1 WR side) is playing deep but walling off deep vertical routes in the space between the safeties from Trips side.

As you’ll see below, when the Ole Miss Wide Receivers run their Pivot/Dig combination, the ‘Bama defenders trade on the pattern read, with the Nickelback (#21) matching outside, and the Linebacker matching inside:

The problem for Alabama occurs when the Linebacker doesn’t peel off his pattern-read quickly enough and sink under the dig, making himself out of position too far to the outside. From the position he is in, the dig will come wide open. The inside WR on the trips side (pivot route) has done his job by drawing the Linebacker towards him and opening the window behind. This causes the Deep-Half safety from the Trips side to peek the dig and take a half step up towards it:

This half step towards the dig route proves fatal: The Deep Safety is caught out of position and gives the QB a throwing lane for the post over the top.  The Safety drives toward the dig as he is and is driving aggressively on routes from either the second or third WR.

This means the Man-to-Man Cornerback at the bottom of the screen will not have help over the top. In the end, the play comes down to a 1-on-1 matchup: Left completely on an island, he gets beat badly for a Touchdown on a Post, where the Wide Receiver gives a beautiful in-out-in move:

Here is the play with slow motion first, then standard speed, to see how the play unfolds with the Linebacker too far outside, the Safety cheating up, and the Cornerback getting beat:

While Alabama made mistakes on the play, give credit to Ole Miss: Great play design and selection by the coaching staff, and perfect execution by the Wide Receivers and a perfect throw by Bo Wallace. This play is another example of how Wide Receivers can affect plays without making the catch: The inside WR running the pivot route attracts the Linebacker toward him, opening the rest of the play. Finally, the play shows just how dangerous it can be to leave Cornerbacks on an island.

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The Giants called a Flood concept in a closed trips formation, with 1 TE, 1 RB, and 3 WR. The outside WR runs a post route at 10 yards, hoping to attack the deep part of Washington’s secondary and “take the top off” the defense. Larry Donnell, (Giants Tight End, #84) runs a 10-yard out, hoping to get a catch and get out of bounds before time runs out. Victor Cruz (Giants WR #80) runs a deep flag route with a high break toward the sideline at 12 yards. The underlying goal for the Giants is to stretch the defense, get a completion toward the sideline, and if this does not happen, throw the ball away to attempt a long Field Goal. Here is the play from a Giants perspective:

Cruz is the middle WR in the trips set running a deep flag route

Washington responds to the trips set by rushing 4 Defensive Lineman and playing Cover 3 Buzz from a 2 high Safeties look. In the first of many poor decisions, the Washington coaching staff has assigned Brandon Meriweather (#31) to play the deep middle 1/3 of the field. This wouldn’t normally be an issue, except Meriweather starts the snap heavily toward the single WR side. As you can see from both the picture below and above, Meriweather is almost 5 yards outside the hash away from the 3 Wide Receiver side, while only being 15 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Meriweather must cover the Deep Middle 1/3 from his current position

The poor alignment leads to a host of other issues. Throughout this breakdown, keep in mind Washington can allow any completion in the field of play, as time will run out if this occurs. Nearly every relevant (for this play) member of the Washington secondary makes an error. Starting with the least egregious, the Cornerback on the trips side that is responsible for Deep 1/3 chases the post route instead of covering his deep 1/3 responsibility. While this leaves an opening for Cruz to eventually make the catch, the Cornerback probably needed to do this because of Meriweather’s misalignment. If the Cornerback does not chase the Post, Eli Manning would be able to throw the ball over everyone’s head for a touchdown to end the half.

Next, the Safety closest to the Trips side is over aggressive to Donnell’s out route to the sideline. This Safety has buzz responsibility, but attacks Donnell’s out route when there is already another Washington defender with flat responsibility. Because two defenders are now doing the same job, Cruz is left wide open behind them.

Finally, the flat defender fails to sink or diagnose the route combination. With 7 seconds to go, the flat defender should have his back to the sideline with his head on a swivel and “funnel” or force any route to be caught in the field of play. Instead, the flat defender plays as if it is a regular down, not the end of the half. Because he is not guarding the sideline, he is unable to see the Safety’s over aggressive mistake. If he did, the flat defender could have kept “sinking” to Cruz’s flag route. Below is the picture of the multitude of Washington coverage errors:

Flat Defender should have back to sideline, Buzz Safety should not do the same job as the flat defender.

As the play progresses, you can see how these mistakes create a huge window for Cruz to make a 29 yard catch, leave one second on the clock, get out of bounds, and set up a chip shot field goal:

Below is a video of the play, first in slow motion, then standard speed, with a rewind to highlight just how poorly this route combination was played:

This is an example of poor situational football costing Washington. Everyone has some blame: the coaching staff may have dictated Meriweather’s alignment. Meriweather lines up too far from the trips and too close to the line of scrimmage; because he doesn’t get over to the Trips set fast enough, the Cornerback is forced to leave his zone. This could be made up for by the buzz Safety OR the flat defender, but neither uses good technique or has awareness of the situation and route combination. In the end, Cruz is wide open and Washington gives up 3 points instead of 0. More credit would go to the Giants play calling, but this type of play routinely occurs in end of half/end of game scenarios and is defended better most of the time.

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Here is the pre-snap look with how the Packer defensive assignments will match-up with the offense: Jeffery will run back to where he started toward the goal line. Brandon Marshall will run a skinny post from the slot. (Both in navy blue). On the defensive side, Sam Shields (#37) for Green Bay is playing Man-to-Man on Jeffery (in red). Brandon Marshall is being “bracket” covered, or double covered, which is highlighted in orange. The slot Cornerback will play outside leverage, and #33 will be responsible for any in-breaking route from Marshall. The play is accompanied by play-action to the right, with a “Max-Protection” of 8 blockers.

Safety and slot corner “bracket” inside WR Brandon Marshall

Shortly after the ball is snapped, Alshon Jeffery pivots from his motion and goes back in the direction he started on an “Arrow” route. Sam Shields (defender highlighted in red) sprints across the formation to chase Jeffery. Meanwhile, Brandon Marshall is being double covered via an Inside/Outside coverage (highlighted in orange).

However, Sam Shields is not quick enough to react to Jeffery’s change of direction and is lost in the middle of the formation. From here, he won’t be able to catch up to Jeffery before the end zone and will need help. The Safety, (highlighted in orange) is the only player in position to recognize the play, attack downhill, and save the Touchdown.

This is where Trestman’s offensive genius and Marshall’s value come in. Trestman used Marshall as a decoy perfectly: Trestman likely knew Marshall would draw a double team in the red zone, and used this against Green Bay. As seen below, Shields has overrun the play and is out of position, while the Safety is completely preoccupied with guarding against Marshall instead of diagnosing the play.

With the Safety (#33) only focused on Marshall and Shields out of position, the only thing that will stop a Touchdown is if Quarterback Jay Cutler doesn’t recognize the bracket coverage. But Cutler has a perfect line of vision to see exactly what is going on and make the perfect read. Once again, Shields is highlighted in Red while the Safety (33) is highlighted in orange.

See the play unfold below from two different angles, first in slow motion and then standard speed:

As you can see from this play, double teams often come at a price: pay extra attention to one player, and another may be left wide open. The play also highlights how elite Wide Receivers (such as Marshall) do not have to catch the ball to make a profound impact on the game. Finally, as Marc Trestman did, a great offensive coach will exploit the weakness in an over-aggressive defense using the Ghost Motion.

POST SEASON EDIT: Want to see the full Brandon Marshall affect in action? Found this during my post-season film review: Below, the Saints run the exact same Ghost Motion play from the exact same formation 4 weeks later. The Packers are once again in Man to Man coverage, and once again the Cornerback at the top of the screen is fooled with locked hips after the Ghost Motion and Swing Route. Except this time there is no bracket coverage or special treatment for an elite receiver. This allows Safety (#21) Ha Ha Clinton Dix to diagnose the play and slow it down before Sam Shields cleans up the play for a loss of 1 yard.

See Also: (Where Trestman may have gotten the play from)

Brandon Marshall has been traded to the Jets— look for him to have this same impact on Eric Decker, Jace Amaro, and Geno Smith (or whoever the Jets QB may be).

2016 update: The Eagles use Ghost Motion to help QB Carson Wentz:

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MLB drops into the deep middle zone

Here is a video example of how each Safety attempts to cover a Deep 1/2 of the field on either side and the Middle Linebacker (Urlacher #54) drops in between to cover any deep middle routes from slot receivers or tight ends.

Instead of the traditional Tampa 2 Coverage with the Middle Linebacker, Georgia played the Deep Middle with an extra defensive back. South Carolina’s Quarterback saw this look Pre-Snap:

This pre-snap look could mean a variety of coverages: Because its 3rd and 10, and Georgia is showing a blitz look, this could be Cover 1, with the Safeties playing the slot receivers man-to-man and the middle deep safety playing “Center field”.

However, as the play unfolds, its clear the coverage is Tampa 2, except the deep middle safety is coming up to play a “Robber” instead of a Middle linebacker bailing. At the bottom of the screen, South Carolina’s two Wide Receivers run a 6-yard in and a seam route. At the top of the screen, the inside Wide Receiver runs a quick hitch route (likely a hot route in response to Georgia’s blitz). South Carolina’s outside Receiver at the top runs a deep dig (In-cut) at 12 yards.

If it weren’t for the deep middle safety (#5 for UGA) “robbing”, this play would likely result in a first down. As you can see in the freeze frame mid-play below, the middle linebacker bites on the quick hitch from the slot, which would open up the dig window behind him for a first down.

Instead, South Carolina’s QB doesn’t recognize the coverage or the Robber, and the play results in an interception. Here is the play; watch how the Robber attacks downhill toward the dig route:

Why is this Unconventional Tampa 2 or Robber Tampa 2 coverage better than traditional Tampa 2? A Defensive Back is able to view the whole field and break aggressively downhill on intermediate routes.

Why don’t we see this coverage disguise more often? Because it’s a very scenario-specific coverage. With 3 safeties and 5 Defensive Backs on the field (Nickel personnel), the defense is more susceptible to the run. A linebacker is in a much better position (closer to the line of scrimmage) to play the run or give the threat of a blitz. However, on 3rd and long or obvious passing downs, this coverage is a good way to confuse a QB and potentially cause a turnover.

Post-Season film Review:

Another clip of a Tampa 2 Robber Interception in the 2014 Florida Alabama game:

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