Coverage defense help!

What is the best way to stop passes down the middle of the field?....(man coverage, cover 2 zone, cover 3 zone etc)

rj_lions81 wrote:

What is the best way to stop passes down the middle of the field?....(man coverage, cover 2 zone, cover 3 zone etc)

i would say cover 3. i mean thats what i use and i havent had too many big plays down the middle of the field.

my problem with the Cover 3 is that even though I cover the middle about 10 yards deep with my MLB, I always seem to have guys with TE's like Shockey and Dallas Clark who run deep post routes into the middle of the field (I would say about 20-25 yards downfield), that my safety in the middle is to deep for. Any help with this? I've tried putting a defensive end in a hook zone, my MLB in a blue zone and seeing if having four deep helps, but it really doesn't.

Cover 4. no one ever runs it. I seriously base my whole defense around a simple cover 4 and make every single blitz i run look identical to the cover 4. The only problem with the cover four is You need to cover the short stuff. This is what i do. I BNR and bring my safeties down to the LOS and LB's at LOS. it looks badass cuz everyone is at the LOS first off and there is no way to tell if its blitz or coverage until after the ball is snapped and thats only if they are good enough to see it.

To cover deep post routes, run Cover 4 as said above. However, I don't press coverage and move anyone down like he does. I just simply show blitz. The safeties are close to the LOS, which means they take longer to drop back into their deep blue zones. Because of the extended time taken, the safeties back into their zones as the post routes develop, so they are at about the same depth when the pass is made. Most of the time, the safety will make the easy INT or your opponent will wise up and not throw it to him.

Word of advice for cover 3 users. Manually move each defender who is in a hook so they are lined up like this. The LB on the left should be to the outside of the offensive tackle and close to the LOS, then playmaker him to a hook zone. Move the MLB into the A gap (on either side) and close to the LOS and playmaker him to a hook zone too. Finally take the SS and put him at LB depth, to the inside of the right slot receiver (if there is one, if not, pretend there is) and playmaker him to a hook zone also. This way, each of the 3 hook zones cover a different part of the field, but not too far apart to where there is a gap to throw into. This also can be set up the same way to bring heat. Try it out.