Blueprint for beating the Bucs Defense

e P's keys to beating the Bucs' cover-two defense Sept. 10, 2003
By Pete Prisco
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
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Despite four different starters from the unit that played the Raiders in the Super Bowl, including all-important middle linebacker, Tampa Bay's defense was as suffocating as it has ever been in making Donovan McNabb look like a scattershot quarterback just hoping to complete a pass.

It is a performance that has offensive coordinators around the league again trying to figure out the best way to attack Tampa Bay's cover-two scheme, as well as the many other cover-two schemes teams are using to try to match the success of the Bucs.

So we thought we'd try to find a few of the secrets to beating that defense.

Cover-two is actually a simple defense based on a four-man rush with seven dropped into coverage and the two safeties playing two-deep zone coverage -- that's where the name originates. It's a defense the Steelers used in the 1970s under Bud Carson, a defense that helped Pittsburgh win four Super Bowls and the Steel Curtain make its case as the best defensive unit of all time.

There is nothing fancy about it. It is not like Chicago's 46-defense that was based on an attack mode. The principles of cover-two are to pressure with a four-man rush, play sound zone coverage in the secondary and rely on defensive speed to get to the ball. And you have to tackle well.

Nobody in this era plays it better than Tampa Bay. Like the great Pittsburgh teams, the Bucs have an attacking front four that does not require a lot of blitzing. Having a front four that doesn't need a fifth rusher to get to the quarterback can cover up some ills behind it, which the Bucs do.

For example, Tampa Bay safety John Lynch is a great run player. But as a coverage player, he's ordinary, and were it not for the pressure up front from Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice and others, he might be an out-and-out liability against the pass.

Tampa Bay's cover-two scheme is different than most. It is a hybrid based on the speed of their middle linebacker.

"It's really cover-three," said former Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin.

With the safeties each dropping deep and outside the hash marks, the middle linebacker drops into the deep middle to make it three across. That makes it tough to beat with plays that would normally be effective against two-deep coverage.

Four verticals -- four receivers running up the field on deep routes -- would be almost impossible to cover in a true cover-two scheme. But with Tampa Bay's style, four verticals isn't as effective because there are essentially three men deep.

To play that style requires a speedy middle linebacker. Tampa Bay seemingly has a mold for those players. When Hardy Nickerson was in Tampa, he was the perfect player in that defense, his speed allowing him to get to the deep middle. After him it was Jamie Duncan, then Shelton Quarles and now Nate Webster, who is filling in for the injured Quarles.

Common denominator: They all can run.

"They shoot that middle linebacker in the middle and ask him to do things that others wouldn't ask their mike linebacker to do," said Coughlin. "That's what makes it tough to play."

Playing cover-two the way the Bucs do it takes special personnel. That's why the Tampa Bay players say it would be hard to copy.

"The others don't have the players we do," said Brooks. "A lot of coaches talk to (defensive coordinator) Monte Kiffin to discuss why we're so good at it. He tells them it has a lot to do with us. We allow him to do things that other teams can't do in the same style of defense."

So how to beat cover-two, or even cover-three, Tampa Bay style?

There are three keys, according to players and offensive coordinators from around the league.

Patience.
Protection.
Physical play.
"You do all three of those, and you win the game," said one AFC team's offensive coordinator. "It sounds simple. But against that defense, doing it is a lot harder than just saying it."

Let's take a look at each.

Patience
David Carr, the Houston Texans quarterback, insists trying to make big plays against cover-two can be the wrong way to go. He says finding open areas in the zone, taking what it gives, is the right approach.

"If you get greedy, they will make you pay," said Carr. "Against cover-two, the right thing to do is be patient. If they give you something, take it. If it's a short pass in the middle of the field, then that's the play. The chance for the big play might come, but against that defense it won't come as much."

To deep throwers, it's a coverage that can change a career. When Jeff Blake first became a starter in Cincinnati, he made his bones throwing the deep balls to Darnay Scott and Carl Pickens. Then teams figured out his success throwing downfield could be taken away with cover-two schemes.

Has Blake ever been the same? He never has showed the patience to handle facing that kind of defense.

"Against that defense, you have to be patient," said Vikings offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. "If not, they bait you into turnovers."

Brooks scored four touchdowns off turnovers last season, with the Bucs getting 38 takeaways on the season.

"We feast on that," said Brooks. "That's what makes us so different."

Protection
Block it to beat it. Easier said than done.


Warren Sapp and the Bucs D-line generate a heavy pass rush without blitzing.(Getty Images)
That's what makes Tampa Bay's cover-two so much different and better than some of the others around the league. With Sapp and Anthony McFarland in the middle and Rice and Greg Spires coming off the edge, they can put pressure on the passer with a four-man front. Tampa Bay had 43 sacks last season, with the defensive line accounting for 35. They don't need to blitz, although Kiffin has evolved the scheme where he even has corners and safeties coming at times. It's not as vanilla as it sounds, but the foundation is a four-man rush.

Rice led the NFC with 15½ sacks in 2002 coming off the right end. His addition to the defense in 2001 is a big reason it went to an even higher level. Accounting for him, while he's playing next to Sapp or McFarland, can mean he's single-blocked, and with his speed, that can create a mismatch for a lot of left tackles.

The Colts and Rams, two other cover-two teams, need big years from Dwight Freeney and Grant Wistrom off the right end if they hope to elevate their defenses.

"When they can beat you with a four-man rush, it makes it so much easier for them in coverage," said the AFC offensive coordinator. "That's a huge edge in what it allows them to do behind that front. They're so good up front, and that keys that defense."

The Steelers were the same way when they had a line that featured Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White and Ernie Holmes in the 1970s. That allowed Jack Ham and Andy Russell to become two of the better cover linebackers ever, especially Ham. Brooks fills that same role in Tampa Bay.

"I don't have to blitz that much, which allows me to play the outside position different than a lot of guys," said Brooks. "I don't get many sacks (he had one last year), but I get a chance to make plays in other ways."

If an offensive line can handle the Tampa Bay front, or any cover-two front, that would force more blitzing, which will soften the coverage behind it. Again, that's going to be tough to do.

Play physical against it
The idea in the cover-two defense is to be small and fast. That means the linemen are quick and smaller than most teams would prefer.

Sapp and McFarland both weigh 300 pounds, but they are not those 330-pound run stuffers the Ravens won a Super Bowl with two years ago. Outside, Rice is under 260 pounds, while Spires is 6-feet-1 and about 265.

So the thinking is that playing power football against the smaller linemen could mean success in the running game. That, in turn, would prevent the down linemen from feasting on passing situations.

The offense would be the dictator, not the other way around.

"They may be small as a defense, but those two tackles in the middle can still stuff that run," said the AFC offensive coordinator.

Tampa Bay gave up 97.1 rushing yards per game last season, but yielded more than 100 yards in six games. Three of their four losses came in games in which they gave up over 100 yards rushing, two of them to the New Orleans Saints.

"If you can run it on them, then you can have success throwing it, too," said Coughlin. "Being physical is good against any defense."

So let's see. In summation, if your offense wants to move the ball against Tampa Bay's cover-two defense, a unique brand of it, it must run the ball, protect the quarterback and stay away from the greed factor in the passing game.

Seems so easy, right.

That's until it's time to move McFarland and Sapp off the ball. Or keep Rice from coming off the edge. Or wait with a rush in your face for the receivers to get to the soft spot in the zone, which is the patient factor.

Unless somebody can do all three, Tampa Bay will continue to dominate with that cover-two scheme of theirs, perhaps right into the history books as the best defense ever.

 

A conservative offense that can pound and control the ball has a better chance at beating them.

Question is this...
Are we physical enough to run the ball consistently against their front seven.

If we can - then Delhomme only needs to recognize the blitz which will come when we start play action.

They can certainly be beat but the one thing I am worried the most about is Jake forcing the ball into coverage. If he does that we'll get destroyed by turnovers.

We need zero turnovers too win that game!!

If I'm John Fox I go into this game and run, run and run some more.

If it doesn't work than I punt and play defense. I'd try to wear them down for later in the game because overall they have smaller defenders than most. Out physical them! If we can match them physically we can beat them up if we can get first downs.

 

my magic 8 balls say

"Stephen Davis left, Stephen Davis right, Stephen Davis up the middle"

 

I agree with Shocker... the thing with Delhomme in this game is he can be your savior or the man that kills you... he has the advantage that he can move around a lil more before passing... we'll actually need a BIG game by Mangum... I'd like to see Seidman activated for this one because he could be destructive using short passes over the middle... dropping it right below the defense... picking up 6-7 yards at a time on PA... that combined with a consistent diet of Stephen Davis pushing the pile in the middle could add up to a defense that'd wear down Tampa's defenseI'd also use short outside slants... in those aspects Jake can slowly pick them apart... my fear is his age... has he reached the point he can stand in the pocket and take a possible hit... or will he get happy feet or worse make a bad pass and cause interceptions... for only his first start with this team he's gonna have a load on his shoulders... wish their was a way to put Rodney's maturity to Jake's mind... that was Peete's biggest asset in this kinda game

 

Rodney's maturity is why his assets on the bench.

 

Patience. Does JD have it? He'll find spots in the zone, it seems. He'll not get rattled by the rush, so that part of patience is there. Can he be patient enough not to make the hasty choice? That might come down to it.

Still think spreading them out of base is important, and I wish we had speed to beat more of the secondary. Webster's not terribly slow, but against a receiver deep I like it. Same with Lynch, if you're moving away from him not into him.

 

One thing that JD admitted was that one of his int's was a boneheaded play. I admire a qb who will admit when he royally screws up. I may be dumb, but I really think that he will do fairly well this year IF our OL decides to block worth a crap.

 

Makes me wonder if Foster might line up in the slot. He's got some speed.

Foster, Smith, and Moose lined up outside might be our best shot at stretching these guys. Henning likes to line the recevier in the slot and throw them the deep ball.

 

Yep.

That works, too. Granted, we'll probably do it in that lame 5 receiver set, but if we put Davis and Foster in the same backfield, and split one out, you can hopefully spread out the alignment a little. And he's a good matchup on their nickel, too. Plus, he's looked like buttcrack other than in the passing game.

 

The key is wearing these guys out in the first half by running the ball and maybe scoring with some trickery. If we have a good time of possesion margin in the 1st half we will win. 10 first downs in the first half is my goal if I am John FOX. The scoreboard will take care of itself if we tire the Bucs D out!