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The Tampa 2 Coverage

By Coach Kip | September 18, 2007

The

Tampa 2 coverage is the hottest thing in the NFL and beginning to take hold in College. It is a misnomer though. It really is not a Cover 2 it is a Cover 3. Here is how it works

The corners have deep halves of the field, hence the cover 2 name, but they do not cover the middle most part of the field. On the snap of the ball if the Middle or Mike linebacker reads pass, he turns and runs to a depth of 10-15 yards and then plays like a Free Safety. Since he has a hard enough time getting back there usually they are only asked to cover the middle most part of the field and not hash to hash like a free safety does, but it is a cover 3 instead of a true cover 2.

The reason for this new coverage (it has been around now for 8-10 years but is new to most people) is that Mike linebackers are becoming more and more athletic. Take Brian Urlacher who played Free Safety in college for

New Mexico. Even though when balanced he plays the Will or Weak side linebacker in a

Tampa 2 coverage he is the one that takes the center of the field.

This defense is done to fool the quarterback into thinking at the snap of the ball that the middle of the field will be open. Since the Linebacker is only expected to cover the middle of the field usually it is not the pass deflection or interceptions that count down here, but it is a big linebacker putting a big hit on a small receiver. Now the receiver will think twice before he goes across the middle to catch a ball.

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