Is Cover 2 broken or do I just need to better at it?

[extremeskins04]

I am using the Vikings and I drafted Calais Campbell to work on the other side of Allen, along with the Williams wall. I figured this front four would be great so I'll just play the 4-3 Cover 2 defense all day long, and only rush these 4 guys in hopes to get some sacks.

Now I realize they need to learn the plays, the coaches need upgrades, etc etc., but I'm questioning the 4-3 Cover 2 defense itself. Is it as good as playing man to man? Seems like the opposing QB's are finding holes in my secondary pretty easily in the preseason games. For instance my corners will just stand in their cover 2 shell while a receiver grabs a nice long pass in a hole in my defense. Frustrating to say the least.

Any advice on what defense to run would be appreciated.

[JimK]

I experienced the same thing with the Cover 2. But I never stuck with it long enough for my coaches to get good, and I've heard others say it is a good defense.

[cutter73]

I usually play primarily man defense. I've never found the Cover 2 all that effective. Then again, as I said, my corners are all better at man coverage than zone coverage since that's what I draft them for.

The only time I use the Cover 2 is when the other team is inside my ten yard line in passing situations. That keeps the CB's in play since the routes can't really run that deep there. Towards the middle of the field, I tend to get burned on deep routes using the Cover 2 because my corners stay around the line of scrimmage. I have no clue whether the defense is better with experience, knowledge and upgrades. The Colts and bears seem to do pretty good with it when I play against them, but for me, I just don't have the patience to find out.

A couple pre-season games probably isn't nearly enough to judgue it fairly though. It generally takes at least half a season for me to get any defense to the point where it's starting to take shape due to the things , like knowledge, that you mentioned.

[kcarr]

I have used the cover two and done very well. I did a raiders career that I posted on here for quite a while where I ran a cover two and did pretty well. I did it without anywhere near the DLine you have. I had great DBs though, especially on the corners, and very good linebackers.

The preseason is always tough the first year but even that first year with the raiders and adding in Tony Bake, Athya Rubin, and David Vobora and not a whole lot else in terms of bigtime stars I had a great first year defense getting decent sack productions and really good turnover production. The preseason wasn't great and my lack of a passing game with russell limited me but I made the playoffs based on my defense and running game so I would think with your front four you should be able to dominate.

[sketch22]

I've run the Cover 2 a lot in this game and it is a great defense if you come to terms with what it can do and what it can't do. It can generate turnovers, keep the other team out of the end zone, and mask the individual short comings your defensive players. What it can't do consistently is generate large sack numbers, stop a power running game, or keep a top-tier QB from moving a team down the field.
From my experience a C2 defense will give up plenty of yards, don't worry about the opposing team passing for a bunch of yards if it doesn't end in TDs. Bend don't break, that is what this defense is all about. Force the other team to take the short or intermediate routes. The more plays it take the other team to move down the field the more chances for your defense to make a big play.
I run my team a bit different then kcarr does though. I tend to undervalue my CB's and LB's for better DL and Safetys. You have a a really good front four but make sure you have some depth behind them and that you sub them out when they get tired. Don't wait for you D Line to be exhausted, sub a new player in every few plays and keep those top guys fresh, so when its 3 and long you have your best gunners fresh and ready to kill the QB.
Value speed and size in your secondary, not strength. Lance Briggs is an awesome linebacker, but in HC he is not a good fit in a C2 scheme. You want your linebackers to get into their zones quickly and be able to close the distance quickly and jar the ball loose if a WR does make the catch.
Top tier corners are pretty useless in a C2 aswell. You want speed, size, and tackling ability. Hands is a plus. But you shouldn't waste your money on a guy like Revis or Asomougha.
Your safety's however need to be the total package. Fast, strong, and smart. They need to be able to close on and destroy any WR who finds a seam. If you safety's aren't fast enough or powerful enough hitters your going to have trouble stopping WRs from making catches in the gap between them and your CBs. After your D Line, this is by far the most important position for you to invest in. DL>S>LB>CB.
As far as play callings goes make sure you flip your plays in nickel to put your nickelback on the same side as the 3rd WR. The game doesn't automatically do that in zone and it can help against quick throws. Against bunch formations, you can shift your LB's to that side to help out but its risky if the WR on the other side runs a quick slant. I fin its better to spread my LB's in bunch becuase that still puts one LB right on top of the bunch and leaves my MLB in position to help and the other LB on his side to defend against the quick passes.

[kcarr]

Another thing that can really help, press coverage for your corners. When I was using the raiders I had huff and asomugah playing the corners and pressed a lot and they really created a lot of turnovers and took receivers out of a lot of plays. Also, good press corners can allow more time for your pass rushers and huff made a fair amount of big hits on backs and both of them made a lot of plays for me

[ebongreen]

Cover 2 scheme is a little broken, but it's not bad. sketch22 gave a good outline of how it works and doesn't; I'll reiterate a lot of his points in my own words.

C2 in this game seems to thrive on its linebackers and safeties, all of whom need to be good in zone coverage and good hitters. When the ball gets thrown (over the middle, as it almost always does) the 'backers and safeties need to get there and knock the receiver so silly that he drops it. Against QBs with less-than-elite arms or brains, they get picks too.

Your 'backers are your primary run defenders too - thanks to the stunts and twists built into the DL, one is usually free to paste a ball-carrier in the backfield on standard runs.

Speaking of the D-line, almost any tackle will do - but faster Chris Hovan types are made for it. They don't have to be really big or really strong - they just need to get in the way most of the time and let the 'backers do cleanup. Your LE (as usual in this game) is your primary sack-threat, and I would think Calais Campbell would fit there very well

Good corners are less important: in fact, that's one of the reasons why Cover 2 is so popular. C2 corners cover shallow routes in zone coverage, so they're rarely tested deep - you don't have to break your bank to find awesomely-athletic and -skilled man-cover corners. They're LOS-oriented short-pass and run defenders, acting in some ways more like traditional safeties vs. toss plays and outside runs.

Weaknesses? It's a zone-based scheme, and zones have holes. Almost every playbook has one or more hooks-and-flats pass play designed to be a C2-beater: make the corner cover a slot receiver and open a hole between the corner and safety. Drop the ball in before the LB can get to the receiver; get YAC; profit. Slow-developing runs like draws and counters work well against C2 (at least with my slider set), because the 'backers don't pursue instantly, which is proper behavior if they're taking the time to read the play. Play-action passes down the middle seam are also awesome; if the MLB bites on the play-fake, the safeties in the outer thirds haven't a chance in heck of catching a quick receiver.

Regarding nickel-back placement, I'd disagree slightly with sketch22 - rather than always align him with the 3rd WR, align him "wide-side/far-side". For example, if the ball is on the left hash, put him on the offense's right, where there's more space and area to cover in the event of a pass. Given the AI tendency to pass to the far side, he'll also have more chances at interceptions that way.

[Sanchez_Mareno]

Cover 2 works well against PBs with heavy amounts of PA