How do coaches defend this is real life?

[dawgpound 26]

Quote: Originally Posted by psycho79

I think you mean a 3-2-6, if your running a 3-2-5 you are playing a man down.

Yeah, apparently I can't add. I'll go ahead and use the excuse that it was late when I posted that. lol.

[synjin]

First of all, LB's in general shouldn't be covering slots. That's your first mistake. However, if you are running a 4-3/3-4 Cover 2 or 3 zone vs. I formation-Twins, then it will occur. Proper technique for the OLB on a slot WR in a basic, (non-Tampa) Cover 2, would be to line up splitting the difference between the slot and the OT, about 5 yards off the LOS, shading slightly to the WR. He would do his best to engage the Slot, chuck and funnel that slot WR to the outside. This defends the slant, because if the WR tries to fight to the inside, the OLB stays with him.

In your example, the WR is going deep, so the OLB chucks the WR (if he can), funnels him outside then runs with him for about 5 yards, keeping himself between the WR and the ball. The Safety overtop is usually about 12 yards deep, and begins the play with a back peddle. The WR shouldn't be open since the LB covers him for the first 10 yards, then the Safety picks him up at 12-15 yards. You would have to thread a needle or look off the safety to open that up.

The skinny post is far more dangerous vs. Cover 2 when you send BOTH receivers on one side, deep. In real life, the CB should bump and funnel the outside WR to the inside. While funnelling inside, he peaks at the slot. If the slot is going vertical and so is his man, he has to abandon his flat and run deep with his guy, otherwise the Safety over top will have to cover 2 guys at the same time. The game doesn't emulate this very well. They don't emulate much in the way of proper technique for that matter.

With regards to the game, I find that if you put the safety in Robber coverage, it works well against that skinny post. Also you can do an alternative rotation for Cover 2 defense (there is like 1 in each of the 34/43 playbooks). Instead of the safeties backing up to cover deep half, the CBs covering flats and the LBs all in yellow hook/curl zones.... the safeties step up into the yellow hook/curl zone, the OLBs buzz the flats, and the CBs drop to cover deep halves. This is a fairly common coverage for Cover 2 defenses in real life, as it's really good at stuffing the run and slants and TE Pop patterns. That said, this rotation is very vulnerable against quick hooks and sticks and speed outs patterns on the outside. It's also vulnerable deep middle if the safeties and corners don't play it right.

[jmik58]

Quote: Originally Posted by hampshire2012

Im sure we've all done it: Slot receiver, matched up on an outside linebacker, runs a go. LB plays press for about five yards, and then passes the receiver off as he settles into his hook (yellow) zone. You then fire a bullet to the slot receiver, behind the LB, for a relatively easy completion. My question is this: how do coaches defend this play in real life? Admittedly I don't have an experts knowledge of strategy, but from what I know I can't fault the LB's technique.

If a teams starts running the slot vertical I've done a few different things in the past.

1. Cover Four is one of the best basic coverages for stopping vertical routes because the Safeties sit in the passing lane where the slot will run his route.

2. Man coverage. Jam the slot (preferrably not with a linebacker but with someone that can stay with the receiver). Or you can just play tight man coverage. The best coverage in principle for defending the pass is man coverage because you know there's a defender with the receiver.

3. As far as a technique or twist you could employ, I love using Robber coverage when a team starts getting pass happy with their slot receiver or start running their #1 ("X" receiver) on a post or deep dig route behind the backers and between the deep thirds in cover 3 or deep middle in cov 2. Robber basically tells the safety to read his keys to determine run or pass. If he reads run he fills the run lane. If he reads pass then he rolls down to read the #2 route (second route from the sideline) which is your slot in the example provided. If the slot goes vertical then he is the #2 route from the sideline and the safety runs with him. There are several options and rules you can use if the #2 breaks his route in or out depending on how many second level defenders you have in zone coverage.

Robber is more of a helper on the #2 route, but to simplify it by using your example, a go route by the #2 would be the 2nd route from the sideline. If twin receivers run a post/wheel or a slant/wheel, then your "X" receiver (#1) then runs the #2 route. In this case, the safety is going to "Rob" the #2 route of the outside receiver as he breaks in.