Understanding Cover 2 and Cover 3 Zone Coverages in Football

While I was watching a football game the other day with a friend, the announcers were talking about the different football coverages that the defense was playing. My friend looked over at me several times to ask me: "What is he talking about?" The light bulb came on. Being a former college football player and coach, I decided it would be great to help educate the general masses on what zone football coverages mean.

Now this will be a simpler primer, so I won't go into depth but will give you enough information so you can sit down and watch a football game and have a decent understanding of what they're talking about. Please note that when watching college or pro football coverages can get extremely complicated.

Cover 2.

Cover 2 is a coverage where you have 2 safeties and 2 cornerbacks playing half the field with the same coverage. With cover 2 the two safeties each line up on has marks and are responsible for their half of the field from the hash mark to the sideline.

The corner will be responsible for flats on his side of the ball. The flats are usually described as 5 to 7 yards from the line of scrimmage from the numbers to the sidelines. The corner should line up 3 to 4 yards in front of the receiver and once the ball is snap he should try and reroute the receiver to the inside or outside, depending on the defense. Once he reroutes the receiver he should drop back to 8 to 10 yards and look for another offensive player in the flat.

The linebackers should cover the zones in the middle. The 2 outside linebackers should have the curl zones while the middle linebacker has the inside hook zone.

Cover 3.

In cover 3, the Free Safety is in the middle of the field and has the responsibility of the deep 3rd. That means he's responsible for the deepest person who is inside the two hash marks. His motto is "deep as the deepest".

The corners now are responsible for the deep third on either side of the free safety. The corners will now have to cover the deepest threat from the hash to the sideline on their side.

The other safety, also known as the strong safety, will line up closer to the line of scrimmage and will play the flat on the strong side of the ball. He will also be a primary supporter if the ball is run to his side.

With the linebackers, the linebacker opposite the strong safety (normally called a Will backer) will be responsible for the other flat. The two remaining linebackers will cover the curl area in front of the quarterback.

I hope this helps explain zone coverages for you. Use this guideline next time you watch football and impress your friends with your new found knowledge.