The Cover 2: The Chicks Break it Down

It may be one of the primary reasons the Saints are off to an 0-2 start (other than the fact that the Chicks clearly aren't drunk enough come 2nd quarter). We're talking the Cover 2 Defense a.k.a. the Saints ultimate double edged sword.

Not only is it being used against us, but its apparently not working for us. If you've been too busy trying to figure out what it is to realize how it's hurting us, allow the Chicks to school you in a little Cover 2 101. (Football experts, feel free to go back to practicing your Benson Boogie for Monday night's home opener.)

The Cover Who? Say What?
There are several basic formations a defense can rely on to cover a pass. Some of them are named based on the number of defenders deployed deep (toward the end zone) to cover the pass. In a Cover 2, two defenders (two safeties) go deep, dividing the field into halves. While the two safeties go deep, five other defenders (two corners and three linebackers) are charged with covering their individual zones (areas of the field.) Click here for a diagram.

Why It Hurts Us On Defense: The Cover 2, while being a good way for defenders to keep the ball in front of them, also makes the defense vunerable to big plays. It creates an area in the middle of the field that can be exploited because none of the defenders can get there in time to cover a pass. (We've certainly seen our fair share of that the past couple of weeks...) And to make matters more frightening, in the instances when we've given up on the Cover 2 in the past couple weeks, it hasn't helped much.

Why It Hurts Us on Offense: When we're playing a Cover 2 Defense who knows how to play Cover 2, it typically means we're stuck making short gains and limited on the number of long passes we can attempt or complete for that matter without getting an interception.

So In Conclusion: The Cover 2 is designed to STOP the big pass play

Still confused my little angels? Click here for more diagrams and a more detailed explanation.

Now that we've made your brain hurt, here's a little something to soften the blow of too much football jargon...