Dream scheme
The Cover 2 defense is so connected with the Bucs, it has come to be known as the Tampa 2.
By STEPHEN F. HOLDER
Published December 15, 2005
TAMPA - With the Bucs-Patriots game approaching, New England coach Bill Belichick was asked about the Bucs' vaunted Cover 2 defense, often referred to as the "Tampa 2."
Before the reporter could finish the question, Belichick interrupted.
"Let me just jump in there and say right now, it is the Tampa 2," he said Wednesday from Massachusetts. "Universally, everybody knows what that is. ... It's defined by that one word (Tampa)."
Well, then.
It's a fact: When you talk about the Cover 2, you're talking about the Bucs. They are the NFL's standard for the widely-used scheme. Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is the architect and the Bucs' familiar core of defensive players make it go.
But what is the Cover 2? And why is it so difficult to attack?
After all, there isn't an offensive coordinator around who doesn't know what to expect against the Bucs.
The scheme uses speedy and savvy defenders to guard specific areas of the field, and the Bucs' personnel are a perfect fit.
In the Cover 2, the safeties drop particularly deep into their respective halves of the field to prevent the deep pass, often with help from the middle linebacker. The cornerbacks defend their quadrants of the field and look to help in run support. The linebackers look for the run first, then drop into coverage in their designated underneath zones. The defensive linemen must generate a formidable pass rush and get into the backfield.
If all goes according to plan, the offense is left with small areas underneath the coverage in which to throw the ball, where the receiver often is met by a bone-jarring hit. And if the play is a run, the idea is for the defensive line to get penetration and the linebackers to read and react swiftly to stuff it.
Things have been going according to plan a lot lately. The Bucs have allowed two touchdowns in three games and are ranked second in the league in total defense. "We ran this defense with the Vikings when Tony (Dungy) and I were together there," Kiffin said. "When I came here, we tweaked it a little. But Tony is really the guy who started this Tampa 2 thing."
Before Kiffin and Dungy, former Steelers defensive coordinator Bud Carson - who died Dec. 7 in Sarasota - used a similar scheme in the 1970s, when Dungy played for him. Still, Kiffin takes great pride in what he has been a part of.
"Oh, yeah," said Kiffin, the NFL's longest-tenured defensive coordinator. "Heck, yeah. Especially the way we're playing."
Lately, no one has successfully cracked Cover 2. The Bears defeated the Bucs on Nov. 27, but it wasn't because they found any answers. The Bucs' scheme was instrumental in limiting Chicago to 13 points - seven coming on a 1-yard drive that followed a turnover. Other than Thomas Jones' 41-yard catch, Chicago's longest play? Nineteen yards.
A week later against the Saints, the Bucs allowed some deep balls but no touchdowns, reinforcing the bend-but-don't-break philosophy of the Cover 2. And Sunday against Carolina, Steve Smith had a 60-yard catch after Dexter Jackson gambled on an interception and missed, but the Panthers' next-longest play was a 20-yard run by Stephen Davis.
Against Carolina, the Bucs used primarily Cover 2 because of Smith's ability to shred one-on-one coverage. Smith did not score and got most of his yards on that single play.
"You just don't want to match up with that guy," cornerback Ronde Barber said. "As good as you are, he's just so good at breaking tackles and getting free in the open field. It's still our bread and butter no matter how much we get away from it. When it's crunch time and we need to stop somebody and we need to bend and don't break, that's what we're going to play."
And everyone knows it.
"There's no exotic blitzes, no tricks, nothing," defensive lineman Ellis Wyms said. "When we do blitz, you know where we're coming from, when it's coming and who's coming. There ain't a whole lot of disguising. People know who we are. They just have to beat it."
The defense might sound simplistic, but it is not simple to execute.
"You have to have serious pedigree to run it," defensive end Simeon Rice said. "Once you have that, it all works well. But it's about players in this defense."
If any player doesn't fulfill his assignment or is out of position, it can be a deal-breaker. It requires a great deal of discipline to patrol an area and resist the urge to freelance.
"It's not easy to put this defense in," said Kiffin, who often is approached by college coaches and younger NFL assistants for advice on running the Cover 2.
But for teams that run it effectively, it can work wonders. Dungy's Colts and Lovie Smith's Bears run the Cover 2. Add the Bucs to that list and you have the NFL's top three scoring defenses.
Those other two teams have one other thing in common. They feature coaches who once worked in Tampa Bay - the place where the standard was set.