What is Cover 4 in 11v11 tackle football?
In 11v11 football Cover 4 rushes four, splits the deep field into four narrow quarters and leaves three defenders underneath. Four deep defenders means no vertical route is ever unaccounted for, which removes the shot play entirely. The price is that three men have to cover the full width at ten yards, so everything short is available.
Why Cover 4 works in 11v11
Three underneath is a real cost at eleven a side
The offense has five eligibles and the width of a full field. Three underneath defenders cannot cover that, so the quick game, the flat and anything on a back are all open. A patient team can take five yards a play for a whole drive, and the defense has no answer inside the call.
The safeties are run defenders, if they read it
A quarters safety reads the receiver in front of him rather than backpedalling blind, so the moment that receiver blocks he is coming downhill as an extra man. That is what turned quarters from a prevent shell into a base defense. It only works if he triggers fast, and a play-action fake that holds him is the offense's counter.
It is the one shell four verticals does not beat
The concept that stresses Cover 3 and breaks Cover 2 is even against this: four deep receivers against four deep defenders. If your opponent's explosive plays are all vertical, this removes them, and it does so without asking anybody to be faster than anybody.
There is no deep ball to be had
Four defenders across the deep part of the field means every vertical route is bracketed or matched immediately. A team that has been beating you over the top stops doing it the moment you go to quarters, and it does not require a single fast player to work.
The safeties can become extra run defenders
Because a quarters safety reads the receiver in front of him rather than dropping blind, he is free to come downhill the moment that receiver blocks. Modern quarters is a run defense disguised as a deep shell, which is what made it the base coverage of so many college defenses.
It is the answer to four verticals
The concept that breaks Cover 2 and stresses Cover 3 is the one this shell was built for: four deep receivers against four deep defenders is even, and even is a win for the defense. If your opponent's shot plays are all vertical, this removes them entirely.
Before and after the snap
The same call twice. What a coverage IS lives in the difference between these two pictures, not in either one of them.
- The alignmentCover 4 at 11v11 before the snap: the alignment and the rush, with no coverage drawn.
Where everybody stands, and who is coming. This is all an offense sees before the ball moves, which is why a defense that tips its coverage from the alignment has given away the only thing it was hiding.
- The coverageCover 4 at 11v11 after the snap, with every zone drawn and labelled.
The same men a beat later, with what each is responsible for. Every seam and every soft spot on this page is a gap between two of these shapes.
How to beat Cover 4 in 11v11
Throw everything underneath and be patient
Three defenders at ten yards across a full field is an invitation. Slants, flats, shallow crossers and checkdowns are all there, and the only thing that stops them is your own impatience. A team that insists on taking shots against quarters is playing the defense's game.
Run it, or make the safeties think you are going to
Four deep means seven in the box against five blockers and a back, which is thinner than any other zone shell. Run at it. And when they start triggering, play-action off the same look holds both safeties for the half second it takes to get behind the three underneath defenders.
What Cover 4 gives up
Everything underneath
Three defenders cannot cover the width of a field at ten yards. The quick game, the flat, the shallow cross and anything on a running back are all available, and a patient offense can take five yards a play for as long as you stay in it.
The run, if the safeties are slow to trigger
Quarters only defends the run when the safeties read and come. If they are late, or if the offense sells a vertical release before blocking, the defense is playing with two fewer men in the box than the offense has blockers, and that arithmetic does not survive many carries.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the football playmaker, collect them in the football playbook maker, and print printable play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Draw Cover 4 for your own team
Open the designer, set your alignment, and save it to your playbook.
Open the free play designerRelated questions
Is Cover 4 a prevent defense?
What beats Cover 4?
Can you play Cover 4 below seven a side?
Related guides
Coach Ray Carroll
Coaches 5v5 flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade in San Mateo and San Carlos, California, and built RC Football to design, teach and print the plays his own teams run.