What is Cover 6 in 11v11 tackle football?
Cover 6 in 11v11 is quarters to the field and Cover 2 to the boundary, which is why it is called quarter-quarter-half. The field corner and the free safety split the wide half between them, the boundary corner sits in the flat with the strong safety over the top, and one call answers a formation that is strong to one side.
Why Cover 6 works in 11v11
It is called by the hash, not by the formation
The half always goes to the short side, so the call flips with the ball rather than with what the offense lines up in. That is the opposite of how most coverages are chosen, and it is the reason this one survives motion that would break a formation-based call.
Two halves of the defense play different rules
The quarters side matches receivers the way Cover 4 does; the boundary side spot-drops the way Cover 2 does. One huddle call produces two techniques, which is efficient on the field and demanding in practice, because both halves have to agree on where the middle is.
The front does not change
Four rushing and three linebackers underneath is the same picture as Cover 3 or Cover 4 out of the same personnel. Everything different about this call happens behind them, which is what lets a defense carry it without adding a front.
It puts defenders where the grass is
Offenses attack the wide side because there is more room there. Cover 6 answers with two deep defenders splitting that half between them, while the short side, where a receiver has a sideline working against him, gets one. The coverage is matched to the field rather than to the formation, which means it does not have to be re-called every time the offense moves somebody.
The boundary corner can play the flat
With a safety over the top of him, the corner on the short side squats on everything underneath and jumps out-breaking routes. It is the most aggressive job a corner has in any zone, and it is available precisely because the field behind him is narrow.
Half of the quarterback's read is wrong
The alignment looks the same as several other two-safety shells, and the two halves play different rules once the ball is snapped. A quarterback who reads one side and throws to the other has been given a picture that is only half true.
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 6 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 6 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 6 in 11v11
Flip the strength and make them check
Motion the formation into the boundary and the coverage is now backwards: two deep defenders over one receiver and one over three. Defenses have a check for it, and forcing them to make it under tempo is where the call breaks.
Four verticals at the quarters side
Quarters is two defenders over two receivers. A vertical by the inside receiver puts the safety in the conflict Cover 4 always has, and doing it on the wide side means he is defending more grass while he decides.
Out-breaking routes on the boundary
The short-side corner is sitting in the flat, which means the space behind him belongs to a safety playing half the field. A deep out or a corner route from the slot attacks the space between the two of them.
What Cover 6 gives up
A formation that flips the field
Motion or a formation into the boundary turns the short side into the strong side, and the call is now backwards: two deep defenders on one receiver and a single deep player over three. It needs a check, and a defense without one is being asked to play the wrong coverage.
The seam on the quarters side
Quarters is two defenders over two receivers, so a vertical route by the inside receiver puts the safety in the same conflict Cover 4 always has: he cannot help on the outside and carry the seam at once.
Two halves that did not agree
Half a defense playing one rule and half playing another only works if both halves know where the line between them is. A missed call leaves the middle of the field belonging to nobody, which is worse than either coverage would have been on its own.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the free flag football play designer, collect them in the free playbook maker, and print printable play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Draw Cover 6 for your own team
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Open the free play designerRelated questions
What is Cover 6 in football?
Why is Cover 6 called quarter-quarter-half?
How do you beat Cover 6?
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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.