What is Cover 2 coverage in football?
Cover 2 splits the deep field between two defenders, one for each half, and puts everybody else in a short zone in front of them. No receiver gets behind two players, every defender faces the quarterback, and short throws are surrendered on purpose. The cost is a seam straight up the middle of the field, between the two deep players and behind the short ones, that never fully closes.
Why Cover 2 works
Nothing gets over the top of two players
Each deep defender has half the width of the field and nothing in front of him he has to worry about. A deep ball has to beat a player who started deeper than the route and has the sideline helping him. Against a team whose whole offense is one fast receiver running past people, this is the simplest answer in football.
The short defenders can be aggressive
A zone defender with help behind him can jump a route. That is where interceptions come from, and it is why Cover 2 teams tackle short throws for no gain rather than watching them. Every underneath player knows the worst case is already covered.
It frees bodies to rush
Two deep and a small number underneath still leaves players over in most formats. Cover 2 is the shell you call when you want to send pressure without exposing the deep field, which is exactly what Cover 0 cannot do.
The same two halves at five players and at eleven
Two deep defenders is two deep defenders. Team size decides how many people are left to fill the space underneath them.
- Five players, two deep · 5v5Five players, two deep in 5v5: Two deep halves with three underneath, and the only call in this install where the W plays like a safety. The two deep defenders split the field down the middle and everything in front of them belongs to the corners and the Mike, which gives a defense five sets of eyes on the quarterback and a wall across the short middle. It is the best answer in the book to an offense living on quick outs and slants, and the best way to stop the big play without giving up the pass rush lane a man call gives up. The hole is the seam straight up the middle between the two halves, and the deep out in front of the corner. Coach the two deep men to talk: whoever the ball goes to, the other one is the help.
Two deep halves and three defenders underneath. At this size Cover 2 is nearly the whole defense, and the middle hole is large enough that a coach has to decide in advance who is responsible for it.
- Eleven players, two deep · 11v11Eleven players, two deep in 11v11: Two deep halves with the corners squatting hard in the flats rather than bailing. It takes away the quick game outside and dares the offense to throw the seam. The soft spot is behind the corner and in front of the safety, rep the safety's break on the sideline.
The identical two halves with five underneath defenders instead of three. Same deep picture, and now the flat, the hook and the curl each have an owner rather than sharing one player.
How to teach Cover 2 in one practice
- 1
Draw the line down the middle first
Before anything else, show your two deep players that the field has a left half and a right half and each of them owns one. Walk them to the middle and have them touch hands. Everything to my left is mine, everything to yours is yours, and neither of us ever comes forward.
- 2
Deep players start at the hash and get depth
They do not line up on the sideline and they do not line up in the middle. Split your half, back up, and stay behind the deepest receiver in it. The single most common error is a deep defender drifting toward the ball and letting a route run under him into open space.
- 3
Underneath defenders open to the sideline, then turn
Each short defender has an area, not a person. Teach them to get to their spot with their eyes on the quarterback, then settle and read his shoulders. A short zone defender who chases the first receiver he sees has left his area, and the area is the job.
- 4
Assign the middle hole out loud
There is a gap between the two deep halves and behind the short defenders, and every good offense throws at it. Name the player who carries it: usually your middle underneath defender, dropping straight back rather than to a side. A hole nobody has been given is a hole that is always open.
- 5
Break on the throw, not on the drop
Every defender is facing the quarterback, which is the advantage this shell buys you. Use it. Nobody moves toward a receiver until the ball is in the air, and then everybody moves at once.
Three ways to close the middle
Put a player in the middle hole, and you have Tampa 2
Send your middle underneath defender running straight down the field to cover the deep middle, turning two deep defenders into three without changing anybody else. This is the standard fix for the seam and the reason Tampa 2 exists at all.
Play man underneath, and you have Cover 2 Man
Same two deep halves, but the short defenders lock onto receivers instead of covering grass. The short throws Cover 2 gives away stop being free, and the price is that crossing routes now hurt you.
Roll one deep player down, and you are in Cover 3
Bring one of the two deep defenders toward the line and drop a corner deep instead. Three deep thirds, one more player underneath, and the middle hole closes. A perfectly reasonable in-game change when the middle keeps getting thrown at.
What changes in your format
5v5 and NFL Flag
Two deep and three underneath, which is half your defense standing deep. It is an excellent call against a team that keeps throwing deep and a poor one against anything patient, because three short defenders cannot cover the width of a field. Most teams at this size get more out of three deep than two.
6v6 and 7v7
Two deep halves and four or five underneath is a genuinely sound structure here, and it is usually paired with a real rush because the spare bodies have to do something. The middle hole is the thing to watch: at this width it sits about twelve yards down the middle of the field and every good offense in your league knows it.
9v9 and 11v11
Cover 2 at this size is a full system with named jobs: corners jam and sink to the flat, two safeties split the halves, and the linebackers carry the hook and curl areas. It is also where the fix for the seam lives, since Tampa 2 needs a middle linebacker fast enough to run to the deep middle, and that player only exists at nine a side and up.
When not to call Cover 2
Against a team that throws up the middle
The seam between the two deep players is not a flaw you can coach away, it is the shape of the coverage. A quarterback who can find the receiver running straight up the middle at twelve yards will do it all day, and you should change the call rather than shout at the defenders.
Against a running quarterback or a run-first team
Two players standing deep are two players not helping against the run. Every yard in front of the short defenders is available, and a team happy to take six yards at a time will take them until you move somebody forward.
When you cannot spare two deep players
In the smallest formats, two deep out of a handful of defenders leaves the short zones thin enough to be beaten by any quick throw. Cover 2 is the right idea with too few bodies, and a three-deep shell or man coverage is usually the better use of them.
When your deep players drift
The coverage lives or dies on two players staying deeper than everything. If they keep coming forward to make a tackle, you are actually playing a defense with nobody deep and nobody has told you. Fix the habit in practice or call something where the deep job is simpler.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the flag football play creator, collect them in the free playbook maker, and print printable play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Draw cover 2 for your own team
Open the designer, put your defense on the field, and save it to your playbook.
Open the free play designerRelated questions
What does Cover 2 mean in football?
What is the weakness of Cover 2?
Is Cover 2 good for youth football?
What is the difference between Cover 2 and Cover 2 Man?
How do you beat Cover 2?
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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.