Man to Man coverage...

[cowboy4eva]

Personally I prefer the cover 2 defense but in certain circumstances I think a defense needs to run a majority man to man defense. When your corner backs are Anthony Henry and Terence Newman (an elite tandem) you probably should go man to man. When your safties are better run supporters than pass supporters you probably should go man to man. When your facing a team with an elite WR in terms of production, talent or both (i.e Burress, Steve Smith etc.) you probably should go man to man.

I like the Cover 2, but the Boys struggle with getting a bump on WR's off the line which allows the WR's to get to those safeties faster. More importantly the Boys struggle severely with getting to the QB. Allowing the QB time to wait and find the holes in the defense or allowing a team time to get their WR's matched up on safeties will kill a defense. Zones are less work for a defensive backfield, so I definetely think it should be worked in, but I'd just like to see more man coverage against certain teams. This weekend is a team I'd like to see it worked in more, as well as the week following with Santana Moss (although it's easier against the Commanders since they don't attack down field.)

 

[Wolfpack]

Yep and I think they are giving up the deep ball in the Cover 2 due to teams looking for the weak link, the rookie FS. The Giants came out looking to attack us in that coverage and they did. Look for Carolina is try to catch us in that for sure.

Its just a strategic game plan issue, Cover 2 shut down the skins totally and kept Young from running or rolling out as much. We stayed with that for the Giants due to Tiki but the Giants like to use deeper routes so we paid the price. Like you said, the corners do not jamb well and often sit back 5-7 yards in their shallow zone anyway.

I like the Carolina game for man. Henry should have little trouble glued to Key and Newman kept Smith in check last year. Roll a saftey over top on Smith with a LB or other saftey in a middle zone looking for a in / slant and Smith should have a long day.

I haven't seen Carolina this year but I would think they try some 3wr sets on early downs to try to get Smith some room and catch us staying in a base 3-4.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

this is a solid thread with very good football acumen on display. It should have much more run than it got. Here is my 2 cents. Newman is a top 5 pick. Henry got a double digit signing bonus. That says to me we think they are good. Then LET THEM PROVE IT. Why are we letting the fortunes of this defense come down to a 5th round rookie FS. And you are exactly right. Brunell does not have the arm strength to throw the intermediate route against a cover 2 scheme. (between the CB and safety) so it worked against them. On a side note, Romo made a throw to TO between the CB and S. Owens dropped it because he heard footsteps...but that throw showed me something

 

[CrazyCowboy]

You bring up some very good points....maybe it is because Tnew and Glenn are so short and most of the receivers we play are tall

 

[Frozen700]

yea....

we needa either Play more Man to Man...or more Cover 3(so newman n henry will atleast be in a deep zone) cuz right now i dont trust or safties

 

[Rack]

Personally I prefer the cover 2 defense but in certain circumstances I think a defense needs to run a majority man to man defense.

Cover 2 doesn't necessarily mean a zone defense. You can have a cover 2 AND play man at the same time.

 

[Wolfpack]

Cover 2 doesn't necessarily mean a zone defense. You can have a cover 2 AND play man at the same time.

We are exposing Watkins when we run the Cover 2 Zone. I'd rather see a Cover 2 Man or really a Cover 1 Man most of the time. Its just about playing to your strenght (corners) and hiding a weakness ( rookie FS).

 

[Rack]

We are exposing Watkins when we run the Cover 2 Zone. I'd rather see a Cover 2 Man or really a Cover 1 Man most of the time. Its just about playing to your strenght (corners) and hiding a weakness ( rookie FS).

I agree. I was just correcting the original post.


I think we do run mostly man 2 man. It's what Zimmer likes to do. Hopefully Watkins will figure it out soon. We need him to.

 

[Wolfpack]

I agree. I was just correcting the original post.


I think we do run mostly man 2 man. It's what Zimmer likes to do. Hopefully Watkins will figure it out soon. We need him to.

I have seen alot of Zone this year. Pretty sure the big plays have all been in a zone scheme that left Watkins alone on who ever wanted to go deep. I'd rather see Man all day.

 

[Jarv]

I agree. I was just correcting the original post.


I think we do run mostly man 2 man. It's what Zimmer likes to do. Hopefully Watkins will figure it out soon. We need him to.

Didn't BP mention that Coleman will play next week ? That could be one of the surprises we see. Maybe Coleman will even start at FS ?

 

[cowboy4eva]

Cover 2 doesn't necessarily mean a zone defense. You can have a cover 2 AND play man at the same time.

You're right. I should have mentioned I think we use the Cover 2 zone too much. You said we do a cover 2 man a lot, but our big plays always seem to be given up when Henry or Newman are passing a WR on to the safety.

As someone mentioned earlier I think using the Cover 3 would help as well, where at least on the outsides we have our CB's covering the deep ball. As I said before I definetely prefer zone for a defense, but with our problems covering deep plays and our problems rushing the passer, I think the Boys have to try more man to man coverage.