Tampa 2 Defense: Cover 2 With the Mike Running the Middle

Tampa 2 at a glance

Coverage type

Zone

Deep defenders

3

Underneath zones

4

Rushers in this call

4

The Play Designer's base version of the call. Teams adjust who rushes and who drops every week.

Named for the 1990s Buccaneers

The Buccaneers' own team history tells it this way: in 1996, new head coach Tony Dungy and new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin installed a Cover 2 based defense that became so effective it spawned the term "Tampa Two." The Scouting Academy's Inside the Pylon glossary agrees that the scheme rose to prominence in the 1990s under Dungy and Kiffin. Those Bucs played a 4-3 under front, keyed by defensive tackle Warren Sapp, that funneled runs to outside linebacker Derrick Brooks.

The glossary names Jack Lambert, Brian Urlacher and Luke Kuechly as prototypical Tampa 2 middle linebackers.

Two deep and five under, until the Mike turns

Former NFL safety Matt Bowen sums up the base version simply: Cover 2 is a 2 deep, 5 under defense with a four man rush. The weak spot of a traditional two deep shell is the deep middle, between the two safeties. Tampa 2 sends the Mike there.

Once the Mike runs with an inside vertical, Bowen writes, the defense essentially becomes 3 deep and 4 under, the same shape as Cover 3. That is why the at-a-glance numbers above show three deep defenders and four underneath zones even though only two of the deep players are safeties. In the call the Play Designer draws, the corners take the flats, the free and strong safeties take the deep halves, the Sam and Will linebackers take the hook/curl zones and the Mike takes the deep middle.

The Mike linebacker's job, step by step

Bowen's install gives the Mike three steps: read run or pass, open to the strong side and run with any inside vertical route by the No. 2 receiver (the Cover 4 page explains how receivers are numbered). If No. 2 does not go vertical, drop to about 15 yards and react to throws underneath. Depths like that vary by coach.

The hard part is the footrace. Bowen says the Mike has to carry that seam route the whole way and only gets help from a safety once the ball is thrown. The glossary adds the other half of the job: the Mike still needs the instincts and toughness to play the run. In other words, a Tampa 2 Mike plays like a linebacker against the run and close to a safety against the pass. If that is you, the linebacker plan and the zone drop drill build the turn and run.

Good Mikes read beyond the first receiver. In one glossary example, Kuechly reads from No. 2 to No. 1, follows a tight end up the seam, hands the tight end to the safety when a receiver breaks inside, and jumps the inside route for an interception.

Corners, safeties, outside linebackers and the four man rush

Corners: Bowen's corners jam the outside receiver to force an inside release, then sink to about 12 yards with their back to the sideline to protect the corner route, and rally to anything thrown to the flat. If they let the receiver escape outside, the safeties have to widen and holes open in the deep halves.

Safeties: read the outside receiver's release for run or pass, then get to a landmark at the top of the numbers, 15 to 18 yards deep in Bowen's version. The glossary says Tampa 2 corners and safeties do not cover as much ground as in most coverages, but they have to be willing and capable tacklers. The defensive back plan trains the pedal with the backpedal drill; the tackling side is covered on the hawk tackling page.

Sam and Will: drop to the hooks and slide with the quarterback's eyes. With the Mike gone deep, the glossary says the outside linebackers need exceptional range to cover wide areas underneath. Front four: the plan is to drop seven and let four rushers force the ball out. The glossary notes Tampa 2 teams almost always play four down linemen to keep blockers off their smaller, faster linebackers, so the defensive line carries the pressure.

Where the holes are

The first hole is right behind the Mike's drop. As the Mike runs deep, the middle underneath opens up. The glossary shows the Steelers hitting a slant route into that space under the dropping middle linebacker.

The second is the zone the Mike is defending. The glossary describes the Cowboys running a version of the dagger concept: a tight end up the seam to pull the Mike, then a deep dig route into the area the Mike leaves. In that clip Kuechly read it and intercepted the dig, which is the best case for the defense.

The third is outside, between the corner and the safety. Bowen points to smash, a short route under a corner route, as an answer to Cover 2 and Tampa 2: the short route pulls the corner down so the quarterback can throw the corner route behind. That is why Bowen's corners must sink deep enough to protect it.

Draw it against Tampa 2

Open a concept from this page already lined up against Tampa 2, then move players and routes to test it yourself.

• Dagger vs Tampa 2Seam clears the safety; a dig works behind the linebackers.Open
• Smash vs Tampa 2Hitch under a corner: high-lows the flat defender.Open

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