Steelers to incorporate more Cover-2?

[antdrewjosh]

Monday, July 27, 2015
Interesting development
I typically try to keep an eye on Mike Tomlin early on in practice to see which position he is paying attention to the most.

Monday, it was the cornerbacks, who had broken off from the safeties. I worked my way over to their grouping as Tomlin began talking to them about the things they were going to be working on extensively over the next 14 days.

He then began working on Cover-2 techniques with them, using former Tampa Bay players Will Allen, a veteran safety who was given the day off, and coaching intern Dexter Jackson, a Super Bowl MVP with the Bucs, as his examples.

It was something I had never before seen out of Tomlin. He'll often keep an eye on a certain position, but he never jumps in and coaches an entire session as he did today.

"We're going to build this but we ain't going to build it all today," Tomlin told the corners as defensive coordinator Keith Butler stood by watching.

What did they work on?

Locking their arms when they re-route receivers, shuffling at the line of scrimmage without giving ground to divert the receivers. Turning and dropping before passing the receiver off and then staying low so they can come up and tackle a receiver who catches the ball in front of them in the flat.

Nobody is saying for certain - though Allen came close - but it appears the Steelers will at least incorporate more of the Cover-2 into their defensive scheme.

First, we've had Butler talking about how he'd like the defensive linemen to get more QB pressure - a hallmark of the Cover-2. And with athletic linebackers such as Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Shazier in place, the Steelers have more guys capable of playing that style.

And now Tomlin's work today.

With both the loss of former defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and the retirement of safety Troy Polamalu, it might be as good a time as any for a switch.

@ The heat index reached 112 today and claimed rookie tight end Cam Clear as a victim. He left early.

Safety Ross Ventrone also suffered a lower leg injury when he and rookie receiver Eli Rogers collided over the middle going for a ball.

@ Cortez Allen had a nice interception of Ben Roethlisberger in the end zone in the opening goal-line drill. Later in the drill, rookie corner Doran Grant picked off Landry Jones on a quick out.

@ It was a tough day for Darrius Heyward-Bey. He was twice put to the ground along the sideline while making a catch but held on both times.

Somebody in the crowd hollered, "Hey, 88, you sure know how to make a roster."

@ Tough call on the catch-of-the-day.

C.J. Goodwin went up over Kevin Fogg along the sideline to haul in a Tajh Boyd throw in a nice show of body control.

And Antonio Brown did his best impersonation of himself, hauling in a pass from Roethlisberger one-handed along the sideline.

Then there was Martavis Bryant beating Antwon Blake and Isaiah Lewis deep to catch a bomb from Roethlisberger.

Heyward-Bey also caught a long pass down the sideline from Jones.

@ Linebacker Howard Jones was chided by his teammates for stepping in front of a pass but knocking it to the ground instead of trying to catch it.

"Oh, you've got to catch that," corner B.W. Webb yelled.




Dale Lolley at 7:49 PM


All those looking to see what Tomlin and Butler may have up their sleeve as far as changes here we go

 

[antdrewjosh]

Also there is an even more in depth article by Wexell on scout.com. Ryan Clark talks about the possible implementation. Can't post the link but very good article

 

[antdrewjosh]

Pittsburgh Steelers Training Camp: Tomlin directly coaches secondary on Cover-2
By Mike Frazer  @MPFrazer on Jul 28, 2015, 8:53a 2


Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
With former safety Troy Polamalu and former defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau missing from the Steelers' 2015 edition of Training Camp at Saint Vincent College, and so many young players vying for roster spots in the secondary, now might be a great time to switch back to a more traditional coverage scheme. What's not so normal is who was doing the coaching.


Dale Lolley, of the Observer-Reporter and WDVE -- as well as the NFL From the Sidelines blog -- is spending his time at St. Vincent College right now, and on Monday he observed head coach Mike Tomlin doing something interesting during the second day of the Steelers' training camp practices: he was working directly with the secondary on some Tampa-2 concepts.

With Troy Polamalu freelancing for most of his career, rare was the use of any variation of the Cover-2 scheme. As Lolley points out, though, Polamalu's retirement -- and with longtime defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau moving on to Tennessee -- now is as good a time as any for the switch.


What is most curious, though, is Tomlin directly working with the secondary, or any single position group, for that matter. Typically, he has left that to his coordinators and the position coaches.

To quote legendary author S.E. Hinton, writer of The Outsiders and Rumblefish: that was then, this is now.

One thing that would be easy to miss with the change in defensive coordinators is that Dick LeBeau was, himself, once a very gifted cornerback. In fact, his numbers were arguably good enough to get him into the Hall of Fame without even having to take into account his illustrious coaching career: 62 interceptions, nine fumble recoveries and four touchdowns. Carnell Lake may be the secondary coach, but LeBeau brought plenty of positional knowledge of his own.

His departure, though, combined with Lake's relative lack of coaching experience, may have created a perfect storm, of sorts, for Tomlin to get elbows-deep into coaching the secondary again. He was, after all, the defensive backs coach in Tampa Bay. Tampa, as in the "Tampa-2" defense, not to mention a defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings before being hired as the Steelers' head coach in 2007.

What is the difference between the different coverage schemes? The number after the word 'cover' refers to how many defensive backs will be dropping back into a deep zone. These defensive backs could be a safety or cornerback, but a Cover-1 defense would have one deep defensive back, usually a safety, while others play underneath. Cover-2 would have two DBs playing deep, and so on.


So the Steelers look to possibly be making a switch to running more Cover-2 defense in 2015, and are being coached by someone who has used the Cover-2 often in his coaching career.

It's so perfect, it's almost easy to overlook it.

 

[stillwright]

Our DB'd engaging and rerouting WR's at the LOS....unheard of.

 

[deljzc]

I've mentioned this is coming numerous times during this off-season.

Not sure it's a good thing. QB's have been seeing Tampa-2/Cover-2 coverages now since High School. Not going to surprise anyone but it probably fits the safety and CB personnel a bit better but that's because that's the type of DB we've been drafting.

Just coming to fruition after the way Tombert's been drafting and evaluating talent.

This also isn't much of a change. There were debates and discussions over the past two seasons how much more Polamalu was playing deep and not "in the box" as a cover-2 safety. And it also coincides to the dramatic decrease in DB sacks we've seen under this team the last 3-4 seasons.

I wouldn't put much stock in this as an improvement or change for the better just yet. They have to execute on the field for it to work because the Tampa-2/Cover-2 system is nothing new or exciting.

 

[Shane Falco]

It's not that bad of an idea. I do like the fact Tomlin is involved with teaching and coaching this group. This could be a fun defense to watch grow and develop over the next couple of years.

 

[Spike]

Our DB'd engaging and rerouting WR's at the LOS....unheard of.

Sounds like more zone

 

[SteelerInLebanon]

New hybrid defense. Would like to see something new

 

[SteelerSask2]

Maybe so, but who do they have to play heavy man coverage with? My big hope is they crowd the line of scrimmage more. I was just at a CFL game Sunday. Hamilton and Saskatchewan. Hamilton was all around the LOS with only a few guys with a hand on the ground and brought heavy pressure or dropped it off into coverage. Saskatchewan lined up like the Steelers a lot last year. They got zero pressure while Hamilton lived in the backfield. In my opinion you have to create that indecision in the oline and blitz pickup. Trying to play coverage with the modern QB and receivers, not to mention rules is largely impossible.

 

[Litos]

hope this means more CB pass rush on nickel situation

 

[Wingman]

I do not believe it needs to be a surprise, it just needs to disrupt the timing of the route and provide coverage underneath and over the top. If we just get an extra second before the ball gets out sacks will be up, if the hurries result in a bad throw with the guys that can catch it might be turnovers.

 

[slashsteel]

So with cover two is it you have one less body for the run?

and the corner has to play more man?

 

[Stryker]

So with cover two is it you have one less body for the run?

and the corner has to play more man?

I suppose you can run the cover 2 the same way we run the zone blitz. The defense can shift on the fly as to which 2 players are playing back. Will Butler get creative and have a Speedy LB drop back with a safety at times as the other safety comes up into the seemingly vacated zone? Now that would be interesting, and Shazier would be fast enough to do it.

Sure beats the cover 3 we've been running...

 

[Steelz]

The Steel Curtain of the 70s used a 4-3 cover-2 base, just food for thought. Would be interesting if they plan to run it off a 3-4 base tho. I'm sure they'll use some sort of hybrid, show a 3-4 look and bring a linebacker to the D-line last second at the snap. I could see them using Harrison like this instead of dropping him back into zone.

 

[stuntmanmike]

We play a lot of three safeties three backs and variations off that so you're going to see cover 2's and cover 3's. I think it's a mistake to do it that way by giving up the line of scrimmage, I hate that the one down lineman look. A better defense is the old steel curtain with eight men in the box that's athletic enough to drop 4 men back into pass defense with cover 2's And cover 3's with the linebackers taking away short passing routes but still able to respond with force against the run. Hydrid defense are becoming the new prevent defense and the only thing they prevent is winning.

 

[Steelbar]

It's not that bad of an idea. I do like the fact Tomlin is involved with teaching and coaching this group. This could be a fun defense to watch grow and develop over the next couple of years.

I agree 100%, great move by Tomlin to change up the easily beaten 10 yard cushions.

 

[bermudasteel]

I agree 100%, great move by Tomlin to change up the easily beaten 10 yard cushions.

Welcome to the board. Nice analysis...

 

[6Rings]

Ryan Shazier serving as Derrick Brooks in the Tampa 2?

 

[Wingman]

Interesting to me was the fact that the writer referred to Carnel Lake as inexperienced and Tomlin as the guy teaching the cover two. I found that to be laughable. I believe MT and Carnel have about the same number of seasons with a possible edge to Carnel in coaching defensive players. Carnel has a huge advantage in playing defense at a high level both at corner and safety and in college as a linebacker. Mt may have a plan that he wants to install but implying he was doing it because of an inexperienced coach is a hoot.

 

[DocScott]

Change is good, especially for our secondary. I'm all for it, let's see how we execute it along with the results. Too many times we've seen CBs playing way off the ball only to be burned underneath. Go Steelers!

 

[Coach]

Sounds like more zone

You nailed it. And with a questionable pass rush and unproven coverage people, this is best. A bend but don't break type of defense with DB's who have ball skills.. NO WAY we can play man to man or cover 3. At least until the pass rush improves and the smallish DB's prove they can cover.

 

[IndySteel]

We're going to get LIT UP. Again. At least the offense can win shootouts.

 

[Wingman]

At this point we have had a cover none and a cover two sounds much better. Going to a 4-3 might better suit the guys we have now on the line and adding a group like Shazier, Timmons and Dupree to the mix maybe helpful as well when in the 4-3. All three are fast two of the three are also big guys that can run blitz and should be stout against the run. The team will still have folks that can work well when in the 3 -4 such as Harrison. There could be quite a bit of different personnel groups this year and big differences in looks that the offense sees.

Might be quite a difference for offenses to try and game plan against a defense that can cause mayhem in the backfield with 4 linemen and 7 guys in coverage. Could also cause some issues if over loads are used and Dupree is one of the 4 lineman who drops into coverage and Harrison comes on a rush from a traditional linebacker spot. The chance for corners to rush as well could be an issue for offenses as well.

 

[Vader]

At this point we have had a cover none and a cover two sounds much better. Going to a 4-3 might better suit the guys we have now on the line and adding a group like Shazier, Timmons and Dupree to the mix maybe helpful as well when in the 4-3. All three are fast two of the three are also big guys that can run blitz and should be stout against the run. The team will still have folks that can work well when in the 3 -4 such as Harrison. There could be quite a bit of different personnel groups this year and big differences in looks that the offense sees.

Might be quite a difference for offenses to try and game plan against a defense that can cause mayhem in the backfield with 4 linemen and 7 guys in coverage. Could also cause some issues if over loads are used and Dupree is one of the 4 lineman who drops into coverage and Harrison comes on a rush from a traditional linebacker spot. The chance for corners to rush as well could be an issue for offenses as well.

I don't see a 4-3 working at all with these guys. They have better ILBs than DL. Right now there aren't 4 4-3 DL on the team. Dupree is not a 4-3 LB. He's a pure 3-4 OLB. They also aren't giving up on Jones who is another pure 3-4 OLB.

 

[deljzc]

THe more Cover-2, the more pacification of our defense under Tomlin.

This defense used to attack. It used to dictate it's will upon the offense. It used to create organized chaos. It ate up indecisiveness in offenses.

Now it sits back. It blitzes less and when it does it's much more obvious from where. It is so worried about not giving up the big play that it has become passive, reactionary and slow.

The Tampa-2 has run it's course in the NFL. I could write a thesis on how and why it was created and the reasons for its success. But in today's NFL, where turnovers are consistently going down, a defense that is passive and relies on turnovers to generate stops is not a philosophically sound method. In this day of offensive rules, predominantly rushing 4 does not work unless you have unique, unique pass rush talent and even then those talents often sell-out so much for pressure that rush defense suffers (or must be covered up by other defenders).

It's an antiquated system. Not the 4-3. Not the 3-4, but the predominance of soft zone coverages with the intent to tackle and generate turnovers in front of you is just wrong in this day in age. I don't think it generates enough stops.