← Glossary

Cover 2

Two deep safeties · five underneath

Two safeties split the deep field in halves; corners and linebackers zone the underneath.

When it applies

Against pass-first offenses; the classic Tampa 2 shell.

+ StrengthsNothing gets behind you; safeties drive on anything in front of them.
− Trade-offsThe middle hole between safeties; only seven in coverage leaves the run light.

Filed under: Coverage shells