I listened to this podcast last night at work and Steve White had some things to say to everyone who keeps talking about Lovie and the Tampa 2 and I just wanted to comment on how often writers are throwing the tampa 2 thing at us.In summary White says that Tampa 2 is just a coverage that is one of many coverages run by every single team in the NFL depending on the situation. He explains that 4-3 teams run it and 3-4 teams run it. It just depends on the situation. He also says that no team will ever run Tampa 2 50 plays a game nor should they. White predicts that the Bucs will play tampa 2 an average of 7 plays a game.Also, every time Coach Smith has been asked about Tampa 2 he makes the exact same points. That every team runs it and its not something that they use on every play.Its starting to bug me a little that almost every personnel article on the bucs makes the points over and over about tampa 2 this and tampa 2 that. It just baffles me. I watched Lovie's press conference when he was hired and I've heard him on a few other radio shows. Every time he says the same thing. Even ex bears are saying that tampa 2 is basically a 3rd and long coverage... thats it. I posted a link to the podcast for anyone else who wants to hear it. http://whatthebuc.net/2014/01/22/podcast-coaching-review-darrendoxey-sgw94/
He's right for the mist part, but I don't buy it being used "7plays" on average.
It's basically just your base defense ... then you run all sorts of other defenses out of that same look ....you can blitz , switch to man ....bring a safety up on the box in run support. Of course you don't run the same defense every play , you would get torched.
The funny thing about this is that even back in the day here we ran all kinds of other coverages. Ronde would talk about how much cover 3 we ran for example. You can't just come out in one coverage all game long. No one ever has.
I think it's funny, that those saying we won't run a cover 2 are getting annoyed. Let me offer up some nuggets to chew on as well as an article for you to peruse. In 2012 there were 2 teams that ran a cover 2 the majority of the time. The Vikings....and the Bears. Frazier saying it was about 50% of the time, the bears even more. So while talking about the cover 2 in 2012 Lovie said "This is our defense," "We have a philosophy we believe in. Whether it's one or 32 teams using it, we don't care. To us, it's what we believe in." http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-14/sports/ct-spt-1015-bears-cover-2-chicago--20121014_1_cover-2-new-defensive-coordinator-aikman-efficiency Bears fly Cover-2 flag with prideOne of only two teams relying heavily on defensive scheme, Lovie Smith's squad is thrivingOctober 14, 2012|By Dan Pompei, Chicago Tribune reporter NewAs trends go, the Cover-2's heyday has come and gone. Like trucker hats and Crocs, the Cover-2 is nowhere near as prevalent as it was in the mid-2000s.But as defensive schemes go, the Cover-2 still works just fine.Seven NFL teams once majored in the Cover-2, but now there are only two. Critics have said the Cover-2 is no longer as effective as it once was because of rules changes.Even Bucs defensive back Ronde Barber, who has made a career playing in the scheme, has questioned the Cover-2's viability moving forward.During an interview on Sirius XM radio Barber said, "Our theory was all these guys got to the ball and intimidation was a physical act. It was, 'Get guys to run through zones. We'll shoot our guns and separate them from the ball.' The rules will definitely affect it. ... I know we don't play Cover-2 now the way we used to."Last year there were 388 defensive personal fouls in the NFL. In 2008, there were only 250. That's an indication that Cover-2 defensive backs can't load up on receivers coming across the middle the way they once did.But the teams that still rely most on it are not backing down, and there is no evidence to suggest they should."This is our defense," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "We have a philosophy we believe in. Whether it's one or 32 teams using it, we don't care. To us, it's what we believe in."The Bears defense entered the weekend ranked second in the Aikman Efficiency Ratings, third in points per game and sixth in yards per game. The Vikings, the other team that still runs a Cover-2-based scheme, ranked eighth in the Aikman Ratings, sixth in points per game and seventh in yards per game."We're at the top of the Aikman ratings just about every year we've been here," Smith said. "The things we think are important — take the ball away, third-down conversions, we've been doing that pretty much every year. So I know it's a good system."Vikings coach Leslie Frazier thought so much of the system that when he was looking for a new defensive coordinator this year, he prioritized finding a coach who was familiar with it."A lot of people were talking to me about why don't you look at the 3-4, or look at this, that," said Frazier, who hired former Colts defensive backs coach Alan Williams. "I knew we had success here in the past with this."But Frazier understands the recent fuss about the scheme."The new rules have changed things a bit," he said. "It's probably contributed to fewer teams running it. I don't know if you can major in it like you once could."Frazier said his team probably runs Cover-2 40-50 percent of the time. The Bears have run it more than that.Former Colts general manager Bill Polian, who won a Super Bowl with the scheme, said he would not shy away from the Cover-2 if he were to get another job as a general manager. He said coaches just have to convince defenders to lower their aiming point.Because defensive backs can't be as physical with receivers, the pass rush, which always has been the key to the scheme, is more important than ever."That Cover-2 scheme isn't that good when it's 'Five Mississippi' as opposed to 'Two and a half Mississippi,'" said former Bucs safety and current Fox commentator John Lynch. "The name of it comes from playing halves of the field. Fifty-three and a half yards (the width of a field) is a lot of ground for guys to cover if the rush isn't getting there. What the Bears have and Vikings have is consistent pressure up front. That's what makes that defense go for them."Most teams can't generate the kind of pressure with a four-man rush that the Bears and Vikings can. So playing a heavy dose of Cover-2 doesn't make sense for them.The fact that only two teams still wave the Cover-2 flag is an advantage for both."Offenses don't see it quite as much as they did, so it does create a little bit of a curveball effect," Frazier said.There are benefits, too, in sticking with one scheme. Longtime Bears defenders like Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman have their Ph.D.s in the Cover-2 because they have been in it so many seasons."I don't think you can be good if you do this one year, that the next," Smith said. "You can't just say, 'What's the hot defense?' every year."The reason teams have gone away from the Cover-2 might have more to do with coaching migrations than rules changes. Some of the primary proponents of the Cover-2 no longer are running NFL defenses.Tony Dungy has graduated to broadcasting. So has Herm Edwards, though he moved away from the scheme later in his head coaching career.Monte Kiffin is at USC. Raheem Morris is a secondary coach with the Redskins. Ron Meeks, with the Chargers, also is coaching DBs instead of coordinating.Rod Marinelli and Smith each ran the scheme on different teams but now are together with the Bears.
Trust Belief and Accountability in the Tampa 2 !!
Never underestimate the stupidity of the average fan who played 2 seasons of pop warner and rode the bench in middle school...but was a stud at Madden.
Hey , you just described me !!!!Except I played 4 years of pop warner. I can't help every one else got bigger and faster and I stayed 5'9 and slow , lol.
Hey , you just described me !!!!Except I played 4 years of pop warner. I can't help every one else got bigger and faster and I stayed 5'9 and slow , lol.
Lol...my bad yo. If it makes you feel better I think you make some great posts...and then you make some antagonizing ones, and those are great at making me laugh.
Well thanks !
Media hype. That's all.They're connecting the dots and trying to push the idea that we're "back to the old days."Fact is, the old days t2 is obsolete on a constant bases. Sparingly used, it still works, so lovie will use it, but not all the time.The only way he would revert to solely the t2, is if mccoy just absolutely beasts in that system. I think then he would.
Trust Belief and Accountability in the Tampa 2 !!
Those words are banned from the red board!
I think the confusion is the coverage v. the philosophy - I couldn't find it, but years ago there was an article where Dungy talked about the concepts of the Tampa-2 defense, and it was clear he was using it less to describe the coverage responsibilities and more as an umbrella for "spill the WILL," "under-tackles," "corners who can tackle," "turnover-focused," etc.
I think the confusion is the coverage v. the philosophy - I couldn't find it, but years ago there was an article where Dungy talked about the concepts of the Tampa-2 defense, and it was clear he was using it less to describe the coverage responsibilities and more as an umbrella for "spill the WILL," "under-tackles," "corners who can tackle," "turnover-focused," etc.
I remember this. I think Steve White is trying to rewrite history. As far as I can remember the Tampa 2 is the cover two zone defense that we used to play. It was the way to describe our defense as a whole, not a definition of a single coverage. If you get a chance watch St Louis' s defense from last year. It was a cover two zone and was phenomenal. We may not run all cover two zone but it still works if you have the right personnel. We are severely lacking an edge rusher to make it work right now.
It's actually pretty simple (as a screwdriver) to explain...Cover 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f_qFhT1m7o Tampa2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUv_3SdfrJA Yes, it's a play... but it's also having the players to play it. You meed the DLine to get the QB pressure with 4 players. You need the corners to play the perimeter runs. You need a MLB who can take away the deep middle of the field...
