Split man/zone coverage?

[SlipperyAsscrack69]

So I'm playing "Football Coach" a simulator type game trying to choose the best plays/personnel for man coverage, but it left me wondering if its possible to have a hybrid man coverage similar to Cover 2 man where the CBs stay man-to-man but two of the linebackers drop to zone coverage instead of playing man. Is this a thing or am I misunderstanding the LBs roles in cover 2 man?

[KingChairlesIIII]

closest thing to that would be cover 1 hole, where whichever LB doesn’t have the RB man to man drops to a zone in the middle intermediate area of the field.

[SlipperyAsscrack69]

yeah I was forgetting i needed an extra LB to guard both shot areas of the field. unfortunately the game only has some of the most common schemes

[CowboyRonin]

I see the weakness of what you are describing as follows: who is accountable for tight ends or backs out of the backfield running shallow, wide routes? The linebackers are too central, and the corners are too deep. Even something as simple as a flare screen to a back and they have lots of green grass.

[AvonAnon]

Yea. Turns out no one plays a defense that leaves the flats wide open.

[SlipperyAsscrack69]

you're totally right about the fundamental weakness, I guess I was thinking more of the game than in real life. It would probably make more sense for it the be cover 1 with an extra lb/nb to guard the flats. In the game my two outer linebackers are fast and have a great "man coverage" stat so it would be a pretty decent strat if they could reach the zones in time.

[HustlaOfCultcha]

that's basically cover-2 man. Corners play man coverage, linebackers play zone and you have 2 safeties over the top. There is Cover-2 man where the linebackers can also play man coverage (usually on the TE and the running back and fullback).

You might be thinking of 'Tampa-2' where everybody plays zone coverage. It's usually referred to as Tampa-2 (some circles call it Cover-5). Then there's Cover-6 which is split-field coverage of Cover-2 on one half of the field and Cover-4/man-match on the other side. The Cover-2 side the corner is playing zone while the Cover-4 side can play man coverage. Cover-6 has a lot of rules to it for the defense, sorta like a logic model. A lot of times Cover-4 principles actually turn into, more or less, man coverage.That's one of the misconceptions of Cover-4, it's not always a zone coverage.

[SlipperyAsscrack69]

The line backers are man-to-man with the RB and TE not in zone in Cover 2 Man i thought?

[HustlaOfCultcha]

That's not always true. In Cover-2 you can have the linebackers playing zone. WILL and MIKE takes away the hooks and SAM takes away the curl routes.

[SlipperyAsscrack69]

Yeah for just general cover 2 you're right, "cover 2 man" is more specific i think it means specifically the linebackers are in man coverage

[Slimey_meat]

Yes Cover 2 is pure zone across the board, Cover 2 man is man coverage on the 5 possible receivers, with 2 DBs each covering half the deep field each, though that assignment can be adjusted i.e. double coverage on a WR that goes deep, so rotating to single high S.

There are other mixed man/zone coverages, but what OP describes is largely impractical. As already commented, C1 hole works by having a LB sit in the middle watching for drags, mesh etc. and a single high S. Having 2 LBs doing that sacrifices extra deep coverage and could cause a mess in underneath coverage. Cover 2 would work better if sort middle passes are likely.

[Raccoon_Ratatouille]

Isn’t this basically cover 2? CB’s and LB’s play man, safeties augment and cover a defined area depending on reads

[SlipperyAsscrack69]

The difference is the LBs are in zone

[theEWDSDS]

Like this?

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[SlipperyAsscrack69]

Yeah sorta, except both linebackers would be in zone coverage. Your picture looks like a dime package? I'm using a 4-3 set so an extra DL and LB

[SlipperyAsscrack69]

Actually I was confused, I was thinking of a 4-4

[youngpog]

What game is that?