Every coverage has strengths and weaknesses. Sunday night, the Buffalo Bills exploited the ever living heck out of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Cover 2.
So what is the weakness of Cover 2? The “hole” shot. Traditional Cover 2 has the corner play the flat, the safety the deep half. That creates a gap along the sideline behind the corner and in front of the safety. Because the safety has to defend half the field – i.e. nearly 27 yards – he’s stressed to match any sideline route.
The most common concept to beat Cover 2 is called “smash,” designed to put the corner in conflict.