• December 22, 2024

Eagles Are Shredding The Tampa Two Coverage

Jackson on the runIt’s a featured pass coverage of most of the NFL teams, but DeSean Jackson and the Eagles are trying to make it extinct.¬† I’m talking about the Tampa two or two-deep zone defense.

The Tampa two, which was made famous by Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin when they coached the Bucs, involves keep two safeties deep and covering a half of the field while five underneath defenders take away the short zones.

The Broncos could try to use this defense against Jackson, but they might reconsider when they look at what Jackson and the Birds have done against the coverage this year.

In the first series of the Eagles game against New Orleans, the Birds struck deep to Jackson against one of the safeties in the two-deep zone.  

McNabb in the pocketIn both Giants games, the Birds isolated their safeties on Jackson when they were playing cover two and it isn’t a contest after that.

In the Chicago Bears game, they again got Jackson isolated deep on a safety in cover two and it resulted in another long touchdown.

They’re becoming so effective at it that teams may stop playing two deep zones against the Birds.

The key is Jackson’s amazing speed and the Eagles understanding of the coverage.

Right now a team can’t protect its safeties from Jackson because he gets downfield so fast and because the safety has too much of the field to cover, if another receiver is able to bait the safety into leaving his position deep.¬†

Donovan McNabb stares down the safety that they want to influence and he gives him a pump fake to make sure he takes the bait, then he comes off of him and goes to Jackson who has slipped behind him deep with his blazing speed. 

The Eagles have numerous players with the speed to get downfield and occupy that other safety, plus I wouldn’t be surprised if they utilize the speed of Jeremy Maclin but letting Jackson do the baiting and McNabb throwing the ball to the rookie.

It’s nearly impossible to stop if you don’t get pressure on the passer.

If the Birds catch the Broncos in that two deep zone defense, they will likely attack Denver’s safeties. The question which one will they bait and which one will they outrun in coverage.

They know one of those safeties, Brian Dawkins, very well and the other starting Broncos safety is Renaldo Hill, who like Dawkins is a better tackler than he is a coverage guy.

Dawkins knows the Eagles very well but he might find himself as the hunted rather than the hunter on Sunday if he gets caught man to man on Jackson or Maclin.

GCOBB

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