There are two different Cover 2 Zone defenses within the Madden Football game, and that’s why we’ve brought to you this guide to showcase the strategy breakdown. So, let’s begin!

What is the Cover 2 Defense Strategy?

The Cover 2 Defense is all about half-field defenses, wherein 2 deep half-field defend a 2 deep half-field. Both split the field into half, make their way to the sideline of the goalpost, and then prevent any receiver from entering their area.

The strategy is normally utilized when the team is trying to defend the short passing game, or when they have slower corners. Cover 2 Defenses force the receiver to play in the middle deep zones, or outside the field, where you have enough time to generate pressure or sack the Quarterback.

There are a total of 2 types of Cover 2 Defenses. One where the linebackers and corners play a role in man coverage, and the other where the linebackers and corners play a role in underneath zones. This strategy is found to be used in many football games, for instance, Tampa Cover 2 Defenses, where the SS and FS are split out wide and the linebacker drops deep in the middle of the field.

The Basics of Cover 2 Zone

The Cover 2 Zone exists to offer quick corner support against runners, as well as to flood the 5 underneath passing zones with defenders. It’s an attempt to stifle the intermediate and short passes. Here, the cornerbacks push the outside receivers toward the inside of the field with pass defenders sacking their line of sight.

The Cover 2 Zone is strong against short and intermediate passes. There are deep safety coverages on the outside and middle passes. The defenders with vertical hooks can convert man coverage of the inside receiver against the vertical route. Here, the deep middle area is protected by the mid-read defender.

Those were the strengths. Now, speaking of its weaknesses, the Cover 2 Zone sets multiple receivers to one side of the field. Many vertical passes are effective against this strategy. You can find a few working blitz schemes from the coverage. And, the strategy relies only on a 3 to 4-man pass rush to generate pressure on the quarterback.

Quick Breakdown of the Defenses

Cover 2 Buster

Cover 2 Buster is known to be the traditional defense of Cover 2 Zone. Here, the defensive ends are in Quarterbacks Contain, and the nose tackle is in Quarterback Spy, wherein the corners play a soft squat coverage.

Cover 2 Contain

Cover 2 Contain has two beautiful defensive ends in Quarterback Contain. This play showcases the defensive tackle dropping back of the weak side in the zone coverage. Yet, he still rushes the quarterback.

Cover 2 Hard Flat

There are two corners playing in the Cover 2 Hard Flat, which is to protect the outside short areas of the Cover 2 Zone. The priority here is to protect against the short outside routes first, and then move further.

Cover 2 Press

There are two corner features in the Cover 2 Press, wherein, same as above, the outside short areas of the Cover 2 Zone are protected. The priority here is also to cover the outside short routes first. Here, the two corners play the Cloud Flat Coverage.

Cover 2 Invert

Also known as the strategy to confuse the quarterback, the Cover 2 Invert is played while the safeties and corners switch coverage. As you can see in the given image, the right and left cornerbacks are playing the deep halves of the field, while the safeties are playing hard flats.

Cover 2 Show Cover 4

Cover 2 Show Cover 4 have the quarterbacks see themselves in a Cover 4 Defense, wherein the defense is actually Cover 2. The corners here are lined up seven yards off the scrimmage line.

Do note that if your opponent is throwing flats, make sure to run the Cover 2 Defense to bait him into quick passes. You’ll have a good chance to pick the pass and go the other way for easy points.

Cover 2 Sink

Also known as Trap coverages, the Cover 2 Sink has two corners that play soft squad coverages. These corners can convert man coverage based on the concept of pass routes. They also need to use certain out-breaking routes by inside receivers.

Cover 2 Spy

Cover 2 Spy has no defender with a Quarterback Spy assignment. But wait, they do have two defenders in Quarterback Contain, which means the corners are in hard press.

Tampa 2

Tampa 2 is similar to Cover 2 Carry; however, there is an exception. The middle linebacker drops further in the middle than he normally would while playing that scheme. More like Cover 3, but with a linebacker instead of a safety in the deep middle of the field.

MMOexp Madden 24 Team