Cover 2 has been a staple of NFL defenses since the 1970s. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

DAVID JACOBS | Assistant Sports Editor | [email protected]

Overtime, or “OT,” is an opinion column series in which the Collegian takes national sports headlines or polarizing topics and gives them a Butler-centric perspective.

Than the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers terrorized offenses across the league with their “Steel Curtain” Defense, it was the defensive coordinator Bud Carson and head coach Chuck Noll Debut of the Cover 2 Scheme. The groundbreaking strategy combated a decade of quarterback renaissance in the 1960s, when the league saw its first 3,000- and 4,000-yard passing seasons.

The Cover 2 defense is essentially a simple strategy and involves two safeties dividing the field in half, each responsible for their respective deep half. Below that, the cornerbacks and linebackers each typically have a soft zone that protects their portion of the field from certain routes and concepts that an offense may employ.

Although the insurance system dates back nearly 70 years, ESPN Senior NFL Insider reports Mel Kiper Jr. went on exhausting chatter about how the two high safeties are ruining the game of football passing yards This is the lowest value since then 2007.

Ryann Bahnline, an English and secondary education double major, thinks the whole outrage is absurd.

“(Kiper’s) whole problem is the two high safeties that are also used.” Cover 4not just Cover 2,” Bahnline said. “I think what he says obscures a lot of problems in the NFL right now. It’s (not) just about limiting the number of explosive plays; It’s because the offensive lines are collapsing, the receivers aren’t able to get past the safeties, or the coaches aren’t the best they could be.”

However, some fans like economics major Michael Malone have felt the lack of explosive plays while watching games this season.

“I think some kind of rule needs to change,” Malone said. “Whether it’s changing the defense to improve the fan experience (or something similar) because that long play is sorely missing from the game.”

The missing long pieces can have various reasons. This is certainly not because of the high safeties, nor is it because the modern pass rush is too big for the offensive lines to keep up with.

Since the pass rush win rate is slightly lower this year, the offensive lines are not responsible for the lack of passes. This season, 17 teams have at least one 40% pass rush win ratecompared to 18 teams last season. So if the passing rush is the same and security is not to blame, why are passing numbers being reduced?

The answer is simple: The NFL is a constantly evolving league and home to the greatest football minds in the world. Coaches and players will always be able to understand each other and find ways to gain even the slightest advantage over each other.

An example of this is shortly after the birth of the Cover 2 defense, when offenses experienced another renaissance in the 1980s after figuring out how to beat the Cover 2 defense. As the decade progressed, Hall of Fame passersby repeatedly collapsed Joe Namaths 1967 passing yardage record by 4,007 meters before Dan Marino would be the first in the league 5,000-yard passer in 1984 – a record he would hold until 2011.

With attacks that adapt back to current defensive strategies, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers And Indianapolis Colts Head coach Tony Dungy would find a solution to counteract the rising pass numbers across the league.

Named after the city where he put the strategy into action as head coach of the Buccaneers in the late 1990s, Dungy’s Tampa 2 Defense is a similar concept to Cover 2. After playing defensive back with the Steelers in the system under Carson and Knoll, Dungy’s plan places the middle linebacker in the middle third with the two deep safeties covering their respective halves.

While the Tampa 2 concept ultimately failed when Dungy left coaching in 2008, it provided a foundation for the current Cover 2 defenses that Kiper wants to ban, as well as the Cover 4 And Cover 6 Formations that also utilize the two-high safeties.

In Kiper’s rant, his biggest concern is the lack of explosive plays and deep passes due to the Cover 2 safeties. Even though the safeties are far behind, there are still many ways to make explosive plays to beat easy coverage.

Second-year sports media major Scott Delande has watched these explosive plays still happen and firmly believes the game is “perfectly fine as is.”

“I went to the (Chicago) Bears “You played a game against the Colts and saw some downfield passes,” Delande said. “Anthony Richardson had one with it Alec Pierce that was (44) yards, and (Rome) Odunze had one catch that went for (47) yards. Even on Monday Night Football, Jayden Daniels had a good game Terry McLaurin (to win it). There may be fewer (explosive plays), but not as much of the extreme measures he’s talking about.”

While the explosive plays in recent years may not always have come in the form of deep go routes, the explosive run rate of rushes over 20 yards is the highest it has ever been since the persecution began in 2013 with an average of at least 19 running backs one 20-yard rushing attempt per game.

“I think coordinators are using their tools more,” Bahnline said. “(The coordinators) let the quarterbacks who are capable fight and leave it to a wide receiver who is quick and sees what’s happening.”

Aside from offensive play calls being more creative than ever, the blame for the declining passing stats can be traced to an overarching consensus of poor quarterback play.

“When I was younger, the league was full of elite quarterbacks,” Bahnline said. “Nowadays, running backs are being used more and more in the game and tight ends are becoming more and more common. It’s not just about who can hit on the field, I think it makes the game more dynamic, which also makes it a little more boring to watch as fans because you don’t have those explosive quarterback plays.”

Regardless of what Kiper claims is wrong about football, there is a long list of aspects of the game that would make football better fixed before safety measures are pushed closer to the edge.

“I don’t agree with changing the safety precautions and the way teams play,” Malone said. “(However) I think the offenses need to be adjusted or maybe a different defensive rule needs to be implemented.

Decade after decade, quarterbacks and offenses have been able to adapt and exploit defenses to gain advantages for their teams. In due course, the current quarterback landscape will be able to adapt to the complex defensive packages coming their way.

It was four weeks of football. Give players time to get into shape midseason and stop overreacting because teams are using their running backs.

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