Breaking Down the Denver Broncos and Their Tampa 2 Coverage

The turnaround of the Denver Broncos season has been well documented this year with majority of the publicity going to quarterback Tim Tebow, but their defense has stepped its game up as well by playing a variety of fronts, coverages and making big plays in big moments.

One of the most recent big plays was against the Minnesota Vikings, when an interception by Andre' Goodman came late in the fourth quarter out of a Tampa 2 coverage variation. That helped the offense get quality field position to set up a game-winning field goal.

Pre-Snap Read

One of the most important things in breaking down football is identifying the personnel groupings on each side of the ball. 

At the 1:33 mark in the fourth quarter, the Vikings came out of their huddle with 11 personnel, which is one running back and one tight end. 

On the other side of the ball, the Broncos defense came with their 30 Dime package, which can be broken down into two groups: defensive linemen and defensive backs. "30" identifies the front of the Broncos, which is three down linemen, while "Dime" implies that there are six defensive backs on the field.

With further review of the pre-snap alignments, one can see that there are two deep safeties and the cornerbacks with their eyes on the quarterback. What this means is there is only one coverage that is likely to be played in this situation: Tampa 2. 

Breaking Down the Tampa 2

Tampa 2 is a zone-based coverage that is often used in late-game situations to keep receivers in the middle of the field in efforts to keep the clock moving as well as to put a lid on the vertical passing game of the offense.

Typically, the Tampa 2 coverage has four underneath and three deep defenders. The defenders responsibilities are labeled in three categories: hook (H), flat (F) and thirds (1/3).

The underneath hook defenders are responsible for defending any curl and/or hooks just outside the hashes, while the flat defenders, the cornerbacks, take away any routes that threaten the area outside the numbers.

Simultaneously, the three deep defenders are identified by the two safeties and middle linebacker who divide their responsibilities into thirds of the field. The two safeties are to cover the area outside the hashes of the field while the middle linebacker drops down the seam of the field, which is located in between the hash marks.

One issue that teams run into is the area between the line of scrimmage and the middle linebacker dropping. The "hole," as its often called, between the line and the player is a weak spot and is often attacked by tight ends and running backs serving as check-downs for the quarterback.

Because of this weakness, the Broncos made a slight variation in their Tampa 2 coverage by dropping an additional player (M) into coverage in the aforementioned vacated area. 

Attacking the Tampa 2

With the Broncos' Tampa 2 variation, the area in the middle is occupied, no longer making it a weakness. However, the pocket behind the cornerback, who is the flat defender, and the deep safety behind him is still an area that offense can attack.

One of the most commonly seen ways offenses attack this area is with the "Smash" concept. 

The Smash concept is one that has the outside receiver, the No. 1, run a hitch route, while the slot receiver, No. 2, runs a corner route.

A hitch route requires that the outside receiver run a vertical stem of six yards before breaking it off and turning to the quarterback. Meanwhile, the corner route is run often at 10 to 12 yards before breaking it outside and attacking the sideline diagonally like he's targeting the pylon of the end zone. 

Post-Snap Read

At the snap of the ball, the Denver defense drops into their Tampa 2 coverage variation while the Smash concept is run by the two receivers at the top of the image. 

On the Smash concept, rookie quarterback Christian Ponder's job is to read the middle of the field as he drops back to identify how many safeties are deep before turning his eyes to the corner route and finally the hitch route.

Ponder executes his read properly as he drops back, seeing that there was two split-field safeties before eyeing the corner route. Once he throws it, it looks like its going to be a big play. 

However, what he doesn't account for is cornerback Andre' Goodman unexpectedly peeling off the hitch route and undercutting the corner route run by the No. 2 receiver. 

By doing this, Goodman is able to intercept the ball and rapturously get it back into his offense's hands with good field position. 

Holding Their Own

The improvement of the Broncos record in the last six weeks has been significantly helped by quarterback Tim Tebow, as well as the defense. The defense has made changes in their play-calling, such as using different coverage variations, as well as executing their assignments. 

Earlier in the season, opponents attempted to attack the pocket area between the cornerback and safety in the Broncos' Tampa 2, with a passing concept known as 'Smash' that has the No. 1 receiver run a hitch while the No. 2 runs a corner route.

However, cornerbacks Andre' Goodman and Champ Bailey have done a good job of defending this by peeling off their assignments in the flats, locating the ball in the air and attacking it.

By doing so, the defense has forced a total of nine turnovers in the last six games, and given quarterback Tim Tebow and the offense much needed opportunities to score in efforts to win games and ultimately the AFC West division.