Carolina Panthers Film Analysis: Kelvin Benjamin TD against Cover 2

[jimmifli]

https://www.catscratchreader.com/2017/10/31/16579968/carolina-panthers-film-analysis-kelvin-benjamin-cam-newton-cover-2

Cover 2 is one of the most well-known coverage shells in football. It’s been around for almost forever. For much of the 90’s and early 2000’s it was ubiquitous at every level of football from high school all the way up to the NFL. However, its popularity has plummeted over the years, as offenses have found multiple ways to exploit it (http://smartfootball.com/passing/how-do-you-beat-cover-2-with-trips-let-me-count-the-ways#sthash.XDp6wSvy.dpbs).
<figure class="e-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(30, 30, 30); white-space: normal;">https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/m5r6r9W9AYd1pa8Xlt58LYw6xhs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573561/cover_2_diagram.PNG<cite style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; opacity: 0.75;">Diagram courtesy of CougCenter, SB Nation’s Houston Cougars blog</cite></figure>Cover 2 requires the outside cornerbacks to play the flats and pass off any deeper routes to the safeties. Unfortunately, receivers have been getting bigger and faster every year, and safeties haven’t been able to keep up. There is currently a massive dearth of safety talent all across the NFL today, and it’s simply unfair to ask safeties to cover outside receivers down the field without any other help. It’s also a waste of an outside cornerback’s talents to play them only as a flat defender.
Although Cover 2 is declining in popularity in today’s NFL, teams still occasionally use it as a situational coverage shell. On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/tampa-bay-buccaneers) decided to roll out with a Cover 2 variation called Tampa 2 on a third down and sixteen situation, with the Panthers (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/carolina-panthers) deep in Buccaneers territory.
<figure class="e-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(30, 30, 30); white-space: normal;"><video autoplay="" muted="" loop="" playsinline="" class="c-gifv" data-cid="site/gifv-1509481791_4388_579" data-cdata="{&quot;default&quot;:{&quot;320&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_iJF9MgO01adbLkwv9NOch7d4YY=/0x0:1045x492/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;520&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vWcON99x9H-kap7Vo-fvPVDHQk4=/0x0:1045x492/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;720&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EuJDYf61MZi5y6YjtJ0ZYzczljE=/0x0:1045x492/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;920&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tjbdGsio0qH_LbQcnssjH_GHT_I=/0x0:1045x492/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1120&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P6epKhC9mOFn5r3sZBbnIMDPbkc=/0x0:1045x492/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1320&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1hRihD_MzanPptzF5YoqYmmkZOw=/0x0:1045x492/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1520&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7lmHRBc-81cXuvJCURNhmTKmfXk=/0x0:1045x492/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1720&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TZaTxx2Vv6lypVARf1hn4xyNIlQ=/0x0:1045x492/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1920&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X5tNvW7-txzkcrxkn97dtWtegTk=/0x0:1045x492/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;},&quot;art_directed&quot;:[]}" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EuJDYf61MZi5y6YjtJ0ZYzczljE=/0x0:1045x492/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: block; width: 721.484px; height: auto;"></video></figure>The Panthers dialed up the perfect play to beat this coverage, with Kelvin Benjamin (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/245989/kelvin-benjamin) running the corner route from the outside wide receiver alignment.

more...

[sahlensguy]

https://www.catscratchreader.com/2017/10/31/16579968/carolina-panthers-film-analysis-kelvin-benjamin-cam-newton-cover-2

Cover 2 is one of the most well-known coverage shells in football. It’s been around for almost forever. For much of the 90’s and early 2000’s it was ubiquitous at every level of football from high school all the way up to the NFL. However, its popularity has plummeted over the years, as offenses have found multiple ways to exploit it (http://smartfootball.com/passing/how-do-you-beat-cover-2-with-trips-let-me-count-the-ways#sthash.XDp6wSvy.dpbs).
<figure class="e-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(30, 30, 30); white-space: normal;">https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/m5r6r9W9AYd1pa8Xlt58LYw6xhs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573561/cover_2_diagram.PNG<cite style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline; opacity: 0.75;">Diagram courtesy of CougCenter, SB Nation’s Houston Cougars blog</cite></figure>Cover 2 requires the outside cornerbacks to play the flats and pass off any deeper routes to the safeties. Unfortunately, receivers have been getting bigger and faster every year, and safeties haven’t been able to keep up. There is currently a massive dearth of safety talent all across the NFL today, and it’s simply unfair to ask safeties to cover outside receivers down the field without any other help. It’s also a waste of an outside cornerback’s talents to play them only as a flat defender.
Although Cover 2 is declining in popularity in today’s NFL, teams still occasionally use it as a situational coverage shell. On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/tampa-bay-buccaneers) decided to roll out with a Cover 2 variation called Tampa 2 on a third down and sixteen situation, with the Panthers (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/carolina-panthers) deep in Buccaneers territory.
<figure class="e-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.2rem 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(30, 30, 30); white-space: normal;"><video autoplay="" muted="" loop="" playsinline="" class="c-gifv" data-cid="site/gifv-1509481791_4388_579" data-cdata="{&quot;default&quot;:{&quot;320&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_iJF9MgO01adbLkwv9NOch7d4YY=/0x0:1045x492/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;520&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vWcON99x9H-kap7Vo-fvPVDHQk4=/0x0:1045x492/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;720&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EuJDYf61MZi5y6YjtJ0ZYzczljE=/0x0:1045x492/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;920&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tjbdGsio0qH_LbQcnssjH_GHT_I=/0x0:1045x492/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1120&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P6epKhC9mOFn5r3sZBbnIMDPbkc=/0x0:1045x492/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1320&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1hRihD_MzanPptzF5YoqYmmkZOw=/0x0:1045x492/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1520&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7lmHRBc-81cXuvJCURNhmTKmfXk=/0x0:1045x492/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1720&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TZaTxx2Vv6lypVARf1hn4xyNIlQ=/0x0:1045x492/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;,&quot;1920&quot;:&quot;https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X5tNvW7-txzkcrxkn97dtWtegTk=/0x0:1045x492/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif&quot;},&quot;art_directed&quot;:[]}" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EuJDYf61MZi5y6YjtJ0ZYzczljE=/0x0:1045x492/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1045x492):gifv():no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9573577/kb_cover_two_touchdown_gif.gif" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: block; width: 721.484px; height: auto;"></video></figure>The Panthers dialed up the perfect play to beat this coverage, with Kelvin Benjamin (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/245989/kelvin-benjamin) running the corner route from the outside wide receiver alignment.

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I guess my concern is, does TT make that pass?

[jimmifli]

I guess my concern is, does TT make that pass?

I think so. If he's 10 yards farther, for sure. If he's 10 yards closer, probably not. But I think he'll pull the trigger against zone once he sees the CB stay behind.

[DraftBoy]

Great route and box out by Benjamin. SS actually got there in time but he couldn't get through Benjamin for the ball.

[Ed]

The Bills site posted some other highlights of Benjamin. Some good examples of how he uses his size to his advantage and how strong he is:
http://www.buffalobills.com/video/videos/Watch-Kelvin-Benjamin-Highlights/6a135c29-7846-44b9-a0f0-a9889db61f0e

[jimmifli]

He runs his routes in quicksand though. Not much separation, although he doesn't seem to need it.

[The last buffalo fan]

I think I need now a ****ing new jersey, ****ing guy is a ****ing beast and I ****ing love it! :gobills:

[Night Train]

Separation ? The guy is a power forward using his body to block out his man.

[Ingtar33]

the dude looks like a TE. It's insane he's playing WR.