Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 12 playbooks
Breakdown
Cover 1 Hole is a man coverage defensive play out of the Tite 3-4 Base 5-2 personnel. The diagram shows a single deep safety patrolling the middle of the field while a robber/hole defender sits underneath in the intermediate zone, spying crossers and dig routes. Four down linemen rush off the snap with the rest of the defense locked in man across the formation, making this a man beater killer designed to take away option routes and rub concepts while still providing a safety net against posts and digs over the middle.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check the deep safety alignment. If he is shaded to a hash it can tip run support or a potential double team on one side of the field. Identify trips or bunch sets before the snap since man coverage with only one deep defender can be vulnerable to natural picks and rub routes. Post-snap, watch the hole defender's drop. He should sit at the sticks or in the throwing lane of any drag or dig concept coming across the formation. This beats teams that live on shallow crossers, drags, and quick option routes because the robber is sitting right in that window. This can be exposed by four verticals or deep double moves since there is only one true deep defender, so respect anything with two receivers pushing vertically on the same side. Watch for user pressure off the edge from the four man rush since the extra hole defender means no blitz help arrives late.
Usage Tips
Use this against offenses that lean on shallow crosses and option routes since the hole defender erases the middle read.
Check pre-snap for bunch or stack formations and be ready to pass off rub routes manually if the CPU AI gets picked.
Bring this on third and medium when you expect the QB to look for a quick in breaking route, since the robber sits right in that throwing lane.
Pair this call with Saw Blitz 1 or Saw Blitz 2 in your play-calling sequence to keep the offense guessing between a five man pressure look and this four man rush with a hole player underneath.
Mix in Cover 3 Match Bench off the same Tite front so the offense cannot key blitz versus coverage based on personnel or splits alone.
