3 Double Buzz

Pre-snap, check safety depth and corner alignment. If the corners are aligned deep with safeties rotated to the middle third, the offense likely respects the Cover 3 shell and will attack the flats or buzz zones underneath. Post-snap, key the two buzz defenders sinking underneath. If a receiver runs a deep in or crosser into that space, the buzz defender should be sitting in the window ready to jump the route before the ball arrives. Watch for verticals from the number two receivers. Since the deep thirds are handled by the outside blue defenders and the deep middle defender, any seam route up the middle needs to be picked up by the safety bailing into that third. This coverage is vulnerable to quick out routes or flat routes thrown before the buzz defenders fully sink, so if the offense hot routes a receiver to the flat immediately at the snap, close the distance fast with your user defender. Watch out for play-action rollouts that pull the quarterback outside the buzz zone. Since the underneath defenders are reading run/pass and sinking to zones, a rollout can put the buzz defenders out of position against a boundary throw.