Nice post merlin, you explained that very well!

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merlin
Cover 2 was always dependent on quality up front, by virtue of the numbers. You're going to give up a lot of 7 man looks in your front when you dedicate yourself to two safeties back putting a cap on the deep routes. So while a dominant front favors all schemes it really has a big impact on Cover 2, or any scheme that by its natural state leaves a light box.

Fangio's approach is a bit better I think. But then as a defensive player I was never a fan of sitting back even though it does work when teams are tooled for it. But Fangio and Staley by extension do a nice job of using those safeties to play deep or shut down crossers or move up into the box depending on how it's called. It can be utilized to favor whatever you have on the back end or also supplement your box provided your safeties are capable of playing those different calls. Staley was quite shrewd at using that safety downhill into the box in the correct looks which eliminated a lot of the weaknesses you naturally have with two safeties back, because he called it so well.

But in the NFL everything you do has either been done before even if it was just as a certain look in a different scheme. Cover 2 being a great example of how the Steelers used to cap offenses once they had the lead, and it probably goes back even further if you were to look hard enough.

Cover 3 had a real nice run. Still gets called a lot too, but I think two safety looks are the immediate future because the pass game is how you lose in this league. If you make life tough on opposing QBs you're gonna have a real nice chance to win games.

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