WHITLOCK: New scheme won't keep Law under cover

[Fire Me Boy!]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/15175706.htm

New scheme won't keep Law under cover

JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star

RIVER FALLS, Wis. | You could argue the Chiefs wasted money signing Ty Law if Herm Edwards is intent on installing the Tampa 2 Defense.

Sorry for not mentioning that before spending the entire offseason whining about the importance of acquiring Law, the league’s most complete cornerback.

Pure Cover 2 is not a defensive or coverage scheme that requires big-time playmakers at corner. In the run game, Cover 2 corners actually are facilitators more than playmakers. They don’t attack the football until the back bounces outside the numbers. Law and Patrick Surtain, two sturdy, physical corners, will force the runner inside so Kansas City’s linebackers and safeties can make the tackles.

In the passing game, Cover 2 corners stop the wide receivers from getting a free release and force the quarterback to throw the ball over the middle of the field. If Cover 2 is effective, the Chiefs safeties — Sammy Knight and Greg Wesley — should make monster hits in the passing and running games.

Realizing all of this and understanding how much money Lamar Hunt has invested in Surtain and Law, I sat down with Edwards after lunch Tuesday afternoon and wanted to debate him about the wisdom of restricting Surtain and Law to Cover 2.

The Chiefs’ two best defensive players are going to be setup men for nine other defenders. No way that can be true, can it?

“No,” Edwards told me. “I’m not going to give them all that money and then not let them make plays.”

Edwards spent the next 30 minutes schooling me on the nuances of the Tampa 2. He was animated and passionate. You can tell he believes deeply in the defensive scheme that turned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from laughingstock into perennial playoff team and Super Bowl champion. Edwards helped then-Tampa coach Tony Dungy install the scheme. Edwards watched the Tampa 2 turn Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, Ronde Barber and several other Buccaneer defenders into multiple Pro Bowlers.

He’s confident the same thing could happen to Jared Allen, Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson, Kawika Mitchell, Kendrell Bell and the Chiefs’ young safeties, Wesley, Bernard Pollard and Jarrad Page.

“I’m not worried about our defense,” Edwards said. “We’re going to be better on defense.”

And the Chiefs will be diverse on defense. Cover 2 will be their base defense, but it won’t be KC’s only defense. The Chiefs will blitz. They’ll play man to man in obvious passing situations. They’ll play Cover 3. It’s all going to start with Cover 2, which Edwards believes will help KC stop the run and allow KC’s front four to get to the quarterback.

“The perception is we had an awesome front four in Tampa,” Edwards said. “We didn’t. We had Warren Sapp. We have better defensive ends on this team than we had in Tampa.”

Edwards is talking about the Buccaneers before they acquired Simeon Rice. And Edwards is right. The Bucs had athletic, workmanlike defensive ends in the early years of Tampa 2.

Cover 2 is designed to make the quarterback hold the football an extra count. The corners disrupt the outside receivers early and make the quarterback find alternate targets. It’s critical that Law and Surtain re-route receivers in the first five yards.

But what’s most critical is that the Chiefs stop the run on first down. The key to Cover 2 is stopping the running game and disabling the opposition’s play-action-passing game.

This is where Ryan Sims, Lional Dalton, John Browning and free-agent pickup Ron Edwards are crucial. The Chiefs have to get strong play from their defensive tackles or KC’s swift linebackers won’t be free to fill running lanes.

Coach Edwards likes Ron Edwards as a gap-plugger over the center. Finding or creating a Sapp-like gap-disrupter is new defensive line coach Tim Krumrie’s job. The Chiefs hired Krumrie to motivate and/or locate a replacement for Ryan Sims.

If the Chiefs stop the run on first down, Law and Surtain will make just as many big plays as James Hasty and Dale Carter used to, and Lamar Hunt’s money will be well-spent.

[jidar]

well being good against the run is possible for us.

I'm optimistic reading this, but guarded. Edwards is a D coach so if he says we can be good.. I want to believe him.

[rad]

That's some good Kool-Aid right there.

[KCTitus]

LOL...well I can say one thing for Edwards, he's made a believer out of Jason, although I think the Law signing helped.

[Mr. Laz]

good article .... actually dealt with football :eek:


who da' thunk it :hmmm:

[Chief Henry]

Just so we can get some dam hits on the QB this year while stopping the run consistently.

[htismaqe]

The thing I find in this article that intrigues me is something I'm noticing more and more over the last week or so.

People around this team make passing mentions of Wesley and Knight, but when they start digging in and actually discussing the defense, Pollard and Page are getting talked about...

[Mr. Laz]

The thing I find in this article that intrigues me is something I'm noticing more and more over the last week or so.

People around this team make passing mentions of Wesley and Knight, but when they start digging in and actually discussing the defense, Pollard and Page are getting talked about...
if we are going to start 2 strong safeties they might as well be 2 young strong safeties. :shrug:

[morphius]

The thing I find in this article that intrigues me is something I'm noticing more and more over the last week or so.

People around this team make passing mentions of Wesley and Knight, but when they start digging in and actually discussing the defense, Pollard and Page are getting talked about...
Their names do keep coming up, which is a good thing. We needed some competition at those spots, and with Wesley always finding a way to get injured Page could very early find a way to get on the field.

[StcChief]

A reporter getting good source material. What a concept.

[htismaqe]

if we are going to start 2 strong safeties they might as well be 2 young strong safeties. :shrug:

Page is big (6' 225), but he's apparently more of a natural FS.

As for Pollard, I got the impression that he wasn't a natural at pass coverage coming out of the draft. But everybody is talking about how freaking bullet fast he is at camp and he's all over the field...

[Chiefnj]

Teams tend to pick up the cover 2 base quickly. There have been a bunch of teams that went to a cover 2 and in the first year saw a dramatic improvement in the D. The first few games might be a little rough but by the 4th or 5th game the D should be playing much better - as long as the front 4 can do their job (which is the biggest ? for the 2006 Defense).

[the Talking Can]

hey, actual football information from a KC Star reporter...ahhh....

interesting article, though I wish he'd ask Herm to explain how our LB's will be used...are they dropping back a lot? are they hitting holes? read and react?

[MOhillbilly]

The thing I find in this article that intrigues me is something I'm noticing more and more over the last week or so.

People around this team make passing mentions of Wesley and Knight, but when they start digging in and actually discussing the defense, Pollard and Page are getting talked about...

i noticed this aswell.

telling..

[MOhillbilly]

Their names do keep coming up, which is a good thing. We needed some competition at those spots, and with Wesley always finding a way to get injured Page could very early find a way to get on the field.

Wesley could very well get beat out, by younger hungrier more physical players.

early.

[MGRS13]

hey, actual football information from a KC Star reporter...ahhh....

interesting article, though I wish he'd ask Herm to explain how our LB's will be used...are they dropping back a lot? are they hitting holes? read and react?
Alot of the interviews I have seen with Edwards he has talked about the LB's working on dropping back. Also if you think of D. Brooks in Tampa that guy has made a career out of dropping back and making the big interception.

[the Talking Can]

Alot of the interviews I have seen with Edwards he has talked about the LB's working on dropping back. Also if you think of D. Brooks in Tampa that guy has made a career out of dropping back and making the big interception.

that's what I thought...it seems that with Mitchell and DJ we have 2/3 of the perfect LB core for cover 2....but I'm not sure how this scheme will maximize Bell's killing potential...

[MGRS13]

that's what I thought...it seems that with Mitchell and DJ we have 2/3 of the perfect LB core for cover 2....but I'm not sure how this scheme will maximize Bell's killing potential...
Yea. I don't know about you but I really liked what I saw out of Key Fox last year. I'd feel much more comfortable with him out there then Bell. Bell in my opinion should just be used as a pass rush specialist, and if he can't do that, then maybe he can empty trash cans and wash windows around Lamars suite.

[the Talking Can]

Yea. I don't know about you but I really liked what I saw out of Key Fox last year. I'd feel much more comfortable with him out there then Bell. Bell in my opinion should just be used as a pass rush specialist, and if he can't do that, then maybe he can empty trash cans and wash windows around Lamars suite.

I agree, sort of...I like the idea of Fox, but I haven't seen him do it in a real game....I also like the idea of Bell killing people, but I haven't seen that either..

Fox is becoming a training camp legend, I'd love for him to put it all together this year

[htismaqe]

that's what I thought...it seems that with Mitchell and DJ we have 2/3 of the perfect LB core for cover 2....but I'm not sure how this scheme will maximize Bell's killing potential...

Maximize Bell's potential, AND improve the defense overall, by making Bell a 3rd-down DE and inserting Fox as the starter on the outside.

[htismaqe]

Fox is becoming a training camp legend, I'd love for him to put it all together this year

Suffering a season-ending injury in preseason tends to produce that. :thumb:

[MGRS13]

I agree, sort of...I like the idea of Fox, but I haven't seen him do it in a real game....I also like the idea of Bell killing people, but I haven't seen that either..

Fox is becoming a training camp legend, I'd love for him to put it all together this year
Fox is much more then a training camp legend he played last year. Very well in my opinion. The drop off between him and Bell lasty year was huge.

[MGRS13]

Suffering a season-ending injury in preseason tends to produce that. :thumb:
He suffered that injury in the regular season game against the raiders last year.

[FringeNC]

Can Sammy Knight play the cover-2? I thought cover-2 safeties really needed to have good coverage skills because they play more like cornerbacks than in a traditional defense.

My guess is Sammy Knight will be phased out rather quickly.

[AirForceChief]

I had no idea how to react after reading the last two days of Whitlock's work...what was going on here? Two articles in a row I found to be well written and at least insightful.

I went to the Book of Revelations expecting to find some clue that such an occurance was a sign of the last days. Something along the lines of:

"And Lo, he who is self proclaimed 'Abdominus Libidinous', shall at the twelfth hour spew forth from electronic quill works that DO NOT OFFEND THE SENSES. These works are a sign that your are living in the final moments before the return of Him."



Thankfully, no such text...

[Rausch]

He suffered that injury in the regular season game against the raiders last year.

I thought it was the Jets game... :hmmm:

[MGRS13]

I thought it was the Jets game... :hmmm:
No it was the Raiders game on that crappy half baseball half football turf.

[htismaqe]

No it was the Raiders game on that crappy half baseball half football turf.

You're right. But that was the 2nd game of the season, right?

[htismaqe]

Can Sammy Knight play the cover-2? I thought cover-2 safeties really needed to have good coverage skills because they play more like cornerbacks than in a traditional defense.

My guess is Sammy Knight will be phased out rather quickly.

The way people talk about Pollard, Knight is the starter by default only at this point...

[the Talking Can]

Maximize Bell's potential, AND improve the defense overall, by making Bell a 3rd-down DE and inserting Fox as the starter on the outside.

I'd be happy with that.

and I knew calling Fox a practice legend would draw you out :)

[MGRS13]

You're right. But that was the 2nd game of the season, right?
Yea not the preseason. And it only took two games to see that Fox is a better LB then Bell is. The idea of the part time 3-4 didn't look so good once Fox went down.

[htismaqe]

Yea not the preseason. And it only took two games to see that Fox is a better LB then Bell is. The idea of the part time 3-4 didn't look so good once Fox went down.

Preseason vs. 2nd game of the season, my point stands. And I think you agree with me. :D

He hasn't really had a chance to prove himself yet. But he's the PERFECT LB for this system, Herm himself says he reminds him a bit of D-Brooks.

[htismaqe]

I'd be happy with that.

and I knew calling Fox a practice legend would draw you out :)

Of course. I know talent when I see it. And while Fox is no Rich Scanlon, he's a far sight better than Kendrell Bell in coverage. :D

[MGRS13]

Preseason vs. 2nd game of the season, my point stands. And I think you agree with me. :D

He hasn't really had a chance to prove himself yet. But he's the PERFECT LB for this system, Herm himself says he reminds him a bit of D-Brooks.
I'm glad to see you agree with me! :p He is a perfect LB for this system, man it would be great if he was the next D. Brooks. I know one thing with him DJ and Kawika we have a lot of speed at LB.

[htismaqe]

I'm glad to see you agree with me! :p He is a perfect LB for this system, man it would be great if he was the next D. Brooks. I know one thing with him DJ and Kawika we have a lot of speed at LB.

I've been hyped on Fox since the day we drafted him. I really think he's got the skills we need. He's not as fast as DJ, but he's physical and has a good nose for the ball.

[Wile_E_Coyote]

Edwards spent the next 30 minutes schooling me on the nuances of the Tampa 2. He was animated and passionate. You can tell he believes deeply in the defensive scheme that turned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from laughingstock into perennial playoff team and Super Bowl champion.

have the Bucs really been a perennial playoff team Whitlock?

[htismaqe]

Edwards spent the next 30 minutes schooling me on the nuances of the Tampa 2. He was animated and passionate. You can tell he believes deeply in the defensive scheme that turned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from laughingstock into perennial playoff team and Super Bowl champion.

have the Bucs really been a perennial playoff team Whitlock?

Let's see.

Tony Dungy took over in 1996. To that point, the Bucs had made the playoffs only 3 times.

Since 1996, they've been to the playoffs 6 times out of 10 years.

[Wile_E_Coyote]

yes, I reckon they are a perennial playoff team. Perceptions die hard

[BigChiefFan]

Krumrie has my vote of confidence up. He's the guy that I see making a huge impact for our defense. He's done it on the field, so I believe the players "buy In" to way he is saying. It sounds like our defense could be well on their way if the D-line steps up.

[Spicy McHaggis]

That's some good Kool-Aid right there.


OH YEAH!!!!
http://img.search.com/0/05/300px-Koolaidfg.JPG

I've got great hopes for Fox and he has the potential to be a three down linebacker. He's got the ability to go sideline to sideline, the speed to blitz and he should be able to effectively cover backs and TE if need be. I'm having visions of our own Keith Bulluck. Hope springs eternal in the offseason.

If everything goes well, this defense should result in some ill-advised throws into the middle of the field that our LB's can get their hands on. If there's one thing I have faith in Gunther about, it is improving our LB play.

[htismaqe]

Krumrie has my vote of confidence up. He's the guy that I see making a huge impact for our defense. He's done it on the field, so I believe the players "buy In" to way he is saying. It sounds like our defense could be well on their way if the D-line steps up.

Yep, it hinges on Sims and Krumrie is the key.

Sims has tons of talent. If Krumrie can light him up and get him to WANT IT, Sims could be a force and our defense could vault to the top pretty fast.

[Basileus777]

Cover 2 is actually the ideal defense for Law. It plays to his strengths: being physical and jamming receivers at the line, and having good ball skill. It also masks the inadequecies in man coverage he's developed due to age.

[B_Ambuehl]

It's not like the defense is anything new...Gun used to run that defense under Marty when our defense excelled.