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Green Bay vs. New England: |
In last year's Super Bowl victory over the Patriots, the Packers' defense dominated. The past couple of years, the Pats' offense has relied on the Bledsoe-to-Coates combination. For the Patriots to be successful Monday night, quarterback Drew Bledsoe will have to attack the seams in the defense. If tight end Ben Coates finds the seams and Bledsoe threads the needle, the Pats may rip the Packer zone.
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"Cover 2" defense breaks the deep secondary into halves. The safeties (FS & SS) each cover a side. The corners (RC & LC) cover short zones. And the linebackers (LB) cover the curl routes underneath. The "seams" are the areas between the zones.
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A "Cover 3" defense plays three men deep: the two cornerbacks and the free safety (RC, FS, & LC). The responsibilities for the short zones change, with the strong side safety (SS) taking the flat on that side. In this scheme, the weak-side linebacker is responsible for two zones: the flat and the curl routes. Versus both of these coverages, Bledsoe looks to hit Coates (TE) in the seam behind the linebackers and in front of the safety. |
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