# Cover 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-2/215551 "2003-11-27T08:19:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hydrocortisone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@Hydrocortisone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hydrocortisone)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-2/215551/1 "2003-11-27T08:19:50Z")
Can someone tell me what a cover 2 defense is in football? How about a cover 3 or cover 4? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-2/215551/2 "2003-11-27T13:45:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Cover 2 > A football defensive configuration in which 2 safeties provide deep zone pass COVERage. Normally, there’s a four-man rush, and the remaining five defenders (two corners and three linebackers) cover the underneath yardage (i.e., near the line of scrimmage) in five zones. So the basic Cover 2 is all zone coverage, but defenders have to read the pattern as the play unfolds and adjust accordingly. This frequently puts one or two underneath defenders in man-to-man coverage. > > ``` > Man Under is a variant of Cover 2 that looks similar before the snap, but the five underneath defenders play man-to-man on the five eligible receivers. One advantage of Man Under is that it can be used as a change-up, if the offense has been led to expect Cover-2 and has made offensive adjustments for zone coverage. > > ``` > > Cover 3 > A football defensive configuration using 3 defenders in zone COVERage. [http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/C10.html](http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/C10.html)