Should Bears Ditch Tampa 2 to Cover T.O.?
by Michael David Smith
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse
There's a good piece of Xs and Os analysis by Brad Biggs in today's Chicago Sun-Times, examining how much the Bears should alter their defensive game plan to deal with Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens.
Basically, the question is whether to have Bears cornerback Charles Tillman go man-to-man against Owens. Usually the Bears have right and left cornerbacks and don't assign one corner to one receiver.
The Bears' base defense is the Tampa 2, which Lovie Smith has become closely associated with, both in Chicago and in his previous stints as the linebackers coach for the Buccaneers and the defensive coordinator for the Rams. But that doesn't mean the secondary is always or even usually in the Cover 2. Last season's comeback victory over the Cardinals on Monday Night Football was fueled in large part by a halftime decision to ditch the Cover 2 completely and go to man coverage. Owens provides some of the same matchup problems with the Tampa 2 that Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin did early in that game last season.
So what should the Bears do? It sounds like the coaching staff thinks Tillman against Owens -- with, of course, some safety help -- is the way to approach the Cowboys' offense. We'll see how effective that is Sunday night.
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse
There's a good piece of Xs and Os analysis by Brad Biggs in today's Chicago Sun-Times, examining how much the Bears should alter their defensive game plan to deal with Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens.
Basically, the question is whether to have Bears cornerback Charles Tillman go man-to-man against Owens. Usually the Bears have right and left cornerbacks and don't assign one corner to one receiver.
The Bears' base defense is the Tampa 2, which Lovie Smith has become closely associated with, both in Chicago and in his previous stints as the linebackers coach for the Buccaneers and the defensive coordinator for the Rams. But that doesn't mean the secondary is always or even usually in the Cover 2. Last season's comeback victory over the Cardinals on Monday Night Football was fueled in large part by a halftime decision to ditch the Cover 2 completely and go to man coverage. Owens provides some of the same matchup problems with the Tampa 2 that Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin did early in that game last season.
So what should the Bears do? It sounds like the coaching staff thinks Tillman against Owens -- with, of course, some safety help -- is the way to approach the Cowboys' offense. We'll see how effective that is Sunday night.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:07 PM
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