Falcons TE Kyle Pitts – Photo by: USA Today The Bucs are were Cover 3 on this play. Former Tampa Bay receiver Scotty Miller is lined up outside with tight end Kyle Pitts in the slot. Post-snap Miller threatens vertically with his speed on a deep post. Carlton Davis III follows Miller and vacates his deep third. This leaves open negative space to the corner that Pitts attacks on a double move on an out-and-up wheel route. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is the underneath defender charged with staying on top of Pitts, but he doesn’t follow the route up the sideline and the Falcons score on an easy ball to Pitts. I asked Davis about the play following the game and he credited the Falcons with a good play-call while explaining his responsibility on that call. “We were in a three-deep,” Davis said. “And Scotty Miller (No. 16) came off [the line] with speed for a post so I had to stay high, or it would have been a touchdown either way. So I just played high-low. It was a good play drawn up by them to know we were in a fire zone and to do a [Cover 3] beater.” And this makes sense. The leverage Miller has would allow him to come free in between Davis and safety Kaevon Merriweather for a likely touchdown. But the problem is that Winfield failed to replace as Pitts got vertical. And this isn’t the first time this has happened. The Bucs were victimized on a similar play just the week prior against the Panthers. Bucs Got Burned On Similar Play vs. Panthers – Slot Fade Behind Deep Post Midway through the third quarter in Week 13 the Panthers drew up a similar play call to try and get an inside receiver running free into a deep 1/3 that would likely be vacated due to the Bucs’ Cover 3 rules on deep in-breaking routes. Week prior CAR exploits same rule with deep post from 1 pulling the perimeter corner from the deep 1/3. pic.twitter.com/jdF5LMePEk — Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) December 12, 2023 
Bucs CB Carlton Davis III and Panthers WR Jonathan Mingo – Photo by: USA Today On this play, Panthers receiver Michael Strachan is lined up wide running the deep post. Bucs cornerback Zyon McCollum trails Strachan as he breaks for the middle of the field. The Panthers layer this play really well with an orbit motion to the field and by having receiver Jonathan Mingo (No. 15 in the slot) bluff a block as if Carolina was running a screen to the orbit. Mingo’s bluff works as nickel corner Christian Izien steps up to try and play the screen and BOOM Mingo is off to the races on a slot fade into an unmanned deep zone for a 34-yard gain. This is something I’ve been noticing on tape for quite some time now. Unless the slot receiver declares vertically immediately after the snap, the Bucs’ perimeter corners are matching deep in-breaking routes in their standard Cover 3 looks. At the macro level this is a good thing. It is something I have been calling for quite some time. The Bucs are using match principles layered on top of their traditional zone drops. I wanted to confirm so I asked Todd Bowles about these two plays during his post-game press conference on Sunday. He confirmed that his outside corners were playing the routes correctly, but that his underneath defenders were not. “Well, the rules are it wasn’t the perimeter corner, number one,” Bowles said. “It was the underneath guys and we’ve got to run with the wheels and we didn’t run.” This Problem Is Several Years Old For The Bucs The rules are fine in theory, but there appears to be a consistent lack of execution. And I do mean consistent. Take a look at this play from Week 5 in 2021. Week 5 2021 vs MIA. Myles Gaskin Wheel into the negative space vacated from post from 1. pic.twitter.com/1ftTVA7A9b — Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) December 12, 2023 Once again, the offense runs a deep post from the outside receiver. Once again, the perimeter corner (Jamel Dean) follows the post inside. Once again, the deep outside third is vacated. This time Miami running back Myles Gaskin hits the wheel and the underneath defender (Jason Pierre-Paul!) fails to cover the vertical element of the route. These are several consistent elements of a basic cover-three shell deployed over three different rush packages. 
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today Against the Falcons, Carlton Davis III noted it was a fire zone blitz, with the Bucs bringing five rushers. Antoine Winfield Jr. was put in conflict by a shallow cross coming from the boundary. With the play against the Panthers, the Bucs rushed a non-traditional four that left the boundary receiver one-under-three while the concept side of the play developed a vertical stress on a three-on-three matchup. Against the Dolphins, the Bucs only rushed three while dropping eight but were still unable to properly account for the backside of the post route. Whatever the reason, whether it is Todd Bowles asking underneath defenders to read too many keys, putting them in impossible situations where they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, or the Bucs just aren’t practicing the scenario enough, one thing is for sure. Offenses have a go-to Cover 3 beater that they each stash away for a rainy day when playing Tampa Bay. And if Bowles and his defense don’t get the keys and communication right soon, these chunk plays will continue to rain down upon them. The post Bucs Have A Coverage Bust In Cover 3 That Must Get Fixed appeared first on Pewter Report. Source: https://www.pewterreport.com/bucs-cover ... get-fixed/
