Question about Zone Coverage

[texan279]

Vinny just wanted your opinion on something. I was just wondering why our defense runs so much zone coverage. Is it because we cannot get any pressure on the QB and our secondary would get torched on man to man coverage while QB's have all day? I just don't understand with Glenn and Dunta at CB and Coleman and Earl/Brown/or whoever at safety why we don't run more man to man coverage. Or maybe we run it more than I am seeing or is zone coverage run more in a 3-4 defense than a 4-3, I dunno.

 

[Vinny]

We run man as much as any team in the league and was burned over an over early this season due to many reasons, but most center us not being able to handle TE's, RB's out in a pattern or slot WR's in isolations in our base sets. I think we are not as good in zone coverage techniques so it just magnifies our awareness of it when we do go into it.

 

[Speedy]

Whatever they run they can't stop anybody on 3rd down. Opponents are converting over 48% of their 3rd downs against the Texans, worst in the NFL. And although I couldn't find any stats on 3rd and long, I'd be very surprised if the Texans weren't worst in the league in that category.

 

[powda]

i think the general rule of thumb is that if a team feels its secondary has inferior athletes (wich pretty much includes everyone vs the colts recieving crew) the best way to neutralize an offense is with a lot of zone.

as for the man coverage, i have no issues with glenn or robinson. however, i see our linebackers on wrs an aweful lot. way to much. im not just talking about a bump inside 5 yards before a safety takes over the coverage...im talking about 240 lb + linebackers who chase a wideout across the field---and get burned over and over again. we saw an extreme example of it a couple of weeks ago with foreman. in addition to that our strong safety isnt especially good in man coverage either. brown on gates was a great example of that. earl has better range and hip movment as well as more recovery speed ,but hes still primarily a run support kind of safety. the linebackers we use in this system simply arent coverage type guys. wong is probably the best of the bunch this year though sharper is a close second. and to top the problem off----demarcus faggins is abused. i like the guy for a 5th round pick. he plays gritty and emotionally ,but he is only a 5th round talent. i've seen qb's put a bullseye on his back for to long. i think he'll be fine as a dime package cb but i'm hoping the texans look to make cb one of 3-4 top priorities. (hopefully a cb 6ft or taller so as to match up a little better with some of the recievers who have taken advantage of us).

 

[Harry Biped]

The zone can be effective at containing an offense, especially one that is balanced. But you do have to take some chances to try and force sacks and turnovers sometimes. Because of the lack of athleticism in the secondary, the Texans "zones" are often the same size as their seams(which is a very bad thing) and that is killing them this season. Teams just nickel and dime them up and down the field because they don't mix it up. That's not much better than getting burned in man coverage. This week against the Colts, the Texans were down by 6 in the 4th QTR and had them 3rd and long deep in their own territory and the Texans dropped into a zone and rushed 4 and put no pressure on Manning what so ever. He threw for something like 15 yards for a first down and the drive ended in a game clinching FG. That was one of the stupidest defensive calls I have ever seen. That is the perfect situation to sell out. If they fail either way, it's probably the game, so why not take a chance and try to create a turnover?

 

[JCTexanfan]

I don't understand when were in zone coverage on defense why are we not getting any bump on the WR's before they get into their routes. It seems like the opposing WR's are running into the zones of our defense unmolested, whereas when were on offense or WR's are being pressured before going into their routes.

 

[Harry Biped]

That's a very good question JCTexanfan, my only guess would be that the coaches don't have enough confidence in the corners to be able to keep up with the WRs off the line, so they give them a big cushion.

 

[TexansTrueFan]

well thatd dumb considering glenn is still fast and robinson has plenty of speed. i do see to much zone coverage on 3rd and short, this means the wr can run up 3 yards is wide open catch the ball and easily have a first, man would be better in some instances !