Decoding Cover 4: Strategic Approaches to Beat Football's Quarters Coverage

Cover 4, also known as Quarters coverage, is a defensive scheme used in football that prioritizes preventing big plays and keeping the ball in front of the defense. It's a coverage that many spread offenses will see in some variation. Characterized by a four-deep defensive shell, it divides the deep part of the field into four zones, typically manned by the two cornerbacks and two safeties. While seemingly a robust defense, Cover 4 has vulnerabilities that can be exploited with the right offensive strategies. This article delves into how to dissect Cover 4, identify its weaknesses, and implement effective tactics to overcome it.

Understanding Cover 4

Cover 4's primary objective is to maintain a balanced defense, ensuring no receiver gets behind the secondary for a significant gain. The cornerbacks usually align about 9 yards off the ball with outside leverage, while the safeties position themselves on the hashes at a depth of approximately 14 yards pre-snap. The safeties will read their run/pass keys, but against the pass they’re responsible for watching the release of the No. 2 (second-closest to the outside) receiver, especially in Cover 4 press where the corners really need to bail back.

There are a couple of variations of this coverage. The first is a true Quarters coverage, where the CB’s and the Safeties each take one quarter of the field, the OLB’s take the flats, and the Mike drops to the middle. The second variation is a Man Combo Scheme, where the CB covers the #1 receiver, until #2 crosses his face. Either way, don’t get hung up on these nuances. The crux of Cover 4 is that there will be a shell of 4 defenders deep with underneath coverage by the linebackers.

The coverage is often run out of nickel/dime sub-packages. The close alignment of the four deep players allow the coverage to be disguised very well with other zone, and even man, coverages. As you can tell, the linebackers are spread pretty thin and the flats are vulnerable. Corners can line up in press and bail at the snap, confusing cornerbacks with a disguised Cover 2.

Identifying the Holes

The defensive mindset behind Cover 4 is to keep the ball in front and make you line up again. But, it solves one of the biggest issues with Cover 3 by dropping an extra safety to guard against 4 verticals. The holes in Cover 4 are in front of the CB’s, in the flats, and behind the Mike (or in front of the Mike depending on his depth).

The Flats: The outside flat zones are open for business against a Cover 4 defense, so any type of hitch or speed out will be very hard to defend, if the corners bail to their responsibilities at the snap.
Underneath Coverage: There’s a copious amount of strain on the underneath defenders to the curl/flat and quick hitches from a 2x2 set would basically be a gimme for the offense. The outside underneath defender’s zone becomes flooded by the mirrored concept and it becomes a 4-on-2 advantage for the offense. Football is all about capitalizing on numbers and space, and a Cover 4 defense provides ample space in the flat and the underneath portions of the field. The three defenders struggle to combat certain coverages and receivers can easily find gigantic voids in the underneath zone.
Behind the Linebackers: The area behind the linebackers, particularly the Mike linebacker, can be a soft spot in Cover 4. This is maybe the biggest hole against Cover 4.

Strategies to Exploit Cover 4

To effectively attack Cover 4, offenses must understand how to manipulate the defense, create favorable matchups, and exploit the coverage's inherent weaknesses. Several strategies can be employed to achieve this.

Running the Football

If you line up in ACE against a Cover 4, they have to walk their OLB’s out over your slots or you will kill them in the flats all night. This means that they are leaving 5 guys in the box. If they respect your passing game enough to play like this, you have created a mismatch in the running game. If they are going to play like this, run the ball all night and take advantage of the numbers. Their safeties will have to make a ton of tackles, or they will be forced to adjust. Then you come back with your passing game. It’s all about numbers.

Utilizing the Quick Passing Game

We utilize our Quick Passing Game for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, it typically is a simple read and throw, which can be a confidence booster for a young quarterback. Once we identify coverage (safety alignment), we cut the field in half and have a one person/leverage read to get the ball out of the hands in less than two seconds. Second, we will force the defense to defend the entire field and all eleven offensive players. Finally, it is a “take what’s given” approach. Every Offensive Coordinator wants to be in 2nd and Medium, 3rd and Short situations, the Quick Pass Game, especially on early downs, allows us to stay on schedule. We do have the ability to run different concepts on either side, but for the sake of this report we will mirror our routes.

Slant/Bubble: This is the same idea as a two-man Snag concept. We want to max the split of the #1 WR to really put a horizontal stretch on the OLB. The quarterback has decided pre-snap which side of the field he is going to work. Once he receives the snap, he will eye the OLB, and throw off his movement. The OLB will either widen to the Flat with the Bubble leaving the Slant open in space, or he will stay to wall off the Slant, leaving the Bubble alone with open grass. The important thing we have found here against a 2-high Safety look is the split of the #1 WR. We stress the “max split”, we want him as wide as he will be allowed (outside the numbers). Anything too tight to the middle of the field brings the near safety into play. He can now potentially make a play on the ball, or be in position for a big hit on our receiver.

Unbalancing the Defense

One way to beat Cover 4 is to make the defense unbalanced. Trips unbalances the coverage and forces the defense to make a choice. They are either going to stay balanced, which gives you a numbers advantage on the trips side. Or, they are going to cheat their safety over, which gives you a 1 on 1 match up on the backside.

Exploiting Matchups with Running Backs

Because they can’t bring a ton of pressure with 5 guys in the box, your RB should be able to get into the progression on almost every single pass play. If they are dropping 4 guys deep and running their OLB’s to the flats, your RB is 1 on 1 with the Mike backer. I will take that match up every time…my best athlete 1 on 1 vs a backer! It should be like stealing 5 yards every play. It sounds boring, but 5-7 yards a play is never boring. Their Mike cannot guard your back. Instill that in your QB’s head. Don’t forget to practice this. In practice, it’s tempting for the QB to force the ball to his first or second read, even if it’s not open. His mindset is that it’s only practice, it doesn’t really matter if he throws a pick or an incompletion.

Vertical Stem Route Concepts

In those same situations, running the football and throwing quick into the flat does not threaten the defense, so we will utilize the vertical stems and level concepts.

Levels Concepts

Levels concepts and the Texas concept, with a tight end occupying the middle linebacker, are also excellent ways to attack the middle of the field.

Play-Action Passes

Play action passes are deadly against these deep defenders who do cheat up to stop the run, and this is one reason why we see blown coverages when Cover 4 deep players are also aggressive against the run.

Drop Back Passing Game

First, let me say I love drop back plays against Cover 4, because protection should not be a problem. You even have enough guys to double team their best linemen if you so choose. You should have your whole arsenal of drop back plays at your disposal.

Ace/Trips Curl: The Middle Curl is a really easy throw and should be open. The key to this route is to make look like a crossing route, and then sit when the Mike opens his hips.
Ace Levels (All Variations): The playside safety will dictate whether you throw the Dig or the Post.
Ace Smash: The CB has to drop for the corner route. I love the whip.
Trips Verticals: This takes practice, but teach your QB to throw the back shoulder fade to X or Z. I like to give my QB a landmark…13 yards on a line at his back shoulder.
Trips Right Mesh Z post: This is similar to the throw on Verticals.
Trips Left Sprint Left Flood: The OLB will cover the quick out.
Ace H Option: I love the crossing route.
Trips Right Verticals X Skinny Post T Wheel: USC used to run this all the time with Reggie Bush. The CB has to run with the X. This puts the OLB 1 on 1 with the RB up the sideline.

Route Combinations

Dagger Concept: The dagger concept to the right side is an excellent way to cause problems for deep defenders. Deep defenders become manipulated pretty easily with clear out routes, followed by some kind of replacement route. None are more common than the dagger (clearout/dig) combination that you see above to the right side of the formation. The No. 2’s streak commands the strong safety’s attention and the underneath drag (which is supposed to be walled off by the MLB) from the backside brings the attention of the underneath defenders towards the line of scrimmage. This opens up a huge void where the strong safety is supposed to be and quarterbacks usually hit the dig in stride here, especially with the free safety taking the No. 2 receiver to the backside deep. This same type of scenario can happen with a deep horizontal cross concept.
Mills Concept: Much like the dagger concept, the Mills concept (also called a pin route) opens up voids in a Cover 4 defense, too. It’s another excellent way to engineer openings and put deep defenders into conflict. In the specific case above, the Mills concept is to the right and it puts stress on the strong safety. To the left, there’s an under route from the No. 1, with a streak to occupy the free safety, which opens up more room for the dig to the other side. The under route also demands the attention of at least two underneath defenders.
Scissors Concept: Scissors concept is a great way to confuse backend coverages, as well. This is most commonly run from a tight split or a stack, so the 7 route has more room to operate towards the sideline. To the left side, the No. 2 receiver uses a dino stem (hard inside route sell) to sell a deep post. This will command the attention of the free safety, but more importantly, it would focus the nearside corner’s attention on the outside receiver. The No. 2 then turns his route into a POCO (post-corner) route, while the No. 1 runs a slightly deeper post. The free safety and corner must be in line with what’s going on and if one of them makes the wrong decision then it’s a blown coverage and a huge gain for the offense. The double move by the No. 2 really confuses the assignments. On the right side, there’s a smash combo, which is a simple high-low where the inside receiver runs a 7 route and the outside receiver runs a quick hitch. The hitch may be open, depending on the speed of the linebacker, but the goal is to get the corner to jump the hitch, opening up the deep 7 route.
Sail Pattern: The play above, run from a 2x2 set again, is a way to manipulate both an inside deep defender and an outside one, but an offense must have good protection to allow all of this to develop. To the right, the offense runs a sail pattern which features a streak from the outside receiver and a 7 route from the inside one. This concept puts both the corner and the nearside linebacker in conflict; the corner has to take the streak which opens up a huge void for the 7 that can’t be covered by the linebacker, because of the distance and the flare route from the running back. On the opposite side, the strong safety is put into conflict. The No. 2 receiver has to run past the depth of the nearside linebacker, directly at the strong safety and sit at about 13 yards in hopes that the safety bites down on the route, which would allow for the deep post to be wide open behind him. The right side combination is called a fish concept because it baits the deep player and it acts as another high-low read for the quarterback. These combinations are very common in the NFL and against defenses’ like the Cover 4.
Yankee Concept: As alluded to earlier, play action passes can be deadly against aggressive Cover 4 teams and the yankee concept is one of the passing combinations that can leave deep defenders scrambling. Naked bootleg rollaways are also excellent ways to create chaos for the deep defenders. The quarterback would roll right with the offensive line moving the pocket in that direction. The play action would suck the defense close to the line of scrimmage and then the quarterback would have a two-tiered read. The lone receiver to the right would be 1-on-1 against the corner, which is fine, but the quarterback is reading the free safety; the outside receiver to that side will have inside leverage against the corner and the free safety is going to have to take either the deep post or the intermediate post, which is probably the one he’d be baited into selecting. If that happens, the deep post should have plenty of space with a lot of leverage on the outside cornerback. This route concept can be made into a three-tier read as well; put the tight end on the opposite side, hinge the left tackle and make the running back slide his protection to the right. The tight end would then run a quick slant behind the linebackers. This would give the quarterback a three-tier read, putting the defense into conflict.

Pass Concepts to Beat Cover 4

Spread passing offenses will typically see some variation of cover 4, whether it be true cover 4 or some type of pattern match coverage. These 5 passing concepts will help your offense beat cover 4 coverage and 2 high safety defenses altogether. These concepts are true progression concepts that will put horizontal and vertical stress on multiple defenders in coverage.

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Concept 1: This is a great concept against 2 high structure teams that also play cover 4. I like to think of this concept as having two layers of hi/low action, which happens on the near safety and ILB. If you want to add horizontal stress on the OLB then you can put the back into the flat on a shoot route to influence him into the flat. That will open the window for the shallow cross as he approaches the opposite tackle.
- XGo route. Best release off the line of scrimmage depending on the depth and alignment of the corner
- AShallow cross. Run 1-3 yards and expect the football early if there is pressure. IF there is no pressure from ILB’s, then you must cross the centerline as fast as possible, expecting the football between ILB and OLB.
- YOutside release on “R” to move him horizontally and create more space when breaking in at the top of the route. Great route runners can make the break in their first stem at 10 yards, gain ground over the middle to 12 yards before getting flat. Others can square cut at 12 yards. Don’t run through open windows. Find space in grass and expect the football
- Z7 step post. Must win inside on the Corner to get inside release on the break point.
- QProgression 1 - Post, 2 - Dig, 3 Shallow. Pre snap Alert X on a Go route if Corner is under 7 yards and it’s a + matchup. Key the near safety on the 3 step drop, if he pedals into his 1/4, then hitch and look for the dig. If his eyes are on the dig and he’s sitting on the route, throw the post.
Concept 2: If you run Post - Dig - Shallow out of 2×2, then you have to implement the drive concept out of 3×1. You can get a lot of mileage out of these routes just by lining up in a different formation. The same progression applies in this concept, but now the shallow cross is coming from the same side of the progression. I tell my WR running the shallow cross to slow play off the LOS to buy himself time. If he’s catching the football then he’s going to catch it on the same side of the centerline (imaginary line down the center of the football splitting the box in half). We are trying to put a hi/low combination on the near safety and near inside linebacker. If the shallow cross hurries and crosses the centerline, then he’s not affecting the near inside linebacker who will be working to sit under the dig route.
- XGo route. Best release off the line of scrimmage depending on the depth and alignment of the corner
- ASlow play shallow cross. Foot fire off the LOS while bleeding to the outside. Once you see Y get vertical past the OLB (“R”), work under his route and under the “R”. Expect the football Immediately after working in if there is pressure.
- YVertical and outside release on “R” (if R is mid point between A and Y, then get vertical without an outside release). Great route runners can make the break in their first stem at 10 yards, gain ground over the middle to 12 yards before getting flat. Others can square cut at 12 yards. Don’t run through open windows. Find space in grass and expect the football
- Z7 step post. Must win inside on the Corner to get inside release on the break point.
- QProgression 1 - Post, 2 - Dig, 3 - Shallow. Pre snap Alert X on a Go route if Corner is under 7 yards and it’s a + matchup. Key the near safety on the 3 step drop, if he pedals into his 1/4, then hitch and look for the dig. If his eyes are on the dig and he’s sitting on the route, throw the post on 3rd step.
Concept 3: This is a great way to get your #1 WR’s involved in the intermediate pass game. There is still elements of post-dig-shallow, but again we are changing how we are attacking the defense with the route responsibilities. You can also utilize the back in this concept to widen the OLB by putting him into the flat with a shoot route or swing route. You can even use him on a wheel route to attack the deep 1/4 if you have a really speedy back who can cover ground from the backfield. Once again you can put the back into the flat on the right to pull the OLB into the flats.
- XGo route. Best release off the line of scrimmage depending on the depth and alignment of the corner
- AShallow cross. Run 1-3 yards and expect the football early if there is pressure. IF there is no pressure from ILB’s, then you must cross the centerline as fast as possible, expecting the football between ILB and OLB.
- YRoute will depend on the number of safeties and if middle of the field is open (MOFO) or if middle of field is closed (MOFC). If MOFO then we want to attack the middle of the field with a 7 step post. If MOFC then we will run a slot fade to put horizontal stress on the OLB and vertical stress on the Corner.
- ZThis route takes a lot of patience. There are a lot of WR’s that are so eager to get open and catch the ball that they cut their route short and don’t sell the vertical stem off the line of scrimmage. When they do this, they don’t get behind the 2nd level defenders and are not able to show up for the QB in the open windows. Sell the vertical stem and make it look like a go route. Eat up the Corner’s space before breaking the stem at 10 yards as you work 45 degrees inside until 12 yards. Get flat at 12 yards and start anticipating the ball being thrown in the open window (between OLB and near ILB).
- QSame progression working 1 - Post (slot fade), 2- Dig, 3 - Cross. Pre snap Alert X on a Go route if Corner is under 7 yards and it’s a + matchup. Key the near safety on the 3 step drop, if he pedals into his 1/4, then hitch and look for the dig. If his eyes are on the dig and he’s sitting on the route, throw the post.
Concept 4: The main reason why I like this concept is because of the two posts opening up space for the deep cross working from the other side of the field. Essentially the two posts are cutting the top off the cover 4 defense for the deep crosser to come open as Safety and Corner are occupied with each post. It’s a long way to travel for the slot WR working the deep cross, so it’s best to have that be your fastest WR whether he plays the slot, or you motion him to that position pre-snap. Another variation of this concept that will change the progression is to put the back into the flat on the left. This now creates a Smash concept with the deep cross, as A still has his Cross, X on the burst corner and T into the flat on the shoot. QB’s primary progression would be 1 - Cross, 2 - Burst Corner, 3 - Shoot.
- XBurst corner. 45 degree inside release for 4 steps, vertical for 4 steps and then break back at 45 degrees on the corner route.
- ADeep Cross over the LB and work to get 18-20 yards to the opposite hash.
- Y7 step post. Inside release on OLB and attack inside pad of the near safety.
- Z9 step post. Inside release on CB and work to get skinny and over the top of the Safety.
Concept 5: Similar to the concept above, this pass concept will beat cover 4 defense by occupying Safety and Corner with Double Post in hopes of creating space for the Wheel Route from the #3 WR. This is a great concept because we are putting 4 routes to one side of the field and are neutralizing the defense’s man advantage (Distributing 4 routes against 4 defenders - Safety, Corner, OLB, ILB). On top of that, we are putting 3 vertical routes to one side of the field where there are only two defenders responsible for vertical space (Safety in his 1/4 and Corner in his 1/4). Most likely the OLB will carry #3 vertical on the wheel in quarters, and most offensive coaches will take that matchup when it comes to a speedy slot WR running vertical with a linebacker. If OLB happens to take away the wheel, then the RB into the flat should come open nicely as the ILB has to push hard to become the new “flat defender”. This double post concept has the perfect blend of vertical and horizontal stress and putting multiple defenders in conflict with space they are responsible for covering.
- XBurst corner. 45 degree inside release for 4 steps, vertical for 4 steps and then break back at 45 degrees on the corner route. Occupy near safety with your route to create more space for the inside post.
- AWheel route. This is not a chair route, do not look back at the QB as you work to the flat. Keep your shoulders downfield as much as possible while getting outside Y and Z on their post. Start working top of the numbers to bottom of the numbers if the ball is in the middle of the field.
- Y7 step post. Inside release on OLB and attack inside pad of the near safety.
- Z9 step post. Inside release on CB and work to get skinny and over the top of the Safety.
- QWork inside - out in the progression. 1 - inside post, 2 - outside post, 3 - Wheel, 4 - Shoot. Use the Burst Corner as a pre-snap matchup if Corner is Down and Safety if shaded away from the Single WR.

Coaching Considerations

As a coach, we want to know the holes in every coverage so that we can always call the right play and give our guys the best chance to succeed. We also want our guys to start to recognize coverage so that they can make adjustments to certain routes and get themselves open. But, remember that this is a progression based system. You can anticipate who will be open based on certain coverages, but If the QB learns to go through his reads and throws it to the open guy, you are going to be fine. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is tell your QB who you think is going to be open. It can hamper him. It can make him play tentatively. And it can make him force the ball. You need to find that balance between anticipation and reaction. Every QB is different. That is the nuance of coaching.

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