TSL - Giants to change up their coverage, use multiple looks this season

[HapHaszard]

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2010/06/giants_to_change_up_their_cove.html

f you’re a hardcore follower of the Giants and this blog, you’ll remember the game-winning touchdown pass by the Chargers against your team last year. You’ll also recall how much I hated the coverage call because I felt it unnecessarily gave San Diego an open lane to the end zone.

It was “Cover-2 Man,” which meant 1-on-1 coverage on the four receivers across with two safeties up top. The argument was it was a go-to coverage for Bill Sheridan’s defense and that the then-coordinator wasn’t about to switch up his scheme in the game’s final minutes to my suggestion of a four-deep coverage that protected the end zone and allowed the defenders to face the ball instead of having their back to Philip Rivers.

It was stubbornness at its worst. It allowed Vincent Jackson to get behind Corey Webster. And it was a big reason the Giants dropped their fourth straight game on the way to a 3-8 meltdown.

Well, if you agreed with my criticism, you’ll be happy to hear a few things that came out of the mouths of Giants secondary coach Peter Giunta and safeties coach David Merritt Monday.

Namely, that new coordinator Perry Fewell will employ various coverages, will exhibit flexibility in his game plans and calls and will design a scheme intended to put his defensive backs in a position to better view the offense and make a play on the ball.

“We were very aggressive. We didn’t want to give the quarterback a chance to throw the checkdowns to hopefully discourage him from making those completions,” Giunta said of last year's defense. “Well, now we may give up a few more completions, but we’re going to have more guys swarming to the ball and making hits and tackles on the receiver and ball carrier.”

Let me be clear: there are lots of advantages to playing aggressive, press coverage. Giunta listed them right there by pointing out how a man-coverage scheme takes away the “checkdown” and other short passes. If you’re the Giants and you think your pass rush is one of the best in the league, you definitely want to eliminate the quick throw to give your linemen and blitzers a chance to get to the quarterback.

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