Vic Fangio Defense 101: Part 2 – MFO Coverages

The “Fangio defense”. Named after its creator, Vic Fangio, who was recently hired as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator, this defense is known for being complex. In particular, Fangio’s defense is known for using confusing terminology that can make things sound more complicated than they are. I wanted to study Fangio’s defense again and write a series of posts where I will attempt to simplify the Vic Fangio style defense, breaking it down into easy-to-understand parts.

Numerous writers have already written incredibly in-depth articles on Fangio’s defense. I have learned the most from Honest NFL, Shawn Syed, and Cody Alexander (Match Quarters). I will frequently use their work in these articles, and I can’t thank them enough for their work and for teaching me the intricacies of Fangio’s defense.

However, while these accounts do a brilliant job explaining the intricacies of the Fangio defense, I think some of it can be too complicated or necessary for the fan who wants to understand the basics when watching the game on Sunday. Not everyone needs to analyze football, but understanding the schemes can make watching the game more enjoyable. So, my goal for this series is to simplify the Vic Fangio-style defense and break it down into easy-to-understand parts. Please read the articles in order so they make sense.

Previously: Part 1: The Basics

Part 2: Middle of the Field Open Coverages

In this article, I will examine Fangio’s main MOFO coverages. As a quick reminder, MOFO means there is no safety in the middle of the field, so it is ‘open’, as you can see below.

This is also called split-safety or two-high.

Zone (Match) Coverages

Before we get into this, please remember that it is essentially impossible to know exactly what is supposed to happen without being in the defensive room. Defensive coordinators will tweak coverages every year, week by week, and even drive by drive, depending on the opposition, the personnel, and the formation, so anyone who pretends to know exactly what should happen on defense is wrong. The responsibility and nuances of every coverage can change, so I’ll look at the coverages from a big-picture perspective rather than cover every little nuance. If you really want to get into the finer details, look at the accounts I mentioned above.

Cover 4 / Quads

When you think of Vic Fangio, you will probably think of Cover 4 Match/Quads. I’ll call it Cover 4 to make it easy, but Fangio calls it Quads when called from nickel. When run correctly, this coverage is as beautiful as it gets. It requires all defenders in coverage to be on the same page and pass off routes depending on the offense. Cover 4 Match is a 4 deep, 3 under defense that will dramatically vary depending on how the offense lines up and what concept they run.

When studying Fangio’s coverages, look at what the defensive backs are doing. This will normally tell you what the coverage is. In Cover 4, each of the 4 defensive backs is responsible for a 1⁄4 of the field, and it is a 4 deep, 3 under coverage. Two defenders (the nickel cornerback and Will linebacker will be responsible for the flats, with the other linebacker dropping into the middle of the field. However, unlike standard Cover 4, where defenders drop into their zones, Fangio’s zone coverages are zone match coverages.

Remember we spoke about the passing strength in the first article? Something to note is that the nickel cornerback is always aligned with the passing strength. This prevents the opposing slot receiver from lining up over a safety or linebacker.

Zone match differs from standard zone coverage, as a defender’s assignments can change based on the offense’s formation if certain players cross certain zones. In an old-school zone defense, defenders drop into a zone, and when a receiver enters your zone, you are responsible for him. This leads to offensive coordinators flooding zones with more receivers than the defense can cover. Zone match is where the defenders read the receiver, and their coverage will depend on the route the receiver runs. They may cover a receiver in man coverage or pass him off to another defender. The underneath defenders usually carry a receiver to one of the defensive backs further back. If you want to sound cool at the bar, just refer to this as “Match-Carry-Deliver”. This is where the underneath defensive backs will match, carry, and deliver their receiver to another defensive back.

Zone match requires good communication, and all defenders in coverage must be on the same page for it to work. Sometimes, defenders can look like they are playing man coverage in zone match. For example, the outside cornerbacks in Fangio’s Cover 4 will be in man-to-man coverage if the outside receivers run a vertical route.

@TheHonestNFL has done a brilliant job drawing these plays up on the whiteboard, and I’ll use them throughout the article. Here’s standard Cover 4 / Quads.

And here is a great diagram of Cover 4 / Quads match in action by @Richjmadrid.

It’s all very good looking at the coverage but to fully understand it; you need to see it in action! You will notice how it rarely looks like it does on the whiteboard in real life, and this is because the defenders are responding to the opposing receivers’ routes.

This is a fantastic clip, too. Notice how the cornerback at the top carries his receiver vertically and is basically in man coverage when facing a vertical route.

Trix

As I’ve repeatedly stated, I could get really technical and discuss the intricacies of the coverage against different formations and personnel, but it just gets a bit too much for many people. However, I can’t look at Cover 4 and not talk about Trix. Trix is a call against 3×1 formations where the safety away from the passing strength looks out for a crossing route from the Trips side. Focus on the Free Safety below, who is opposite the passing strength.

This call is important because, without it, you can end up with a crossing route from a receiver against a linebacker. Trix creates a 5v3 on the Trips side of the field, which gives the defense a big numerical advantage (see above). However, that also leaves the cornerback one-on-one with the opposing X receiver. This is known as ‘MEG’ coverage, which means ‘Man Everywhere He Goes’. This means that the cornerback is in man coverage with the X receiver regardless of what route he runs. Similarly, the weak-side linebacker may end up one-on-one with the running back. Opposing teams will know Fangio’s rules and will use Trix against him to try to isolate the X receiver and running back.

You can see this nicely here. The Eagles are lined up in a 3×1 set, and the Bears end up playing Cover 4 match.

The Bears have a Trix call, so keep an eye on the safety on the weak side at the top of the screen. He will end up taking any crossing routes from the 3 receiver side. You can see him looking in that direction. This results in the corner at the top playing MEG coverage and the weak side linebacker with the back in man coverage. This shows you how zone match coverages can also look like man coverage.

When you see the opposing team line up with three receivers on one side of the field, keep an eye on the weak safety. Here are some clips of Trix.

This is a great example of why communication is so important. When the Trix call is made, all defenders must know immediately what to do.

Cover 6 / Quarter, Quarter, Half

Everyone knows that Fangio loves running Cover 4 / Quads, but he runs Cover 6 and Cover 8 much more than people realize. Cover 6 is also known as quarter, quarter, half. Which refers to the deep safeties. Fangio calls this coverage ‘Stuff,’ but we will just call it Cover 6! Because who the hell wants to call a coverage Stuff?! Cover 6 is where you play quarters coverage to the passing strength, as you can see here.

Once again, here is a simple diagram from @Richjmadrid. You can see just how similar this looks to Cover 4. It essentially ends up as Cover 4 to the passing strength and Cover 2 opposite. As you can imagine, this looks identical to Cover 4 pre-snap. It can be really hard for defenses to spot the difference.

Cover 6 is particularly useful against a team that isolates a star receiver as their X. If you always run Cover 4 Trix (as we looked at above), you will get a star receiver one-on-one with a cornerback in MEG coverage. This can be a bad matchup for the defense, so Cover 6 gets a safety playing as a form of bracket above the star receiver if he is isolated. Because of this, Cover 6 is often called against Trips formations.

This means that teams can target the crossing route they couldn’t hit vs. Cover 4 Trix, but football is a chess match! No coverage is perfect. I love Cover 6 when you are playing against a great X receiver who is isolated because the cornerback can aggressively press him at the line of scrimmage as he knows he has safety help over the top.

Let’s finish with an example. This is as good as it gets. You can see that this coverage essentially brackets the isolated X receiver.

Cover 8 / Half, Quarter, Quarter

Cover 8 is easy to understand once you’ve understood Cover 6. This time, you play halves to the passing strength and quarters opposite.

It essentially ends up as Cover 2 to the passing strength and Cover 4 opposite. Of course, this coverage is easy to run post-snap when lining up in a two-high shell. The defense can rotate into Cover 6 or Cover 8 post-snap, and it can be hard for the quarterback to decipher what coverage it is. Here are the same diagrams as above, but for Cover 8.

Here’s a great clip of Cover 8 in action.

Cover 8 is often called against 3×1 sets, so watch this coverage when you see a 3×1 set. Cover 8 allows the outside cornerback on the passing strength to be aggressive at the line of scrimmage as he has a safety playing over the top of him.

As you can see in the playbook images above, you can also call Trix when playing Cover 8. This works the same as it does when playing Cover 4. It just means that backside safety is looking out for crossing routes from Trips side of the formation. Cover 8 with a Trix call allows the defense to get 5 defenders over 3 receivers to the passing strength, similar to Cover 4 with a Trix call. You can see that perfectly here!

Man Coverages

This section is a little shorter, as most of Fangio’s man coverages come from ‘Middle Field Closed’ or single-high safety looks, so we will get to them in the next article.

Cover 2 / Cover 5

As I’ve repeatedly stated, people love to use complicated terminology. Some people will refer to Cover 2 Man as ‘Cover 5,’ but I won’t do that. This is Cover 2 Man! There’s no way I’m calling it Cover 5! If you have ever played Madden, you know Cover 2 well. It’s 2 deep safeties with everyone else in man coverage. Simple!

Fangio’s Cover 2 man is nothing too complicated, so there are only a few terms you need to remember for this section if you want to sound cool.

Fist / Pounder / Finger

This sounds more complicated than it is…

First = The two deep safeties read outside-in. This allows the cornerbacks to play with inside leverage.

Pounder = The two deep safeties read inside-out. It’s easier for the safeties to deal with crossing routes as the corners will play with outside leverage.

Finger = A combination of the two! One deep safety plays Fist, and the other deep safety plays Pounder.

You can see it clearly here.

Honestly, you don’t need to know the Cover 2 man terms. But you can sound cool in a bar when you turn around and say that that safety is playing Fist technique in that Cover 2 man call. I can’t promise you won’t get some weird looks, but I think you will sound cool… Here’s Fist in action.

I hope part two of this breakdown of Fangio’s defense has given you a clearer picture of his MFO coverages. As always, I would love to hear your feedback and thoughts, and if you have any questions, just let me know!