How to Defend a Football Pass to Wide Receivers

During a football game, linebackers, safeties, and cornerbacks must all play a role in pass defense. Wide receivers are a team's fastest and most talented pass catchers. Blowing a coverage can be a 7 point mistake. Here are some tips to defend a football pass to wide receivers.

Instructions

1. Know your responsibility. Each defensive set will have you assigned either zone coverage or man-to-man responsibility for a specific receiver.

2. Play the receiver not the ball, if you're in man-to-man coverage. As long as you're with your receiver, you will be able to make a play.

3. Focus on a receiver's midsection. Regardless of head and shoulder fakes or deceptive footwork, the midsection is the last part of a receiver to move and the best indicator of a route's final path.

4. Forget the ball if you're beaten on a route. First recover your proximity to the receiver. React when he reacts, trying to deflect the pass or strip it as a last resort.

5. Play the ball and the quarterback if you're in zone coverage. Your responsibility is for an area and whoever is in that area.

6. Work on your ability to follow a quarterback's eyes and throwing keys as an indication where he's going to throw a pass. Work on your ability to react once the ball is in the air.

7. Reduce your "closing time" getting to a receiver, trying to time your hits while not being called for interference.

Tips & Warnings

• The reason you must play the ball and the quarterback in zone coverage instead of an individual receiver is that many pass plays will try to flood individual zones with more than one receiver.