How to Play Man Coverage in Football

Playing man coverage in football is one of the hardest things to do in all of sports. In man coverage, a single defender is responsible for playing against a wide receiver. If that defender gets beaten, the wide receiver could break a game-changing play and even score. This could be devastating for the defender's team. There are steps you can take to ensure that you don't get burned in this situation. Here is how to play man coverage in football.

Instructions

1. Line up a step or two off the line of scrimmage. This is important as it will even out the playing field when it comes to speed. Remember that the wide receiver will be running at you in a normal stride while you'll begin your defensive stance running backwards. You don't want to be too close to the wide receiver as you will get beaten off the line of scrimmage. Playing too far back, though, may allow him to get into position before you can make a play on the pass.

2. Choose a side to play in an attempt to confuse the wide receiver. If, for example, the wide receiver is supposed to run an inside pattern and you choose to play the inside, you can throw off his whole route. Perhaps you'll choose to play more towards the line of scrimmage if you want to lessen the chance that the receiver can get out of bounds. Which you decide will depend on the game situation, the ability and preferences of the wide receiver and your abilities as a defensive back.

3. Explode into your back peddle as soon as the ball is snapped. Pretend that you're at the starting blocks of a track and field race, except standing backwards. If you simply begin trotting backwards, the wide receiver will be past you before you turn your head.

4. Remember to keep enough distance between you and the wide receiver during your back peddle. There's an old saying in football that if you can touch the wide receiver while back peddling, he can get around you. Keep an arms-length distance between you and the wide receiver while your running backwards.

5. Turn with your hips to begin your normal stride right as the wide receiver gets to you during his route. Doing this too soon will put you out of position, especially if the wide receiver is running a curl or inside route. Waiting too long, though, is an almost guaranteed way to get burned by a speedy receiver. It's important that you turn with your hips and not your legs. Turning with your legs will slow you down just enough to give the wide receiver an extra half-step or step. That's more than enough for any athletic wide receiver to get separation from a defensive back.

6. Use the hand closest to the defender to keep tabs on him while watching the quarterback. It's important that you do this carefully as you don't want to an interference or illegal contact penalty. A good way to do this without getting a flag throw in to keep your hand limp and make contact with the wide receivers lower torso, waist or even legs. Contact in the lower portion of the body is less likely to be seen by an official.

7. Watch the receivers' hips and not his upper body. Watching the receivers hips will let you know where he's going because he can do all the head and shoulder fakes he wants, but if his hips are not turning he's not changing directions. If the receiver's hips drop it usually means he's going to stop and go for a comeback rout.

8. Look for the ball as soon as it's been released with your eyes facing the football. You cannot be staring at the receiver when you attempt to make a play on the ball. You will almost automatically be called for pass interference if you're believed to be playing the man and not the ball. Turning to face the football is an easy way to avoid this situation.

9. Try to knock the ball away first. Many defenders who play man coverage want to make the big play and go for the interception every time. Unfortunately, this often leads to disaster. A misplay in this situation could result in six points for the opposite team. Use your hands to tip the ball down towards the ground or away from the receiver. Never tip the ball up into the air as this could lead to the receiver catching the ball on a second attempt.