As we get ready for a big AFC South game on Thursday night between the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts, there are many angles to this contest to explore. How will the Colts look to slow down Derrick Henry? What version of Philip Rivers can we expect? But something I am watching for is how often tight end seam routes are in the progression reads for Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Thanks to Matt Bowen from ESPN, we know that the Colts are a heavy Cover 2 team. They lead the league in using that coverage concept this season:
More NFL defensive coverage rates…
Cover 2 — highest % of coverage snaps
1. #Colts — 32.2%
2. #Raiders — 29.1%
3. #Packers — 27.3%
4. #Vikings — 23.3%
5. #Bills — 22.7%— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) November 12, 2020
With that in mind, I looked through Tennessee’s offense this season to understand how they have been successful in attacking that coverage. What did I find? Heavy reliance on seam routes from the tight ends. In this video breakdown we’ll look at how the Titans have used those routes to attack Cover 2, and how Tannehill can be effective and decisive when he knows where he is going with the football:
When Tennessee has the ball tonight, watch for this route to be used early and often.