Free safety and strong safety positions in the 3-4 defense

Safety (S) is an American and Canadian football position played by a member of the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up from ten to fifteen yards behind the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position in a typical formation, the free safety (FS) and the strong safety (SS). Their duties depend on the defensive scheme. The defensive responsibilities of the safety and cornerback usually involve pass coverage towards the middle and sidelines of the field, respectively.

Safeties are the last line of defense, and are thus expected to be sure tacklers. In fact, many safeties rank among the hardest hitters in football history.

As professional and college football have become more focused on the passing game, safeties have become more involved in covering receivers.^[1]

[edit] Strong safety

The strong safety has a lot of responsibility on the defensive side of the ball. The strong safety tends to be a bit larger and stronger than the free safety, however the word "strong" is used because he is tasked to handle the "strong side" of the offense, the side where the tight end lines up. The strong safety tends to play closer to the line and assist in stopping the run. He may also be responsible for covering a player, such as a running back or fullback or h-back, who goes in motion in the backfield and then out for a pass. A strong safety's duties are somewhere in between those of a linebacker and those of the other defensive backs, in that he can both cover the pass and stop the run.

[edit] Free safety

The free safety tends to be smaller and faster than the strong safety. His job tends to be to stay back a bit, watch the play unfold, and follow the ball. On pass plays, the free safety is expected to close down the receiver by the time the ball gets to him. Offenses tend to use the play action pass specifically to make the free safety expect a run play, which would draw him closer to the line of scrimmage, and reduce his effectiveness as a pass defender. If the offense puts a receiver in the slot, then the free safety may be called upon to cover that receiver. Free safeties occasionally blitz as well. When this happens, the pressure is often very severe since a blitz by a defensive back is not usually anticipated. Free Safeties, because of their speed and deep coverage, often are very apt to catching interceptions.

[edit] Cover-2

Main Article: Cover 2 (Football coverage shells)

Sometimes instead of the safeties dividing up their jobs in terms of run support and pass support, the safeties will divide up the field into a left half and a right half, and each will be responsible for anything that comes into his half of the field. This type of division of responsibility is becoming more and more common,[1] and is called a cover 2 defense. The cover-2 was first used by the Steelers in the 1970's, but was made famous by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the late 90's. Led by head coach Tony Dungy and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, the Bucs built a dominating defense, with strong safety John Lynch at the forefront. This particular version of the cover 2 is referred to as the "Tampa 2". Since then, the popularity of the cover-2 has soared. Both of the teams in Super Bowl XLI, the Colts and the Bears (the former being coached by Dungy, the latter by his former protégé at Tampa, Lovie Smith), ran a primarily cover-two defense.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• phillyBurbs.com Football 101: The Free Safety
• [2]
• [3]