Here is a great Madden 12 defensive article that was written by Zan over at Compete4everabout the terminology of defensive zone coverages. He also talks about how zone coverages work after the post title patch #2 for Madden 12 was released.
The following is an excerpt that was taken from the post called “FORWARD PROGRESS #2: ZONE CONCEPTS” that was posted on October 22, 2011 byZan.
“In this installment I want to address zone coverage in general; not how zone is played just in Madden 12, but how zone coverage is played across the entire spectrum of football. First, let’s go over the “correct” way of calling out zone coverage. We aren’t in pre-school anymore, so let’s get our terminology correct. I’ll list the zones by Madden terminology, follow them with their real-life terminology, then explain, briefly, the responsibilities of the particular zone assignment. Remember, this is in real life, not the video game. We will compare and contrast it afterwards.
– “Light blue zone” — Flat zone — responsible for coverage of the “flats”, an area from 3 yards past the line of scrimmage sinking down to just behind the line of scrimmage. Player is responsible for containment, and to keep everything inside of them; thus filtering WRs and RBs back inside. Player responsible for dropping into hook zone if no flat zone is present.
– “Yellow zone” — Hook zone — responsible for an area 10 yards off the line of scrimmage to 4 yards off the line of scrimmage. Player is responsible for keeping routes in front of him.
– “Purple zone” — Buzz zone — responsible for intermediate to deep sideline starting at 11 yards off the line of scrimmage extending to 15 or 16 yards. Player is responsible for taking away corner patterns in particular.
– “Deep blue zone” — Deep zone (can be either a half, third, or quarter depending on shell) — responsible for keeping everything in front of him, starting 16 yards off the line of scrimmage and extending the distance of the remaining field of play.”
To read the rest of the post, click on the following link – FORWARD PROGRESS #2: ZONE CONCEPTS
