Zone Coverage
All of the things that make Reid a good man defender also help him out in zone coverage, and the 49ers often used Reid’s athleticism to undercut outside comeback routes, leaving the outside defender to take the deep third:
They also used Reid as a flat defender, something that offenses often look to attack using roll-out plays by forcing the flat defender to either commit to the quarterback and so allow the reception to the flat, or stick to the flat defender and in so doing give the quarterback the space to turn the edge and pick-up a chunk of yardage. What Reid does so well on the next play, is that he gets wide enough to take away the scramble but stays far enough downfield that when the quarterback looks to hit the roll-out receiver, the pass doesn’t get behind Reid and instead is at a depth where he is able to step inside to make the tackle:
This might not be something that is stretched to the limit this week by Eli Manning, but on the next play, Russell Wilson offers a much more dangerous running threat. Reid initially flashes to take away the far flat before dropping slightly deeper; when Wilson then rolls out to the right, Reid pushes wide with the receiver knowing that he has help inside, and Wilson is forced into a risky and difficult throw back across his body:
Of course, many defenders can go a long way towards making similar plays to the ones Reid does on the above plays, but where Reid really separates himself is when he goes beyond the basic scope of his zone. On this next play, the 49ers appear to be in some sort of combo coverage, with the corner coming inside on the slant but Reid appearing to be initially dropping into a zone with his eyes on the quarterback. The route combination the Seahawks are running on the near side should take advantage of this, with Reid’s failure to immediately commit to the flat giving the running back enough space to get the edge. Reid, however, quickly recognizes that the ball is going to the flat, uses his speed to get there and makes an excellent tackle to limit the play’s success:
Similarly, on the following plays, the 49ers appear to be in a fairly conventional cover 2 – with two deep zone defenders and the rest underneath dropping to approximately ten yards. However, Reid recognizes the smash concept designed to force the outside defender to commit either to the corner or to the flat and drops deeper and outside to try and take away the corner route, even if Mariota’s dime makes this an ultimately fruitless effort:
On both of these plays, Reid appears to go beyond the structure of the defense to make – or at least come close to making – plays that the vast majority of defenders simply aren’t able to make. Reid might be plenty fast of foot, but it is the speed with which he is able to process route combinations which is so impressive here.
While Reid wasn’t used as a deep safety in San Francisco as often as he might be in Carolina, he did still perform well in this area. The most basic function of deep zone defenders is to prevent completions over the top, and Reid does a good job of that in deep zone. On the following play, the 49ers – despite only showing one deep safety initially – are in cover 2 man, with Reid taking the near deep half. With no receivers initially in the near half of the field, Reid stays central to shrink the field for Wilson, but as the receiver crosses his face he does a good job of breaking to the deep corner:
And on this next play, he does a good job of staying over the top of the receivers, then breaks outside to limit the window that Manning has to make the throw, forcing the throw towards the sidelines and leading to the incompletion:
This doesn’t mean, however, that Reid sacrifices short completions to ensure he doesn’t get beaten over the top, as he has the makeup speed to pressure underneath throws, and while Wilson likely shouldn’t have been scared off attempting the following throw:
If he had attempted it, it would likely have led to a contested catch similar to this:
Again, a defense is never going to be able to fully prevent an offense from completing passes, but by making those catches as difficult as possible they give themselves the best chance to force stops and regain possession. As with the underneath zones, however, Reid does make some plays that go beyond what a defense can expect from the standard safety. The first of these plays is nothing special in terms of result, it is merely a two deep coverage, but what Reid’s speed allows them to do is line him up underneath before dropping him into a deep zone, something that the Panthers were never able to do with Searcy.
In the red zone, deep zones become far more compact, and here Reid is able to use his smarts to get an edge. He initially drops inside to take away the back middle of the end zone, but when Mariota rolls out, Reid drops onto the underneath receiver, allowing the flat defender to focus on Mariota. Usually, when a mobile quarterback rolls out to the corner flag, the flat defender is forced to pick between the quarterback and their receiver, but if they can rely on Reid helping behind them, that allows them focus on the quarterback and so take away plays that the likes of Mariota, Wilson and Newton have made a nightmare for defenses to stop – the Panthers will face Wilson in Week 12.
The final way in which safeties are often tested in the passing game is on screens, and while these can be fairly trivial to stop in man coverage:
Against a zone they can be effective; on the following play, the Seahawks look to use the run fake to get the tight end outside of Reid in an attempt to create a seal for the bubble screen.
What Reid does really well here is he attacks the outside shoulder of the blocker rather than the ball carrier himself. He knows he has inside help on this play and that his responsibility, first and foremost, is to prevent the ball carrier from getting the edge. By attacking the blocker rather than the ball carrier, he is able to funnel the ball carrier into the pursuit and so the play makes a limited gain.
A lot about Reid’s signing has focused on him finally finding a team, and while that is understandable, it shouldn’t be forgotten quite how excellent Reid is as an NFL safety. He wasn’t always used in the most effective way in San Francisco last season, but he is a highly athletic and extremely smart defender who can operate as a run defender in the box, in man coverage all over the field against tight ends or in deep zone. The Panthers are highly fortunate to get a player of Reid’s caliber, especially at this point in the season at such a position of need, and while he may take a week or two to settle into the Panthers’ defense, he has a chance to push this group to even greater heights.
All Clips Via NFL Game Pass.
