All matchupsPart of: The Modern RPO: A Complete Coach's Guide

Bubble Screen vs Cover-2

Bubble screen vs Cover-2 is one of the easiest throws in football. Here's why the corner can't help.

Bubble screen vs. cover-2 is free yards. The cover-2 corner has flat responsibility — but he's playing 7+ yards off the LOS and has to read run/pass before triggering. That gives the bubble 5-8 yards every time.

From the offense

Throw it. The block is the outside WR cracking down on the apex; the slot catches the bubble and runs. If the corner is fast and the apex is slow, you've got a 10-yard gain.

Tagged to a run, the bubble RPO is even easier. The QB counts the box and decides — light box hand-off, heavy box throw bubble.

From the defense

Cover-2 vs. bubble is a numbers loss. The fix is to roll the corner up to bracket the slot, but then you've broken the cover-2 shell.

A better answer is to play press cover-2 — corners up at the line, jamming the outside WR. That at least slows the crack block, but it gives up the deep ball over the top.

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