Tampa 2

"[3] Lovie Smith mentions having played the system in junior high school during the 1970s, though Carson introduced the idea of moving the middle linebacker into coverage.

Carson's system became especially effective with the Steelers' addition of aggressive and athletic middle linebacker Jack Lambert.

[5] By 2006, the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, and Detroit Lions had also adopted the defense.

The outside linebackers' general zone is between the cornerbacks, covering the area of the field from the line of scrimmage to 10 yards back.

"It takes a special linebacker to do that, a guy with speed," wrote Pete Prisco, senior NFL writer for CBSSports.com.

The hard hitting strong safety protects the middle of the field from being exploited by small, fast receivers, and running backs on wheel route.

When executed properly, the Tampa 2 defense is difficult to beat, a reason for its longevity, having seen no fundamental changes since first introduced in 1996.

Other tactics that have shown to be effective on occasion are misdirection plays that take advantage of the defensive speed and rely on the defense 'over-running' the play (such as the middle linebacker rushing to the line of scrimmage on a play-action pass), or overloading the safeties by having multiple receivers running deep routes, creating more targets in a zone than defenders.

The popularity of the Tampa 2 means that offenses are now finding it effective to exploit the deep middle, where the safeties have to cover the most ground.

It is therefore necessary to have a skilled tackler at the WLB position (e.g., Derrick Brooks, Lance Briggs, Sean Lee, Shaquille Leonard).