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How to Stop a Dominant Wide Receiver WEB ONLY BONUS

1. Scout him carefully to know what you’re up against. Is he a “burner” who will run by your defenders or does he specialize in running shorter, more efficient routes? Where does he line up? What are his favorite routes?

2. Consider double-teaming the receiver.

3. Consider blitzing to the receiver’s side.

4. Consider blitzing away from the receiver’s side.

5. If you do decide to blitz, consider making it an all-out attack, because if you don’t get to the quarterback, you could get burned big time.

6. Whichever tactic you adopt, make your coverage look identical to your normal sets, so that the offense doesn’t know what’s coming.

7. Make sure going into the game that you have planned more than one option for stopping the receiver in case your primary strategy doesn’t work.

8. Use deception – start in one coverage lining up and then shift to another when the ball is snapped.

9. Consider getting physical with the receiver. But be careful – if he likes to get physical himself, you may be playing into his hands.

10. In the red zone, consider inside-outside coverage schemes, since you don’t have to worry as much about the receiver going over the top.

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