Anatomy of a Play: Asante Intercepts Freeman

Asante Samuel is arguably the best cornerback in the NFL when it comes to jumping routes and picking off throws. He notched his 50th career interception this past Sunday against Josh Freeman and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he jumped a deep inside route that Tiquan Underwood was running. Underwood is lined up wide right with another Tampa receiver in the slot. The Falcons are showing a blitz package with their linebackers but are actually playing a form of cover two where all but two linebackers will drop back into coverage and both safeties will drop deep. The difference here is that the two outside cornerbacks won’t stick directly to the flats instead they’ll play zones along the sideline. Underwood is going to run a deep in route to try and find the soft spot in the zone between the linebackers and safeties while the slot receiver is running a basic streak route down the seam. There wasn’t a huge blitz coming like Tampa expected as the Falcons only send five ...