Jonathan Gannon’s Cardinals defense truly found its stride back in 2024, delivering what analysis shows was their most consistent season. This wasn’t just some random fluke; it was a deliberate shift to relying way more on early down zone coverage all year long, a big change from how things went down in 2023. See, 2023 was about *how much* zone they *could* run, but 2024 became about *how well they could keep it up*. This defense cranked its early down zone rate to a three-year high of 43.36%. But here’s the kicker: it wasn’t just the number itself; it was how rock-solid that number stayed. Their early down coverage barely budged from the first half of the season to the second. They found their groove early, and they stuck with it, a huge contrast to 2023 when the coaching staff basically ripped up their coverage shell at halftime of the season.
Zone-First: A Refined Early Down Blueprint
That early down zone-first identity was crystal clear. On 43.36% of early down plays, totaling 379 snaps in 2024, they were in zone. Compare that to man coverage, which they used on just 9.61% of early down plays, or 84 snaps. Think about it: they were in zone coverage 4.5 times more often on early downs than they were in man. That right there made the 2024 Cardinals the most zone-tilted defense in the three years of available data. When they went zone, their primary call on early downs was Cover 3, used on 20.71% of plays, a significant jump of 9.7% over 2023 levels, accounting for 166 early down coverage snaps. Next up was Cover 4, showing up on 13.16% of early down zone plays, or 115 snaps, which was right in line with their 2023 usage.
Creative Shifts Within Consistency
Even with that commitment to zone, Gannon’s squad found seriously creative ways to stay unpredictable within their package. For their man coverage looks, Cover 1 was the go-to on 7.21% of early down plays, or 63 snaps, a drop from 2023’s 8.09%. Overall, they just ran less man coverage in 2024, period. What was really slick was their 3-high safety disguise pre-snap. It allowed them to rotate into other zone coverages in non-traditional ways, hitting looks like Cover 3, Tampa-2, and Cover 6. In fact, their Cover 6 usage bumped up to 5.95% of total early down plays, or 52 snaps, a clear increase from 4.96% (46 plays) in 2023. That increase shows the coaching staff wasn’t just consistent; they were always trying out a variety of different split field packages to see what clicked.
This kind of sustained, consistent defensive identity is something every coordinator is chasing. You gotta wonder if this focused approach to early down zone, with those creative internal rotations, is a blueprint Gannon will keep pushing. The game’s always evolving, but finding a consistent foundation like this is a huge step in building a dominant defense.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Acme Packing Company.
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