This has been a season for the unconventional.

Scoring is at a record pace. Rich Gannon could break Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a season (5,084). Marvin Harrison is on pace to shatter the single-season reception record. Quarterbacks, working the short-passing attacks, are completing more passes at a higher percentage and the trend isn't chilling in the lowering temperatures.

So many teams have incorporated parts of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers "Cover 2" defensive concept that quarterbacks are spreading the field with receivers, bringing the length of a completion to the lowest level in more than two decades -- 11.2 yards a completion.

	“	We don't just play Cover 2. If all you are going to do is drop into Cover 2, you are going to have trouble. You've got to give offenses different looks. Our guys are experienced with this defense. They are smart. This is a complicated defense. We'll have 10 different coverages within a game. It's not just having two safeties taking half of the field in their coverages. ”
		— Monte Kiffin, Bucs defensive coordinator

One of the more amazing trends in this season is how offensive coordinators are neutralizing good run-stopping teams. The Broncos, Steelers and Titans live to stop the run. No team did a better job of creating a dominating front defensive seven than the Broncos. They moved Pro Bowl defensive tackle Trevor Pryce to end and put Lional Dalton next to Chester McGlockton and this powerful line freed one of the biggest, fastest linebacking corps to run around and make tackles.

So what have some teams done against the Broncos? Ignore the run and just throw. The Raiders did that against the Steelers in Week 2 (and against the Broncos in Week 10) and made the process more painful for the Steelers by using the no-huddle. Not all teams have the passing talent to accomplish that strategy, but more than any time I can remember, just stopping the run isn't enough to make a team a championship contender.

Three of the top 10 run-stopping teams -- the Ravens, Bears and Panthers -- don't even have winning records. Here's a stranger stat: five top ten run-stopping teams -- the Steelers, Ravens, Bears, Raiders and Titans -- rank between 14th and 25th -- in total defense. Stopping the run isn't enough any more.

Here's a few scarier numbers. Among the worst teams on third down defense are the Steelers, Broncos, Jets and 49ers, all giving up first downs at least 42 percent of the time on third down. Seven teams competing for the AFC playoffs -- the Bills, Titans, Patriots, Broncos, Raiders, Jets and Steelers -- are among the worst eight teams for preventing touchdowns in the red zone.

Simply dropping into Cover 2 zones with the idea of limiting the big plays isn't enough in this Year of the Dink. A couple of weeks ago, the 49ers converted so many third downs on the Raiders that they essentially possessed the ball from the middle of the third quarter into the overtime. They ran 45 plays to the Raiders 10 in three possessions.

Last Sunday night, Peyton Manning played an amazing game against the Broncos, who clearly have the most talented front seven in the league. Manning started in a three-receiver set, which forced the Broncos to substitute cornerback Tyrone Poole for Dalton. For a team that wants to run the ball, that's perfect, removing a 320-pound defensive lineman. But Manning and offensive coordinator Tom Moore decided after a few series to bring Dalton back on the field by going to a two-tight end set.

Manning picked apart the Broncos defense. Three times, they sent tight end Joe Dean Davenport into the flat 2 to 5 yards downfield and outside the numbers. Davenport's three catches kept setting up shorter third down conversions. For the game, Manning converted 15-of-21 third downs against the Broncos, who kept their three linebackers on the field on third down but couldn't stop the Colts on that snowy evening.

Cover 2 just isn't covering enough, so it's time to call the mastermind of the current Cover 2, Monte Kiffin, defensive coordinator of the Bucs. Everyone knows that Tampa Bay is the shrine to the Cover 2. The Rams hired Lovie Smith as defensive coordinator to teach it to their defenders. Last year, the strategy produced a trip to the Super Bowl. The Colts hired Tony Dungy with the same thought.

"We don't just play Cover 2," Kiffin said. "If all you are going to do is drop into Cover 2, you are going to have trouble. You've got to give offenses different looks. Our guys are experienced with this defense. They are smart. This is a complicated defense. We'll have 10 different coverages within a game. It's not just having two safeties taking half of the field in their coverages."

The Bucs have the best of all worlds this season. They are allowing only 97 yards rushing a game and a league low 253 yards in total offense. The defense has allowed only 11 touchdowns in 11 games. Opponents can't beat the Bucs on big plays, and they've intercepted 25 passes. The Bucs are the best in the red zone, giving up only five touchdowns in 21 possessions. The Dolphins and Bucs are the best on third downs, allowing only 30.8 percent conversions.

"Sure, our base defense is a Cover 2, but on third downs we could switch into a number of different things," cornerback Ronde Barber said. "We do man-to-man. We'll go three deep with five under. We'll zone dog. If you look at our success rate on third downs, you realize that technique wins."

The Bucs have confidence that if they get a team in a third-and-5 or longer, they are going to win the down. They will stop the play or possibly get a turnover. The key to stopping the short-passing offenses is applying pressure on the quarterback and pressuring receivers at the line of scrimmage.

Few defenses that are currently using the Cover 2 concept have the history of the Bucs.

"It takes a lot of time to learn the Cover 2," Barber said.

Kiffin came up with the strategy more than three decades ago when he was coaching at Nebraska and Arkansas. He refined it in the NFL when he coached with Dungy in Minnesota in the early 1990s.

It's the trendy defense for more than just its success rate. The safeties can hang back to limit the chances of big plays, but other players can fall back and allow one of the safeties to play near the line of scrimmage on some plays. It's a defense that allows young players to show their athletic ability because there is enough zone schemes that they are watching the ball.

The combined pass rush of Simeon Rice on the outside and Warren Sapp on the inside puts pressure on the opposing quarterback. Barber and Brian Kelly are smart and know how to fall into disguised coverages. Safety John Lynch and linebacker Derrick Brooks are play-makers.

Plus, this system has been around so long in Tampa that the Bucs have been able to draft players who fit the defense. If you notice, the top defenses in all categories are the ones that have the ability to mix pressure with safe zone concepts. The Dolphins love man-to-man coverages by their cornerbacks, but they get pressure with their front four and rank among the top five in most categories. The Eagles still blitz and are great against the run and on third downs.

In this unconventional year, you can't just count on being able to stop the run because offenses can get around that by using the short passes as their running attacks. Cover 2 isn't enough. But, during the offseason, defensive coaches will be studying how the Bucs' Cover 2 has advanced in its sophistication.

The Bucs have it covered.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.