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Coverage areas are just that, areas, not absolute, territorial lines on the floor. The overriding goal, in my opinion, is team officiating, as in getting plays right as a team and checking ego at the door. Team officiating requires all 3 (2) officials working for angles to cover the competitive matchups and to assist each other. Far too many calls get missed because the official with the best angle doesn't want to step on the toes of the other guys. Using the lines on the floor theory we lose coverage on plays like curls and diagonal cuts where the primary official based on the lines does not have the best angle on the play and can't see the contact.
In my pregames, especially in 2 man games, we review the basic coverage, but I also mention that our goal is to referee where our partner(s) cannot, regardless of what the lines on the floor say to do. Now that being said, the further away, the less believable the call, so the more obvious the play has to be. The better your positioning, the easier it is to officiate where your partner cannot, which includes on the ball and off. Again, I'm not advocating ball-watching, just positioning in a place where you can cover where your partner can't.
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