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Breakdown
Cover 3 Cloud Show 2 is a zone coverage disguise call out of the Over Wide 4-3 set that lines up presenting a two-high shell before rotating into a three-deep, four-under Cover 3 shell at the snap. The corner to the cloud side sinks into an under zone to jam the flat and squeeze quick hitches or flat routes, while the strong safety rotates down to fill the alley in run support, making this a strong disguise vs both pass and run. The primary read progression for the defense is corner to flat, then to curl/hook flat defender, then deep third safety, since the cloud rotation is designed to bait quarterbacks into throwing the flat or curl route into a defender who is sitting on it rather than the deep third.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, key the safety depth and corner alignment to sell the two-high disguise, then watch for the strong safety cheating down into the box which tips the cloud rotation to the offense if not disguised well. Post-snap, the cloud corner should read the number two receiver first to sit on any quick out or flat route before working back to help on vertical routes only if the flat is clear. This shell shuts down hitch, flat, and quick out concepts to the cloud side since the corner is not playing off deep leverage like in a traditional Cover 3. It is vulnerable to deep out and comeback routes to the open side away from the cloud rotation, so user the backside corner or flex a linebacker to help if you see a heavy passing personnel package. Watch for user-controlled receivers sitting down in the void between the curl flat defender and the deep third safety, since that intermediate window is the primary bust point in this coverage.
Usage Tips
Show this look on early downs when you want to disguise a two-high shell pre-snap and bait the quarterback into thinking he has Cover 2 or Cover 4 numbers on the outside.
Use the cloud rotation to your advantage against offenses that live on quick game and stick routes to the boundary, since the corner is sitting on that route from the jump.
Pair this call with Cover 3 Sky and Cover 4 Quarters in the same play-calling sequence so quarterbacks cannot key pre-snap alignment to diagnose your shell.
Hot route the backside curl flat defender into a deeper drop on third and long to eliminate the sideline throw and force the quarterback to hold the ball longer.
Run this behind a four man rush on third and medium since the underneath disguise combined with sound deep thirds takes away both the sticks throw and the shot play over the top.
