Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 13 playbooks
Breakdown
Cover 3 Cloud is a zone coverage defense out of the 2-3-6 Will set in Dime personnel, built to defend against pass-heavy sets with three deep defenders splitting the field into thirds while the corner to the cloud side rolls down to support the flat. The diagram shows both deep outside defenders bailing to their deep third zones, the deep middle defender sinking to his landmark, three underneath defenders dropping into shallow buzz and hook zones, and the cloud corner sitting low to squeeze the flat and any quick out breaking routes. This is a zone beater against man heavy passing attacks, and the primary read progression for the defense is to spot drop, lock eyes on the quarterback, and drive on any route that settles into the shallow to intermediate windows before the ball is thrown.
Defensive Reads
Watch the offensive formation strength before the snap, since trips or bunch sets can overload the cloud side flat defender and stress the underneath zone spacing. Post snap, key the quarterback's eyes and drive downhill on any route settling in the flat or shallow hook zone, since the cloud corner and underneath defenders are built to close on those throws quickly. This shell is vulnerable to deep out and corner routes thrown to the opposite hash from the cloud rolldown, so if the safety alignment shows a clear cloud tell, expect the offense to attack away from it. Look for vertical seam shots or four verticals concepts, since the deep middle defender has to bracket two vertical stems and can be stressed if the underneath defenders do not carry seam runners. Man beating rub and pick combinations do less damage here because of the zone integrity, but watch for a lurking user defender jumping short routes, and be ready to counter with double moves or deep comebacks against an aggressive cloud corner.
Usage Tips
Call this on early downs or obvious passing situations when you expect quick game or flat concepts, since the cloud corner squeezes the flat hard and takes away easy completions to the boundary.
Before the snap identify if the offense is running smash or flat-seven combos, because the cloud rolldown corner is designed to jump those routes and bait the quarterback into a turnover.
User the deep middle defender if you anticipate a dig or post shot down the seam, since the three deep defenders are responsible for thirds but need help versus vertical route combos that stress two receivers to one third.
Combine this with Cover 3 Buzz Match and Cover 3 Hard Flat in the same play calling sequence so the offense cannot key on cloud rolldown tendencies and start attacking the vacated deep outside zone.
Use hot routes to widen your underneath hook defenders if you are facing trips formations, since the base drops leave a slight window over the middle against three level route combinations.
