Playbooks
Breakdown
Cover 3 Cloud is a zone coverage look out of Dime Normal that rolls the cornerback down to the flat (cloud technique) while a deep third safety and the opposite corner hold the deep thirds. Underneath, the two inside linebacker-type defenders sink into the middle hook/curl zones and the strong safety works a shallow zone to the flat side, giving three deep defenders and four underneath in a 3-4 shell. This is a zone defense built to squeeze the flat and take away quick hitters and out routes while still protecting the deep middle, so your primary read as the defense is the flat-to-curl combination on the cloud side before working back to the deep third safety over the top.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and corner alignment to confirm you are getting a true 3 deep shell and not a disguised man look. Post-snap, key the flat route to the cloud side first since that is the defender squeezing quick outs, speed outs and bubble screens. Watch the two underneath hook defenders for any crossing route or drag concept trying to sit down in the void between the flat and deep thirds. This beats quick game, flat and out concepts, and boundary fades into the cloud corner, but struggles against deep out and comeback routes thrown with timing away from the flat defender. Trips and four verticals concepts can stress the deep third defenders, so be ready to user the deep middle safety over any vertical stem that stacks the seams.
Usage Tips
Use this play on early downs or obvious pass situations where you expect quick game or bunch flat concepts to your cloud side.
Pre-snap, identify if the offense is running a stack or bunch set to that side since the cloud corner is your extra flat defender against those looks.
User the cloud corner initially to squeeze any speed out or flat route, then flash down to the underneath hook defender if the quarterback looks to hit a shallow crosser.
Pair this call with Cover 3 Buzz Match or Cover 4 Palms in your play-calling sequence so quarterbacks cannot key hard on flat defender leverage from snap to snap.
Avoid calling this against heavy vertical stacks or four verticals since the deep third defenders can get stressed if the underneath flat defender bites too hard.
