Playbooks
Breakdown
China Special out of Slot Far runs a play-action flood concept to the offensive left with a deep comeback, a corner route, and an out breaking underneath, while the backside receiver runs a deep in-cut across the field. The play-action fake sells the run before the QB works the flood side, reading from the deep comeback down to the shallow out. This is a man beater and Cover 3 beater built to overload one side of the field with three distinct levels, forcing a single defender to choose between the comeback and the corner while the out sits underneath as a checkdown option.
Defensive Reads
Key the flood side cornerback and safety leverage before the snap, if the corner is playing outside shade with a safety rotated over the top, expect Cover 3 or Cover 4 look that this play is designed to exploit with the three level stretch. Watch for a user controlled defender sitting in the shallow zone near the out route, since that lurk threat can jump the underdneath throw and create a turnover opportunity. Track linebacker depth at the snap, shallow linebackers who bite on the play-action fake open up the intermediate window for the comeback route. If the defense shows Cover 2 with two deep safeties, the comeback and corner routes will be squeezed into a tight window, so expect the quarterback to check down to the out route quickly. Blitz packages that send extra rushers off the play-action fake can disrupt the timing of this deep flood concept, so disguising a blitz pre-snap while showing zone coverage is an effective counter.
Usage Tips
Diagnose the coverage shell pre-snap by checking safety depth, if you see one deep safety rotating hard to the flood side, that is your cue to hot route the corner route into a deep post to attack the vacated middle. Use the play-action fake early in the down to hold linebackers and freeze the second level defenders, which opens passing lanes for the out route sitting underneath the flood. Against man coverage, prioritize the deep comeback since it creates natural separation off the break and beats trail technique cornerbacks. Sequence this play after running HB Dive or FB Dive from the same personnel group to get defenders biting on the run fake, then dial up China Special to punish overaggressive linebackers. Best called on second and long or third and medium when defenses are more likely to sit in zone shells that this flood concept is designed to stretch vertically and horizontally.
