Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Flats out of Tight Slot Far in 21 personnel is a quick-hitting pass concept built to attack aggressive man coverage and underneath zone drops. Both outside receivers run vertical routes up the seams to clear out the deep coverage, the two backs out of the backfield swing out wide to the flats on either side for an easy checkdown, and the inline tight end runs a corner breaking route from the middle of the formation as the primary intermediate target. The read progression starts with the tight end's corner route as the first look since it splits the difference between the flat and the deep route, then works down to either flat route if the tight end is covered, giving the QB a quick, high-percentage answer against blitz looks.
Defensive Reads
Watch the flat defenders at the snap, if the cornerback or linebacker sinks into the flat immediately, the running back route is taken away and you need to progress to the tight end corner route. Key the middle linebacker's drop, in Tampa 2 or a robber look he can jump the tight end's corner route, so be ready to check down to the opposite flat. Identify Cover 3 by the corner rolling to deep third responsibility, this leaves the flat wide open underneath since the corner is not sitting on the route. Against man coverage, look for a user controlled defender shadowing the tight end, if he is playing tight man with no help over the top the corner route can still win but timing has to be earlier. Beware disguised blitzes that show two deep safeties presnap then rotate down, this can put a defender in the flat late and bait a bad throw, so keep an eye on late rotation before releasing the ball.
Usage Tips
Presnap, check for two deep safeties versus a single high safety, this play works best against single high shells since the flat routes and tight end corner attack the seams vacated by the rotating safety.
Use the flat routes as your blitz-beater outlet, if you see man pressure or a nano blitz coming off the edge, get the ball out to the running back in the flat before the protection breaks down.
Hot route the backside flat runner into a shallow drag if you are facing a hard zone shell to give yourself an extra man beater underneath.
Pair this play with Curls or Curl Drag from the same set so the defense has to respect both the quick flat throw and the deeper curl window, keeping linebackers honest and preventing them from sitting on the flats.
Best used on second and short to second and medium, the quick flat and corner route combo gets you positive yardage fast without needing a long developing route to hit.
