Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 11 playbooks
Breakdown
Cover 6 out of the Nickel 3-3 Odd is a split field zone shell that pairs quarters coverage to one side with a sky/cloud three man concept to the other. The diagram shows two deep half defenders on the boundary side reading vertical route stems, a curl flat defender working underneath, and three underneath zone droppers to the field side stacking curl, flat, and hook areas while the deep corner sits on top as a deep third defender. This is a zone beater by nature, meaning as the offense you want to attack the seams and flat conflict zones created by the quarter side rotation and the trap defender jumping short routes, with the primary read progression starting at the deep vertical threat on the two high side, then working down to the flat defender's conflict, and finally checking the underneath crossers on the field side hook zones.
Defensive Reads
Watch the corner alignment before the snap, if the boundary corner is playing a hard outside shade with a safety over the top that is your tell for quarters rotation to that side. Post snap, key the flat defender's first two steps, if he sinks toward the trap route immediately the offense has correctly identified the conflict zone and will exploit it with the spot concept. This coverage is vulnerable to any user controlled defender who jumps the underneath crossers too aggressively, leaving the seam wide open behind him on the quarters side. Teams that bring a nano blitz or overload pressure from the field side can beat this shell before the zone droppers ever get depth, so respect the disguise and be ready to check into a quick game answer. Cover 6 struggles against stacked or bunch formations that create natural picks for the underneath zone defenders, so if the offense aligns in bunch, anticipate combination routes designed to rub off your trap defender.
Usage Tips
Pre snap, identify which side of the formation is getting the quarters treatment and which side is getting sky or cloud support since that determines where the flat defender is exposed. If the defense shows two high safeties with corners playing off, expect the quarter rotation and target the seam route on the two high side before the safety can get depth. Use hot routes to convert the underneath crosser into a spot route sitting in the hole between the curl and flat defenders on the trap side, this exploits the natural conflict for that zone defender. This play works best on second and medium or third and short to medium since the defense is more likely to stay in a base zone shell rather than bringing extra pressure. Sequence this call with Cover 3 Sky or Cover 3 Cloud from the same set since the pre snap picture looks nearly identical, forcing the defense to guess between quarter rotation and three deep zone drops.
