Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Flood out of Pistol Trips sends three routes into the same side of the field to overload one deep third or flat defender. From the trips side, the outside receiver runs a deep comeback breaking back to the sideline, the middle slot receiver runs a vertical seam up the numbers, and the inner slot runs a shallow drag underneath crossing the formation. The backside X receiver runs a deep dig cutting across the middle behind the linebackers. This is a classic Cover 3 beater built to stress the flat and deep third defender on the trips side with a high low read, working from the deep comeback down to the drag as the primary progression.
Defensive Reads
Key the strong side safety and outside corner before the snap, if they are shaded deep and outside with a single high safety in the middle you are likely facing Cover 3, which this concept is designed to exploit. Watch the flat defender's initial drop after the snap, if he sinks with the vertical seam route the drag underneath will be wide open for an easy completion. Beware Cover 4 or Cover 2 shells with two deep safeties, since the extra deep defender can help bracket the comeback route and take away the top of the flood. Look for a user controlled lurk defender sitting in the shallow flat, since a smart user can jump the drag route and bait the quarterback into a turnover. If the defense shows a nano blitz off the edge or overloads the trips side with extra rushers, get the ball out quickly to the drag or seam before the pocket collapses.
Usage Tips
Call this on early downs or third and medium when you expect single high shells like Cover 3 or Cover 1 from the defense.
Pre-snap, check the corner alignment on the trips side, if he is playing off with outside leverage the comeback route will sit down right in his blind spot.
Progress your read from the deep comeback to the vertical seam and finish on the underneath drag if the flat defender sinks deep, this gives you a built in answer against zone drops.
Hot route the backside dig into a quick out or slant if you see man coverage across from the X receiver, since the dig can get muddy against tight press.
Pair this play with Curl Flat and Stick in your call sequence, since both look similar out of Pistol Trips but attack shallow zones differently, keeping second level defenders honest and unsure which flood level to jump.
