Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Flood out of Shotgun Bunch Str Offset sends three receivers into a vertical flood to one side of the field, stacking a corner route, a seam/vertical from the slot, and a shallow out breaking underneath from the flat, while the backside receiver runs an outside breaking dig at intermediate depth. This is a classic Cover 3 beater because it stretches the deep third defender and the flat defender at three different levels, forcing the corner or safety to pick and creating a natural void. The primary read progression starts with the deep corner route to see if the flat defender bites, works down to the vertical seam if the safety rotates away, and comes back to the flat route as the checkdown against zone drops.
Defensive Reads
Watch the deep third defender to the flood side, if he stays flat footed keying the corner route, throw underneath to the flat route for an easy pitch and catch. Key the flat defender or curl to flat defender, if he widens out to take away the flat route, the corner route should be open behind him. Against Cover 3, the middle of field safety often has to help over the top, which opens the vertical seam route as a window between levels. This concept struggles against Cover 4 or two deep shells with disciplined corners who can pattern match the vertical routes, since the numbers advantage disappears with an extra deep defender. Look for a user controlled defender lurking in the flat or sitting on the corner route, since aggressive user positioning can bait a mistimed throw, so double check leverage before pulling the trigger.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the defense is showing a single high safety or two deep shells, since this concept thrives against Cover 3 and single high looks where the flood side overloads one deep defender.
If you see man coverage with no safety help over the top, consider hot routing the corner route into a fade or adjusting to a quick game concept instead, since the flood takes time to develop and man coverage can jump the shallow flat route.
Use this on second and medium to second and long situations where you have time to let the corner route clear before working back down to the flat.
Pair this play with Mtn PA Flood Y-Delay or Return PA Flood later in a series once the defense starts sitting on the flat route, since the play action variants hold linebackers and second level defenders longer.
Combine with Slant Spacing or Mtn Stick earlier in a drive to condition the defense to expect quick, short throws, then hit them with Flood when they start jumping underneath routes.
