Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Cheat Flood Switch is a flood concept out of Shotgun Bunch Wide Nasty that stacks three routes into one side of the field to overload a single zone or cornerback in man coverage. The backside X runs a quick out to the boundary while the bunch releases into a vertical flood: one receiver runs a flat/out, another climbs to a corner route, and the third works a deep vertical up the sideline, with a shallow drag crossing underneath from the backside. The primary read progression starts with the flat route to see if the defense sinks, then works up to the corner route as the intermediate answer, and finally to the deep vertical if the safety bites on the underneath levels, making this a strong Cover 3 beater.
Defensive Reads
Watch the flat defender first, if he sinks with the corner route the underneath flat route is wide open for an easy completion. Key the deep third or deep half safety to that side, if he cheats toward the corner route the deep vertical will win over the top. Identify any user-controlled linebacker sitting in a lurk position, since he can jump the drag route or the shallow crosser and blow up the underneath read. This concept struggles against a hard Cover 4 press look or a robber concept sitting in the middle of the field, since those shells clog the intermediate corner route and take away the easy answers. Blitz packages that bring extra pressure off the edge can rush this timing, so have a checkdown or quick throw ready if the protection cannot hold up against a nano blitz.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, check for a single high safety and squatting corners near the bunch, that is your green light for the flood concept to work.
If you see two safeties deep, hot route the deep vertical into a hitch or slant to attack the shorter zones instead of throwing into coverage.
Use motion out of the bunch to identify man versus zone before the snap, if a defender follows across the formation you know you are getting man coverage and can lean on the corner route as a natural pick beater.
This play pairs well with Cheat Post Slot Cross and Cheat Wheel Post in the same set, since all three attack the same bunch alignment but stress different levels, keeping defenders guessing on which route will hit.
Best used on 2nd or 3rd and medium to long, where defenses are more likely to sit in Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells that the flood is designed to exploit.
