Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Weak Flood is a three level flood concept run to the weak side of the Shotgun Flanker Close formation, designed as a Cover 3 beater. The outside receiver runs a deep go route up the sideline, the slot receiver works a corner route that settles into the flat area vacated by the deep route, and the inline receiver sits on a short flat route underneath, creating three stacked reads in the same vertical zone. On the backside, the boundary receiver runs a vertical clear out route to occupy the far cornerback and safety, while the running back releases on a check release flat route as a checkdown option. The primary read progresses from the deep go route to the corner route to the flat route, working high to low against the flooded zone.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check the corner alignment on the flood side, since press man coverage there signals a possible Cover 1 or Cover 3 look that this concept is built to punish with the flooded verticals. Watch the flat defender's depth at the snap, if he sinks too deep chasing the corner route, the underneath flat route will be wide open for an easy pitch and catch. Key the deep third safety's rotation, if he cheats toward the flood side pre-snap, look for the backside vertical clear out route to win one on one against a lone deep defender. User controlled lurk defenders sitting in the flood side hook zone can jump the corner route, so be ready to reset to the flat or backside options if you see a defender sitting in that window. Man coverage with no help over the top on the outside go route gets exposed quickly, so trust the deep throw if the corner is playing tight to the line without safety support.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing single high or two high safeties, since this concept thrives against single high Cover 3 shells where the flooded side overloads the deep third defender. If you see two high safeties rotating to the flood side, be ready to reset your progression to the backside vertical or checkdown to the running back. Use the flat route as your first read against soft zone or off man coverage on the underneath defender, since it settles quickly and gets the ball out before pressure arrives. Pair this play with Stick or Dragon Spacing from the same set to keep the defense guessing between a full field flood and a quick game concept, forcing linebackers to declare their drops before the snap. This play works best on second and medium to third and short situations where a quick underneath completion still moves the chains, but it can also hit explosive if the deep third defender bites on the flat route first.
