Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Trips Flood aligns the offense in Shotgun Trio with three receivers stacked to one side and a lone receiver backside running a deep corner route away from the flood concept. To the trips side, the three receivers create a vertical flood: the outside receiver runs a deep corner, the slot receiver breaks outside on an out route at intermediate depth, and the innermost receiver releases to the flat. The HB stays in to check release before working to the flat underneath the flood, giving a true three level stretch that is designed to beat Cover 3 by attacking all three zones (deep, intermediate, flat) on the same side of the field. The primary read progresses high to low: deep corner first, then the out route, then the flat, with the backside corner as a change of pace answer if the trips side is rolled up.
Defensive Reads
Cover 3 with a single deep defender responsible for the entire flood side is the primary coverage this beats, since the deep, intermediate, and flat routes stretch that zone defender past his help. Watch the flat defender post-snap, if he sinks with the out route or gets caught reading run action, the flat throw to the HB is wide open. A user controlled cornerback jumping the out route route early is a sign the CPU or opponent is sitting on the intermediate zone, which opens the deep corner behind him. Cover 1 or Cover 0 with man coverage on the trips side is vulnerable if the defense lacks a deep half safety, since the corner route can win over the top against tight man coverage. True Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells with two deep safeties shut this down more effectively, since the deep corner route runs into help and the underneath defenders can squeeze the out and flat combo.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify the deep safety alignment before the flood side, a single high safety shading toward trips is a strong indicator that Cover 3 or Cover 1 is coming, which plays directly into this concept's strength.
Work the high to low read fast: peek the deep corner route first to see if the cornerback bites on the out, then work down to the out and flat in rhythm rather than staring down one route.
Against zone shells, hold the ball just enough to let the flat defender commit before firing the out route into the window behind him, this is the money throw versus Cover 3 sky or buzz.
Use this play on early downs or second and medium to keep the defense honest, then pair it with Verticals or Steeler Dig from the same Trio set to punish defenses that start cheating a defender toward the flood side.
If the defense shows two high safeties pre-snap, consider hot routing the backside receiver into a deeper route or checking to Mesh or Stick from the same set since the flood concept loses some efficiency against true Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells.
