Playbooks
PA Read Flood out of Shotgun Wide Trips is a play-action pass built around a three-level flood concept to the trips side, stacking a deep out or corner route, an intermediate out breaking route, and a flat route all in the same window. The play-action fake to the HB holds linebackers and freezes the underneath zone defenders, opening throwing lanes against zone drops, and the backside typically carries a single receiver to keep the defense honest. This is a Cover 3 beater by design, with the primary read progressing from the deep flood route down to the shorter flat route based on how the deep third corner and flat defender react to the vertical stem.
Identify the safety shell before the snap, a single high safety indicates Cover 3 or Cover 1 which this flood concept is designed to exploit Watch the flat defender and curl to flat zone defender post snap, if they widen with the flat route it opens the intermediate out route behind them Key the deep third corner on the trips side, if he stays flat footed reading the quarterback instead of running with the vertical stem, the deep out or corner route will be open Look for user pressure on delayed blitzes since the play-action fake slows down the quarterback's launch point and makes him vulnerable to interior pressure Cover 4 and Cover 2 shells with two deep safeties can shut this down by taking away the deep flood route, forcing the quarterback to check down into a crowded underneath area Watch for a robber or lurk defender sitting in the middle of the field on Cover 3 variants, since he can undercut the intermediate route if the quarterback stares it down too long
Check pre-snap for a single high safety shell, since Cover 3 and Cover 1 leave the flood side vulnerable to the deep out and corner combo
Sell the play-action fake by holding the left stick or letting the animation play out fully before your first read, this manipulates linebackers out of their zone drops
Use this on early downs like first and ten or second and medium when defenses expect run out of Wide Trips personnel, the play-action fake carries more weight
If the flat defender jumps the shorter route, work the progression to the deepest route in the flood since the corner will be occupied with the vertical stem
Pair this with HB Sweep and Read Option from the same set to keep the defense honest against the run look, then hit PA Read Flood once linebackers start creeping up on run fits
Against man coverage, hot route the backside receiver into a quick slant or drag as a hot beater since the flood concept loses value when defenders can trail routes