Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Strong Flood is a three-level flood concept run out of Singleback Trips Open with a 10 personnel grouping. To the trips side, the outside receiver runs a deep vertical clear-out, the slot receiver sprints an out route to the flat, and the inline receiver pushes an in-cut over the middle before turning it up into a corner route stemming toward the sideline behind it, stacking three defenders vertically on that side of the field. On the backside, the single WR runs a slant-up crossing route into the void created by the flood, giving you a true zone beater with a built-in Cover 3 answer and a backside outlet if the flood side is squeezed.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety alignment: if you see a single high safety rotating toward the trips side, that confirms Cover 3 and this play is live for the corner and flat combo. Watch the cornerback over the deep vertical route on the flood side. If he stays deep and does not sink, the quarterback should immediately look to the corner route sitting behind him. Key the flat defender (usually a linebacker or nickel corner) on the trips side. If he widens too fast to take away the flat route, the window opens up for the deep corner route behind him. User a rover or lurk defender to sit in the passing lane between the corner route and the flat route to bait a risky throw into a jump ball or interception opportunity. Man coverage with no safety help over the top shuts this down quickly since all three flood routes lose their zone-clearing advantage, so blitz packages that bring extra rushers in man match schemes are the best counter to this play.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing a single-high shell or two-high, since this play is designed specifically to punish Cover 3 rotation to the trips side.
Read high to low on the flood side: start with the deep clear-out route to see if the corner bites, then work down to the corner route sitting behind the flat defender, then check the flat route underneath if the corner is jumped.
If the defense shows man coverage or presses the trips receivers, hot route the backside crosser into a quicker breaking route or use it as your primary since it benefits from natural rub leverage created by the formation.
Pair this play with Four Verticals or PA Streak in the same set to keep defenses honest against Cover 3 rotation, then come back to Strong Flood once they start cheating a safety toward the trips side.
Best used on second and medium or third and short to medium where defenses are more likely to sit in zone shells rather than bring pressure.
