Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
PA TE Flood is a play-action flood concept run from Singleback Wing Close with 12 personnel. Off the play fake, the outside receiver runs a deep vertical clear-out (gold) while the TE to that side runs a corner route (red) and the flanker to the boundary side runs a deep in breaker (gold), stacking three routes at three different depths to one side of the field. The backside runs a quick out and an underneath check release out of the backfield, giving you a flood on one side and a hot outlet on the other. This is a classic Cover 3 beater since it overloads one deep third with a high low flood read, and the primary progression is corner route first, then the deep in behind it, working down to the flat and checkdown if the corner and safety squeeze the flood.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and alignment since a single high safety cheating to the flood side signals Cover 3 and tells you the corner route has a soft window over the flat defender. Watch the cornerback's outside leverage at the snap, if he sinks with the vertical clear-out route the corner route from the TE will have room to sit down. Post-snap, key the flat or curl-flat defender's drop, if he widens to the flat the deep in route behind him is the answer, if he sits the corner route over the top is the throw. Man coverage with an overhang blitzer is the biggest threat to this concept since the flat route can get picked off quickly by a user-controlled linebacker sitting underneath. Watch for a Cover 2 shell rotating late, since the safety can rob the corner route and turn this into an interception if you stare it down instead of progressing to the deep in.
Usage Tips
Use this on early downs or 2nd and medium when you have already sold the play-action run threat with HB Dive or Duo out of the same Wing Close set so the linebackers bite on the fake. Pre-snap, identify single high shells since the flood concept is designed to overload one deep third defender in Cover 3. If you see two deep safeties (Cover 2 or Cover 4), hot route the flat runner into a wheel or lean on the deep in route since the corner route will be capped by the safety rotating over. Read the corner route first off the play fake, then progress to the deep in sitting behind the flat defender if the corner is jumped. Sequence this with PA Cross and PA Y-Drag Wheel from the same set so the defense cannot key on flood side tendencies, and mix in Mtn PA Z Slide to keep linebackers honest against the run fake.
