Flood / sail
What it is
Three routes at three depths to the same side — deep, intermediate and flat — usually thrown off a rollout.
Why it matters
Flood puts three receivers into a zone that has two defenders and asks the quarterback simply to throw to whoever is uncovered. Paired with a rollout it also cuts the field in half, which shortens the read and takes the backside rush out of the play. It is the classic answer to a defense that spot-drops and to any coverage that rotates late.
Both sides of it
Running it
A vertical clears the deep defender, a sail or out route sits at twelve to fifteen, and a flat route runs underneath at three to five. The quarterback rolls to that side and works high to low. Because the reads are stacked in one field of vision, this is the friendliest full-field concept to teach.
Stopping it
The flat defender and the curl-flat defender have to divide three routes between two of them, so the answer is to make the throw hard rather than to cover everybody: the deep defender stays on top, the intermediate defender gets under the sail, and the backside pursuit chases the quarterback so the throw is made on the move. Against a rollout, the contain rusher matters more than the coverage.
Also called
Programs call this flood, sail, three level or rollout flood. The Coach answers to any of them.
Related
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