What is the Flood concept in NFL Flag?
In NFL Flag a flood commits three of your four eligible receivers to one side, which is a bigger share of the offense than the same call costs at any other format. Y runs the flat at five, Z the seam between, and the centre takes the corner over the top at fourteen. One defender on that side has to pick a level and be wrong.
Why Flood works in NFL Flag
Three routes is three quarters of your receivers
You have four eligibles here, counting the centre. Flooding one side with three of them leaves a single receiver backside, so the concept is close to an all-in call rather than a quarter-of-the-formation call the way it is at eleven players. If the defense rotates to that side you are genuinely out of answers, which is why it pairs with a backside check.
The corner at fourteen is a seven-second route
The deepest route on this play needs most of the clock to get there, and the pass clock stops the play at seven seconds whether or not anybody is open. That makes flood the concept in this batch that is most constrained by the rule, and it is why the flat at five exists: it is the answer when the corner has not developed in time.
The rush cap is what buys the corner its time
Only two defenders may rush, and from seven yards back rather than from the line. That is the protection paying for the deepest route on the play, and it is precisely what a handoff would have thrown away. A coach who runs on first down and floods on second is making two opposite bets about the same rule.
It attacks a decision, not a matchup
The defender who steps up to take the underneath route opens the intermediate one behind him. The one who carries the deep route vacates the flat. You are not asking a receiver to beat anybody, you are asking a defender to be in two places, which is a bet that pays out regardless of how athletic his side of the field is.
The read is teachable in one sentence
Start high and work down. That is the whole instruction, and it is why Flood is one of the few three-option concepts a young quarterback can run correctly on the second day of practice. The ball goes to the first receiver who is not covered, starting from the deepest.
It puts three men where the defense has two
Most defenses distribute evenly across the field, so overloading one sideline creates a local numbers advantage before anybody moves. Formation does most of the work here, which is why the concept survives being run out of a different look in every game format.
How to read it
- 1
Pick your side before the snap
Flood is a one-way concept. Decide which sideline you are attacking by counting defenders on each side, and do not change your mind after the snap.
- 2
Take the deep route if the flat defender carries
If the underneath defender drops with the intermediate route, the space behind him at the top of the concept is open. This is the biggest completion in the play and it is the first thing you look for.
- 3
Take the intermediate if he sits
If he stays shallow to take the underneath route, the middle height is uncovered. This is the throw the concept produces most often and the one worth being happy with.
- 4
Take the underneath route and get down
If both levels above are carried, the shortest route is open by definition. Throw it, let him turn upfield, and call it again next series.
What changes in NFL Flag
Three routes is three quarters of your receivers
You have four eligibles here, counting the centre. Flooding one side with three of them leaves a single receiver backside, so the concept is close to an all-in call rather than a quarter-of-the-formation call the way it is at eleven players. If the defense rotates to that side you are genuinely out of answers, which is why it pairs with a backside check.
The corner at fourteen is a seven-second route
The deepest route on this play needs most of the clock to get there, and the pass clock stops the play at seven seconds whether or not anybody is open. That makes flood the concept in this batch that is most constrained by the rule, and it is why the flat at five exists: it is the answer when the corner has not developed in time.
The rush cap is what buys the corner its time
Only two defenders may rush, and from seven yards back rather than from the line. That is the protection paying for the deepest route on the play, and it is precisely what a handoff would have thrown away. A coach who runs on first down and floods on second is making two opposite bets about the same rule.
When not to call Flood
It gives up the other half of the field
Three receivers on one sideline means the backside is a single route and a decoy. Against a defense that recognises the concept and rotates coverage toward it, the backside answer is the play, not the flood itself, so know what that answer is before you call it.
It is slow against pressure
The deep route has to get to its depth before the read means anything. If the defense is bringing extra rushers, the quarterback will be throwing the underneath route every time, which is a fine outcome but not the reason you called it.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the flag football play creator, collect them in the football playbook maker, and print football play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Open Flood in the designer
Opens this exact NFL Flag diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
Why does flood feel more expensive in NFL Flag?
How long do I have to throw it?
Who should run the corner?
Related guides
Coach Ray Carroll
Coaches 5v5 flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade in San Mateo and San Carlos, California, and built RC Football to design, teach and print the plays his own teams run.