What plays work on third and long in flag football?
On third and long in flag football the routes have to break at or beyond the sticks, because a defense in long yardage plays soft and concedes everything short. The five calls are Double Comeback, Deep Cross, Dig-Seam, High Flood and Back Angle. Double Comeback converts most often, because a defender who has turned and run downfield cannot stop and drive back on a receiver returning to the ball. Back Angle is the honest call when the distance is genuinely out of reach and field position is worth more than a low-percentage shot.
The five calls, from most likely to convert to least
- Play 1
Double Comeback
Two routes at the sticks. The highest-percentage way to move ten.
Both outside receivers run to thirteen and come back to eleven, with a dig at fifteen between them. Against the soft coverage a defense plays on third and long, a comeback is nearly uncoverable: the defender has turned and run, and he cannot stop and drive back on the ball. Start here, because it converts more often than anything else on the list.
- Play 2
Deep Cross
The man beater, run at a depth that actually converts.
X crosses the formation at twelve rather than four, with a vertical clearing the space above him and a curl at fourteen behind. It is mesh logic applied to long yardage: the traffic still works, but the crossing point is now past the marker so a completion is a first down rather than a moral victory.
- Play 3
Dig-Seam
Attack the middle, where the sticks are closest.
Empty set with a dig at fourteen, a seam up the middle and a comeback at fifteen. Defenses on third and long widen to protect the sidelines, which leaves the middle of the field thinner than it is on any other down. The seam is the shot; the dig is the conversion; the comeback is the answer if they take both away.
- Play 4
High Flood
Flood, with every level past the marker.
Out at twelve, corner at sixteen, vertical over the top, all to one side. It is the same three-level stretch that beats zone anywhere, moved up the field so that the shortest option still converts. Against a zone playing soft this is the cleanest read in the set: work high to low down one sideline and take the level they left.
- Play 5
Back Angle
Stop trying to convert. Take the space nobody is guarding.
Everything runs deep and the back releases up the sideline behind it. On third and fifteen the honest answer is often that you are not converting, and the best available outcome is field position and a fresh set of downs after a punt or a turnover on downs. This is the call that takes eight yards when the defense has given up on defending them.
Why third and long is its own problem
A soft defense concedes everything that does not matter
On third and twelve the defense drops. Every short route is open and none of them convert, which is why the completion percentage of your normal offense is a trap on this down. The routes have to be where the marker is.
A comeback beats coverage that has already turned
The comeback is the most valuable route in long yardage because it attacks the one thing a deep defender cannot do. He has opened his hips and run; stopping, turning and driving forward takes longer than the throw.
The middle is thinner than usual
Defenses widen on long yardage to protect the sidelines and prevent an out-of-bounds first down. That leaves the middle of the field at twelve to fifteen yards less defended on this down than on any other, which is what Dig-Seam is built to use.
Calling it
- 1
Find the marker before you pick the play
Third and eight and third and sixteen are different problems. Under ten, Double Comeback and High Flood. Over fourteen, Dig-Seam or accept Back Angle. Calling the same play for both is how a drive ends.
- 2
Set the break at the sticks, not at a habit
The depths on these plays are starting points. If it is third and eleven, the comeback breaks at thirteen and comes back to eleven. Receivers who run their usual depth on every down convert by accident or not at all.
- 3
Work one side and throw before the break
The ball on a comeback leaves before the receiver turns. Waiting to see him come open is what turns the most reliable conversion on the list into an interception.
- 4
Know when you are taking field position
Decide before the snap whether this is a conversion attempt or a field-position play. Back Angle is a good call made deliberately and a terrible one arrived at by accident when nothing else came open.
Adjusting to the distance and the look
If they blitz on long yardage
Some defenses gamble here. Deep Cross has the shortest time to the first read of the five, and the crossing route is a legal free release, so it is the answer to a defense that has decided to rush rather than drop.
If they take the sidelines away
Dig-Seam. A defense that has widened to stop the comebacks and the out routes has emptied the middle at exactly the depth you need.
If it is third and twenty
Stop converting. Back Angle, take the eight or ten yards in space, and make the next possession easier. Twenty yards in flag football on one snap is a coin flip at best.
When these are the wrong plays
On third and short
Everything here breaks past the sticks, which is the wrong problem entirely down there. Short yardage wants routes breaking inside five yards and a ball out on rhythm.
In your own end zone
These are the slowest-developing plays in the playbook. Backed up on your own five, a sack or a strip is far worse than a punt, and the quick game is the right answer even on third and twelve.
With a quarterback who cannot throw past twelve
Four of these five need a real fifteen-yard throw. Without one, third and long is a field-position down, and Back Angle plus a good punt is a better plan than a concept that cannot physically be completed.
Set your own depths at the sticks
Open these five in the designer, move every break to your actual distance, and print the page. Free, no download.
Open the play designerRelated questions
What is the best play on third and long in flag football?
How deep should routes be on third and long?
Should you throw deep on third and long?
What is the difference between third and long and third and short plays?
Related guides
Coach Ray Carroll
Twelve seasons coaching youth and rec flag football, and the builder of RC Football. Every play on this site has been run by a real team on a real Saturday.