What plays should you run in a two-minute drill in flag football?
In a flag football two-minute drill, run plays whose routes break toward a sideline, because a receiver who catches the ball moving out of bounds stops the clock and one who catches it in the middle does not. The five calls are Sideline Flood, Double Out, Comeback Shot, Vertical Shot and Middle Dig, and the order to use them is set by how much clock is left rather than by how good they are. Middle Dig is the exception and should only be called while you still hold a timeout.
The five calls, ordered by how much clock is left
- Play 1
Sideline Flood
The base call. Three levels, one boundary, clock stops on every catch.
X out at six, Y out at twelve, Z comeback at sixteen, all working the same sideline. It is a flood concept with the clock in mind: whichever level the defense leaves, the receiver catches it moving toward the boundary and steps out. Run this first, because it produces the most completions per snap of anything on the list.
- Play 2
Double Out
One boundary each way. The quarterback picks a side and throws.
X breaks out at ten on one side, Z at seven on the other, with a hitch sitting between them. Whichever sideline the defense has fewer defenders on is the throw, and that decision is made before the snap. Useful when you do not know which way the field will be crowded until you line up.
- Play 3
Comeback Shot
Fifteen yards and out of bounds. The chunk play that still stops the clock.
Y runs off the top to carry the deep defender, and X runs to fifteen and comes back toward the sideline underneath him. It is the only route in the set that gains real yardage without risking the middle of the field. Throw it before he turns, not after, or the defender recovers the ground you just bought.
- Play 4
Vertical Shot
One snap, twenty yards. For when the clock has beaten you.
Empty set, everything vertical, one throw. This is not a two-minute play so much as a last-play play: it is the call when there is no longer enough time to move the ball in pieces. Expect it to fail most of the time and call it anyway, because the alternative at that point is running out of clock politely.
- Play 5
Middle Dig
The one middle call. Only with a timeout in your pocket.
X digs at fourteen across the middle with a shallow drag under it. A completion here does not stop the clock, which is exactly why it sits last: it is the play you call when you still hold a timeout and want the yards that the sideline routes cannot reach. Call it without a timeout and you have donated fifteen seconds.
Why the clock decides the call
The sideline is worth more than the yards
A six-yard catch that ends out of bounds is usually better than a twelve-yard catch that ends in the field. One of them leaves you with the clock stopped and a fresh play call; the other leaves you sprinting to the line with fifteen seconds gone.
An incompletion is a legitimate outcome
Outside of a two-minute drill an incompletion is a wasted down. Inside one it costs a down and nothing else, which is why the deeper, lower-percentage throws become correct here and are wrong everywhere else on the field.
Pre-snap decisions are the only ones there is time for
Every call here is read to one side, picked before the snap. A quarterback working through four receivers in a two-minute drill is a quarterback watching the clock run while he does it.
Running the drill
- 1
Count the clock, then pick the call
Over a minute, Sideline Flood and Double Out. Under thirty seconds with no timeout, Comeback Shot or Vertical Shot. The clock chooses; the coach does not get a preference.
- 2
Call two plays at once
Give the huddle both plays before the drill starts so the second one needs no huddle at all. The time saved by not huddling is worth more than any route you could add.
- 3
Get to the sideline, not just to the catch
Receivers have to be told this explicitly. A player who catches a six-yard out and turns upfield for two more yards has cost you more than he gained.
- 4
Spend the timeout on the middle
The only reason to hold a timeout is to make Middle Dig callable. If you are not going to use the middle of the field, spend the timeout earlier and get an extra play instead.
Adjusting to the clock you have
If they are playing the sidelines
That is what Middle Dig is for, and it is the moment to spend the timeout. A defense that has widened to take away the out routes has emptied the space at fourteen yards in the middle.
If you have more clock than you think
Over ninety seconds, stop running a two-minute offense. Your normal plays are better plays; the two-minute set exists to trade completion percentage for clock, and there is no reason to make that trade early.
If they rush hard every snap
Double Out breaks fastest of the five. Against a defense reaching the quarterback in two seconds, Comeback Shot and Vertical Shot are not callable regardless of what the clock says.
Where the two-minute offense goes wrong
With a lead
The two-minute set stops the clock, which is the last thing you want while protecting a lead. Ahead and in possession, run the middle of the field and let the clock work for you.
With a team that cannot line up fast
The entire advantage is snapping again quickly. If getting set takes twenty seconds, the plays are irrelevant and the practice time should go into alignment instead.
As your normal offense
These calls trade completion percentage for clock. Run them on a first-quarter first down and you are simply running worse plays than the ones you have.
Put a two-minute page in your playbook
Draw these five, set your own depths, and print the page for the wristband. Free, no download.
Open the play designerRelated questions
Does the clock stop on an incompletion in flag football?
How many plays should a two-minute drill have?
Should you run the ball in a two-minute drill?
What is the best last-play call in flag football?
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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.