How To Attack 3-3 Defense?

[RedBaron 1]

We play 6 on 6, straight NFL Flag rules, with the exception that INTs can't be returned.

Most of the teams in our 7-8 year old league, play a 3-2-1 or reasonably similar defenses. I have only seen one play man, one play a 4-2 and another play sort of a cross between a 4-2 and 2-2-2....with the "ENDS" a few yards off the line.

This is the first time I have had to plan for a 3-3. The team we are playing is very disciplined, especially on the outside. Their Ends stay home. They tend to offset the middle guy, in the back three....to the left of the offensive center about 2 steps. They line all three of the back guys up at the 7 yard limit, but only rush with the middle guy. They rush about 50% of the time.

We have three or four players with good speed that we use on offense. One of them can flat out fly.

Our QB has a good arm and is really poised in the pocket for an 8 year old. He can throw 15-16 yards on a line and doesn't tend to loft it like a lot of kids that age. We have a pretty sure handed center, as well. In fact, he is our leading receiver, in catches and TDs and close, if not first, in yards. We use him for a lot of short stuff and conversions. Although, he isn't really fast, he runs smart and has some moves. He borke one catch run for about 40 yards.

We have had great success with teh Statue of Liberty, although I don't want to overuse it, and we like to keep it for end of the half type of plays.

I have thought about using the center end around, possibly with one of the faster guys snapping, the shovel pass through the nose-end gap, a HB option, which we experimented with last game, with the QB going out for a pass. WE put it in, pretty much on the spot and I think with some practice it can become a weapon. The QB probably has the best pass catching hands on the team. He was open every time we tried it, we just had guys in the same spot, etc. THings you get with a new unpracticed play.

I, also, think a quick draw, with the RB lining up right next to the QB might work. We have toyed with a play where the RB "accidentally" lines up under cneter, then the QB pushes him aside and he stands there like he is in the wrong spot.

Apologies for the long post, but none of the three of us coaches have done flag before. We've done just about every other sport, but this is each of our boys first years in flag. We are 4-0-1 so far.

THanks in advance for any suggestions on how to attack the 3-3/

[Johnp2 21]

The way you've described your offense sounds very similar to ours--which of course means I like it. ;-)

FWIW, I don't particulary get caught up too much on the TYPE of zone that we are facing. All I really care about is if we are playing against a zone or a man defense. I personally feel at 7-8 the subtleties are not very tangible with respect to the type of zone. Unless of course a team runs a 6-0 or something unorthodox like that. I know some might not agree with that, but we've always fielded a pretty potent offense, so it works for me.

Regarding the half-back pass--we have never had good luck with it. In practice it's always performed well, but in the game the RB always seems to panic. Additionally, I've not seen a team work it against us either.

Concerning the "Quick Draw" we have a C Draw that works well. We send everyone on a go route, except for the C. However, we let the play develop some before handing it to the C. I've learned that it's best to signal the QB and C when to execute it. We are not allowed to talk to the players after the snap, so I usually just cough.

When we want to get off a quick play, we have one called "RB Run--on Down". Pretty simple. Just have your RB line up right next to your QB (who is under center). QB says "Down", C snaps the ball, all players just stand up and the QB hands off to the RB. Obviously we call this later in the game once we've conditioned the defense to our normal cadence. This is usually good for 15+ yards, and we've scored a few times off of it.

Other than that, I would say just design your game plan around what's worked well with other zone defenses. Script your first 10 or so plays, note what has worked/not worked and tailor the rest of your play-calling from there.

[RedBaron 1]

Thanks for the advice. I really like the offesne so far. Our point total has increased every week, so,I don't want to mess with it to much, just, maybe, a little tweak for certain situations.

I agree with the halfback pass. It is not something you can do in just any situation. I think we have decided to save it for conversions, where the turnover is no big deal and we only need a quick five yards, and in the end of game situations, if we have a good lead, just to let some different kids throw and let the QB catch some passes.

We tried a C handoff at practice tonight...let's say, um, it was interesting. The first time, he ran backwards and the second time he kind of shuffled, like he was playing basketball defense...it was odd, because, like I said, he runs well after he catches the ball. IDK if we will try it in a game or not. We may with a different C. Perhaps, at the start of the game when the other team won't notice a change at the C spot and suspect anything.

It was interesting you mentioned snapping the ball on "down". There is another team in our league that is good at bliting when they hear "hike" instead of actually seeing the ball move.

We play them in a couple of weeks and I was thinking about putting in a quick snap or, maybe, snapping on the second or third "hike", so long as we make sure not to jump offsides.

I agree with the "overplanning" if you will. The more and more I thought about it, the more I was leaning toward just doing what we do. We may try to hit the nose/end gap a little more and tailor our passes to the middle, which we tend to do anyway.

[Johnp2 21]

I'm going into my eigth season coaching flag football, and just tried the "C end-around" this past season (thanks to being convinced on this forum). I have other plays for the C, but was looking for something new. We've never really had trouble scoring, but this play was gangbusters for us this past season. I believe I started a post on how I modified it (Quad-left, audible into either a fake or real-reverse depending on how the defense reacts--sending the z reciver in motion.) Check it out or I am happy to give you my long-winded version of it. ;-) The idea is to obviously tailor it to your teams' strengths.

We are going up to 10-12 this season. I imagine we'll see quite a few HB passes--more kids can catch now, which is the real key to a deep passing attack, IMO.

[Orange 26]

I know I'm late to the thread but against a 3-3 that sends 1 middle rusher I have a few ideas.

How about throwing a strike down the middle over the middle close defender and as the rusher comes past. We use a slot receiver and have him aim to run right at the 7 yard rush marker. The QB times the pass so it goes over the defenders and hits the slot receiver as he reaches the spot.

A slight variation to that play is maybe run play action where the halfback then turns around just past the los for a possible dump while the center heads down the middle around the 7 yard marker. The rusher and close defender will probably cheat up letting you dump over their heads to the center.

Another possible play is to roll the QB to one side (preferably his throwing side) and then split the defenders with receivers. You can do this a myriad of ways but send one outside long another outside short and a third dragging across about 5-7 yards. The last one will probably be the one open.

[GeorgeC 1]

How about throwing a strike down the middle over the middle close defender and as the rusher comes past. We use a slot receiver and have him aim to run right at the 7 yard rush marker. The QB times the pass so it goes over the defenders and hits the slot receiver as he reaches the spot.

We've tried that. However, our QBs all seem to lob the ball up like basketball tip-off. Plus that puts it right in the middle of the defensive group. For us, almost a certain pick. I haven't figured out how to get the QB to throw a "strike". Suggestions?

[Orange 26]

Sometimes I tend to read through things quickly. I think your kids are age 7-8. So probably you aren't going to throw strikes. Last year in 9-10 we had a kid who could make that throw pretty consistently but yea probably not at 7-8. But if you keep the QB close to the los you could probably toss one over the heads of the middle defenders. I'm talking about what is in effect a 5 yard pass plus maybe 2 yards behind the los for 7 total. Plus you can roll the pocket towards the sidelines and then get someone open in one of the holes. You have to teach the kids to find spots in the zones. At 7-8 keep most everything short as you probably already know.

How about this: two receivers right, two left. slot receiver right comes in motion and QB under center. Snap when the slot guy is really close and fake end around to him. Center drags right with QB right along los. The outside receiver takes a couple of steps towards the sideline past the los and then turns to face QB. The QB reads the outside defender. If he stays home, he tosses a little shuffle pass to the center. If the outside defender comes in, he passes to the outside receiver.

It will help if you run the end around a few times. Here's what I'd expect: Rusher and middle defender go with the fake creating space for the move to the right. You could probably pop that pass right away and go for 5 yards easily before the defender have a chance to get there. That outside defender will eventually read it and cheat in opening up the outside pass. You'll note that I've given you two simple passes. The shuffle pass is done on the run but only 3 yards maybe so its an easy pass and catch. Plus with the receiver catching on the run he can get more yards. The outside pass is further unless you string it out a long way. I'm thinking maybe its a 5-7 yard pass at most. But the receiver just sits and waits so its an easy pass and catch also.

I really wish I had more of these examples on video but here I have my classic center drag. This was my 9-10 team and the defense was playing man. I lined up trips left and went center drag right. But if you watch you can see how my center only goes a few steps and both he and the QB run in tandem until he gets separation. The defender actually did a nice job but my center is quick and only needed a little separation. As I'm watching the play its certainly not perfect. I would have liked more of a stutter step left at the beginning. In my above example, the fake end around should give you enough space.

[Orange 26]

Here is another simple pass which splits the middle defenders. Plus its short. Send two outside receivers long. The QB is under center. Have the center run three yards up and out left and the QB follows him all the way. The left slot receiver goes 2 up and heads right essentially underneath the center. That middle defender has to pick up one of them and the QB just throws it to the other one. Since the Qb is near the los and the two potential receivers are only 2-3 yards out its a fairly short pass. He needs to pass quickly due to the rusher and he needs to be careful the rusher doesn't interfere with the pass. Ideally it would get passed right by him.

Heck you could have the slot guy take one step and the center take two. The point is keep it short and find the hole, where the middle defender is not covering. If the QB can fake pump it would be fantastic.

[Johnp2 21]

Nice to hear from you again, Orange. Regarding the C Drag (your classic) it was interesting to see, as I always though you sent a receiver to the right on a Medium In (with the C running a short Out-right). That is the way we run it as it helps draw any defenders on that side back to the middle.

Attached is our version of it. Thoughts? Does it differ much from yours?

C Drag.doc

[Orange 26]

Nice to hear from you again, Orange. Regarding the C Drag (your classic) it was interesting to see, as I always though you sent a receiver to the right on a Medium In (with the C running a short Out-right). That is the way we run it as it helps draw any defenders on that side back to the middle.

Attached is our version of it. Thoughts? Does it differ much from yours?

Actually I run the center drag in a variety of different ways. Your play is not unlike most of mine in that you are clearing out the side. In the video they were man so I just sent trips and ran the drag to the open side. Against a zone I'd probably run it like you did. I have found that this particular play works awesome for the younger ages and then is starting to lose its effectiveness as they get older. I think defenses are smarter and faster. But its still a good play, just I can't use it 6 times a game like I used to when they were playing 7-8.

[GeorgeC 1]

Similar to a Center Drag (we use that as well), we use a play modified from Coach Rob, called Floods Right. We modified it because he was running 5v5 and ran trips. I wanted to keep the same, same formation. It works well if the center "sells" it. In this video, the center sells it well and he gets separation and gets well upfield. Unfortunately, our other players did not run their patterns well. The left WR is supposed to run a right slant, but he lazily runs a go pattern. His defender releases from him and catches up to our runner. We learned from it and everyone now understands the importance of running the entire play out. The QB does a simple underhanded throw for safety.

[Orange 26]

Similar to a Center Drag (we use that as well), we use a play modified from Coach Rob, called Floods Right. We modified it because he was running 5v5 and ran trips. I wanted to keep the same, same formation. It works well if the center "sells" it. In this video, the center sells it well and he gets separation and gets well upfield. Unfortunately, our other players did not run their patterns well. The left WR is supposed to run a right slant, but he lazily runs a go pattern. His defender releases from him and catches up to our runner. We learned from it and everyone now understands the importance of running the entire play out. The QB does a simple underhanded throw for safety.

That's a good flood play that everyone should incorporate into their offense. The center drag I use differs in that I have my QB rolling with the dragging center. I really like that because it shortens up the pass and makes it really easy to throw and catch. You could roll the QB in that flood play too and then it would be a lot more like my center drag.

[GeorgeC 1]

You could roll the QB in that flood play too and then it would be a lot more like my center drag.

Theoretically, the QB is supposed to pump fake to the right. Since I can't get him to fake, I think it would make sense to have him do the roll out.

[Johnp2 21]

We are going to make the drag route a weapon in our offense this season (via the "flood pass"). We're looking to make it a deeper pass (15+ yards). I'll see how it goes. It takes a good receiver who can delay and sneak his way in the seam. I'm sure I'll find the right receiver to run it, and then switch him around a little.

We have three more practices, plus a scrimmage before our first game. I'll have to pay particular attention to which plays are more crisp than others by then.

[GeorgeC 1]

We're looking to make it a deeper pass (15+ yards). I'll see how it goes. It takes a good receiver who can delay and sneak his way in the seam.

Based on my usage of it, if you could get your quarterback to roll with the flood and then throw back against the grain, I think you can do it very well against all except the most well-disciplined zones. A rollout with the center would be sniffed pretty quickly.

[Johnp2 21]

We're looking to make it a deeper pass (15+ yards). I'll see how it goes. It takes a good receiver who can delay and sneak his way in the seam.

Based on my usage of it, if you could get your quarterback to roll with the flood and then throw back against the grain, I think you can do it very well against all except the most well-disciplined zones. A rollout with the center would be sniffed pretty quickly.

Yea, we've run it for about 4-5 seasons now (mainly with x or z) but never more than 10 yards. I LOVE the idea of having the QB roll-out with the flood (as we have a lot of plays where he rolls right and throws right).