Instead of reading it swing to sideline with an outside go route pinning the deep defender, the FB Flare play in the Maryland playbook is a complex twisting of the Inside-Sideline read involving a Run and Shoot receiver switch. The idea is what a blog commenter at National Football Post said:
This is like a switch concept from Junes Jones run and shoot, instead of changing the one and two routes at the line off their release it is done atop the route.In a normal Inside-Sideline combination, this is what we would see:
The flat defender would have to choose between the out route and the flat route - whichever one is not covered is the one that gets thrown to. The WR on the outside runs a vertical route to pin the CB or whoever is assigned the deep part of the field from moving up to help on the underneath route.
In the FB Flare play from the Maryland playbook, the TE is the one who runs the deep route pinning the deep defender while the WR on the outside breaks his route to the inside. So instead of an Inside-Sideline read, it's more like an Outside-Sideline read.
The flat defender now has to switch off with the guy defending the deep part of the field, trading coverage of the inside TE with the outside WR. The idea is the same though, and involves forcing the underneath and flat coverages to commit to something... and then throw to the other one.
Why the Primary Route on the In-Game Diagram is Wrong
The game has the FB Flare route as the primary route, assuming this is similar to an Inside-Sideline read that looks at the swing route to pull the defender away from the deeper dig route (in the normal read, the out route to the sideline but in our play it's the in route by the WR).
This is not the right way to read this play.
The correct way to read the play is to start on the inside looking at the TE. On the snap of the ball, what you want to be looking at are the defenders in front of the middle of the field, treating the TE route as a quick vertical choice route along the inside seam that can possibly be broken to the flag if the play goes on. The TE is your first option and should always be thrown if it is open in the middle of the field. This will happen if the defense is playing zone coverage without a man assigned to where the TE will be running down the seam. It will also be open if the defense is blitzing its linebackers, leaving a nice hole for the TE to run into.
Here is a good example of what to look for when running the play. We have FB Flare to the left against Penn State, focusing on the inside part of the field. The TE will run up the field and the FB sprints out to the flat:
Easy first down conversion:
The Flare is the Second Option
So what do you do if the TE is covered? If the defense holds defenders back to cover the center of the field, it is possible nobody is flowing to the flat zone to take away the FB or the assigned defender to that flat zone is being "picked" a la basketball by the TE's route. If there is good separation between the FB and whichever defender is moving to cover him, you flip the ball to the FB for a nice gain on the outside.
Here we look at the left side of the field of a FB Flare play versus UConn. The defense decides to blitz both outside linebackers, and has man coverage on the TE. Because the OLBs are blitzing, there is nobody left to pick up the FB. When we read the defense, looking at the TE shows us not only that he is covered, but we are looking right at the blitzers and see them coming. That automatically tells you the FB ought to be open since the DE is also rushing (so no zone blitz).
When the ball is snapped, we look at the TE and see him covered, but also that nobody is moving over to the FB in the flat:
After a great block from the Flanker, this goes for a long gain.
Third Option: The In Route
The advantage of this particular play over the standard Inside-Sideline read is in the third element, which is the fact that we have a switch at the top of the routes. When the WR gets 5 yards upfield, he plants and cuts to the inside. A second later when the TE gets to 7 yard depth, he plants and heads to the corner. This forces the coverage to switch assignments similar to how a regular run and shoot switch forces it at the line of scrimmage. Either the defense makes the read and changes assignment, or somebody gets loose for the offense as everyone bumps into each other.
For the FB Flare play, the WR making the cut to the inside benefits from the fact that he and the defender switching to cover him are likely running in opposite directions. As the WR runs toward the middle of the field, the most likely scenario is that a safety or linebacker from the inside of the field is running toward the outside of the field into a zone. So the defender will often have to stop and change direction completely to cover the WR running across his zone. And if it's man coverage, timing the throw right when the WR plants his foot to make the cut will most likely get the WR a second or two of separation as the DB adjusts to the route change.
Here is FB Flare to the right against UConn. The routes look like:
What will happen is the defense will rotate right, with everyone in the underneath layer moving laterally into a zone. When we overlay the coverage onto the routes, this is what we get:
As the MLB shifts to the right, he will be in position to jump the quick pass to the TE in the center of the field. On the outside, the SS and SOLB are rolling to the right, with the SS taking away the flat that gets vacated by the CB dropping into a deep third. So TE and FB are both being taken away from the offense, and even the TE's corner route is covered by that CB sitting in the deep third - what's left? The OLB outlined in yellow is the player that must cover the in route when the WR makes a break away from the CB.
When the WR plants his foot, he launches left toward the inside against the grain of the defense flowing to the right. The defenders who are between him and the quarterback are moving in the "wrong" direction to cover him:
When the ball is thrown a split second later, there is nobody in the passing lane. The FS playing centerfield is obligated to honor the TE and has to stay deep to make sure the QB can't lob the ball over the head of the MLB. He has to stay in position to move over in case the TE breaks to the left. This keeps him away from the spot the WR is running to.
This sets the offense up for first and goal inside the 5 yard line to punch it in.
