Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Curls out of Tight Slot Far in 21 personnel sends both outside receivers vertical up the seams before breaking down into curl routes at the top of the stem, while the inline TE runs a quick out to the flat and the backside receiver runs a shallow drag across the field. The lone running back stays in to pick up blitz protection, giving the quarterback five-man protection against most standard pressure looks. This is a zone beater at its core, designed to sit the curl routes down in the soft spots between the underneath zone defenders and the deep safeties, with the primary read progression starting at the near curl, working to the far curl, and checking down to the drag route if both are covered.
Defensive Reads
Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they sink too deep into their zone drops the drag route underneath becomes wide open for an easy checkdown. Identify Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells pre snap, since the curl routes are designed to exploit the soft underneath zones these coverages create between the corners and safeties. Key on user-controlled defenders who sit in the passing lanes or lurk near the curl landmarks, as a smart user will jump the near curl route on the first read. Against man coverage with press corners, the curls can get picked off at the line, so watch for aggressive jams that disrupt the route timing before it develops. Blitz packages that send extra rushers off the edge can beat this play's protection quickly since only the running back stays in to block, so a delayed pressure call can force a bad throw before the curls sit down.
Usage Tips
Look for two high safety shells pre snap since the curl routes will settle right into the holes that Cover 2 and Cover 4 leave between the linebackers and the deep safeties.
Hot route the drag runner into a deeper dig or corner route if you diagnose man coverage, since curls alone do not create enough natural separation against tight man technique.
Use this on second and medium to second and long when defenses are more likely to sit back in zone shells rather than bring pressure.
Pair this play with Curl Drag and Flats in the same set so the defense has to respect both the deep curl windows and the quick flat option, forcing linebackers to widen their drops.
Motion the flanker or use a pre-snap shift to identify if a defender follows across the formation, confirming man coverage before the snap so you can adjust your protection or hot routes accordingly.
