Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 14 playbooks
Breakdown
Curls out of the I Form Wing set shows a two-man passing concept with the backfield left clean for protection. The isolated receiver on the left runs a vertical stem into a sharp curl, sitting down to find soft spots in zone coverage. On the play side, the tight end or wing runs a short pivot route breaking back toward the quarterback while an inside receiver releases into a deep in-breaking route working across the middle behind it, creating a natural high-low read against zone drops. This is a zone beater at its core, using the curl and dig combination to attack the intermediate hook and flat zones while the quarterback progresses from the deep crosser to the curl based on the linebacker drop.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and leverage, since two-high shells like Cover 2 or Cover 4 give the curl route room to sit in the hole between underneath and deep zones. Watch the flat defender and hook defender relationship post-snap, because if the flat defender carries the wing route too far outside, the curl window opens immediately. This play struggles against aggressive man coverage with press corners, since the curl route has no built in separation move against tight coverage. Key on linebacker depth at the snap, since shallow linebacker drops in Cover 3 will squeeze the curl throwing lane and force the quarterback to the deeper crossing route instead. Beware of user linebackers sitting in the shallow to intermediate zone, since a smart user defender can rob the crosser and bait the quarterback into the curl for a hit.
Usage Tips
Use this on second and medium to second and long when defenses are likely to sit in zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4.
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing two deep safeties or a single high safety, since the curl route settles into soft spots that only open up against zone drops, not man coverage.
If you see press man alignment on the outside receiver, hot route the curl into a speed out or slant to beat the leverage instead of forcing the sit route.
Combine this play with PA Boot Flow or PA Sprint HB Flat later in the series to keep linebackers honest after they start jumping the curl route.
Pair this with X Slant or TE Post as a play-action counter once the defense adjusts to sitting underneath the curl, since those routes attack the same area vertically.
