Playbooks

PA Cross

Pistol·Bunch·11

Quick Reference

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Breakdown

PA Cross is a play-action pass out of Pistol Bunch that uses the run fake to hold linebackers and freeze the second level while the bunch receivers work crossing patterns underneath and intermediate to attack man and zone coverage alike. The tight bunch alignment naturally creates rub picks against man defenders, while the crossing routes settle into soft spots against zone shells vacated by the play fake. Primary read progression starts with the deep cross coming from the bunch, then works down to the underneath crosser and finally the check down out of the backfield if the play fake holds the linebackers long enough.

Defensive Reads

Watch linebacker depth immediately after the snap. If they bite hard on the run fake and drop late into their zones, the crossing routes will have wide throwing lanes. Identify man versus zone by tracking the bunch receivers off the line. If defenders trail tightly through the rub, you are in man coverage and the natural pick should spring someone open. Beware of Cover 3 sky or buzz looks where a safety rotates down into the underneath crossing lanes, since these disguised zone drops can jump the primary crosser route. Look for blitz packages that bring a linebacker off the edge into the play fake, since PA Cross with max protect concepts can pick this up but a blitzer who reads the fake quickly can collapse the pocket. Against aggressive nano blitzes or user blitzers shooting the A or B gap, expect the quarterback to need a quick decision, so watching for a hot user defender lurking in the shallow crossing zone is critical to shutting this down.

Usage Tips

Sell the run fake by holding the ball on the play action animation before working through your reads, since defenders keying run flow will bite and open passing lanes underneath.

Use this on early downs like first or second and short to medium yardage when defenses are more willing to respect the run action from Pistol Bunch personnel.

Check the deep safety alignment pre-snap. A single high safety often means man coverage underneath, which plays right into the natural rub created by the bunch crossers.

Hot route the backside receiver into a shallow drag or spot route if you see zone drops flooding the crossing routes, giving yourself a quick outlet against Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells.

Pair this with HB Duo or HB Dive earlier in a series to condition the defense to respect the run, then dial up PA Cross to punish linebackers who start cheating up on run fakes.

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