Playbooks

PA X Slant

Pistol·Open Flex·11

Likely unavailable in the playbook builder

This play belongs to no NFL team or scheme playbook, so it may not appear in the in-game builder.

Diagram coming soon

Quick Reference

FormationPistol

SetOpen Flex

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 1 playbook

Franchise Offense ChainmoverOffense

Breakdown

PA X Slant is a play-action pass out of the Pistol Open Flex 11 personnel set, designed to punish linebackers and safeties who bite on the run fake. The play-action drags underneath defenders forward just long enough for the X receiver to snap off a quick slant into the vacated middle zone, while the backside typically holds a corner or fade route to stretch the defense vertically and hold the safety. This is primarily a man beater against off coverage and a zone beater against Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells with light box counts, and the primary read progression starts with the X slant, works to any underneath crosser or drag, and finishes with the vertical shot if the safety commits to run support.

Defensive Reads

Identify the box count and safety alignment before the snap. A stacked box with safeties creeping down signals the defense respects the run, which makes the play-action freeze more effective against linebackers. Watch the middle linebacker or the nearest underneath defender for run-fit discipline. If he steps up hard on the fake, the X slant lane opens immediately and that is your first read. Key the flow of any user-controlled defender sitting in a lurk or robber technique in the shallow middle, since that is the biggest threat to jump the slant route and bait a turnover. Against Cover 3 with a sky safety rotating down, expect the slant to sit in a soft window between the linebacker level and the deep third, but a fast-flowing weakside linebacker can still close that throwing lane. Man coverage with press corners and no play-action bite from the linebackers is the toughest look for this play, since the slant has no natural rub and the underneath defender can trail it step for step.

Usage Tips

Run this on early downs like first and second and ten when the defense expects run based on personnel and formation tendencies, since the play fake carries more weight in those situations.

Check the safety depth pre-snap. If both safeties are sitting shallow at eight to ten yards or the box shows six or seven defenders, the play-action freeze is more likely to land and the X slant window opens faster.

Hot route the backside receiver into a quick out or speed out if you see man coverage with no safety help over the top, giving you a built-in man beater if the primary slant gets jumped by a lurking linebacker.

Pair this call with HB Zone Wk or HB Stretch earlier in a series so the defense keys run action off similar backfield motion, then hit them with PA X Slant once they start crashing downhill on run fits.

Avoid calling this on third and long against pass-heavy personnel, since the play-action fake loses value when the defense is already sitting in dropback rules and the box count won't sell the run.