Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
Pistol U Off Trips puts you in 12 personnel with the fullback/second tight end aligned as the U in the backfield offset and the trips bunch stacked to the strong side, which is a different animal than standard Pistol sets that spread out in 11 personnel. The quarterback sits four yards deep with the back directly behind him, so you keep true downhill run timing while still reading the flat defender. The trips side forces the defense to either roll a safety over and vacate the weak side or play the numbers game with a single-high shell, and the U back gives you an extra body for Split Zone, Counter, and Power blocking angles without tipping heavy run personnel the way a full I-Form 22 look would.
The real separator here is the RPO and jet motion package. RPO Alert Flat and RPO Zone Alert Flat let you read the apex defender and either hand it off or fire the flat throw off the trips side, while Jet Touch Pass, Jet Lead Read Option, Jet PA Boot, and Orbit Triple Option all attack from the same pre-snap picture. Motion is your friend in this set: sending the orbit or jet man across the formation identifies man versus zone before the snap, and the play art already builds that motion into Orbit PA Cross, Orbit PA DBL Cross, and Orbit HB Split Zone.
Passing wise, the trips alignment isolates your outside receiver against a single defender when the coverage overloads the bunch. DBL Post and PA Y Corner punch holes in Cover 2 and Cover 4, Quick Slants and Stick shred zone at the sticks, and the PA Boot family (PA Boot, PA Boot Over, Jet PA Boot) gets your quarterback outside the pocket where a slower user defender cannot recover. With Shock, TE Cross, and PA Corner Dig in the same set, you have high-low answers on both hashes off identical run action.
Strengths
- RPO Alert Flat and RPO Zone Alert Flat give you a true post-snap read on the apex defender, so aggressive blitz users get punished for crashing the C gap without you ever changing the play call.
- The trips side creates natural rub and stack releases that break man coverage, and Quick Slants plus Stick generate immediate separation against Cover 1 and Cover 3 press looks.
- DBL Post and PA Y Corner are elite Cover 2 and Cover 4 beaters because the trips alignment pulls the flat and curl defenders inside, opening the deep boundary void for the isolated outside receiver.
- 12 personnel with the U back means Strong Power, HB Counter, Inside Zone Split, and Orbit HB Split Zone all run out of the same look, giving you extra pullers and kick out blockers that a spread set cannot match.
- The PA Boot package (PA Boot, PA Boot Over, Jet PA Boot) rolls the quarterback away from pursuit and creates easy throws against a user who commits to the middle of the field, and jet motion pre-snap tells you man or zone instantly.
Weaknesses
- The gun depth is only four yards, so interior nano blitzes and A gap pressure collapse the pocket fast on the deeper play action calls like PA Corner Dig and DBL Post.
- Play action concepts have no built in check down on several calls, and if the boot side is contained you are forced to scramble with a quarterback who may not have the speed to escape.
- Only two true wide receivers on the field means a defense in base personnel with athletic linebackers can match your tight ends without ever subbing, killing your matchup edge.
- The trips alignment is a strong tell for run direction and formation flip tendency, and users who spot the U back leaning strong will overload that side with a slant and pinch call.
- Screen protection is thin on HB Slip Screen when the defense sends five or more, and a user controlled linebacker sitting in the throwing lane can jump the flat throws on the RPO concepts.
Usage Tips
Use the RPO concepts on second and medium against single high shells: read the flat defender, hand it off if he widens, and throw the alert if he squeezes down on the mesh point.
Motion the orbit or jet man before the snap on every call you can. If a defender follows across the formation you have man coverage and should live on Quick Slants, Shock, and the trips side rub releases.
On third and 5 to 8, run Stick or PA Slot Out and hot route the outside trips receiver to a slant or corner depending on whether the corner presses or bails.
Set up your play action with the run first. Establish Strong Power, HB Counter, and Inside Zone Split early so PA Boot Over and PA Y Corner get the linebacker bite you need late in the game.
Flip the formation to attack a weak side corner, and use HB Stretch or HB Zone Wk when the defense overloads the trips side to run into the vacated numbers advantage.
