Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Shock is a five man route concept out of Pistol 12 personnel with trips to one side, and the diagram shows a deep corner/flag route from the backside X, a wheel route from the backside TE breaking outside and up the sideline, a short out from the inline TE, a corner route from the slot receiver, and an HB releasing out of the backfield on a wide flat/swing route that arcs up the sideline. The concept stretches the field vertically on both edges while clearing underneath with the flat route, giving it the shape of a man beater against man coverage since the wheel and corner combo creates natural leverage against linebackers and safeties trying to carry receivers out of the backfield. Primary progression starts with the backside wheel route working against man coverage, then works to the slot corner route if the backside is capped, and checks down to the HB in the flat as the built in outlet.
Defensive Reads
Check the alignment of the safety over the backside TE before the snap, since a deep half safety who can carry the wheel route vertically is the biggest threat to this concept. Watch for man coverage matchups on the trips side, particularly on the slot receiver running the corner route, since a trailing corner in man will get beat if he does not have safety help over the top. Identify zone shells such as Cover 3 or Cover 4 pre snap by reading corner depth and safety width, since this concept relies on man beater leverage and loses value against a sound zone drop that clogs the flat and corner windows. Post snap, key any user controlled defender flowing toward the wheel route or the flat, since a user lurking underneath can jump the HB release or the short out and turn it into a turnover. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they sink hard into the middle of the field to protect against the corner routes, the HB flat route becomes the easiest completion and should be the checkdown read.
Usage Tips
Look for man coverage indicators pre snap such as safeties shaded over slot receivers or corners lined up tight on the trips side before snapping this play.
Motion the HB or use the pre-snap shift tag to force the defense to declare man or zone, since the wheel route out of the backfield is the biggest explosive play threat against man coverage.
Hot route the inline TE from the short out into a seam or drag if you see a robber or lurk defender sitting underneath, since that short route can get swallowed by an underneath zone defender.
Use this play on early downs or in second and medium situations since it takes a full read progression to develop and is not built for quick game against the blitz.
Pair Shock with Quick Slants or Stick from this same set to keep the defense honest on shorter throws, then come back to Shock once the defense starts sitting on short routes.
