Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
TE Cross out of Pistol 12 personnel shows a five man route concept with both outside receivers pushing vertical up the numbers on go routes to stretch the deep coverage. The two inline tightends work an over and under combo across the middle: one TE breaks flat across the field on the crosser while the other releases up and over the top through the same window, creating natural traffic for man defenders. The running back stays in to check release or leak out as a safety valve underneath. This is a man beater built to exploit the pick action from the crossing tightends, and the primary read progression starts with the deep crosser working from the strong side to the weak side, then works down to the underneath check release if the crosser is taken away.
Defensive Reads
Watch the tightends at the snap since the crossing routes are designed to create natural picks against man coverage, so if you are userlurking, sit in the shallow zone rather than chasing man to man. Key the free safety depth presnap, a two high shell with safeties rotating down can jump the crosser and turn it into a pick six if the quarterback throws it late. Underneath linebackers need to sink into the middle hook zones immediately to disrupt the crossing routes before they build separation, especially against man coverage where a linebacker in man will get picked. Watch for the outside cornerbacks pressing the go routes, if they bail into a deep zone at the snap that signals zone coverage and the crossers will have soft grass in the shallow to intermediate area. Blitzing off the edge can rush the quarterback before the deep crosser fully develops, so disguise pressure presnap and time the blitz to hit as the tightends are crossing paths in the middle of the field.
Usage Tips
Presnap identify if the defense is showing man coverage by looking for defenders lined up head up or inside shade on the tightends since the crossing action is designed to rub off man defenders.
If you see a single high safety with no help underneath in the middle of the field, throw the deep crosser as soon as it clears the traffic for a big chunk gain.
Against zone shells with linebackers sitting in the shallow hook areas, hot route one of the outside go routes into a comeback or hitch to give yourself a quicker, more reliable throw.
Use the running back check release as your answer versus a blitz since he can leak out into the vacated area for a quick completion before the pocket collapses.
Pair this play with Curl Flats or Dual TE Flat in the same set so the defense has to respect both the crossing action and the quick flat route combos, keeping linebackers honest and opening throwing lanes over the middle.
