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Breakdown
Counter U out of Pistol Wing Flex is a 12 personnel power run play built to attack the edge with misdirection blocking. The diagram shows two receivers running straight vertical releases up the numbers, while the offensive line pulls in a classic counter scheme with the frontside guard and tackle blocking down and the backside guard and a puller wrapping around to lead through the hole. The HB takes a counter step away from the play call before pressing back to the point of attack, reading the puller for his cutback lane. Primary read progression: hand the ball to the RB and press the hole, following the lead blocker (puller) through the alley while reading the down blocks up front for a cutback if the edge gets sealed too far inside.
Defensive Reads
Watch for stacked boxes with 7 or more defenders. Counter U loses its blocking numbers advantage quickly against heavy run fits and gets blown up before the puller arrives. Key the strongside linebacker depth pre-snap. If he is sitting tight to the line in a run blitz alignment, he can beat the counter action and crash the pulling lane before the puller gets there. Look for safeties rotating down into the box post-snap. A quick safety fill on the counter side removes the cutback lane and forces the RB into a low-value bounce outside. Man coverage on the two vertical routes rarely matters for this play since it is a designed run, but if the defense shows Cover 0 or all-out blitz looks, expect defenders flowing hard downhill, which can actually widen cutback creases if your RB reads it correctly. Beware scrape exchange linebacker technique. If the backside linebacker replaces the puller's gap instead of chasing flow, it kills the counter's designed lane and forces an immediate cutback read.
Usage Tips
Run this on early downs (1st and 10 or 2nd and short to medium) when you want to establish tempo and force the defense to respect the run before you go to PA Power O or RPO Alert Strong Power later in the drive.
Check the box count pre-snap. Counter U wants six or fewer defenders in the box since the pulling guard and puller need room to climb to the second level without getting swarmed instantly.
Use the two vertical releases as window dressing against man coverage teams that like to blitz off the edge. Motion or a hard count can bait a linebacker into overcommitting, opening the cutback lane.
Pair this with HB Slam or HB Draw in your play-calling sequence so the defense cannot key on your run direction based on formation tendency alone.
Against aggressive user linebackers who key the mesh point, delay your handoff timing slightly by holding the RB press longer, this lets the puller get further upfield before you commit to a lane.
