Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Inside Cross out of Shotgun Ace 12 personnel sends both outside receivers on deep crossing patterns, one running a deep dig that breaks toward the far sideline and the other stemming vertically up the seam before breaking outside at a sharp angle. Underneath, a tight end runs a shallow drag across the formation while the running back releases up the middle on a vertical option route as the first read. The blocking scheme keeps the rest of the protection in to pass block, making this a man beater that stresses linebackers who have to carry crossers through traffic and creates natural rub picks against man coverage.
Defensive Reads
Man coverage defenders trailing the crossers will get picked off by the natural rub from the shallow drag, so look for that traffic before committing to a deep throw. Zone defenses with linebackers sitting at intermediate depth can undercut the drag route, so check if the middle linebacker is shading toward the crosser before you thin your reads. Cover 3 shells with deep thirds can bracket the far sideline dig, so if the corner sinks with the receiver be ready to check down to the RB option route. Watch for a lurking safety cheating toward the crossing routes since a shaded free safety with depth can jump the dig and turn it into a pick six. Blitz packages that send extra rushers up the middle can disrupt the deep drops needed for the crossers to fully develop, so identify pre-snap blitz alignment and be ready to get the ball out early to the RB or drag route.
Usage Tips
Start your progression with the RB option route up the middle since it is the fastest developing throw and works against both man and zone if the middle of the field is soft.
Use this play on second and medium or third and long when defenses are more likely to sit in man coverage or match up in Cover 1 or Cover 3 with linebackers carrying crossers.
Pre-snap, check for single high safety looks since the deep crosser can work behind a linebacker who bites on the shallow drag, creating YAC after the catch.
Hot route the shallow drag to a deeper option route against zone heavy shells if the underneath defenders are sitting low and clogging the crossing lanes.
Pair this play with Curl Flats or Quick Slants earlier in a drive to get linebackers reacting to short combos, then hit Inside Cross to attack the same underneath defenders once they start jumping short routes.
