Playbooks
Breakdown
Slants Flat out of Shotgun Box (10 personnel) shows a five man route concept with three receivers to the left running a stacked slant combo (two receivers breaking inside on slants while the outside receiver runs a shallow flat route out of the backfield area), plus a two man slant flat combo on the right side where the outside receiver runs a quick slant and the inside receiver releases to the flat. There is no visible blocking scheme shown since all five eligible receivers are running routes, confirming this is a pure dropback pass concept rather than play-action or an RPO. This is primarily a zone beater designed to attack Cover 3 and Cover 4 by flooding both flats and stacking horizontal stretch conditions on the underneath defenders, with the primary read progression starting to the left side high low (slant into flat) before working back to the right side slant flat combo if the boundary corner sinks or the flat defender jumps the underneath route.
Defensive Reads
Watch the flat defenders on both sides at the snap, if they widen too aggressively to take away the flat route the slant behind them will be wide open in the void. Against Cover 3, key the curl flat defender's drop depth, shallow drops leave the slant window open for an easy completion before the linebacker can undercut it. Against Cover 4, the outside corners will often squat on the slant, so watch for the quarterback to hot route or check to the flat route as the higher percentage throw. Man coverage with inside leverage corners is a problem for this concept, since the slant routes run directly into the defender's help, so look for the offense to counter with WR Cross or Switch Post from the same set if they see man alignment. Be alert for user controlled defenders lurking underneath in the flat or slant windows, since a user pick or jump on the throwing lane can turn this into a turnover if the quarterback locks onto his first read too early.
Usage Tips
Presnap identify whether the defense is showing two high or one high safety look since this concept thrives against split safety shells that leave soft spots underneath.
Key the flat defenders immediately after the snap: if the curl flat player widens with the flat route, throw the slant sitting in the window behind him.
Use this play on early downs or third and short to medium since the quick slant flat combo gets the ball out fast and limits exposure to the pass rush.
Hot route the backside slant into a quick out or speed out if you diagnose Cover 4 presnap, since corners playing hard outside leverage will squat on the slant.
Pair this play with HB Screen or Inside Zone from the same Box set to keep the defense honest against the run, then come back to Slants Flat once linebackers start cheating up on run action.
