Playbooks

Inside Zone

Shotgun·Bunch Open Offset·11

Inside Zone Run Play Zone Run

Play diagram for Inside Zone from Shotgun Bunch Open Offset in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetBunch Open Offset

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

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Breakdown

Inside Zone out of Shotgun Bunch Open Offset is a zone run play designed to attack the interior gaps with the RB tracking a designated crease off double team blocks up front. The diagram shows the offensive line stepping in unison to one side to create the zone flow, with the HB path bending inside behind the guards for a downhill cut. This is a pure run play with no route concept attached, meant to punish light boxes and overpursuing linebackers, and the primary read progression for the ball carrier is backside cutback first, then bounce to the play side if the backside gets clogged.

Defensive Reads

Watch for stacked boxes with eight or more defenders, since that overloads the interior gaps and kills the cutback window. Pre-snap, look at safety depth: a single high safety cheating down into the box signals run support and should discourage this call unless you plan to counter with a play-action shot later. Post-snap, key the play side linebacker flow, if he crashes hard downhill without reading the mesh point, the cutback lane behind him opens up for a big gain. Man coverage on the perimeter with no extra run fits usually means light boxes, which is the ideal defensive look for this play to hit. Beware of user-controlled defensive tackles shooting gaps immediately after the snap, since they can blow up the zone track before the double team forms.

Usage Tips

Check the box count before the snap and only run this into 6 defenders in the box or fewer for a favorable numbers advantage.

Use your hot route or manual assignment to identify if the Mike linebacker is stacked over the zone bubble, since that tells you whether to press the cutback lane.

Pair this with RPO Read Bubble or RPO Alert Out from the same set so the defense has to respect both the run action and the quick perimeter throw off similar formation looks.

On early downs like first and ten, this is a great base call to stay ahead of schedule and set up Duo or HB Draw later in the same series once linebackers start flowing hard.

User the backside defensive end or nearest linebacker after the snap to seal the cutback lane manually if the AI blocker loses their gap control.