Playbooks

Spacing

Shotgun·Bunch Wide·11

Spacing Pass Play Cover 3 Beater Cover 4 Beater

Play diagram for Spacing from Shotgun Bunch Wide in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetBunch Wide

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 8 playbooks

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Breakdown

Spacing out of Shotgun Bunch Wide spreads five underneath routes across the field at varying depths, creating horizontal stretch with a low hook, an out breaker to the boundary, and three staggered routes to the bunch side including a quick out, a short curl, and a deep drag to the opposite sideline. The RB releases into a wide flat route from the backfield while the offensive line picks up a five man protection. This is a classic Cover 3 and Cover 4 beater built on horizontal spacing rather than a true man beater, and the primary read progression starts with the flat or shallow hook, works to the middle curl sitting in the intermediate zone window, and finishes with the deep drag crossing the field as the layer developer against zone drops.

Defensive Reads

Key the middle linebacker depth at the snap since Spacing exploits shallow zone drops where the hook defender cannot cover both the curl and the drag. Watch for a lurking safety sitting in the passing lane on the deep drag route, especially in Cover 4 shells where the safety can jump the crosser if he reads it early. Man coverage with no help over the top shuts this concept down quickly since Spacing lacks natural rub or pick action to separate receivers from tight coverage. Check corner alignment on the bunch side pre-snap, since a hard press corner can disrupt the timing of the out and curl routes before they settle. Watch for a nano blitz or interior pressure since the five man protection can be overloaded, forcing the quarterback to speed up his first read to the flat.

Usage Tips

Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing a two high or one high shell since Spacing thrives against Cover 3 and Cover 4 zone drops that leave soft spots between levels.

Use the flat route from the RB as your outlet against zone blitzes or when the middle hook defender sits too deep, since it is the fastest developing read.

If the corner is playing off coverage on the bunch side, hot route the shallow curl into a quick out to attack the void before the flat defender can widen.

Sequence this play with Curl Flat or Slot Hook to keep defenders guessing between horizontal stretch concepts and traditional curl flat combinations, forcing linebackers to hesitate on zone drops.

Best called on second or third and short to medium since the routes settle into zone windows quickly and do not require a deep vertical stem to convert.