Playbooks

HB Base

Shotgun·Bunch·11

Dive Run Play

Play diagram for HB Base from Shotgun Bunch in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetBunch

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

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Breakdown

HB Base out of Shotgun Bunch is a designed dive run that hits straight downhill through the middle of the formation. The diagram shows the running back taking a quick handoff and cutting up between the tackles behind the interior line blocking, while the lone outside receiver runs a vertical clear out route to pull the deep defender away from the box. This is a run play built to attack light boxes and gap fits, not a play-action or RPO look, so your primary read is the initial gap the offensive line opens before you decide to stick with the dive or bounce off a blocker.

Defensive Reads

Watch linebacker depth before the snap, if they are sitting shallow and stacked over the interior gaps this run will not have room to develop. Identify whether the defense is running a run blitz or crashing the edge, since a fast flowing linebacker can beat the blocking scheme to the point of attack. Key the safety over the vertical route from the bunch, if he stays deep and does not creep into the box you have a numbers advantage for the dive. User controlled defenders spying the A gaps or B gaps will blow this play up immediately, so avoid calling HB Base when you see the opponent manually stepping up into the box pre-snap. Base 4-3 and 3-4 fronts without extra run support are the most vulnerable to this play, while heavy fronts with an extra linebacker or bear fronts shut down the dive concept entirely.

Usage Tips

Check the defensive front pre-snap and only call this when you see a light box with six or fewer defenders, since the dive is a numbers based run that gets stuffed against loaded fronts.

Use the vertical route from the bunch as a pre-snap indicator, if the corner or safety bites down on run tendencies you can flip this into a play-action shot later in the drive.

Hit the hole quickly rather than dancing behind the line, this is a one cut and go dive designed to hit fast before linebackers can flow and fill.

Pair this with Read Option and Inside Zone from the same Bunch set to keep defenders guessing between gap runs and zone stretches, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their fits.

Use HB Base in short yardage and early down situations, first and ten or third and short, where defenses are more likely to sit in base fronts instead of stacking the box with extra defenders.