Playbooks

PA Deep Cross

Shotgun·Deuce Close·12
Play ActionDeep CrossCrosserPass Play

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

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Breakdown

PA Deep Cross out of Shotgun Deuce Close is a play-action pass built around a deep crosser that stretches the field horizontally against man and zone coverage alike. The play action freezes the linebackers momentarily, giving the deep cross time to develop and clear underneath traffic while a secondary route works the opposite hash to hold safety help. The primary read progression starts with the deep cross working across the field, then works down to the underneath outlet routes if the crosser is blanketed or the safety flows over the top.

Defensive Reads

Pre-snap, identify whether the defense shows Cover 3 or Cover 1, since the deep cross is a strong answer to both when the flow defender bites on the run fake. Watch the middle linebacker depth at the snap, if he sits shallow to defend the play fake, the crosser will have a clean throwing lane behind him and in front of the deep safety. Post-snap, key any user controlled defender sitting in the shallow to intermediate hook zone, a lurking linebacker or nickel defender can jump the crossing route if the quarterback holds the ball too long. Against Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells with two deep safeties, expect the crosser to get squeezed by underneath zone defenders sinking into the throwing window, so be ready to check down quickly. Man coverage with a safety spun down to blitz is the biggest threat to this concept, since it removes the deep help the crosser relies on and forces a contested throw over the middle.

Usage Tips

Use this play on second and medium to second and long when defenses are more willing to bite on the play fake, since the run threat from 12 personnel sells the boot action. Check the safety alignment pre-snap, if you see two high safeties sitting deep, the deep cross has room to work underneath both of them in the intermediate zone before it fully clears out. If the corner shows man coverage with inside leverage, hot route the crosser to push vertical for a couple extra steps before breaking to create more separation against trail technique. Pair this call with PA Deep Over or PA Post Cross earlier in a drive so the defense sees similar play-action shells and starts jumping the crossing routes, then hit them with RPO Read Cntr or Inside Zone to punish overaggressive linebacker flow. Avoid calling this on third and short since the deep developing route takes too long to hit against defenses selling out on quick stops.

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