Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
PA Slide out of Shotgun Deuce Close hides a play-action fake to the back before attacking the defense with a three level stretch. The backside TE runs a corner route straight up the seam and breaks outside, the inline TE releases vertically then bends into a deep crosser toward the far numbers, and the outside receiver runs a shallow drag under the linebackers. The offensive line executes run blocking to sell the fake, making this a play-action pass designed to punish teams keying the run fit or trigger downhill on second level flow. Primary read starts with the deep corner route, works to the crossing TE sitting behind the linebackers, then checks down to the drag if both are covered.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the strong safety is sitting in the box to defend the run fake, which signals single high coverage and opens up the deep corner route. Watch linebacker depth at the snap. If they bite hard on the play fake, the crossing TE route will have a wide throwing lane behind them before the second level recovers. Man coverage with no safety help over the top gets exposed by the corner route breaking away from the defender's outside shoulder leverage. Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells with safeties sitting deep can bracket the corner route, so be ready to check down to the drag or crossing route underneath. User controlled defenders sitting in a lurk technique over the middle can jump the crossing TE route, so scan for a spy or rat defender before committing to that throw in the progression.
Usage Tips
Use this on early downs or second and short when the defense has shown a heavy run alignment, since the play action freezes linebackers and safeties who are keying the backfield.
Check safety depth before the snap. If you see a single high safety cheating toward the corner route side, work the crossing TE route immediately instead of forcing the deep shot.
Hot route the drag into a deeper option if you are facing zone coverage with cushion underneath, since the shallow route can get swallowed by a flowing linebacker.
Pair this play with Mtn PA Slide or Return PA Slide in your play calling sequence so the defense sees the same run action tendencies but must respect different route distributions.
Against man coverage, prioritize the corner route since it attacks off the break and is tough for a trailing corner to close on, especially versus press alignments that get beat on the vertical stem.
