Playbooks

Mtn Shallow Cross

Shotgun·Double Stack·11

Diagram coming soon

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetDouble Stack

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 3 playbooks

Bears OffenseOffense Franchise Offense Sharedcoach1Offense NFL Live Bears OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Mtn Shallow Cross out of Shotgun Double Stack is a man beater built around a shallow crossing route combined with a mountain (deep vertical) concept from the stacked receivers to hold safeties. The shallow drags underneath to create natural rub and pick action against man coverage while the deep routes stretch the field vertically to occupy corners and safeties. The primary read progression starts with the shallow cross working from the boundary out, then climbs to the intermediate crosser sitting down against zone, and finally works to the deep mountain routes if the underneath defenders overplay the short game.

Defensive Reads

Man coverage with no underneath help is the biggest weakness of this play, since the stacked receivers create natural rub route traffic that separates the shallow crosser instantly. Watch for a single high safety shell (Cover 1 or Cover 3) pre-snap, which signals man coverage underneath and tells you the shallow cross should be open quickly off the snap. Zone defenses that sink linebackers under the crossing routes can take away the shallow read, so climb to the intermediate sitting route or reset to the mountain concept if the underneath is clogged. Watch cornerback depth at the snap, if they are playing off and soft you can expect zone drops that make the shallow cross a checkdown rather than an explosive gain. Be alert for a user controlled linebacker or safety sitting in a lurk spot underneath the crossers, since that is the primary defensive counter designed to jump this route combination and create a turnover.

Usage Tips

Use pre-snap motion or a hot route check to confirm man versus zone before the snap, since the shallow cross is much more explosive against man defenses that get rubbed off the stacked traffic.

Look at the depth of the linebackers pre-snap, if they are sitting shallow expect them to sink under the crosser, so be ready to climb the read to the intermediate sitting route instead of forcing the underneath throw.

This play pairs well with Mtn Slot Cross and Mtn Drive Slot Out in the same set, since all three share similar shallow and cross action but attack different levels, making it hard for defenders to jump routes once they have seen one look.

Use this on third and medium to third and long situations where the shallow cross can pick up positive yardage against man while the mountain routes give you a shot play if the safety bites on the underneath action.

If you see two high safeties pre-snap, be patient and let the shallow develop underneath instead of forcing the vertical shots, since the deep safeties will have help over the top on the mountain routes.

Combine this call with RPO Alert Screen or RPO Alert Trap earlier in a series to bait linebackers into cheating up on run action, then hit the shallow cross for a bigger explosive gain once they start flowing.