Playbooks
Breakdown
Curl Combo out of Shotgun Doubles gives you a five man route concept built around a curl on the boundary and a curl flat combo on the field side, with the backside receiver running a deep in that sits behind the linebacker level. The slot to the play side flat combo runs a wheel up the sideline while the underneath receiver works a flat route to clear space for the curl sitting down behind him, and the tight end works an in cut over the middle as a shallow crossing option against zone drops. This is a zone beater at its core, using the curl and flat combo to stress the flat defender and the underneath zone, with the primary read progression starting at the field side curl flat combo, moving to the backside deep in if the flat defender jumps the shorter route, and checking down to the wheel if the defense rolls coverage away from it.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify whether the defense shows a two high safety shell or a single high look, since Curl Combo thrives against zone coverage with soft underneath drops like Cover 2 or Cover 3. Watch the flat defender to the curl side after the snap, if he sits flat footed and jumps the curl, the wheel route behind him becomes the answer since he has abandoned his deep responsibility. Key the middle linebacker and any spot dropper underneath, since a defender sitting in the shallow zone can undercut the tight end's in route and force you to hold the ball longer. Man coverage with underneath lurk defenders is the biggest threat to this concept, since a user controlled linebacker can sit on the curl route and bait a pick six if the quarterback stares it down. Blitz packages that bring extra pressure off the edge exploit this play's five man route design, so identify blitz look pre-snap and be ready to get the ball out fast to the flat or hot route the protection.
Usage Tips
Look for the field side curl flat combo first since the curl sits down in the soft spot behind underneath zone defenders and in front of deep coverage.
Use this on second and medium or third and short to medium since the curl route settles in quickly and gives you a high percentage completion against zone shells.
If you see man coverage pre-snap, hot route the backside deep in receiver to a quicker slant or dig since the deep in takes too long to develop against tight man coverage.
Pair this play with Curl Flats or Curls Slot Shake in your play calling sequence so the defense has to respect both the quick curl combo and the flat combo without knowing which side you are attacking.
Watch the flat defender on the play side, if he sinks under the curl route and takes it away, work the wheel route up the sideline since the flat defender vacating creates a natural void for the vertical stem.
