Playbooks

Curls Slot Shake

Shotgun·Doubles·11

Curl Pass Play

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This play belongs to no NFL team or scheme playbook, so it may not appear in the in-game builder.

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Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetDoubles

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 1 playbook

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Breakdown

Curls Slot Shake is a zone beater built around a curl route combo that settles into the soft spots of a Cover 2 or Cover 3 shell. The slot receiver runs a shake route to work free underneath and give the quarterback a quick outlet while the outside curls stretch the intermediate zones horizontally. The primary read starts with the boundary curl, works to the slot shake as the settle point against zone drops, and finishes at the backside curl if the initial window closes.

Defensive Reads

Identify Cover 2 or Cover 3 shells pre-snap since the curls sit right in the honey hole between the underneath zone and the deep safety help. Watch the linebacker depth at the snap, if they sink hard to the sticks the slot shake will be the fastest answer since it settles underneath their drop. Key the flat defender or user controlled nickel, aggressive jumps on the shake route open up the outside curl for an easy pitch and catch. Beware straight man coverage with no help over the top, since the curl breaks can get jumped by a user lurking underneath if the receiver does not create separation at the top of the route. Look for disguised blitzes that bring extra rushers off the edge, since the curl concept lacks a built in hot route answer against overload pressure and the quarterback needs to get the ball out fast.

Usage Tips

Attack this play on second and medium or third and short when defenses sit in zone coverage rather than press man.

Check the safety alignment pre-snap: two high safeties with linebackers sitting shallow means the curls will find soft grass at the sticks.

Hot route the backside curl into a flat route if you see the cornerback bailing hard into a deep zone drop, giving you a quicker underneath answer.

Pair this call with Curl Flats or Curl Combo in the same set to keep the defense guessing between full field curl stretches and quick game answers.

Use play action shots like PA Dagger or PA Shot on the next snap after Curls Slot Shake connects a few times, since defenders will start sitting on the curl breaks and open up the deep shots behind them.