Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Cheat Slot Cross is a bunch-based crosser concept out of Empty Bunch Open that stresses zone defenders horizontally and creates natural picks against man coverage. The far outside receiver runs a deep comeback while the inside bunch receiver breaks vertically up the seam, and the middle bunch receiver runs a deep crossing route underneath both of them that sits as the primary read against zone drops. On the strong side, the two bunch receivers run a shallow drag and a wheel route that stack traffic near the line of scrimmage, giving you a built-in man beater on the backside if the crosser gets taken away. The progression starts with the deep crosser working left to right, then works down to the shallow drag as a checkdown against pressure.
Defensive Reads
Key the middle linebacker depth at the snap, since a shallow drop signals zone and should push your eyes to the deep crosser working away from that leverage. Watch for a slot cornerback sinking into a lurk position over the crosser, which is a common user-controlled defender tell in Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells. If the defense shows Cover 2 with safeties rotating late, the deep comeback on the outside becomes the higher percentage throw since the crosser will run into the safety's zone. Blitz-heavy fronts that send extra rushers off the edge open up the shallow drag as an immediate answer, so recognize overload pressure pre-snap and be ready to get the ball out quick. Man coverage with no safety help over the top gets exposed by the wheel route out of the bunch, so watch for a linebacker or nickel defender trying to match up on that route in man match schemes.
Usage Tips
Read the middle of the field pre-snap to determine if it is one-high or two-high, since the deep crosser is your primary answer against single-high man coverage.
Motion is available on this play, so use it to identify man versus zone before the snap by watching if a defender follows across the formation.
If you see zone shells with linebackers sitting in the middle, hold the crosser one beat longer to let it clear the underneath defenders before throwing.
Hot route the shallow drag receiver into a quick out if you are facing heavy blitz looks to give your quarterback a fast outlet against nano blitzes.
Pair this play with Mesh Cross or Middle Cross in your call sheet to keep defenses guessing between different crossing depths and timing out of the same bunch look.
