Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
Empty Chips takes the standard Shotgun look and clears the backfield entirely, sending the running back out as the fifth eligible receiver while keeping 11 personnel on the field. Unlike Shotgun sets that keep a back in for pass protection or a lead run threat, Empty Chips forces the defense to declare its intentions before the snap: any defender walked out over your back is a linebacker or safety on an island, and any defender that stays inside leaves you a numbers advantage to one side. The "chips" alignment stacks receivers into tight clusters, which is the real separator here. Those stacks kill press man rerouting and give you free access releases without needing to burn a motion or a hot route.
Strengths
- Empty spacing gives you an immediate pre-snap count on the box, so you know whether the defense is bringing extra rushers before you ever touch the snap button and can check to QB Zone or TE Screen accordingly.
- Stacked and bunched receiver alignments defeat press man coverage because defenders cannot get hands on the release, which makes Post Cross and Deep Post Out elite man beaters against single high looks.
- Corner Strike and Slot Sail attack Cover 3 and Cover 4 flat defenders with high low reads to the same side, letting you read one defender and throw the open route rather than progressing through the whole play.
- Dagger and Flood are clean zone beaters that clear the intermediate hook with a vertical and dump the dig or sail underneath, and both are easy to user read from the shotgun depth.
- The 3DRB and SLWR tags mean your best route running back and slot receiver are on the field simultaneously, so you can isolate the running back on a linebacker in the slot on any snap.
Weaknesses
- Zero backfield help means every free rusher gets a clean shot at the quarterback, so single high nano blitzes and overload pressure from the wide side force you into panic throws or scrambles.
- Five man protection against six rushers is a math problem you cannot solve with pre-snap adjustments alone, and dropping a receiver into blocking defeats the entire purpose of the set.
- User-controlled defenders sitting in the middle of the field feast on Post Cross and Dagger because the crossers and digs work into that exact window with no run threat to hold the safety.
- There is no real inside run game beyond QB Zone, so opponents can play pass first, keep two high, and dare you to run into an unblocked defender.
- Predictable tendencies get punished quickly: if you live in empty on third down, good opponents pattern match, drop eight, and let their four man rush win one on one.
Usage Tips
Read the box first. If the defense leaves fewer than five in the box and a linebacker walks out over your back, QB Zone or a quick hot route to the isolated back is the highest percentage answer.
Use Empty Chips on second and medium rather than obvious third and long, since the defense is less likely to commit to a heavy blitz package and you keep TE Screen and Curl Flat live as safe outlets.
Against single high man, go straight to Post Cross or Deep Post Out and let the stack releases create separation without needing a motion.
Against Cover 3 and Cover 4, run Flood or Slot Sail and read the flat defender only. If he sinks, throw the sail. If he widens, hit the underneath route and take yards after catch.
Hot route your outside receiver to a slant or drag on Corner Strike to build a quick answer to pressure, and use Curl Flat as your pressure beater when you suspect a nano is coming.
