Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Post Cross Unders is a five man route concept out of Empty Sketch Stack that stacks two receivers to the strong side and one to the weak side, giving you a natural rub release against man coverage. The strong side runs a deep post from the outside stack receiver crossing behind a shallow under route that settles in the middle of the field, while the backside X runs a quick out to the flat and the inside stack receiver breaks off a deep in cutting back across the field. Your primary read starts with the post, working down to the crossing under route as your man beater versus tight coverage, then check the deep in and flat route as zone beater outlets if the post is capped.
Defensive Reads
Watch the safety depth and leverage before the snap since a single high safety cheating toward the stack side signals they expect the post and will rotate over the top. Post snap, key the middle linebacker or nickel defender assigned to the crosser since a hard flat drop into that shallow window kills the underneath option and forces you to the post. This concept beats man coverage cleanly because of the natural pick from the stack, but it struggles against a well disciplined Cover 2 or Cover 4 shell where the deep safety sits over the post landmark. Look for blitz packages that bring pressure off the weak side edge, since the flat route becomes your immediate outlet against a hot rush. If the defense shows Cover 3 with a hard flat corner, expect the deep in route to be your best answer since it settles behind the underneath zone drops.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing single high or two high safeties, since the post route needs a soft middle of the field to hit for a big play. Against man coverage, trust the natural pick created by the stack alignment and target the crosser underneath if the post gets jammed at the top of its route. Use this on second and long or third and medium situations where you need a chunk gain but still have an underneath checkdown to the flat route if the rush closes the pocket. Motion the stack receiver before the snap to help diagnose man versus zone based on whether a defender follows across the formation. Pair this with Verticals TE Option or Double Post HB Zig in your play calling sequence to keep defenders honest on the deep middle and bait safeties into jumping the wrong route.
