Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Corner Strike is an Empty Steeler five-wide dropback pass with no running back protection, meaning the quarterback must get through his progression quickly. The far left receiver runs a corner route to the outside, the inside slot runs a deep dig that breaks across the middle, the next receiver runs a shallow drag underneath, and the two receivers to the right run a corner and flat combo with the flat route sitting underneath the corner. This concept attacks both man and zone coverage by stretching the field vertically on both edges while occupying the middle of the field with the crossing dig, and the primary read starts with the boundary corner route before working back to the dig and flat as checkdowns.
Defensive Reads
Watch for two high safeties rotating down at the snap, which signals Cover 2 or Cover 4 and puts a defender in position to squeeze the corner routes. If the cornerbacks are playing off at depth pre-snap, expect zone drops underneath that can be exploited by the drag and flat routes instead of forcing the corner throw. Man coverage with a single high safety is the best matchup for this concept since the corner routes have leverage to win outside against trailing defenders. User controlled defenders sitting in the flat or lurking the dig route can jump the underneath throws, so track them post-snap before committing to the second read. Cover 3 with a hard flat defender and deep third corner can take away both the corner route and the flat, forcing the quarterback to hold the ball and check down late.
Usage Tips
Use this against single high safety shells since both corner routes will stress the deep quarter or third defender before help arrives.
Check the flat route pre-snap against blitz-heavy fronts because with no back in protection you need a quick outlet if the rush wins.
Motion is not available since this is Empty Steeler, so identify press man versus off coverage before the snap to decide if you are hitting the corner early or letting it develop.
Pair this with Steelers Shake or Y-Stick in your play calling sequence so defenses cannot sit on the deep corner concept and get baited into jumping underneath routes.
Best called on second and long or third and medium when you need a explosive gain but still have a safety valve versus zone drops.
