Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Mtn Curls is a shotgun pass concept out of the Normal Y Off set that shows a three level curl combination to the field along with a deep vertical clear-out to the boundary. The backside receiver runs a deep vertical to hold the corner and safety, while the play side stacks a short curl underneath a deeper curl breaking outside toward the sideline, creating a natural high-low curl stack against zone drops. This is primarily a zone beater built to attack curl-flat and hook zones by settling receivers in the soft spots behind linebackers and in front of the deep corners, with the primary read progression going from the outside deep curl to the underneath curl and then working back to the backside vertical if the safety bites on the shorter routes.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and spacing: two deep safeties split evenly suggest Cover 2 or Cover 4, which invites a user-controlled defender to jump the shorter curl route, so be ready to climb to the deeper curl or backside vertical. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, since shallow hook drops from linebackers can undercut the underneath curl route and bait a turnover if the quarterback stares it down. Man coverage with press corners is the toughest matchup for this concept, since the curl routes lose their natural zone-sitting advantage and receivers must win with a hard break to create separation. Post-snap, key on any user-controlled defender flashing into the throwing lane of the play side curl stack, which signals a lurking robber or spy trying to jump the route combination. If the defense rotates a safety down late to double the deep curl, that is your cue to work back to the backside vertical route, which should be running open against a rotated coverage shell.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the defense is showing two-high or single-high safety look, since Mtn Curls thrives against zone shells like Cover 3 and Cover 4 where the curl routes settle in the seams between the corner and the linebacker hook drops.
Use motion pre-snap to get a free read on man versus zone: if the defender follows across the formation you know it is man coverage and you should look to hot route the underneath curl into a quick out or speed out to beat the trailing defender.
Against Cover 2, throw the deeper curl route on the play side before the safety can rotate over the top, since the underneath curl will often get squeezed by an underneath zone defender.
Combine Mtn Curls with Mtn HB Swing or Mtn PA Read in your play-calling sequence to keep linebackers honest, since those plays punish teams sitting hard in the underneath zones that Mtn Curls exploits.
On third and medium situations, this is an ideal call because the curl routes naturally sit at the sticks and give the quarterback a high-low read against zone drops without needing to test tight man coverage downfield.
