Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
HB Slip Screen out of Shotgun Split Close is a designed screen pass that gets the running back leaking out to the flat while the offensive line sets up a wall of blockers in front of him. The three vertical routes from the receivers (two deep clear outs and a comeback breaking route) occupy the deep defenders and linebackers, pulling coverage away from the underneath area where the screen develops. This is a pure zone beater designed to punish aggressive pass rush and blitz-heavy zone looks, with the primary read being the HB out of the backfield as soon as the linemen get out in front to escort him.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing man coverage with press corners, since man coverage defenders will often stick to their receiver assignments and can still trigger fast enough to blow up the screen if they read backfield action. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they are crashing hard upfield on a blitz or rushing aggressively, that confirms this screen has a clean lane developing. Key the flat defender or any user-controlled defender sitting underneath, a smart user player will sit and wait on the HB screen rather than bite on the vertical routes. This play gets shut down by defenses that spy the backfield with a linebacker or play a hard zone drop with eyes on the quarterback rather than getting sucked upfield. Look for a defensive lineman or edge rusher engineered to read screens (some Madden AI logic includes screen recognition), since that defender can sit back and sniff out the play design before the blockers get set.
Usage Tips
Call this play when you see linebackers creeping up pre-snap or when the defense shows a blitz look, since the screen thrives on defenders flying upfield past the line of scrimmage.
Delay the throw just enough for your linemen to release and get out in front of the HB, throwing too early results in negative yardage since the blockers have not set up the wall yet.
Use this against defenses that play a lot of Cover 3 or Cover 4 zone shells where linebackers drop deep and vacate the underneath flat area.
Pair this with Mtn HB Swing or Close HB Wheel earlier in a series to condition the defense to respect backfield routes, then hit them with this delayed screen when they start jumping the swing routes.
Avoid calling this on short yardage or obvious run downs since defenses sitting in run support with linebackers reading the backfield will blow this up immediately.
