Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Philly Curls out of Shotgun Split Offset lines up two receivers to the boundary and two to the field, with both outside receivers running vertical stems into curl routes at roughly ten to twelve yards while the two inside receivers release on shallow drag routes underneath from opposite sides of the formation. This is a pure dropback passing concept designed to attack zone coverage by settling curl routes in the linebacker to safety windows while the crossing shallows clear underneath and give the quarterback a checkdown against man coverage. The primary progression starts with the curl route away from the boundary, works to the opposite curl, and comes down to the shallow crossers if the windows are late developing or the defense drops eight into coverage.
Defensive Reads
Watch for linebackers dropping into the curl zones at ten to twelve yards, since a hard sink from a Mike or Will linebacker signals zone coverage and tells the quarterback to work the far side curl or check down to the crossers. Key the safeties before the snap, two high safeties usually means the curls will have soft support underneath from a corner or nickel sitting in a zone drop. A single high safety with corners playing outside leverage suggests man coverage, which opens up the shallow crossers as the quicker, higher percentage read. Look for a user lurking in the shallow crossing lanes, since aggressive user defenders will jump the drag routes and bait a turnover, so be ready to reset to the curl on the opposite hash. If the defense brings a blitz off the edge, the shallow crossers become hot reads and should be delivered before the curl routes ever break, since the offensive line is not built to hold up long against extra rushers.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap identify whether the defense is showing a two high or single high shell, since curls sit down in the soft spots of Cover 2 and Cover 3 zones and this play thrives against both. Against man coverage, hot route one of the shallow crossers into a quick out or slant to give yourself a rhythm throw that beats trail technique before the curls even develop. Use this on second and medium to third and short situations where the shallow crossers can pick up the sticks on their own if the defense shows blitz. Pair Philly Curls with Deep Curls or Slants Middle in the same set to keep defenders guessing between route depths off similar formation looks. If the defense is sitting hard on the curls with linebackers spying the middle, check into Mesh or Y Shallow Cross from this set to attack the same shallow crossing angles with more traffic and natural picks.
