Playbooks

Horizontal

Shotgun·Split Slot Open·20
Pass PlayQuick PassFloodGoFlatSlant FlatCurl FlatMan BeaterCover 3 BeaterCornerPostStreak
Play diagram for Horizontal from Shotgun Split Slot Open in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

In 2 playbooks

Balanced OffenseOffenseTwo Back OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Horizontal is a flood concept out of Shotgun Split Slot Open that stretches one side of the field from top to bottom. The outside receiver runs a vertical Go route to clear the deep third, the slot runs a Curl Flat breaking underneath to the flat, and the backside receiver works a deep Out that sits behind the flat defender. Reading this off the diagram, the primary progression starts with the Curl Flat in the short flat as the first read against man or off coverage, then climbs to the deep Out as the intermediate window, with the Go route acting as the vertical clear out and last resort shot play. This is a Cover 3 beater built to attack the flat defender and hole player with three levels on one half of the field.

Defensive Reads

Presnap check safety depth and alignment, a single high safety cheating to the flood side signals Cover 3 and tells you to attack the flat defender fast. Watch the corner over the Go route, if he bails immediately into a deep third drop that confirms zone and opens the window for the Out route sitting underneath him. Key the flat defender post snap, if a linebacker or nickel widens to cover the Curl Flat, the deep Out behind him becomes the primary answer. This concept struggles against Cover 4 or a hard user lurk sitting in the flat, since a user controlled defender can jump both the Curl Flat and Out route in the same passing lane. Man coverage with press corners can disrupt the timing of the Go route release, forcing the quarterback to speed up the read to the shorter flat and curl options.

Usage Tips

Presnap identify whether the corner is playing off or pressing since the Go route needs a clean release to actually clear space for the Out and Curl Flat behind it.

Against zone shells key the flat defender first, if he sinks with the Curl Flat throw the Out immediately behind him for an easy completion.

Use this on early downs or third and short to medium since the quick game options in the Curl Flat and flat area get the ball out fast and protect against the blitz.

Pair this with Mtn Flood or PA Flood from the same set so the defense sees a similar flood shell but has to respect play action or a mirrored concept, keeping linebackers honest.

Hot route the backside receiver into a quick slant if the defense shows Cover 2 press since the deep Out can get squeezed by a hard flat corner.

Other Plays in Split Slot Open