Playbooks
Breakdown
FL Cross is a five man route concept out of Shotgun Spread Dbl Flex that stacks a deep crosser with an over route and a flat route to create a natural rub against man coverage. The outside receiver runs a deep in cut across the field, the slot receiver behind him runs a shallow crossing route underneath, and the flanker on the opposite side works an inside breaking pivot route to the flat while the backside X runs a vertical release breaking outside toward the sideline. The primary read progression starts with the deep crosser working across the middle, works down to the shallow drag underneath if the crosser is taken away, and finishes with the flat route as the checkdown against a hard closing underneath zone.
Defensive Reads
Read the linebacker depth at the snap: shallow dropping linebackers will sit on the drag route and take away the underdneath option, forcing you to work the deeper crosser instead. Watch for a user controlled defender flashing down into the crosser's lane, that lurk threat is the number one counter to this concept and it means you should reset to the flat or pivot route quickly. Cover 3 zone defenses with a single high safety struggle to cover the deep crosser because the flat defender and the deep third defender both have conflicting responsibilities on the crossing routes. Man coverage with no help over the top is the best shell to attack since the natural rub from the stacked routes forces defenders to fight through traffic. Blitz heavy looks with man coverage behind them are dangerous for the offense here because the quick developing crossing routes need time to separate, so identify pre-snap blitz indicators like walked up linebackers or safeties creeping into the box before committing to this call.
Usage Tips
Use this play on second and medium to long or third and medium when you need a horizontal stretch that beats man coverage. Check the pre-snap safety alignment: if you see two high safeties sitting deep, the deep crosser has room to work into that vacated middle void before the safeties can close. If a defender is manned up tight on the crosser, hot route the flat route into a quick out to shrink the window for a lurking linebacker. Against man coverage, trust the pick action created by the crosser and shallow drag stacking on top of each other and throw with anticipation to the second route in the concept. Pair this play with Inside Cross or Mesh from the same set to keep the defense guessing between different crossing angles, then mix in Y Shallow Cross as a companion call once the defense starts jumping the deep in route.
