Playbooks

Cross Dig

Shotgun·Spread Y-Slot·11
DigPass PlayCrosser
Play diagram for Cross Dig from Shotgun Spread Y-Slot in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

In 7 playbooks

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Breakdown

Cross Dig out of Shotgun Spread Y-Slot sends the backside outside receiver on a deep vertical clear route while the backside slot runs a quick out to hold the flat defender. On the play side, the outside receiver breaks off a deep comeback toward the sideline and the TE releases vertically before turning it into a corner route up the sideline. The key route is the dig, run by the receiver aligned inside who stems upfield and breaks flat across the middle at intermediate depth, working from the play side hash all the way across the field. This is a man beater built around the dig sitting down in the void behind underneath defenders and in front of deep coverage, with the crossing route creating natural rub traffic against man coverage while the vertical routes stretch zone defenders and clear space for the dig to settle. The primary read progression starts with the dig crossing the middle, then works to the corner route from the TE if the dig is taken away by a linebacker sinking underneath.

Defensive Reads

Read the middle linebacker depth at the snap, if he sinks hard to the dig window and mirrors the crosser, look immediately to the corner route from the TE Identify single high safety pre-snap since Cover 1 and Cover 3 shells are the most vulnerable to this dig concept sitting behind the underneath zone Watch for a user controlled defender sitting in a lurk position in the middle of the field, this is the primary counter to Cross Dig and will jump the route if the quarterback stares it down too long Against Cover 2 or Cover 4 with two deep safeties, the dig has less room to work since a safety can rotate down, in that case the corner route or backside out becomes the better answer Man coverage teams that blitz off the edge or bring pressure through a nano blitz package are vulnerable to the rub created by the crossing routes, since trailing defenders get picked off by traffic near the line of scrimmage

Usage Tips

Attack single high safety looks since the dig sits in the exact window Cover 1 and Cover 3 defenses leave open between the underneath zone and deep safety

Use the pre-snap motion or alignment check to identify if the defense is showing man coverage, since the crossing route creates natural separation off the rub against man defenders trailing from depth

Hot route the backside out to a quick hitch or slant against zone shells to give yourself a faster answer if the dig window is muddied by a robber or spy underneath

Best called on second or third and medium situations where the dig has room to sit down between ten and fifteen yards without the sideline squeezing the route

Pair this with Mtn Y Cross or Y Cross earlier in a series so the defense starts keying the crosser and cannot commit safety help outside, then hit the dig for an explosive gain when they overplay the shallow crossers

Sequence this behind Quick Slants or Curls to bait linebackers into shallower drops, opening up the intermediate dig window against teams that adjust their zone depth

Other Plays in Spread Y-Slot