Playbooks

Same Side Zone

Shotgun·Spread Y-Slot·11

Diagram coming soon

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetSpread Y-Slot

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 4 playbooks

Broncos OffenseOffense Cardinals OffenseOffense NFL Live Broncos OffenseOffense NFL Live Cardinals OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Same Side Zone is an inside zone run concept out of the Shotgun Spread Y-Slot formation that sends the entire offensive line and the play side fullback or TE flow in the same direction, creating a wall for the HB to press and read off the play side double team blocks. This is a run play, not a pass concept, so the primary read progression is for the ball carrier: press the play side gap, read the down block from the play side guard and tackle, and cut back if the backside defenders overcommit to the flow. It is best used to attack light boxes and gap or one gap fronts that flow hard to the ball, punishing over aggressive linebackers who shoot gaps instead of reading their keys.

Defensive Reads

Pre snap, identify the linebacker depth and alignment, since linebackers stacked tight to the box with fast flow tendencies are most vulnerable to the cutback lane this play creates. Watch for a shaded nose tackle or three technique that can blow up the play side double team, since heavy one gap fronts with disciplined gap integrity are the best defense against this run. Post snap, key the play side linebacker's first step, if he flows hard downhill toward the zone action, the cutback lane opens for a user controlled backside defender to erase, so be ready to jump the cutback with a spy or scrape exchange defender. Cover 1 or Cover 3 with an extra run support safety in the box shuts this down quickly, so look for single high safety rotation and an eighth man near the line of scrimmage as a sign to abandon this call. Nano blitz packages that send both play side and backside defenders simultaneously can beat the blocking scheme before the double team forms, so watch pre snap for overloaded fronts stacked toward the play side call.

Usage Tips

Check the defensive front pre snap and look for a light box of six or fewer defenders before calling this run, since it is a numbers based zone run that gets stuffed against stacked eight man fronts.

Use the left or right directional hot route to pick the same side zone flow away from the defense's fastest flowing linebacker or the side with the least run support.

If the defense shows heavy blitz indicators or crashes the play side edge, consider bouncing this play call for something like HB Draw or Inside Zone from the same set to keep the defense honest on gap reads.

Pair this play with Jet Inside Zone or Power Read in your play calling sequence so the defense cannot key run direction based on formation alone, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their fits.

On early downs like first or second and short to medium, this is an ideal call to stay ahead of the sticks, and it sets up boot action or RPO Zone Peek later in the drive once linebackers start cheating toward the zone flow.