Playbooks

Tackle Over Trips

Shotgun·11

Specialists3DRBGadget

Set alignment for Tackle Over Trips from Shotgun in Madden 27

At a Glance

FormationShotgun

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

Plays10

In 1 playbook

Balanced Pass OffenseOffense

Overview

Tackle Over Trips is an unbalanced Shotgun look that moves a tackle to the same side as the other tackle, stacking extra blocking bulk on one side of the center while a trips receiver surface forces the defense to widen. Most Shotgun sets in 11 personnel keep a balanced five man line and win with spacing. This set changes the math in the box. The defense has to account for an extra gap on the unbalanced side while also matching numbers against three receivers, and many AI and human defenses misalign their front because the eligible count and the line strength do not match their usual keys.

The personnel is standard 11 (1 RB, 1 TE), but the tight end is detached into the trips alignment, which is why plays like RPO Bubble Y Pop exist in the set. With the TE flexed, a linebacker or safety has to travel with him. That frees the unbalanced side of the box for Inside Zone, Outside Zone, and HB Power O, and it creates a clean conflict defender for the RPO reads. If the defense walks a linebacker out to trips, you run into a light box behind an extra tackle. If they stay in the box, the bubble and smoke tags punish the numbers advantage outside.

The 3DRB and Gadget tags fit this set. The HB Slip Screen and Fake Screen Wheel get your third down back into space against defenders who are flowing to the unbalanced run action, and the PA Read and Read Option plays add QB keep and play action layers that make it hard for a user to sit on any one answer. It is a tempo friendly, pre snap conflict set built to make the defense wrong no matter how they align.

Strengths

The unbalanced line gives Inside Zone, Outside Zone, and HB Power O an extra gap of blockers on the strong side, so defenses that align to the receiver strength end up a man short at the point of attack.
RPO Read Bubble, RPO Read X Smoke, and RPO Bubble Y Pop build automatic numbers checks into the play: count the box versus the trips, throw the bubble or smoke against soft Cover 3 or Cover 4 cushion, and hand off when a defender widens.
The detached TE in trips isolates the Y on a linebacker or safety, which makes the Y Pop a reliable seam shot against Cover 3 buzz and a mismatch against man coverage with a slow Mike.
HB Slip Screen and Fake Screen Wheel punish aggressive users and blitz heavy defenses that chase the run flow, getting a 3DRB into space or up the sideline on a wheel against man coverage linebackers.
Read Option and PA Read stress the backside edge defender, so a mobile QB can keep it when the end crashes on the heavy side zone action, and play action holds hook defenders to open throwing windows behind them.

Weaknesses

The route tree is shallow and screen heavy, so against disguised Cover 2 Man or Cover 0 with good press corners there are few true dropback man beaters beyond the wheel and the Y Pop.
The unbalanced line tips run strength to sharp opponents, who can slant or shift their line toward the tackle over side and set a hard edge to blow up Outside Zone and Power O.
A user controlled linebacker or safety sitting in the flat or hook to the trips side can jump bubble and smoke tags, turning RPO throws into tackles for loss or pick sixes.
Pass protection is thin on the side away from the unbalanced line, so edge pressure and nano blitzes from the weak side can get home on PA Read and Fake Screen Wheel before the deeper routes develop.
Read Option and QB keep elements lose value with a statue QB, which lets defenses ignore the keep and load the box against the handoff.

Usage Tips

Count the box pre snap: if the defense has six or fewer defenders near the line, lean on Inside Zone or HB Power O toward the tackle over side, and if they bring a seventh defender into the box, go to the RPO bubble or smoke tags.

On first and second down, set up your run game with Inside Zone and Outside Zone to force the defense to commit a safety down, then come back to PA Read and Fake Screen Wheel in the same look for chunk plays.

Against a user sitting in the flat to the trips side, avoid the bubble and use RPO Bubble Y Pop to throw the seam behind him, or hot route the outside receiver to a streak to clear space.

On third and medium against blitz looks, call HB Slip Screen with your 3DRB, since the rush flies past the back and the offensive line releases to block the second level.

Use motion sparingly because the set already creates alignment confusion: if the defense shifts toward trips when you motion, check to the run away from the shift and attack the vacated gap.