Playbooks

Browns Curl

Shotgun·Tight Doubles·11

Curl Pass Play

Diagram coming soon

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetTight Doubles

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 12 playbooks

Balanced Pass OffenseOffense Buccaneers OffenseOffense Jaguars OffenseOffense Panthers OffenseOffense Raiders OffenseOffense Shotgun Classic OffenseOffense Steelers OffenseOffense NFL Live Buccaneers OffenseOffense NFL Live Jaguars OffenseOffense NFL Live Panthers OffenseOffense NFL Live Raiders OffenseOffense NFL Live Steelers OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Browns Curl out of Shotgun Tight Doubles is a curl flat concept designed to attack zone coverage with underneath sit routes and a flat outlet to hold defenders low. The concept stacks curl routes at intermediate depth on one or both sides while a flat route or drag underneath clears out space and gives a quick answer against pressure. This is primarily a zone beater because it exploits soft spots in the flat and curl windows, and the primary read progression starts with the near side curl, works to the flat defender for a leverage read, then works back to any backside curl or drag if the initial read is covered.

Defensive Reads

Identify the flat defender first since his leverage tells you whether the curl route or the flat route will be open, if he sinks under the curl throw the flat immediately. Watch for two high safeties presnap which usually signals Cover 2 or Cover 4, both coverages that leave a soft spot at the intermediate curl depth for your primary read. Key the middle linebacker depth at the snap, if he drops deep into a hook zone he can undercut the curl route so look to the opposite side curl or the flat outlet. Beware of Cover 3 sky or buzz looks where a safety rotates down into the curl flat area, this defender can jump the route and create a user pick six if you force the throw late. If the defense shows a nano blitz or overload pressure look with linebackers stacked at the line, get the ball out fast to the flat route since the curl route will not have time to develop against a four or five man rush.

Usage Tips

Use pre-snap motion or a shift to identify if the defense is playing man or zone before the snap, since curl flat concepts thrive against Cover 2, Cover 3, and Cover 4 zone shells but can get picked off by aggressive man corners jumping the curl route stem.

If you see two deep safeties with linebackers sitting shallow, hot route your inside receiver to a speed out or slant to beat underneath zone drops before they can sink into the curl window.

This play works best on second and medium to third and short situations where the curl sits right in the sweet spot of the sticks and the flat route gives you a checkdown against a blitz look.

Pair Browns Curl with HB Angle or HB Slip Screen in your play calling sequence so that if the defense starts crashing hard on the curl flat concept, you can counter with a quick out of the backfield answer that punishes overaggressive linebacker rushes.

Use Curl or PA Deep Curls from this same set later in a series once the defense adjusts to the flat route, since the double move potential off similar route stems will freeze zone defenders who bit on the first look.