Playbooks
Breakdown
Bench out of Shotgun Tight Flex 11 personnel is a classic double flat and go concept designed to attack zone defenses with horizontal stretch. Both outside receivers run flat routes to the sideline while the two inside receivers push vertical go routes up the seams, and the tight end runs a deep corner route from the boundary, creating a high low stretch on the flat defenders and clearing space underneath. The primary read progression starts with the flat route to the running back or nearest receiver if the defense drops into a soft zone shell, then works to the vertical seam routes if the flat defenders sink and leave the intermediate window open, with the deep corner route as the home run shot against single high looks.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing a single high safety or two high shell, since Bench thrives against single high because the deep corner route can win one on one against a cornerback with no safety help over the top. Watch the flat defenders at the snap, if they sink deep to cover the seam routes instead of the flat, the quarterback should immediately check down to the flat for a wide open gain. Key the linebacker depth before the snap, shallow linebackers signal underneath zone coverage that Bench can stretch horizontally, while deep dropping linebackers suggest the defense is sitting on the seam routes. Beware of cover 3 sky or cover 3 cloud shells with a hard flat defender, since these coverages can take away both the flat route and the seam simultaneously if the defense disguises well. Man coverage with a deep half safety shading toward the corner route can shut down the deep shot, so if the cornerback is playing tight outside leverage pre-snap, expect the flat route to be the only clean option.
Usage Tips
Use Bench on early downs or third and medium when you expect zone coverage since the flat and go combo punishes cover 2 and cover 3 shells that leave a hole between the flat defender and the deep third defender.
Check the flat defender pre-snap, if he is sitting shallow or crashing on the run fake, hit the flat route immediately for a quick easy completion and manual guard for extra yards.
Motion the tight end or send him in a shift to check if the defense follows in man coverage, since Bench is not a true man beater and struggles against tight man coverage with no natural rub or crossing action.
Pair Bench with Frisco or Stick from the same Tight Flex set to keep the defense guessing between quick flat concepts and deeper shot plays without changing your formation tendencies.
Against aggressive user blitzers, get the ball out fast on the flat route since the deep routes take time to develop and the protection is not built for max protect against overload blitzes.
