Playbooks

Curl Outs

Shotgun·Tight Slots·11

Curl Pass Play Out

Play diagram for Curl Outs from Shotgun Tight Slots in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetTight Slots

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 1 playbook

Balanced OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Curl Outs out of Shotgun Tight Slots (11 personnel) sends both outside receivers vertical before breaking hard to the sideline on outs, while the two inside slot receivers run curls that settle in the underneath zones. The remaining backfield player likely stays in to protect, keeping this a five man protection concept built purely around the pass game. This is a zone beater first: the outs stretch the flat and sideline defenders horizontally while the curls sit down in the soft spots of a zone shell, and the primary read progression starts with the near side curl, works to the out route breaking to the flat, then works to the backside combo if the underneath defenders jump the shallow routes.

Defensive Reads

Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing two deep safeties, since that alignment invites the curls to sit in the honey hole of a Cover 2 zone. Watch the cornerback depth at the line, tight press alignment signals man coverage and should trigger a hot route change on the curl routes to something quicker. Post-snap, key the underneath linebackers and nickel defenders dropping into curl to flat zones, if they sink hard on the curls the out route breaking to the sideline will be wide open. Beware of a user controlled defender lurking in the shallow zone, since a good defender will bait the quarterback into throwing the curl and jump the route for a pick. Blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge can collapse the pocket quickly, so if protection is only five man, get the ball out on time to the first read before the pocket breaks down.

Usage Tips

Take a pre-snap look at the safety alignment before the snap, two deep safeties tells you this is a great zone beater matchup for the curls sitting in the soft spot of a Cover 2 or Cover 4 shell.

Use the out routes on early down and distance to attack cornerbacks playing off coverage, since the sharp break to the sideline creates easy separation against soft zone corners.

If you see man coverage indicators like a single high safety with tight corner alignment, hot route the curls into speed outs or slants to avoid throwing into a defender sitting on top of the route.

Combine this play with WR Stick N Out or Stick from the same set to keep the defense guessing between quick underneath throws and the deeper out breaking concept.

On third and medium, target the far side curl route first since it settles at the sticks and gives the quarterback a high percentage completion against zone drops.