Playbooks
Breakdown
Curl Flat out of Shotgun Trio (11 personnel) shows a three-receiver bunch look to the left with a solo receiver isolated to the right. The lone receiver runs a deep vertical release up the sideline while the outside trio releases into a corner route, a curl at the second level, and a flat route underneath from the tight end. The backside receiver cuts on a deep in against the red block indicator, giving the quarterback a clear high-low read on the curl-flat side. This is a zone beater designed to attack Cover 2 and Cover 3 by stretching the flat defender and curl-zone linebacker vertically and horizontally, with the primary progression running flat route first, then curl, then the outside corner route if the deep coverage bites underneath.
Defensive Reads
Read the flat defender first, if he sinks with the curl route the flat is wide open for an easy pitch and catch. Key the curl-zone linebacker depth at the snap, shallow drops open the flat while deep drops open the curl sitting behind him. Watch the deep safety rotation post-snap, single-high shells leave the curl route exposed while two-high shells crowd the flat and force you to progress to the curl or corner. Against man coverage look for the corner route to win on a defender who cannot flip his hips fast enough on the vertical release. Beware disguised Cover 3 sky or buzz calls that drop an extra defender into the flat, since that squeezes both underneath routes and forces a check to the backside dig.
Usage Tips
Presnap identify whether the flat defender is a cornerback or linebacker since that dictates whether the flat route wins immediately against a slow-footed backer.
Against Cover 2 shells target the curl route sitting in the hole between the underneath zone and the deep safety, since that void is the natural weakness of the coverage.
Use the flat route as your quick-game answer versus blitz looks, it releases fast and gives you a built-in check against pressure off the edge.
Pair this play with Steeler Dig or Flanker Dig from the same set so the defense has to respect both the horizontal stretch and the vertical dig, keeping linebackers honest on their zone drops.
Call this on second and medium or third and short situations where the flat-to-curl combo gives you a manageable high-percentage completion while still holding a vertical shot on the backside.
