Playbooks
Middle Slam
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Middle Slam is a play-action flood concept out of Shotgun Trips HB Wk with 10 personnel. Off the play-action fake, the backside X runs a corner route while the two receivers to the trips side stack a seam and out combo, and the HB releases into a screen after selling the block, giving the QB a true triangle stretch across the field. The primary read starts with the HB screen if the defense bites hard on the run fake, then progresses to the seam-out flood combo to the trips side, working back to the backside corner as a deep answer versus soft coverage. This is a Cover 3 beater built to attack curl-flat defenders and the deep third safety with layered horizontal and vertical stretches.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the safeties are showing a two-high or one-high shell, since Cover 3 with a single deep safety is the shell this play is designed to exploit. Watch the flat defender to the trips side after the snap, if he sinks too deep the out route is open underneath immediately. Key the middle linebacker's reaction to the play-action fake, aggressive flow to the line opens the HB screen for a big gain. Man coverage with no underneath help is vulnerable to the seam route since the trips receiver can win vertically before the defender recovers from the run fake. Disguised blitzes with no deep safety help kill this play quickly, so if you see a heavy box and single high look, be ready to check to a quicker route or throw the ball away rather than force it.
Usage Tips
Use this on early downs or short yardage to sell the run fake and freeze linebackers before they flow to the flood side.
Check the middle linebacker depth before the snap, if he is sitting shallow he can jump the HB screen so be ready to pull it out and go to the seam-out combo instead.
Against Cover 3, target the flat defender with the out route since he has to choose between the flat and the seam runner behind him.
Pair Middle Slam with Zona Fade or PA WR In from this set so defenses cannot sit on the play-action look after seeing it once.
On third and medium, prioritize the seam route since it settles in the void that curl-flat defenders leave when they widen to the trips side.
