Playbooks

Charger Wheel

Shotgun·Trips TE Flex·11

Wheel Pass Play

Play diagram for Charger Wheel from Shotgun Trips TE Flex in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetTrips TE Flex

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 3 playbooks

Bears OffenseOffense Elites OffenseOffense NFL Live Bears OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Charger Wheel out of Shotgun Trips TE Flex uses the trips side to create a natural rub for the wheel route out of the backfield, with the flexed TE running a deep dig across the middle and the outside trips receiver clearing out on a deep in. On the backside, the single receiver runs a corner route off a quick drag fake to hold the deep half defender. This is primarily a man beater, since the wheel route exploits linebackers or safeties who try to stay underneath on the HB, and the crossing traffic from the trips side creates natural picks against man coverage. Primary read progression starts with the HB wheel out of the backfield, works to the TE dig sitting down in the middle of the field, and finishes at the backside corner route as a deep alert against single high looks.

Defensive Reads

Watch the linebacker assigned to the HB out of the backfield, if he tries to shuffle through traffic created by the trips concept he will get picked off and the wheel route will be wide open down the sideline. Key the single high safety, if he stays true to the middle of the field and does not widen with the corner route, the backside shot play is live for a big gain. This play struggles against zone coverage with disciplined underneath linebackers, since the TE dig can get sat on by a linebacker who reads the quarterback's eyes and drops into the throwing lane. Look for a user controlled defender lurking in the shallow zone or spying the HB, since a smart user can jump the wheel route early if he anticipates the route combination. Cover 3 with a hard flat defender will take away the HB wheel by forcing the route to bend wide into the sideline defender, so check the flat coverage before committing to the first read.

Usage Tips

Use pre-snap motion or a hard count to bait linebackers into showing man coverage before the snap, since the wheel route lives off blown coverage against man defenders trying to shuffle with the HB out of the backfield.

Identify single high safety shells before the snap and take a shot to the backside corner route if the corner is playing off or bailing into a deep third.

If the defense shows Cover 2 or Cover 4 shell, hot route the TE dig into a shallow drag or spot route to sit underneath zone drops instead of forcing the wheel into a flooded deep half.

Pair Charger Wheel with HB Draw and Inside Zone in the same set to keep linebackers honest on run fits, which sets up the wheel route to catch second and third level defenders cheating downhill.

Best called on second and medium to third and long when you need a explosive play against man coverage, since the wheel route has home run potential if the defender covering the HB gets picked off by the crossing traffic.