Playbooks

Sprint Curl Flat

Shotgun·Trips TE Offset Wk·11

Diagram coming soon

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetTrips TE Offset Wk

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 2 playbooks

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Breakdown

Sprint Curl Flat is a sprint-out play-action style boot concept out of the Shotgun Trips TE Offset Wk set that uses the quarterback sprinting toward the trips side to shorten the throwing window and simplify reads. The route combo pairs a curl route with a flat route on the sprint side, creating a natural high-low stretch on the flat defender while the backside works as a changeup. This is primarily a zone beater against Cover 3 and Cover 4 shells, with the primary read progression flowing curl to flat, using the flat as the built-in check-down if the curl sits down in a hole against zone drops.

Defensive Reads

Read the flat defender first, if he widens with the sprint motion the curl window opens up behind him for an easy completion. Check safety depth pre-snap, two deep safeties sitting at depth signal Cover 4 or Cover 2 and tell you the curl should sit down in the honey hole between the flat and deep coverage. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if the linebacker flows hard with the sprint action and abandons his zone drop, that opens a throwing lane for the curl route immediately. This play struggles against aggressive man coverage with a spy or against a hard corner blitz from the sprint side, since the rollout removes the quarterback's ability to escape backside pressure. User-controlled defenders sitting in the shallow flat zone or lurking underneath the curl route are the biggest threat, if you see a user drop into that landmark late, hold the ball and reset to the backside checkdown instead of forcing the throw.

Usage Tips

Call this on early downs or third and short to medium since the boot action shortens the field and limits deep shots but wins quickly against zone drops.

Check the flat defender before the snap, if a linebacker or slot corner is sitting shallow and wide, expect the flat route to get taken away and prioritize the curl sitting behind him instead.

Use the sprint action to your advantage by rolling the pocket away from pressure, this play is a great answer against edge blitzes and simulated pressure looks that overload the play side.

Combine this with Switch Dagger or PA Verts Shot earlier in a series to condition the defense to expect vertical shots, then come back with Sprint Curl Flat to attack underneath zone leverage once safeties start sitting deep.

Pair with RPO Peek Slant or RPO Read WR Screen in your call sheet rotation so the defense cannot key on sprint-out tendencies, keeping linebackers honest and slowing their reaction to the flat route.