Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Curl Combo out of Shotgun Trips TE Offset gives you a five man route concept built around a curl and flat combo to the trips side while the backside receiver runs a deep vertical clear out. The two inside trips receivers work a corner route and a shallow drag/spot underneath, the outside trips receiver breaks off a curl at intermediate depth, and the offset TE releases into a flat/wheel to the boundary that curls upfield outside the numbers. The backside X runs a straight vertical to hold the safety and take away deep help, making this a zone beater designed to attack the flat to curl to corner ladder while the primary read progression starts with the flat route underneath, works up to the curl sitting in the void, and finishes with the corner route stretching the deep third.
Defensive Reads
Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if the curl/flat defender sinks too deep the flat route from the TE is wide open for an easy pitch and catch. Check safety alignment before the snap, a single high safety struggles to help over the top on the corner route to the trips side, making this concept a strong shot play versus Cover 1 and Cover 3. Man coverage with no safety help over the trips side is a green light to attack the corner route immediately since it is your best win versus press or trail technique. Watch for a user controlled defender lurking in the shallow drag/spot area, a rat in the hole robbing that route can bait you into the flat instead. Cover 4 quarters shells with disciplined curl/flat defenders can shut this down since they take away both the flat and curl reads at once, forcing you to trust the backside vertical or check down.
Usage Tips
Presnap, identify whether the defense is showing zone or man leverage on the trips side since this concept thrives against zone drops that leave a soft spot between the flat and curl defenders.
Key the underneath flat/wheel route from the offset TE first since it is your quickest win versus Cover 3 and Cover 4 shells that rotate a corner deep.
If the linebacker sitting in the curl window widens with the flat route, hit the curl sitting behind him for an easy chain-moving completion.
Use the backside vertical as a hot route trigger against single high safety looks, since it forces the safety to respect depth and opens the corner route on the trips side.
Pair this play with RPO Alert Bubble or RPO Zone Alert Bubble in your call sheet so the defense has to respect both the quick perimeter throw and the deeper curl combo read, keeping linebackers and corners honest on down and distance.
