Playbooks

Slants

Shotgun·Trips TE·11

Slant Pass Play

Play diagram for Slants from Shotgun Trips TE in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetTrips TE

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 4 playbooks

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Breakdown

Slants out of Shotgun Trips TE lines up three receivers to the left with a TE attached to the formation and a single receiver to the right, with the HB staying in the backfield to the QB's right for protection or a checkdown. The trips side runs a layered slant concept: the outside receiver breaks in on a shallow slant, the slot receiver crosses underneath on a shorter slant, and the third trips receiver runs an inside release that clears into a corner cut behind the traffic, while the TE on the backside runs a corner route and the single receiver releases on a shallow drag/flat route. This is a classic man beater built on natural picks and rubs from the trips bunch, with the primary read starting on the trips slants working outside in before checking the TE corner if the coverage rotates away from the boundary.

Defensive Reads

Watch for Cover 3 or Cover 4 zone shells with linebackers sitting flat footed in underneath zones, since the natural rubs from the trips slants create easy separation windows against those drop depths. Man coverage with press corners on the trips side gets exposed almost immediately because the stacked release forces defenders to fight through picks, so look for a defender getting hung up on the rub. Blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge or through the A gap are dangerous here since the HB stays in to help protect, but a hot route on the single receiver side punishes six man pressure before it arrives. If the safety rotates hard to the trips side pre-snap, that usually signals help over the top on the corner routes, which means the underneath slants become the primary answer instead of the TE corner. User controlled linebackers who key the QB's eyes and jump the shallow slant lanes can disrupt this concept, so look off the initial read and be ready to reset to the TE corner if that user defender bites early.

Usage Tips

Identify pre-snap whether the defense is showing man or zone by checking corner depth on the trips side, tight press alignment usually signals man coverage that gets picked off by the natural rub from the stacked slants.

Use the TE corner route as a built-in answer versus zone coverage that sits underneath the trips slants, since it clears the flat defender and attacks the void behind shallow zone drops.

Hot route the single receiver into a quick out or hitch if you see a blitz look with the corner playing off, giving the QB a fast release option away from the trips traffic.

This play works best on second and short to medium distance situations where the underneath slant window is tight but still exploitable against aggressive linebacker depth.

Pair this with Verticals or China Y Post from the same set to keep defenses honest on the corner route and prevent safeties from sitting on the intermediate crossing routes.