Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
China Double In lines up out of Shotgun U Off Trips Flex with 12 personnel, showing a two receiver side to the left and a three man trips look to the right. The trips side runs a double in concept with the outside receiver working a deep in route over the middle while the inside slot climbs to a shallower in route underneath, and the third trips receiver releases vertically before breaking outside on a corner style route to clear the boundary. On the backside, the two receiver side runs a flat and up combo with one receiver sitting in the flat and the other pushing up the seam, while the tight end runs a deep crossing route from the backside all the way through the formation to attack the opposite hash. This is a man beater built around natural picks from the crossing routes and the two in routes stacking the middle of the field, with the primary read progressing from the deep crosser to the double ins working inside out.
Defensive Reads
Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they sit shallow and flow with the deep crosser it opens a throwing lane behind them for the double in routes. Check for a single high safety rotating late, this often signals man coverage underneath which this concept exploits with natural picks from the crossing routes. Look for a user controlled defender lurking in the shallow middle zone, a smart user will sit on the underneath in route and jump it if the quarterback stares it down too long. Cover 3 with a hard flowing linebacker to the trips side can undercut the inside in route, so quarterbacks need to read the corner route on the trips side as a checkdown if that lane closes. Blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge can beat this play before the deep crosser and double ins fully develop, since the concept relies on time for routes to clear underneath traffic.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the defense is showing man or zone by checking corner alignment on the trips side, tight press or shaded outside leverage signals man coverage that this concept is designed to beat.
Use the deep crossing tight end route as your first read against man coverage since it forces linebackers to run across the field and creates natural rub picks against man defenders trailing the double in routes.
If you see two high safeties and soft corners, hot route the outside trips receiver into a hitch or quick out to beat off coverage and speed up the timing against zone drops.
This play pairs well with Dagger H-Choice or Levels Y Sail from the same set since both stress the middle of the field vertically and horizontally, keeping linebackers honest after they start jumping the in routes.
Best called on second and medium to long yardage where the deep crosser has time to develop and the double in combo can work against zone defenders sitting in shallow drops.
