Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Scissors Smash lines up out of Shotgun Wing Slot Offset with 12 personnel and stacks a corner/post scissors combo to the closed side while running a smash concept to the open side. To the boundary the outside receiver runs a corner route while the slot underneath crosses under it on a post, forming the scissors cross that clears the flat and attacks both the corner and safety in that quarter. To the wide side the outside receiver runs a quick hitch while the inside TE/WR pushes vertically up the numbers on a corner route, classic smash spacing to stress the flat defender and deep quarter corner. This is a pass play built as a Cover 2 and Cover 4 beater, and the primary read starts with the smash side flat/corner combo before working back to the scissors cross away from the boundary.
Defensive Reads
Watch pre-snap safety depth, if both safeties are deep and split wide it signals Cover 2 or Cover 4, exactly what this route concept is designed to exploit. Key the flat defender on the smash side immediately after the snap, his depth on the hitch determines whether the corner route or the underneath hitch is open. On the scissors side, track the underneath zone defender crossing with the post route, if he carries the post too far it opens a throwing window behind him for the corner breaking route. Watch for a user controlled lurk defender sitting in the middle of the field, since the crossing routes in the scissors concept can be jumped by an aggressive user in shallow zone. Cover 3 with a sunk safety over the scissors side and press man coverage with no safety help over the top of the corner routes are the two looks that shut this play down fastest.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the defense is showing two deep safeties or four deep safeties, since this play is specifically designed to attack Cover 2 and Cover 4 shells.
If the corner on the smash side sits low on the hitch, work the high low to the corner route breaking behind him for an explosive gain.
On the scissors side, read the flat defender first, if he stays under the underneath post crosser, the corner route should have a clean throwing lane over the top.
Use this on second and medium or third and medium situations where defenses are more likely to sit in zone shells rather than bring man pressure.
Pair this with Smash or Smash Y-Post from the same set to keep the defense guessing between single side smash reads and the double stress scissors look, forcing zone defenders to widen their landmarks.
