Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
PA Read is a play-action shot play out of Shotgun Y Trips Wk with 11 personnel that attacks the defense off run fake with a vertical shot on the backside. The single receiver away from trips runs a corner route stemming outside, the outermost trips receiver breaks off a deep out to the sideline, and the two remaining trips receivers work an out and drag underneath to hold linebackers and flood the intermediate zone, while the running back checks release into a flat/drag route as the last line of the progression. This is a zone beater built to exploit two deep safety shells and light box counts, with the primary read starting on the backside corner route against single high looks before working back to the deep out and underneath drag combo.
Defensive Reads
Diagnose single high safety pre-snap since that is the shell this play is designed to punish with the backside corner route. Watch linebacker depth at the snap: if they sit shallow and bite the run fake hard, the underneath drag and flat routes will be wide open in the throwing lanes behind them. Key the flat defender or cornerback on the deep out route to the trips side, since a soft corner squatting there can jump the route and take away the outside throw. User a rover or lurk defender in the middle of the field to sit on the drag route if you expect the quarterback to bail out to his checkdown against pressure. Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells with two deep safeties take away the backside corner shot and force the quarterback to work the underneath combo, so match your defense with two high safeties to shut this play down.
Usage Tips
Use this on early downs when you have already established the run out of this formation so the play fake actually freezes linebackers and the safety flowing downhill.
Check the safety alignment pre-snap: if you see one high safety, take a hard look at the backside corner route on the snap since it will have leverage in a hole between the corner and safety.
Hot route the underneath drag into a flat if you diagnose a Cover 3 sky or cloud look, since that gives you a quick answer against a corner squatting on the flat.
Pair this play with HB Base or Inside Zone from the same set earlier in a series so the play fake actually sells and linebackers bite on the run action.
Combine with Comebacks or Curls X Go later in the series once the defense starts jumping the corner route, giving you a double move counter off the same formation look.
