Playbooks

Spacing Snag

Shotgun·Y Trips Wk·11

Diagram coming soon

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

SetY Trips Wk

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

In 2 playbooks

Texans OffenseOffense NFL Live Texans OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Spacing Snag is a zone beater out of the Shotgun Y Trips Wk set that stretches the underneath and intermediate zones horizontally with a mix of snag concepts and spacing routes to the trips side. The trips receivers work a high low low combination while the backside single receiver runs a route to hold the corner, forcing zone defenders to declare on flat, hook, and corner responsibilities. The primary read progression starts with the snag route (corner breaking flat man) to the trips side, works down to the underneath spacing route sitting in the hole, and finishes with a check to the running back in the flat if the linebackers sink deep.

Defensive Reads

Read the flat defender first since Spacing Snag lives or dies on whether he widens with the snag corner route or sits on the spacing route. If the defense shows Cover 3 with a single high safety, expect the corner to sink deep and the underneath flat and hook defenders to be stressed by the trips concept. Watch for Cover 2 shells where the corner jams then bails, since the flat defender becomes the key conflict player you are attacking. Man coverage with a linebacker matched on the trips slot receiver is a bad matchup for the defense, so look for that mismatch immediately after the snap. Be aware of Cover 4 or match quarters looks where the corner can sink under the snag route, taking away the easy completion and forcing the checkdown to the running back.

Usage Tips

Attack this play against zone shells like Cover 3 and Cover 2 where the flat defender has to choose between the snag corner route and the spacing route underneath. Use your pre-snap motion or shift to identify if the defense is playing zone or man, since man coverage will collapse the spacing window and force you to hot route the trips receivers into option routes. Bring the flat route defender out with the snag concept first, then hit the spacing route sitting in the void behind him for an easy conversion on third and short. Pair this play with Curls X Go or Four Verticals from the same set to keep the defense honest on deep shots after they start jumping the shallow spacing routes. Best used on third and medium or in the red zone where the horizontal stretch forces linebackers to pick their poison between the flat and the hook zone.