Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
PA Jet Sweep sells the jet sweep run fake to the motion man before working a three level play-action shot off it. The diagram shows a vertical seam route splitting the defense up the middle, a crossing route breaking underneath from the opposite side that settles over the ball, and a shallow drag or check release swing route working the flat to help sell run action and give the QB a checkdown. This is a play-action shot play built to punish overaggressive run defense, with the primary read starting on the vertical seam, working down to the cross if the safety commits to the run fake, and finishing at the flat route as the last resort.
Defensive Reads
Key the play side linebacker and safety immediately after the snap, if they crash down on the jet sweep fake instead of respecting the pass, the seam and cross routes will have room to operate. Against Cover 3 or single high shells, the vertical seam is the primary conflict route for the middle linebacker, if he sinks to protect the seam the crosser opens up behind him. Man coverage defenses that use their linebackers to mirror the crossing route are vulnerable, since the route is designed to create natural rub separation off traffic near the line. Cover 2 or two high safety looks that keep both safeties deep can shut down the seam read, forcing the quarterback to work the crosser or dump it to the flat route instead. Watch for a user controlled defender sitting in a lurk technique near the crossing route depth, this is the biggest threat to the play since it jumps the intermediate window the crosser is designed to attack.
Usage Tips
Use this on early downs, first and ten or second and short, when the defense has shown run blitz tendencies or is stacking the box against your jet sweep tendency.
Watch the safety alignment before the snap, if you see a single high safety cheating up toward the line to defend the jet sweep, that is your cue to trust the vertical seam.
If the linebackers bite hard on the run fake, the crossing route sitting underneath will come open in the void, especially against man coverage where the crosser creates natural separation.
Hot route the flat route into a deeper option if you are getting soft zone coverage that squats on shallow routes, since the built in checkdown becomes less useful against zone drops.
Pair this with straight Jet Sweep and Zone Fake Jet earlier in a series to condition the defense into biting on the sweep action, then dial up PA Jet Sweep once you see linebackers flowing hard to the edge.
