Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
HB Pitch out of Singleback Ace with 12 personnel is a straightforward toss run that gets the ball to the HB in space quickly, bailing outside the tackle box before the edge defenders can crash down. The diagram shows the HB tossed toward the boundary as the line down blocks to seal the interior, relying on the outside linemen and TEs to reach block the edge and create a running lane on the perimeter. This is a pure run play with no route combos or pass options, designed to beat overpursuing defensive fronts and light box counts, and the primary read is the edge leverage: bounce it outside if the reach blocks seal contain, or cut it up inside off the first sign of a blown edge.
Defensive Reads
Watch for scrape exchange linebackers who stay home and flow hard to the edge, this is the primary defense that shuts down HB Pitch by beating your reach blocks to the corner. Identify run blitzes from the boundary safety or slot corner pre-snap, an overloaded edge with extra defenders crashing the pitch side kills this play before it develops. Key the defensive end alignment, if he is playing wide and squeezing down the line hard at the snap, expect the toss to get strung out for a loss. Look for user-controlled defenders flying downhill immediately after the snap since aggressive human defenders reading pitch action can blow this play up in the backfield. Favor calling this against base 4-3 or 3-4 fronts with linebackers playing downhill run fits rather than teams stacked with edge-setting defensive ends who consistently win contain.
Usage Tips
Call HB Pitch against light boxes (six defenders or fewer) where the defense has committed extra help to the pass, since the toss action punishes slow-flowing linebackers. Check the defensive ends and outside linebackers pre-snap, if they are crashing hard upfield off the edge, this play exploits that aggression by getting outside their leverage before they can redirect. Use the left stick to influence your HB slightly wider before the pitch reaches him if you see a scraping linebacker flowing fast, this buys your reach blockers an extra half second to seal the edge. Pair HB Pitch with HB Counter Str and Jet Sweep in the same personnel grouping to keep the defense guessing on edge direction and force overcommitment to one side. Save this call for early downs or short yardage situations since the toss has more variance than inside zone runs and a blown blocking assignment can result in a negative play.
