Playbooks

TE Under

Singleback·Ace·12

Pass Play Play Action Drag Shallow Cross Out Go Streak Curl Flat Levels Man Beater Cover 3 Beater

Play diagram for TE Under from Singleback Ace in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationSingleback

SetAce

Personnel

121 RB · 2 TE · 2 WR

In 2 playbooks

Balanced Run OffenseOffense Elites OffenseOffense

Breakdown

TE Under is a Singleback Ace 12 personnel dropback pass featuring a shallow crossing concept underneath and a vertical shot outside. The X receiver runs a deep go route up the boundary while the backside outlet runs a deep out breaking away from the formation, and the inline TE runs a shallow drag underneath from left to right that clears the middle of the field. The outside slot TE releases outside the drag to a shallow out route sitting in the flat/curl zone, giving the quarterback a layered read from the vertical shot down to the shallow drag underneath. This is a man beater built on the shallow drag creating natural rub separation, with the primary progression running from the go route on the outside, down to the deep out, and finishing with the shallow drag as the checkdown against trailing man defenders.

Defensive Reads

Key the flow of the shallow drag defender at the snap, if a linebacker or nickel corner sinks with the drag across the field it signals zone coverage and you should look to the deep out instead. Watch the corner over the go route pre-snap, if he is playing tight man with no safety help over the top this play is designed to win deep against that matchup. Identify any user controlled defender lurking in the shallow zone since that is the exact spot the drag route crosses and a well timed jump can bait a turnover. Cover 3 defenses with deep zone drops struggle to cover both the go route and the deep out simultaneously, making this a strong beater against that shell. Man coverage with underneath help or a spy on the shallow crosser can take away the easy checkdown, forcing the quarterback into a tighter window on the vertical routes.

Usage Tips

Use pre-snap motion or a hard count to confirm if the defense is showing man coverage before the snap, since the shallow drag is your bailout against blitzes and lurking linebackers. If you see single high safety look for the go route matchup on the outside against a corner playing without deep help. Hot route the deep out to a curl or sit route if you are facing zone heavy coverage shells like Cover 3 to shorten the throw and beat underneath zone defenders. This play works best on second and medium to second and long when defenses respect the run and bite on play action tendencies from other plays in this set like PA Boot Roll or PA Sprint HB Flat. Pair this play with Ace TE Drag or Inside Cross earlier in a series to condition the defense to sit on shallow crossers, then hit the go route deep once corners start jumping the underneath routes.