Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 12 playbooks
Breakdown
PA Deep Cross out of Singleback Deuce Close 12 personnel uses play action to hold the linebackers before releasing two crossing routes underneath and a deep dig breaking away to the far sideline. The tight end from the play side runs a deep crossing route under the safeties while the second receiver crosses low across the middle, creating a natural pick against man coverage. The lone deep threat on the right runs a corner-breaking route upfield before cutting hard to the sideline, giving you a vertical shot read before working back down to the crossers. Primary progression starts with the deep out breaking route, then works to the deep crosser sitting behind the linebackers, and finishes with the underneath crosser as the checkdown against a soft zone.
Defensive Reads
Watch linebacker depth immediately after the snap, if they bite hard on the run fake the deep crossers will have wide throwing lanes underneath the safeties. Man coverage defenders will struggle to fight through the natural pick created by the two crossing routes, look for user defenders to get picked or lose contain on the switch. Zone defenses that stay disciplined and sink their linebackers into the shallow crossing lanes can take away the underneath option, forcing the quarterback to hold the ball longer for the deep breaking route. Cover 3 with a hard flat defender to the corner route side can jump the deep out breaking route if the quarterback stares it down too long, so timing the throw before the flat defender commits is essential. Blitz packages that bring extra pressure off the edge opposite the tight end crosser can beat the play action fake outright, so check protection or plan to get the ball out on time against known pressure tendencies.
Usage Tips
Sell the play action fake fully before your first read to keep second level defenders frozen and open passing lanes for the crossers.
Use this on early downs (first or second and short to medium) when defenses are more likely to bite on run action out of 12 personnel.
Check safety depth pre-snap. Against a single high safety look immediately to the deep out breaking route since the crosser will be occupied by the extra defender.
Hot route the underneath crosser into a shallow drag if you diagnose zone coverage with linebackers sitting in passing lanes, this creates an easy answer versus Tampa 2 or Cover 3 zone drops.
Pair this play with PA Boot Corner Post or PA X Post Cross from the same set to keep defenses guessing between deep crossing concepts and boot action, forcing linebackers to respect multiple play action shots from the same personnel and formation look.
