Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Curl Combo out of Singleback Wing (12 personnel) is a quick-hitting pass concept built to attack both zone and man coverage with high-low leverage. Off the diagram, the outside receiver runs a vertical seam that breaks and settles, the TE/wing runs a shallow flat route underneath, the inline TE runs a short pivot/curl to the flat side, and the backside X runs a deep in-breaking route. The primary read starts with the deep breaking route on the backside, then works to the curl-flat combo to the strong side, giving the QB a full-field high-low progression against zone drops or a natural man beater if the curl sits down in a soft spot against off coverage.
Defensive Reads
Identify two-high safeties before the snap. Cover 2 shells leave the underneath curl and flat soft, but a corner can sink under the curl if he reads the QB's eyes quickly. Watch the flat defender's depth at the snap. If a linebacker or nickel corner widens fast to the flat route, the curl behind him is the throw the offense wants, so undercut that route with a user linebacker if possible. Against Cover 3, the deep backside in-breaking route is the biggest threat since it splits the deep third defenders. Rotate the free safety over or drop a linebacker into a deep hole zone to take it away. Man coverage with no safety help over the top gets exposed on the vertical stem before the break, so press corners at the line and use a physical jam to disrupt the timing of the route. Blitz packages that bring five or six rushers force a hot route the flat or curl quickly, so if you're calling pressure, disguise it late and rush a spy or lurk defender to sit in the shallow passing lane.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, check the safety alignment. Two-high shells tell you the deep backside in-breaking route has room to work before the safety can rotate over.
If corners are playing off coverage, hot route the flat route to a quick out or speed out so you can attack the leverage before the curl even sits down.
Use this on second and medium to long distance since the curl and flat combo give the QB an easy checkdown if the deep read is covered.
Pair Curl Combo with PA Boot Lt or Mtn PA Boot from the same set so the defense has to respect play action off a similar backfield look before you come back to this quick game concept.
Against man coverage, key the flat defender. If a linebacker walls off the flat, the curl route sitting down behind him becomes the easy answer since he cannot cover both levels.
Vary your play-calling by mixing this in with TE Stick and Z Spot from the same playbook to keep defenses guessing on quick game reads.
