Playbooks
PA TE Screen out of Singleback Y Off Trio Close is a play-action screen designed to punish aggressive pass rushers and linebackers who bite hard on the run fake. The offensive line sells the play fake before releasing to set up a wall in front of the tight end, who slips out to the flat or short middle as the outlet. This is a change of pace call built to beat blitz heavy defenses and man coverage that sends extra rushers upfield, with the primary read being the tight end screen first, then a checkdown to any uncovered receiver if the screen is sniffed out.
Watch for linebacker depth at the snap, if they crash hard downhill on the play fake the screen lane opens up behind them Identify man coverage pre-snap by looking at corner alignment on the tight end, tight man coverage on the TE can be an issue since the defender travels with him Key on defensive ends and edge rushers, if they collapse the pocket rather than staying home the tight end screen has more time to develop User controlled linebackers sitting in a lurk spot near the middle of the field can jump the screen route, so avoid this call if the user shows a mid zone alignment Blitz heavy fronts like a 3-4 with delayed backer blitzes are the best matchup since the extra rushers get sucked upfield away from the eventual screen lane Disciplined zone defenses like Tampa 2 or Cover 4 that keep linebackers reading the quarterback will sit on the screen and blow up the concept before the wall sets
Call this play when you see linebackers creeping toward the line pre-snap or when the defense has shown consistent blitz packages on previous downs
Use it on early downs like first or second and medium to set up a rhythm where defenders start keying run fakes hard
Pair it in a sequence with HB Duo or HB Zone Wk from this set so the defense respects the run fake and commits linebackers downhill
Hot route the backside receiver to a quick slant or drag if you expect zone coverage so you have a checkdown when the screen is covered
Avoid calling this against disciplined zone defenses that keep linebackers at home, since spy defenders or scraping linebackers can blow it up before the wall forms
Snap it quickly after identifying blitz look pre-snap so the linebackers are already committed to the fake before they can redirect to the screen