Pats Zig is a quick pass concept out of Singleback Y Trips with 11 personnel that attacks man and zone coverage with three routes to the trips side and an isolated hitch to the backside X. The three receiver stack runs a slant flat combo underneath with two zig routes breaking hard across the field over the middle, while the RB releases to the flat as the fourth option and the backside X sits down on a quick hitch for an instant checkdown against soft coverage. The primary read progression starts with the flat route to hold underneath defenders, then works to the zig breaking across the middle for the big chunk gain, and finishes with the backside hitch as the built in throwaway option against a hard blitz.

Defensive Reads

Identify whether the defense shows man or zone before the snap by checking cornerback depth on the trips side, tight press alignment usually signals man and opens up the zig routes for rub route separation. Watch the middle linebacker depth at the snap, a shallow drop suggests zone coverage that will squeeze the zig routes, so look to hit the flat route earlier in that case. Key on any user controlled defender flowing toward the trips side immediately after the snap, this often signals a lurk or spy sitting on the zig crossing routes. Against Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells, the zig routes can get picked off by underneath zone defenders sitting in the middle third, so be ready to check down to the flat or backside hitch. Recognize blitz alignment with extra rushers crashing off the edge, since Pats Zig lacks max protection and the quick game reads must be lightning fast to avoid a sack.

Usage Tips

Look at the pre-snap safety alignment before the snap, a single high safety usually means the zig routes have room to work against man coverage across the middle.

Use the flat route as your first read against zone drops to bait linebackers before hitting the zig route behind them for the explosive gain.

Hot route the backside X into a slant or drag if you diagnose a blitz, since the hitch alone will not beat pressure from depth.

Call this on second and short to medium situations where defenses are more likely to sit in man coverage, since the two zig routes are true man beaters that create natural rub picks.

Pair Pats Zig with Curls or Stick from the same Y Trips set to keep the defense guessing between quick underneath combos and deeper zone beating concepts.

Pats Zig

Quick Reference

In 4 playbooks

Receiver routes

Read progression

Breakdown

Defensive Reads

Usage Tips

Other Plays in Y Trips