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Smash

The concept

A hitch at five yards under a corner route at twelve, both to the same side and in the same throwing window.

  1. The offense1 / 3
    5 YARD HITCH12 YARD CORNERQBYZ

    The look

    A hitch at five yards with a corner route climbing over the top of it from inside. Two receivers, one high and one low, in the same throwing lane.

  2. vs Man2 / 3
    5 YARD HITCH12 YARD CORNERMAN ZMAN YQBYZCN

    The conflict

    No conflict at all. The corner sits on the hitch, the safety runs the corner route, and smash becomes two separate one-on-ones.

  3. vs Man3 / 3
    5 YARD HITCH12 YARD CORNERMAN ZMAN YYZQBYZCN

    The throw

    The deepest of the two defenders. If he stays, take the hitch; if he leaves, the corner is behind him.

Why it works

  • One defender, two places, twelve yards apart

    He can play the hitch in front of him or carry the corner over him. Both is not an option available to him, and the quarterback gets to watch him choose.

  • It beats the two coverages you will see most

    Against a two-deep look the corner sinks and the hitch is free. Against three-deep he widens and the corner route is behind him. One call covers both answers.

  • The throw is decided at the break, not after it

    Read the deep defender opening his hips. You know which of the two is yours before either receiver has finished running.

How it gets run badly

  • Running the hitch too deep

    At eight yards the hitch is inside the defender drop rather than in front of it, and the high-low collapses into one covered area.

  • Throwing the corner flat

    It has to be thrown with air, over the top, toward the sideline. A flat corner route is the easiest interception on this page.

  • Calling it against man

    Nobody is in conflict against man — it is two separate one-on-ones on the same side. Smash is a zone call and it is worth checking out of.

Smash in your game

The written breakdowns, by format. The diagram above is the same at every team size — these are the pages that say how it is actually run at each.

Draw Smash for your own team

Open it in the designer, change the routes, save it to your playbook.

Open the designer