11v11 Offense

The best starting offense in 11v11 football pairs Power, a gap run, with inside zone, a zone run, and has a hot answer ready for the blitz, because at eleven a side a blitz sends more rushers than you can block. Sixteen runs and five passing concepts are written for eleven a side, with every blocking scheme drawn as the scheme it names.

Pick your format

Everything below is written for this format. Press the pill again for all of them.

What changes at 11v11

The run game is a set of blocking schemes

Zone steps playside, gap schemes pull, draws give ground. Each run page draws the scheme it names, and inside zone has its own page because it is a different play from the dive behind identical blocking.

Protection changes the pass concepts

Behind a five-man line the quarterback can let the first crosser go by and wait for the second. Mesh, Flood and the rest are written around that protection, which no flag format has.

Man coverage starts at the line

At eleven a side man is usually press with a five-man rush behind it, so the first job is beating the release, not picking the concept. The situation pages for this size are written in that order.

Start here

Concepts

Five passing concepts written for eleven a side, each behind full five-man protection. The first two simulate for everyone; the rest need a Coach account.

Mesh
Two crossers run opposite ways two yards apart, so any defender chasing one has to get through the other.
QB reads
Which crosser comes out of the traffic clean. It is a look, not a progression.
vs Man
Both defenders arrive on the same grass at the same moment. One goes over, one goes under, and whoever goes under is late.
Flood
Three routes to one side at three depths, flat then out then sail, stacked in a single vertical slice of field.
QB reads
High to low. Look at the sail first; the moment a defender commits, the level above or below him is open.
vs Man
Three routes, three defenders, nobody wrong. Against man a flood is three separate races down one sideline.
Unlock
Four Verticals
Four receivers running straight, spaced so no deep defender can cover two of them.
QB reads
Count the deep defenders before the snap. Three deep means the seams win; two deep means the middle does.
vs Man
Four one-on-one races with no help. The concept is doing nothing. Whoever is losing his matchup is the throw.
Unlock
Spot
A corner over the top, a hitch sitting underneath and a flat running away from both, a triangle out of one bunch.
QB reads
The flat defender. If he runs with the flat, the hitch is open behind him; if he sits, throw the flat.
vs Man
Traffic. Three receivers off one spot means three defenders trying to follow through the same two yards of grass.
Unlock
Smash
A hitch at five yards under a corner route at twelve, both to the same side and in the same throwing window.
QB reads
The deepest of the two defenders. If he stays, take the hitch; if he leaves, the corner is behind him.
vs Man
No conflict at all. The corner sits on the hitch, the safety runs the corner route, and smash becomes two separate one-on-ones.
Unlock
Slant-FlatSoon
One receiver breaking inside, a back running outside underneath him. Two routes, opposite directions, one defender between them.
QB reads
The flat defender, and nobody else. He picks one and you throw the other. One read, one beat.
vs Man
Both are covered by whoever is on them. The flat is a hard cover from inside leverage, the slant a hard cover from outside.
Unlock
StickSoon
An inside receiver to five yards who sits down against zone and keeps running against man, with a flat route under him.
QB reads
Read the coverage off the stick route itself: if he sat, it is zone and he is open; if he ran, it is man and you have the flat.
vs Man
The stick never stops, so the defender never gets to pass him off. It is a chase, and the flat underneath is a second problem.
Unlock
Double SlantsSoon
Two receivers on the same side both breaking inside, stacked so one defender is between them.
QB reads
Whichever slant the inside defender does not take. Fast, flat and off the back foot.
vs Man
Two inside breaks from outside leverage. Both defenders are running across the field with no help inside them.

Formations

Where everyone lines up before the ball moves. Every formation page covers each team size in its own section, so these are the same twelve wherever you coach.

Bunch
Three receivers clustered inside about six yards, usually to one side, with nothing outside them.
What it creates
Traffic before the snap. Three defenders have to stand in one small square of grass, then the receivers leave it in three directions.
vs Man
Three defenders in a space the size of a car, each obliged to follow somebody out of it. Whoever guesses wrong is beaten at the snap, and nobody has run a route yet.
Trips
Three receivers to one side, spread across the field rather than clustered, and one or none to the other.
What it creates
An arithmetic problem. Three receivers running into two defenders' areas leaves somebody uncovered before anyone has run a good route.
vs Man
Man travels with the receiver rather than the space, so spreading out costs the defense nothing. Three defenders follow three receivers and trips has bought you very little.
Stack
Two receivers on one track, one directly behind the other, rather than side by side.
What it creates
A free release for the back man. Nobody can get hands on him without going through the receiver in front, so he leaves the line clean every time.
vs Man
Two defenders standing in each other's way, having to agree before the snap on who takes the front man and who takes the back one. Whichever they pick, one of them starts late.
Empty
Nobody in the backfield. Every eligible player is split out, and the quarterback stands alone.
What it creates
Maximum receivers and a defense with nothing left to guess about. Every player who could catch it is already where he is going to start from.
vs Man
Everybody is covered and nobody is spare, because the offense has put every eligible on the field and the defense has had to answer each one.

11v11 play collection

From the premium collection: diagrams without the written breakdowns the concepts above have.

Slant-Flat
Quick Game
The fastest answer in the book to press man. The outside receiver cuts inside immediately at five and the back runs to the flat at three underneath him. One defender has both and he cannot have both. Read him, not the receivers. The sit at six is the second look if the flat defender widens, and the backside go clears the coverage off it. Ball out on three steps; this play is beaten only by patience, never by pressure.
Open in the designer
Curl-Flat
Quick Game
The same high-low as Slant-Flat run a beat slower and against zone instead of man. The curl settles at five in the window behind the flat defender while the back runs the flat at four in front of him. He cannot cover both layers, so throw the one he leaves. Second-and-medium and third-and-short is where this lives. Avoid it against press man. The curl needs a clean release to get to its landmark on time.
Open in the designer
Stick
Quick Game
Third-and-three to third-and-six, and the reason is the sit at six, a settled target the quarterback can throw to on rhythm. The back runs the flat at four underneath it and the flat defender has to choose. The go clears the corner out of the throwing lane. Read the flat defender only; if the zone rotates underneath, the flat is the hot answer and the ball should already be gone.
Open in the designer
Snag
Triangle
Three options at three depths in the same quarter of the field: the corner over the top at thirteen, the spot sitting at five, and the flat at four underneath. That triangle is what makes it work against almost any coverage: whichever defender the look gives you, one of the three is uncovered. Second-and-medium when you need positive yards and do not care how you get them.
Open in the designer
Drive
High-Low
The shallow at three and the dig at twelve released from the same side, so the two of them rub on the way out and then high-low the linebacker level. Against Cover 1 the drag eats horizontal space while the dig stretches the man above it. Take the shallow every time until they jump it, then the dig behind it is a first down. The backside clear pulls the safety away from the dig's landing spot.
Open in the designer
Levels
High-Low
Two in-breaking routes on the same side at seven and twelve, both attacking the hook defender from above and below at once. He can carry one. The quarterback reads him and throws the other, and because both routes are coming back toward the middle the throw is into space rather than at a body. Works against man and against zone-match, which is what made it a staple.
Open in the designer
Y-Cross
Crossers
A high-mid-low triangle that all arrives in the same place. The crosser runs deep at fifteen from the far side, the post at fourteen takes the safety with it, and the back releases to the flat at four underneath. Against Cover 1 the crosser ends up one-on-one with a linebacker on a deep angle, which is the matchup the play is hunting. It is a slow-developing call: second-and-long, with time to throw.
Open in the designer
Dagger
Vertical Stretch
The seam runs at eighteen to carry the single-high safety out of the middle, and the dig at fifteen lands in exactly the space he vacated. The order is the play: the seam has to clear before the dig arrives, so the quarterback is throwing to grass, not to a body. Best against single-high, which is what it is built to punish. First-and-ten shot.
Open in the designer
Toss Right Sweep
Run
Get outside. The back attacks the edge behind blockers reaching or pulling playside, and his footwork is patient then fast: read the kick-out, and turn up the moment the corner is sealed. Turning up early is a two-yard gain; turning up late is a loss. Best against a front that has over-aligned inside and left the perimeter light.
Open in the designer
Bubble RPO
RPO
One play with two answers and the quarterback picks after the snap. He reads the playside linebacker: if that man comes down to fill the run, pull it and throw the bubble, because the receiver already has outside leverage. If he stays wide on the bubble, hand it off, because the box is light. Count the box before the snap and know which one you expect; the read is the play, and being right about it matters more than the call.
Open in the designer
Jet Reverse
Trick
Two exchanges and three ball-handlers. The first receiver comes across in pre-snap motion and takes it in stride, carries it briefly against the motion, then hands back to the man coming the other way, who attacks the far perimeter after the defense has flowed to the jet. If they bite on the motion it springs; if they do not, it is a loss. Best in the red zone or on the boundary once you have shown them the jet.
Open in the designer
Buck Sweep
Run
The play the whole offense is built on. The quarterback reverse-pivots and puts a deep fake in the fullback's belly as he dives. Run that fake full speed, because the fake is the play. The ball goes to the halfback on a deep track behind the line. The tight end and wing block down to seal inside, and both guards pull: the playside guard kicks out the first defender outside that block, the backside guard stays tight behind him and turns up through the hole to lead on the linebacker.
Open in the designer

Showing 12 of 15. See the whole 11v11 collection.

Run game

Sixteen runs written for 11v11, blocking legal and every scheme drawn with a real line. The toss and counter trey are answered by the Sweep and Counter pages, which draw exactly those plays.

Sweep
The ball carried wide and turned upfield outside everybody, before the defense can get there to meet it.
The read
The last defender with outside leverage. If he stays home you cut up inside him; if he chases inside you keep going and beat him to the corner.
Toss
A sweep with a faster delivery: the ball pitched to a back who is already running wide, so it reaches the edge half a second sooner than a handoff could.
The read
The same key as the sweep: the last defender with outside leverage. The toss buys the runner an extra look at him before he has to decide.
Dive
The ball handed straight ahead through the middle, as fast as the exchange allows. No angle and no race, just the shortest distance to the yards you need.
The read
The middle defender. If he sits in the hole, the back takes what the collision gives; if he drops into coverage, the hole was his and he has left it.
Jet Sweep
A receiver in full-speed motion takes the handoff as he passes the quarterback and keeps going. He reaches the edge already at top speed, and nobody standing still can match that.
The read
Whether anybody ran with the motion. If nobody did, you have one more player to that side than they do; if somebody did, the side he left is a man short.
Counter
The back takes one step one way to pull the defense with him, then takes the ball back the other way into the space they just left.
The read
The defender on the side the play finishes. If he chased the first step, the counter is open; if he stayed home, the fake bought nothing.
Reverse
The ball starts wide one way, then a receiver coming back the other way takes it from the runner. The ball changes direction, and so, a second too late, does the defense.
The read
The defender on the far side. If he chased the sweep, the reverse has that whole side to itself; if he stayed home, it is a slow play into a man who was waiting for it.
End Around
A receiver comes around behind the quarterback and takes the ball going the other way. One handoff, not two: a reverse without the part that gets fumbled.
The read
The defender on the far side, the same as the reverse. Whoever is on the side the receiver finishes has to decide whether the fake inside is real.
Option
The quarterback runs at one defender with the back trailing him, and leaves that defender alone on purpose. Take the quarterback and the ball is pitched; take the back and the quarterback keeps it.
The read
One defender: the pitch key, usually the edge. The quarterback does not read the defense; he reads that man, and gives the ball to whichever player he did not take.

By situation

All eight situations written for tackle football at eleven a side, where the answers start with protection and the release.

Three answersvs Man coverage
A defender on every receiver and nobody deep.
Three answersvs Zone coverage
Nobody is chasing your receivers. They are guarding grass.
Three answersvs the Blitz
They are sending everyone. You have about two seconds.
Three answersvs Cover 2
Two safeties deep, and a hole between them.
Three answersRed zone
A short field. The deep routes you like have nowhere to go.
Three answersShort yardage
Fourth and one. You need a yard, not a play.
Three answersThird and long
Past the sticks, not to them.
Three answersTwo-minute drill
The clock is the defender you actually have to beat.