6v6 Offense

16 plays drawn for 6v6. Every one opens in the designer exactly as you see it.

Pick your format

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

Concepts

The named ideas a play is built from, written for 6v6. Every one works at any team size — which is why the diagrams are the same at every format, and only the write-ups change. The first two simulate for everyone; the rest need a Coach account.

MeshSoon
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.
FloodSoon
Three routes to one side at three depths — flat, out and 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 VerticalsSoon
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
SpotSoon
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
SmashSoon
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.

6v6 play collection

From the premium collection: diagrams without the written breakdowns that 5v5, 7v7 and 11v11 concepts have.

All Hitch
Quick Game
Five men, five hitches, and the ball out before anybody has to beat anybody. Every receiver runs to his depth, stops, and turns back to the quarterback with his hands ready. Against a defense playing soft this is free yardage on every snap until they come up to take it away — which is the whole point, because that is when the double moves start working. Tell them to sit down and show their numbers, not to drift.
Open in the designer
Edge Nod
Double Move
The answer to a corner who has started jumping the hitch. Both outside receivers sell the same stop they have been running all game, get the defender to plant his foot, and take off. The three inside still run their hitches, so the play is not a gamble — if nobody bites, throw the underneath one and live to try again. Best called on the snap right after a completed hitch to the same side.
Open in the designer
Snap Cut
Levels
Four routes climbing at four different heights with the center running underneath all of them. The corner and the post occupy the deep half, the two comebacks hold the sideline defenders, and the center crosses the whole formation in the grass nobody is left standing in. Read it high to low: if the corner is one-on-one take it, otherwise the center is almost always uncovered by the time he gets to the far hash.
Open in the designer
Sideline Flood
Verticals
Everything of consequence ends up on one sideline. The center runs the seam, the outside receiver posts back across the field and the inside man crosses behind it, so three bodies arrive deep on the same side against a defense that has one safety. The two slants underneath are the release valve when the safety stays home. This is the shot play in the set — call it on first down, not on third and long.
Open in the designer
Vee Wheel
Verticals
Nobody is split, so the defense cannot declare who it is covering until everyone has already released. The outside two run vertical, the back wheels out of the bunch to the right sideline, and the two short outs underneath give the quarterback somewhere to go on rhythm. The traffic at the snap is the play: in man coverage somebody gets held up in the crowd and comes out free.
Open in the designer
Corner Post
Double Move
One receiver gets the whole field to himself. He stems up, breaks to the corner hard enough that the safety has to honor it, then comes back to the post behind him. Everything else is designed to empty that space: the second post pulls the middle, the dig and the shallow cross drag the underneath coverage the other way, and the hitch outside holds the corner. Give it time — this is a four-count play, not a rhythm throw.
Open in the designer
Edge Up
Double Move
The inside man of the trips runs the out everyone has seen from this formation, then turns it up the sideline once the defender drives on it. Behind him the deep crosser and the backside post clear the middle of the field so there is nobody left to help. The back wheels up the weak side as the second shot. If the out-and-up is covered, the ball goes backside — never force it.
Open in the designer
Snapper Sail
Flood
The center is the primary, and almost nobody covers him. He releases off the snap and sails to the right while the trips run everything away from him — a go from the inside man, a post over the top, a comeback outside. Three levels on the same side of the field with the defense's only underneath help pulled to the middle by the back's route. If the flat defender jumps the sail, the comeback is behind him.
Open in the designer
Deep Comeback
Comeback
A patient play against a defense that keeps running away from the ball. The outside receiver climbs to fourteen, sells the go, then snaps back to the sideline where only he can get it. The vertical inside him is what makes it work — it takes the safety with it. Throw it before he breaks, not after: the ball should be in the air while he is still turning.
Open in the designer
Divide
Levels
Three receivers to one side at three different depths, which is what splits a zone in half. The inside man runs the corner over the top, the middle man comes back at twelve, and the outside man shoots to the flat right now. Whichever defender the coverage puts on that side is wrong about one of them. The dig and the out on the backside are there for when the defense rotates everything to the trips.
Open in the designer
Halfback Post
Post
The back is the whole play and the trips are the decoration. He releases from the backfield into a post while the defense's eyes are on three receivers to the other side, and by the time anyone finds him he is running into the middle of the field with a two-step head start. The corner and the slant cross in front of the trips to keep both defenders on that side busy. Nothing here is quick — let him get there.
Open in the designer
Backfield Screen
Screen
Everybody runs away from the ball and the back catches it standing still on the weak side. The go and the deep dig pull the coverage vertical, the slant occupies the one defender who might chase, and the center comes across as the lead blocker on the edge. The quarterback should look downfield first — sell it — then dump it. If nobody has come, the back can keep it and run.
Open in the designer

Showing 12 of 16. See the whole 6v6 collection.

Run game

What 6v6 can actually run. The universal calls need nothing but angles and a handoff; the blocking schemes need a line, and flag football has no blocking of any kind.

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.