Smash
What it is
A hitch underneath and a corner route over the top, high-lowing the deep-outside defender.
Why it matters
Smash is the most reliable Cover 2 beater in football, because it attacks the one place a two-deep shell cannot defend: the hole behind a squatting corner and in front of a half-field safety. The corner has to choose between the hitch in front of him and the corner route behind him, and the safety is too wide to help in time.
Both sides of it
Running it
Outside receiver runs a hitch at five or six and settles; the inside receiver runs a corner route breaking at about ten to twelve yards, aiming for the space between the corner and the safety. Five-step rhythm. Read the deep-outside defender: if he sinks with the corner route, throw the hitch; if he squats, throw over him.
Stopping it
In Cover 2, the corner squats and the safety must widen to the corner route from a starting position on the hash — this is the play that tests whether he plays with real depth and width. Cover 3 handles smash better because the corner is already deep, so the answer is often simply to check the coverage. Against a squat corner, jamming the hitch receiver delays the whole timing.
Also called
Programs call this smash, hi-lo the corner, hitch-corner or china. The Coach answers to any of them.
Related
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