The New England Patriots like to try to open the field up by using four and five wide receiver sets. In this example, SportsGamer's going to take a closer look at the Shotgun Empty Trey Slant Under play to show you how to create passing options while spreading your opponent's defense out at the same time. Check it out!
Shotgun Empty Trey - Slant Under (flipped)
Console(s)
XBOX 360 / PS3Quick Setup
Step 1 - Flip the play if your quarterback is right-handed to be able to roll to his throwing arm side.
Step 2 - Hot route the (RB) receiver to block (360 - Y + receiver's icon + RT / PS3 - Triangle + receiver's icon + R2).
Step 3 - Hot route the (Y) and (B) receivers to perform streaks (360 - Y + receiver's icon + up / PS3 - Triangle + receiver's icon + up).
Step 4 - Motion the (X) receiver to the right and snap the ball just as he passes behind the (A) receiver.
Play Breakdown
You can see the offensive assignments for the Slant Under play flipped in the first image shown above. Our opponent has called a man to man defense and is applying bump n' run coverage on the receivers. Even if your opponent sets up a blitz you can still easily avoid the pressure if you follow the steps below (see video also).
This picture allows you to see what the offensive assignments will look like after we've completed the setup for the play. First, we've hot routed the RB receiver to block to allow us to roll to our right away from pressure up the middle. Next, we've hot routed both the (Y) and the (B) receiver to perform streak routes to give us options deep downfield. The only remaining step that we need to take is motioning the (X) receiver to the right. 
Once the (X) receiver is set in motion it's our job to snap the ball just as he passes the slot receiver on the left (A). Snapping the ball at this time in the motion not only allows our player to avoid the bump, but it also creates an easy transition from one read to the next.
As soon as we receive the snap we begin slightly rolling to our right just in case there's immediate pressure up the middle. We know that we can safely roll this way because of the hot routed receiver that is blocking for us on the outside. In the second image you can see the motioned receiver has his defender beat, but there is a linebacker playing a QB Spy that is currently in the way of the pass.
We quickly look back towards the middle of the field to try to hit our receiver running the post over the middle. This receiver will consistently get good inside position, making him a solid number twp option on this play. We could make the throw on the post route, but we know by simply standing still the linebacker playing a QB Spy will stop and our motioned receiver will be open.
We fire the pass with Brady to wide receiver Donte Stallworth. Stallworth makes the reception that results in an easy gain of 10 yards on the play.
Final Thoughts
Using spread offensive sets may seem risky because of the lack of protection in the pocket. However, if you can learn to simply move your protection to another spot on the field you can start to utilize many of the great plays that these sets have to offer. Take a look at the Slant Under play and us it to figure how you can get similar results with some of the open sets offered in your playbook of choice.
