Double Slant: a 5v5 flag football play
Both outside receivers take four steps upfield and break inside at 45 degrees. A single defender can't cover two slants coming from opposite sides, and the throw comes out before a rusher gets home. If you only teach one play, teach this one.
Opens the free play maker with Double Slant added, ready to edit and print on a wristband card.
How Double Slant works
- X and Z push four steps upfield, plant on the outside foot, and cut inside at 45 degrees. Stay on the line; don't drift upfield.
- Y runs a short flat to the outside as the outlet if both slants are jumped.
- C snaps, pushes 5 yards, and turns back to the QB on a hitch as the safety valve.
The quarterback's read
- Pre-snap, pick the slant with more room inside (usually the side away from the safety).
- Throw it the moment the receiver clears the defender's inside shoulder.
- If both are covered, the flat is open underneath.
- Under pressure, dump it to the center's hitch.
Coaching points
- The break must be sharp. A rounded slant lets the defender undercut it.
- The QB throws to the receiver's front shoulder, away from the defender's hands.
- Receivers catch and turn upfield immediately. The slant is a yards-after-catch play.
When to call it
First and second down, against man coverage, and any time the defense sends a blitzer. It's also a good first play of the game because it tells you how the defense lines up.
For youth teams
Walk it first: set a cone four steps upfield where receivers plant. Kids under 10 do better throwing to whichever slant is on the QB's throwing-hand side only.
Rules check
IFAF (5v5, 7v7 and beach)
Legal everywhere on the field. Both slants are forward passes caught beyond the line, so the play works inside a no-run zone and on a 1-point try.
NFL FLAG and other rulebooks
Legal as drawn. Every forward pass in NFL FLAG must cross the line of scrimmage, and all of these do.
Rule numbers refer to the IFAF International Flag Football Rules 2023, the current edition. See the trick plays guide for the six rules that decide most plays.
Put Double Slant on a wristband
Add it to your playbook in the free play maker, change the routes to fit your team, and print numbered wristband cards and a coach's call sheet on regular paper.